Get Your RN to BSN Online for Under Half the Price — and Months Sooner
You already have the license and the clinical hours. What’s left is 30 credits of nursing coursework and a handful of general education classes you never took. That’s where StraighterLine comes in:
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- 100% online Keep working. No campus, no set class times.
- Up to 90 of 120 credits by transfer Pay the university for 30 credits, not 120.
- $79 a course, not $1,542 Three credits either way. ACE-recommended, transcript included.
- 25% off your remaining out-of-state tuition Plus books, course fees and the $50 application fee waived.
Out-of-state figures — the most common case for an online student, and the only rate the 25% discount touches. In-state you’d pay about $11,200 against $17,600, and on military rates about $8,300 against $12,800: a big saving either way, though not quite half. Here’s the arithmetic.
Get all of this with StraighterLine
Reveal the code and open StraighterLine — then note StraighterLine on your UMGC application to activate the potential tuition benefits.
STRAIGHT30
How This Works
The whole trick is breaking the degree back into its pieces, then buying each piece from whoever sells it cheapest. You arrive at exactly the same place — the same 120 credits, from the same university, with the same diploma — for less than half the money, because nobody says the pieces all have to come from one place.
- 69 credits · your ADN Already earned and already paid for. This is the part most nurses don’t realize is worth this much.
- 21 credits · StraighterLine The general education courses your ADN skipped. Nothing about them is nursing, which is why they don’t have to come from a university.
- 30 credits · UMGC The upper-division nursing core. This part genuinely has to come from the university that grants your degree.
So what’s actually left to buy is 51 credits — not 120. And those 51 credits have two very different prices.
Both paths end with the same BSN from the same university. The only thing that changes is where the first 21 credits come from — and what the other 30 cost you.
51 credits × $514, the out-of-state rate, no discount.
$820 at StraighterLine + $11,565 at UMGC, after the 25% StraighterLine discount.
$13,829 less for the identical 120-credit degree, from the identical university, with the identical diploma at the end.
Why the gap is that big. Those 21 gen-ed credits cost $10,794 at UMGC’s out-of-state rate and $820 at StraighterLine — the same credits, about a thirteenth of the price. Signing up with StraighterLine then takes another 25% off the 30 nursing credits you can only buy from the university. That’s about three quarters of the $13,829; the discount on the nursing core is the rest. The full arithmetic is below.
University of Maryland Global Campus
UMGC accepts more transfer credit than almost anyone and names StraighterLine in its own written policy. And because the two are formal partners, StraighterLine students get 25% off out-of-state tuition at UMGC.
- The discount is real money. Out-of-state tuition drops from $514 to about $386 a credit — roughly $3,855 on the 30 credits you buy from UMGC — plus books, course fees and the $50 application fee waived.
- StraighterLine × UMGC partnership. A formal one, written down — not a guess.
- You only pay the university for a quarter of the degree. No block of credit is held back for your RN license, so all 90 transferable credits stay available to you.
- A real university with a name people know. Regionally accredited, part of the University System of Maryland, CCNE-accredited nursing.
The arithmetic, so you can check it
- Your ADN covers~69 credits
- Seven gen eds at StraighterLine21 credits · $820
- Nursing core at UMGC30 credits
UMGC publishes half-time tuition of $2,070 in-state and $3,084 out-of-state per 6 credits — $345 and $514 a credit; military is $250. The 25% partner discount applies to the out-of-state rate. Rates change, so confirm before you enroll.
See the full UMGC transfer guide — all 64 approved courses with their UMGC codes →
The whole plan, in four steps
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1
Sign up with StraighterLine to take your remaining gen eds
$79 a course, self-paced, with a real transcript at the end. Most people need seven of them — 21 credits, roughly three months.
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2
Have UMGC evaluate your transcript — free, before you pay anything
Everything above is the typical case. An admissions advisor can run your transcript and tell you exactly how many of your credits land, which gen eds you still need, and confirm the StraighterLine discount applies to your program. It takes a couple of minutes and it’s the only way to know your real number.
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3
Apply and note StraighterLine on your application
That’s what activates the 25% tuition discount and the fee waivers. It isn’t applied retroactively, so do it before you enroll.
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4
Transfer your credits and finish the nursing core
Request a transcript from your dashboard — free, sent straight to your school. The last 30 credits are upper-division nursing courses, taken online.
The seven courses, and what they cost
These are the general education requirements that come up again and again across RN-to-BSN programs — the ones most ADN degrees didn’t include. Every one is ACE-recommended.
| Course | Credits | Cost |
|---|---|---|
| Introduction to Statistics MAT202 | 3 | $79 |
| English Composition II ENG102 | 3 | $79 |
| Introduction to Sociology SOC101 | 3 | $79 |
| Introduction to Psychology PSY101 | 3 | $79 |
| Introduction to Nutrition NUTRI101 | 3 | $79 |
| Introduction to Philosophy PHIL101 | 3 | $79 |
| Cultural Anthropology ANTH101 | 3 | $79 |
| Membership, about 3 months cancel any time | — | $297 |
| 21 credits, all in | $850 | |
| With 30% off your first month | $820 |
The same 21 credits cost $10,794 at UMGC’s out-of-state rate, or $7,245 in-state. This is where most of the saving comes from.
16 Programs Worth Considering
We checked 23 RN-to-BSN programs and scored every one on a single number: how much StraighterLine transfer credit you can actually use once the school has awarded credit for your license. A school’s advertised ceiling isn’t that number — the credit it hands you for your RN comes out of the same ceiling.
7 of the 23 didn’t make this list: they award so much credit for your license that there’s no room left to transfer anything in, which sounds generous and costs you the savings. These 16 leave real room.
Every figure comes from the school’s own page or an official PDF, linked on each card. Where a school publishes nothing, we say “not published” rather than guess. Verified September 2026.
University of Maryland Global Campus
Names StraighterLine in an acceptance statement
90 ceiling − 0 awarded for your license = 90 credits you can fill yourself.
Names StraighterLine in its own acceptance policy, and no license award eats into the 90-credit ceiling.
The detail on University of Maryland Global Campus
UMGC accepts course credit from organizations like … StraighterLine …
- What your license earns you
- No automatic license block published. The full 90-credit ceiling is available to your own transcripts and outside credit.
- Statistics requirement
- STAT 200 — lower division
- Gen ed still needed
- 41 credits: Research and Computing Literacy 7, Communication 12, Mathematics 3, Arts and Humanities 6, Behavioral and Social Sciences 6, Biological and Physical Sciences 7
- Admission GPA
- None published. Admission is based on an active, unencumbered RN license.
- Credit expiration
- None published for undergraduate transfer credit
- Cost
- Not published as a single rate
Watch out: Per-provider caps and the full approved-provider list are not published — UMGC routes you to a transfer advisor for them. Location restrictions apply to the program.
Sources: Fast Paths to Credit — names the providers · Transfer credit requirements
Ohio University
Named equivalency tables for StraighterLine
90 ceiling − 0 awarded for your license = 90 credits you can fill yourself.
Publishes named equivalency tables for StraighterLine and awards no license block — so all 90 credits stay open.
The detail on Ohio University
OHIO awards credit for alternative credit options that have been recommended for college-credit by the American Council on Education (ACE).
- What your license earns you
- No automatic block for the RN license. Individual course waivers attach to the associate degree instead — Nutrition, Chemistry and Elementary Statistics are listed as waivable.
- Statistics requirement
- Elementary Statistics (MATH 1500, MATH 2500, PSY 1110, PSY 2110 or QBA 2010) — lower division
- Gen ed still needed
- English Composition, Statistics, Microbiology, A&P I/II, Chemistry, Intro Psychology, Child/Adolescent Development, Nutrition, plus OHIO BRICKS pillars
- Admission GPA
- 2.0 cumulative across all previously attended institutions
- Credit expiration
- Not published
- Cost
- $349/credit (Ohio resident), $359 (non-resident)
Watch out: Two residency rules stack: 30 credits at Ohio, and at least 50% of the nursing coursework. NRSE 4515, 4585 and 4595 can never be transferred.
Sources: Non-traditional credit — StraighterLine equivalency tables · RN to BSN program
Wilmington University
Wilmington University
Names StraighterLine and Saylor with numeric caps
No license block is published, so the 90-credit ceiling isn’t handed to you — your own ADN transcript fills it course by course. After the 49 credits that must be earned at WilmU, roughly 71 are realistically transferable. We show the realistic figure, not 90.
Names three providers with a hard 45-credit cap — and publishes a carve-out that excludes education degrees, not nursing.
The detail on Wilmington University
Wilmington University allows up to 75 undergraduate CPL credits to apply toward a bachelor degree program. As part of the 75 credit CPL limit, no more than 45 credits may be applied toward a bachelor degree from an ACE/NCCRS Alternative Credit Provider.
- What your license earns you
- No automatic license award. Your ADN transcript transfers course by course against the 90-credit ceiling, so the room is real but you fill it yourself.
- Statistics requirement
- MAT 308 Inferential Statistics — UPPER division
- Gen ed still needed
- Upper division 15 (ENG 310, MAT 308, 9 credits upper-level humanities); lower division 24; natural sciences 12
- Admission GPA
- Not published. Transfer credit requires a C or better from a CHEA-recognized institution.
- Credit expiration
- Not published
- Cost
- $439/credit (online), plus $60-$120 nursing course fees
Watch out: Statistics here is MAT 308, an upper-division course. A lower-level statistics course from an outside provider will very likely not satisfy it — this is the most common wasted purchase at schools built this way. Caps stack: 90 transfer, of which 75 prior learning, of which 45 from alternative providers.
Sources: Credit from alternative providers — names StraighterLine and Saylor · RN to BSN curriculum
Excelsior University
Dedicated StraighterLine partner page, with maintained equivalency PDFs
90 ceiling − 30 awarded for your license = 60 credits you can fill yourself.
Built for this. Awards only 30 credits for the license, leaving 60 to buy — with a dedicated StraighterLine partner page.
The detail on Excelsior University
Semester hours of nursing credit granted for prior learning validated by nursing education and successful completion of the NCLEX-RN.
- What your license earns you
- 30 credits for the license — deliberately small, which is why so much room survives.
- Statistics requirement
- Natural Sciences and Mathematics block, 9 credits — but see the carve-out
- Gen ed still needed
- Written English 6, Humanities 6 (including 3 in ethics), Social Sciences and History 9, Natural Sciences and Mathematics 9
- Admission GPA
- 2.0; GPA is computed only on Excelsior sources of credit, so transfer credit carries no grade points
- Credit expiration
- A&P and Microbiology must be earned within 5 years prior to enrollment
- Cost
- $410/credit (RN to BS only), plus $40/credit academic services fee
Watch out: Read the equivalency charts line by line. A statistics course can transfer for the math requirement and still carry a note saying it does not apply toward the BSN — buying it for this degree wastes the money. Excelsior also does not accept applicants residing in California or Washington.
Sources: StraighterLine partner page · General education policy
Fort Hays State University
Names StraighterLine explicitly
90 ceiling − 36 awarded for your license = 54 credits you can fill yourself.
Names StraighterLine outright, allows prior learning up to 75% of the degree, and is the cheapest per credit we verified.
The detail on Fort Hays State University
Fort Hays State University does grant credit based on some courses taken from StraighterLine.
- What your license earns you
- 36 credits posted automatically as Advanced Standing Credit once you pass the NCLEX-RN. Generous, but it consumes the most ceiling of the green group.
- Statistics requirement
- Not published as a named requirement; MATH 110 College Algebra is the gen-ed math pathway
- Gen ed still needed
- 34-35 credits under the Kansas Systemwide General Education program, including English Composition I and II
- Admission GPA
- 2.5, computed on either cumulative or ADN GPA — whichever you prefer. 2.00-2.49 may be admitted on probation.
- Credit expiration
- Not published
- Cost
- $275.65/credit online — among the lowest verified
Watch out: Prior-learning credit posts as ‘CR’, carries no grade points, and does NOT count toward the 30 graded hours you must pass at FHSU. There is also a $25-per-credit fee to have it recorded. Kansas community college AA/AS holders have all gen ed waived outright. Not open to residents of Mississippi, Washington or DC.
Sources: Credit by documentation — names StraighterLine · CPL policies and caps · RN-BSN catalog
Southern New Hampshire University
Names StraighterLine
90 ceiling − 45 awarded for your license = 45 credits you can fill yourself.
Names StraighterLine on its prior-learning page, and admission GPA is read off your ADN transcript where outside credit can’t reach it.
The detail on Southern New Hampshire University
SNHU accepts credits from recognized accredited institutions listed by the Council for Higher Education Accreditation (CHEA) or the Department of Education (DOE/DAPIP) for undergraduate courses with a grade of “C-” or higher.
- What your license earns you
- 45 credits for the RN license — exactly half the 90-credit ceiling.
- Statistics requirement
- Mathematical reasoning requirement — division not published
- Gen ed still needed
- Written communication, mathematical reasoning, ethics, humanities, STEM principles
- Admission GPA
- 2.5 cumulative on the degree-awarding (ADN) transcript, or 2.0-2.49 plus 9 credits at 2.5+
- Credit expiration
- Not published
- Cost
- Not published as a single rate
Watch out: The license award eats half the ceiling. Plan against 45 credits of room, not the 90 in the headline.
Sources: Credit for Prior Learning — names the providers · Expanded transcript key — transfer credit not in GPA
Capella University
Names StraighterLine, but carves RN-to-BSN out of its provider pathway
Quarter credits: 135 ceiling − 0 block = 135 quarter credits, about 90 semester credits.
The strongest ACE language of any school — and an explicit carve-out that may exclude RN-to-BSN from it.
The detail on Capella University
ACE-recommended learning experiences including those earned through the military, … StraighterLine and many more.
- What your license earns you
- No single published license block; credit is evaluated course by course.
- Statistics requirement
- Not published
- Gen ed still needed
- 45 general education quarter credits
- Admission GPA
- 2.0 minimum; FlexPath recommends 2.8 or 100 applied transfer credits
- Credit expiration
- No general rule, but FlexPath students have only 12 weeks from their first course to have credit evaluated
- Cost
- Not published as a single rate
Watch out: Capella publishes that its no-cost credit benefit and its provider admissions pathway both exclude RN-to-BSN, while its general ACE policy appears to allow provider credit. It never reconciles the two. Ask specifically whether self-funded StraighterLine credit transfers into RN-to-BSN before spending anything.
Sources: Transferring credits — names the providers · Admissions pathway — excludes RN-to-BSN
East Carolina University
Not published. Placement credit covers only AP, IB, CLEP, DSST and Cambridge.
90 ceiling − 8 awarded for your license = 82 credits you can fill yourself.
Enormous room and no time limit on credit — but no published policy on outside providers at all.
The detail on East Carolina University
There is no limit to the amount of transferable credit ECU can award.
- What your license earns you
- Roughly 8 credits, awarded as specific course credit (HLTH 1000, KINE 1000, Nutrition) rather than a block.
- Statistics requirement
- MATH 2228 Statistics — lower division
- Gen ed still needed
- ENGL 1100 and 2201, MATH 2228 Statistics, Microbiology, A&P I/II with labs, Chemistry, Intro Psychology, Developmental Psychology, Sociology, PHIL 1175 Ethics, Humanities and Fine Arts 9
- Admission GPA
- Conflicting: the nursing flyer says 2.5 overall, the registrar articulation PDF says 2.0. Both are ECU-official.
- Credit expiration
- None — ‘There is no time limit for acceptance of academic credits’
- Cost
- Not published as a figure — multiply the distance-education rate by 32 nursing credits
Watch out: ECU has the most room of any school here with an unpublished provider policy, which makes it a gamble rather than a plan. Buying credit here is buying on hope until you get written confirmation. AA/AS completers get a gen-ed waiver except for writing-intensive, diversity and health-promotion requirements.
Sources: Transfer policies · RN to BSN transfer and prerequisite courses
Rasmussen University
Names ACE and NCCRS in an actual transfer policy; does not name StraighterLine
Quarter credits: 134 ceiling − 28 block = 106 quarter credits, about 71 semester credits.
Large room on paper, but the license benefit is a waiver you have to earn with employment records — and quarter credits quietly shrink every course you buy.
The detail on Rasmussen University
Up to 28 of general education credits can be waived for eligible RN to BSN students who are actively working.
- What your license earns you
- 28 general-education credits waived, not granted — and only with proof of 6 months full-time or 12 months part-time RN employment.
- Statistics requirement
- Not published
- Gen ed still needed
- 28 general education credits, waivable in full for a working RN
- Admission GPA
- Not published
- Credit expiration
- Not published
- Cost
- $300/credit for 50 credits (about $15,000)
Watch out: Rasmussen runs on QUARTER credits and rounds down. A 3-semester-credit course converts to 4.5 quarter credits and posts as 4 — a silent loss of about 11% on every course you buy. Published figures also disagree: 134 max transfer implies 46 residual, the 75% rule implies 45, and tuition is quoted for 50 credits at Rasmussen.
Sources: General transfer credit policy — names ACE and NCCRS · RN to BSN program
Franklin University
Generic ACE only, and scoped to proficiency exams. No named providers in any current policy.
94 ceiling − 24 awarded for your license = 70 credits you can fill yourself.
Highest published ceiling of any school here, but its 4-credit course architecture doesn’t fit the 3-credit courses providers sell.
The detail on Franklin University
We use the American Council on Education (ACE) minimum standards in determining college-level comparability for these exams.
- What your license earns you
- 24 credits of technical credit for a diploma or associate nursing program.
- Statistics requirement
- MATH 215 Statistical Concepts — 4 credits
- Gen ed still needed
- 36 credits. ENG 120 College Writing (4), MATH 160 College Algebra (4), MATH 210 (4), MATH 215 Statistical Concepts (4), sciences 6, social and behavioral sciences 6, arts and humanities 6
- Admission GPA
- Not published for the RN-BSN
- Credit expiration
- Not published
- Cost
- Not published — Franklin describes its pricing model without stating a rate
Watch out: Franklin’s courses are 4-credit and 2-credit, not 3-credit. A 3-credit statistics or composition course from a provider leaves a 1-credit hole you still have to fill, which can erase the saving. A 2016 StraighterLine press release exists but is not current policy and carries no equivalency table — don’t rely on it. The 34-credit nursing major also appears to cap the practical ceiling near 86, putting real room closer to 62.
Sources: Transfer credit policy and procedures · B.S. in Nursing
University of Central Florida
University of Central Florida
Not published. Transcript boilerplate names only CLEP, AP and IB.
90 ceiling − 29 awarded for your license = 61 credits you can fill yourself.
The clearest prerequisite list of any program here, and statistics is lower-division — but UCF publishes nothing about outside providers.
The detail on University of Central Florida
The College of Nursing will validate previous coursework and will award up to 29 credits for prior learning.
- What your license earns you
- Up to 29 credits awarded for prior learning and the RN license.
- Statistics requirement
- STA 2014 or STA 2023 Principles of Statistics — 3 credits, LOWER division
- Gen ed still needed
- CHM 1032 Chemistry (3), MCB 2004C Microbiology w/lab (4), ZOO 3733C Human Anatomy (4), PCB 3703C Human Physiology (4), PSY 2012 or SYG 2000 (3), STA 2014/2023 Statistics (3), DEP 2004 Developmental Psychology (3), HUN 3011 Human Nutrition (3)
- Admission GPA
- 2.8 overall cumulative, as calculated by UCF — it recalculates rather than accepting your sending institution’s figure
- Credit expiration
- Not published
- Cost
- $212.28/credit in-state, $891.07 out-of-state
Watch out: You must be physically located in Florida for the whole program, which rules most readers out before the transfer math matters. The three 4-credit lab sciences are a hard block against 3-credit provider courses, but statistics, chemistry, psychology and developmental psychology are all lower-division and 3 credits — exactly what providers sell.
Sources: Bachelor’s admissions and prerequisites · RN to BSN degree page
Texas A&M University
Texas A&M University
Not published. ACE appears only for military credit.
90 ceiling − 30 awarded for your license = 60 credits you can fill yourself.
Sixty credits of room and a low total cost — with nothing published about whether outside providers are accepted.
The detail on Texas A&M University
Credits given by transfer are provisional and may be cancelled at any time if the student’s work in the university is unsatisfactory.
- What your license earns you
- 30 credit hours granted after the associate degree and NCLEX-RN.
- Statistics requirement
- STAT 201 is recommended but explicitly not required
- Gen ed still needed
- Communication 6, US/Texas History 6, POLS 206 and 207, Mathematics 6, Creative Arts, Humanities, Social Science, PBSI 107 Psychology, PBSI 225 Lifespan Development, Nutrition, A&P I/II, Chemistry, Microbiology, plus foreign language proficiency
- Admission GPA
- 2.5 nursing science GPA and 2.5 prerequisite GPA; competitive applicants above 3.0
- Credit expiration
- Not published
- Cost
- About $12,500 total; per-credit rate not published
Watch out: Texas A&M requires foreign language proficiency, which none of the other programs here do. There is also an unresolved conflict: Student Rule 14 requires 36 upper-level hours in residence, but the RN-BSN nursing curriculum is only 30 — whether the track is exempt is not published.
Sources: RN-BSN fact sheet · Student Rule 9 — transfer credit
Liberty University
Course-by-course equivalency PDFs for StraighterLine, updated 2026
90 ceiling − 39 awarded for your license = 51 credits you can fill yourself.
Maintains dated equivalency tables for all three major providers — but they’re published under the residential path, not the online one.
The detail on Liberty University
Liberty offers a lifetime acceptance of credit, with the exception of those courses wherein the University faculty has determined the course content changes significantly over time.
- What your license earns you
- 39 credits for RN licensure, though Liberty’s own itemization only accounts for about 35 of them.
- Statistics requirement
- MATH 202 Professional Statistics — 3 credits
- Gen ed still needed
- 39-42 credits including ENGL 101, communications, math elective, RLGN 104, BIBL 104, THEO 104, plus major foundational courses: Microbiology, A&P I/II, CHEM 108, MATH 202 Statistics, PHIL 380 Biomedical Ethics, PSYC 101, PSYC 210
- Admission GPA
- 2.0 to enter, 2.5 to graduate. Transfer credit posts with a grade of P and no GPA value.
- Credit expiration
- Lifetime acceptance of credit — the most generous policy we found
- Cost
- $350/credit, $250 military
Watch out: The equivalency guides live under Liberty’s /residential/ path and are absent from the registrar’s transfer-equivalency index. No published statement extends them to Liberty Online or the RN-BSN, so confirm in writing first. Liberty also publishes 126 credits on its marketing page and 120 in its catalog. The religion requirement (8 credits) is waived once you transfer in 60 credits, which an ADN clears automatically.
Sources: StraighterLine transfer equivalency guide, April 2026 · RN to BSN catalog degree plan
Aspen University
Names ACE and NCCRS; does not name StraighterLine
90 ceiling − 60 awarded for your license = 30 credits you can fill yourself.
Accepts ACE and NCCRS by name, but caps all alternative credit at 25% of the degree.
The detail on Aspen University
A maximum of 25% of credits towards an Aspen University degree can come from a combination of alternative credit and Portfolio Credit.
- What your license earns you
- 60 credits for the RN license — two thirds of the ceiling.
- Statistics requirement
- Not published
- Gen ed still needed
- Not published as a category breakdown
- Admission GPA
- Published as 2.50 on the program page and 2.75 in the official brochure — Aspen contradicts itself. Computed on the ADN transcript either way.
- Credit expiration
- None published for coursework
- Cost
- Not published as a single rate
Watch out: It is unpublished whether the 60 license credits count against the 25% alternative-credit cap, which decides whether your real room is 30 credits or nearly zero. Requires one year of nursing experience within the past five years.
Sources: Transfer credits · RN to BSN program
Grand Canyon University
Generic ACE only, capped at 30 credits. Does not name any provider.
90 ceiling − 67 awarded for your license = 23 credits you can fill yourself.
Awards no fixed license block — it articulates your actual ADN, so your room depends entirely on which school you came from.
The detail on Grand Canyon University
You may transfer a total of 30 credits from alternative transfer credit options, including national exams, GCU-approved certificates and the Lifelong Learning Assessment (LLA).
- What your license earns you
- No fixed block. GCU articulates the ADN coursework itself, typically consuming 61-74 of the 90 credits depending on the feeder school.
- Statistics requirement
- HLT-362V Statistics is taken at GCU, not transferred in
- Gen ed still needed
- ENG 101/107 (3), ENG 102/108 (3), Humanities and Fine Arts (3), CRE 101 (0-3), plus psychology and mathematics
- Admission GPA
- Not published for the RN-BSN specifically; general undergraduate transfer floor is 2.25
- Credit expiration
- Not published
- Cost
- $345/credit online (the same page also shows $340)
Watch out: GCU does not state whether ACE provider coursework counts against the 30-credit alternative bucket — it probably does, but that is not published. Statistics cannot be transferred in at all. The program page says gen ed is 6-8 credits while the transfer guides show 16-19.
Sources: Transfer credits and the 30-credit alternative cap · RN to BSN program
Purdue Global
Names StraighterLine and Saylor with per-provider crosswalks
Quarter credits: 135 ceiling − 119 block = 16 quarter credits, about 11 semester credits.
Names four providers with real crosswalks — but its huge licensure block leaves only about 11 semester credits to use them on.
The detail on Purdue Global
You can earn college credit for American Council on Education (ACE) recommended courses offered by partners like … StraighterLine …
- What your license earns you
- 119 quarter credits of prior-learning licensure credit — the second largest block here, and it crowds out the transfer ceiling.
- Statistics requirement
- MM207 Statistics — 5 quarter credits
- Gen ed still needed
- After the licensure block, only CM220 College Composition II (5), MM207 Statistics (5) and SC246 Microbiology (5) remain
- Admission GPA
- Not published
- Credit expiration
- Not published
- Cost
- $315 per quarter credit
Watch out: The room is tiny but precisely targeted: the 15 quarter credits still needed fit almost exactly inside the 16 available. If you buy exactly composition II, statistics and microbiology it works. Buy anything else and there is nowhere to put it.
Sources: Credit by exam and course — names four providers · RN-to-BSN catalog
Common questions
What does “credits you can actually fill” mean?
Every RN-to-BSN advertises a transfer ceiling, usually 90 credits. Then it awards you a block of credit for your RN license — and that block comes out of the same ceiling. The two are not separate allowances.
So a school awarding 80 credits for your license sounds generous but leaves you 10 credits of room to transfer anything in. One awarding 30 leaves you 60. Same advertised ceiling, six times the savings. That remaining space is the number on each card, and it’s the only one that decides how much you can buy cheaply elsewhere.
Do I have to choose UMGC to use StraighterLine?
No. UMGC is our top pick because it’s the only school on this list attaching a tuition discount to arriving from StraighterLine, but every program listed as “Buy with confidence” or “Confirm first” leaves real room for outside credit.
What changes between them is price, how much room you get, and how clearly the school publishes its policy. The cards show all three so you can decide for yourself.
Why isn’t my school on this list?
One of three reasons. It may be among the seven we checked and left out because the license award eats almost the whole transfer ceiling, which makes buying outside credit a waste of money. It may be one of two programs other guides still recommend that no longer admit students. Or we may simply not have verified it yet — we checked 23, not every program in the country.
If your school isn’t here, the question to ask its advisor is the one this page is built on: after the credit you award for my RN license, how many transfer credits do I have left?
What’s the difference between “Buy with confidence” and “Confirm first”?
Buy with confidence means the school leaves real transfer room and publishes a policy naming outside providers, so you can check your courses against it before spending anything.
Confirm first means the room exists, but something needs a phone call — a cap on how much outside credit counts, a policy that doesn’t name providers, or two published statements that contradict each other. The specific catch is written on each card under “Watch out”.
What’s the fine print on the UMGC 25% discount?
It applies to out-of-state tuition on most undergraduate programs, and you have to note StraighterLine on your application — it isn’t backdated to terms you’ve already paid for, so do it before you enroll.
UMGC doesn’t publish which programs are excluded. That’s the one thing worth confirming with an advisor before you count on it.
Are there any courses StraighterLine can’t cover?
Two gaps. StraighterLine has no developmental or lifespan psychology course, and no fine arts courses. If your program requires either — and several do — you’ll need those from a community college.
Everything else on a typical RN-to-BSN gen-ed list is almost certainly covered.
Is $12,400 really the whole cost at UMGC?
It’s the whole cost of finishing, which is what’s left once your ADN counts. About $820 for seven gen-ed courses at StraighterLine, plus 30 credits of nursing coursework at UMGC’s discounted out-of-state rate of $385.50 — $11,565. Total $12,385.
It doesn’t include books and fees beyond StraighterLine’s included eTextbooks, your license renewal, or anything an employer might reimburse. It also assumes UMGC accepts the full 90 credits, which depends on your transcript — an advisor can tell you exactly where you land before you commit.
Are these programs really fully online?
Yes — no campus visits, no set class times, nothing requiring you to move or take time off for a residency.
One honest detail: like essentially every BSN, each includes some practice-experience hours — a community-health project or leadership practicum, roughly 30 to 110 hours depending on the school. You arrange those near you, often at your own workplace. Local hours, not campus hours.
How long does this take?
StraighterLine courses average about 28 days each, and they’re self-paced — running two or three at once, most people clear all seven in about three months, against roughly two part-time semesters at a university. The BSN itself typically runs 9 to 18 months after that, depending on how much you transferred.
Do I have to stop working?
No. These programs are built for working nurses — asynchronous courses, frequent start dates, and practice hours you can often complete at your own facility.
Is StraighterLine credit the same as college credit?
It’s ACE-recommended credit, the standard route for evaluating learning outside a traditional classroom. You complete the course, earn a letter grade, and StraighterLine sends an official transcript at no extra cost. More than 3,000 institutions have accepted its credit.
It isn’t the same as credit from a regionally accredited college, and some schools treat the two differently — which is exactly why the four above matter. They’ve said in writing that they take it.
OnlineDegree.com may earn a commission when you enroll through our links, and is compensated for referrals to some schools. That never changes our data, our comparisons, or which providers we include. We checked 23 programs, show the 16 that leave usable transfer room, and name one top pick. Prices and policies verified September 2026.