UL Lafayette RN to BSN Online: eight-week terms and a 30-credit core
UL Lafayette's RN to BSN Online takes a working RN with an ADN to the 120-credit BSN through a 30-credit nursing core, taught in eight-week terms inside Moodle. UL Lafayette puts the fastest finish at 12 months, and its catalog plan includes no precepted clinical course. If UL Lafayette's MSN is your next step, this guide also shows what to line up while you finish.
Heading for the MSN after your BSN?
Tell us the concentration you are considering and your expected start term.
How the program runs
The catalog lists the track as Nursing, BSN (RN to BSN Online): 120 credits in total, with a 30-credit nursing core that the online program page also cites. Courses are 100% online, run in eight-week blocks and are delivered through Moodle, which you reach through ULink with your ULID; the student systems guide explains each tool.
UL Lafayette's online page puts the quickest route at 12 months, and the catalog describes five eight-week terms. For start dates, UL Lafayette gives one list for all its online bachelor's programs, January, March, June, August or October, without a separate list for the RN to BSN, so confirm your start with an enrollment specialist.
Before any nursing course, you complete a mandatory online orientation course. UL Lafayette's pages list no on-campus sessions for this program.
The 30-credit nursing core
Eight courses make up the core. The catalog sets the order at both ends: NURS 354 and the orientation course come before the later nursing courses, STAT 214 must be done before NURS 406, and NURS 499 is taken last.
| Course | Title | Credits |
|---|---|---|
| NURS 327 | Interprofessional Community Health Care with Diverse Populations | 4 |
| NURS 344 | Nursing in a Disaster for RN to BSN | 2 |
| NURS 354 | Transition to Professional Nursing for RN to BSN | 6 |
| NURS 355 | Health and Physical Assessment | 2 |
| NURS 406 | Evidence-Based Practice for RN to BSN | 4 |
| NURS 408 | Trends in Genetics and Genomics | 2 |
| NURS 421 | Nursing Leadership and Management for RN to BSN | 4 |
| NURS 499 | Capstone Project | 6 |
NURS 354 does double duty. Finishing it earns you 13 more credits, standing in for NURS 104, NURS 204, NURS 208 and IPHE 310 from the pre-licensure plan, a sizable block toward the 120-credit total. The capstone, NURS 499, is the largest single course in the core at 6 credits.
Is there a clinical component?
UL Lafayette publishes no clinical or practicum hours for the RN to BSN. The catalog entries for NURS 327, NURS 354, NURS 355, NURS 406, NURS 421 and NURS 499 each list zero lab contact hours, and the catalog plan contains no precepted clinical course.
The School of Nursing's program page, however, mentions hands-on experiences without describing them or giving hours. Both statements can be true at once: a course can include applied work in your own practice or community without being a precepted clinical course. Only UL Lafayette can tell you what that phrase covers.
Before you build a work schedule around the program, ask your faculty advisor whether any course expects time in a practice setting, and how much. Nurses working rotating shifts in particular benefit from knowing this before the term that includes community health or the capstone.
The catalog shows no precepted course, while the program page mentions hands-on experiences. Ask your faculty advisor what those involve.
Admission requirements
- An active, unencumbered U.S. RN license
- An ADN from a U.S. program the catalog describes as NLNAC accredited, using the older accreditor acronym
- A GPA of 2.4 or higher in that ADN program
- Completion of the mandatory online orientation course before your nursing courses
The catalog also warns that UL Lafayette's programs are not all available in all states, which matters for an online program with students outside Louisiana. UL Lafayette's state authorization page sets out where its online programs can accept students, and our state authorization guide reads it program by program.
Because the catalog's RN to BSN text still uses older names, including NLNAC for the ADN accreditor, ask admissions how that wording applies to your school if your ADN program's accreditation is recorded under a newer name.
Grades and time limits
The RN to BSN keeps its grade rules simple, but the time rules deserve attention from anyone balancing work and school.
- A C or better in every course
- No course may be taken more than twice
- A 2.0 GPA
- All requirements finished within three years of admission
- More than one consecutive term without enrollment drops you from the program
The enrollment rule is the one working nurses trip over. A single missed eight-week term is allowed, but a second consecutive term off means you are dropped, so if a hard stretch at work is coming, talk with your advisor about a lighter load rather than a pause. The grades and progression page compares these rules with the MSN's stricter B-or-better standard.
Planning ahead for UL Lafayette's MSN
If the MSN is already on your horizon, plan the two programs together. UL Lafayette's online MSN, run through the ICMSN consortium with FNP, PMHNP and Nursing Education concentrations, admits for Spring (apply by Oct 30) and Fall (apply by June 30). A 12-month RN to BSN finish can line up with either deadline if you plan it.
What the MSN asks for, and how the RN to BSN connects
- An accredited BSN (ACEN or CCNE, per the MSN web page)
- A 2.75 undergraduate GPA, well above the RN to BSN's 2.0 progression floor
- An undergraduate statistics course; ask whether your
STAT 214fills it - Lifespan physical assessment coursework; ask whether
NURS 355fills it - A statement of purpose, a resume or CV and proof of immunization
- An unencumbered Louisiana or multistate RN license (the How to Apply page names Louisiana)
Read more in our FNP, PMHNP and Nursing Education guides.
Where we fit: the MSN's practicum stage
The RN to BSN itself involves no preceptor search. Our work begins at the MSN's practicum courses, where the rules tighten: the MSN pages call for clinical experiences in Louisiana, no clinical day starts until the consortium has the agency contract, a preceptor CV and the signed letter of agreement in hand, and the Louisiana Board sets standards for who may precept a nurse practitioner student.
However your MSN placement is handled on UL Lafayette's side, our service is built around exactly those rules. We scout preceptors and sites within easy reach of home, test each against your course objectives and put the approval file together well ahead of the semester. If you already work in Louisiana health care, a practicum at your own employer can work too, provided the practicum hours are unpaid and kept separate from your job duties.
Approval rests with course faculty; our part is a file with every piece in place when it lands. When the MSN is a semester or two away, tell us your concentration and start term through our contact page.
Questions UL Lafayette students ask
Will I need a preceptor for UL Lafayette's RN to BSN?
The 2026-27 catalog plan names no precepted clinical course, and six of the eight core course entries list zero lab contact hours. The School of Nursing's page does mention hands-on experiences, without hours, so ask your faculty advisor what those involve. Preceptors become central later, in the MSN's practicum courses.
What months can I start UL Lafayette's RN to BSN?
UL Lafayette's online programs overview says online bachelor's programs enroll in January, March, June, August or October. That list covers every online bachelor's program, and UL Lafayette publishes no separate RN to BSN start list, so confirm your start term with an enrollment specialist before you plan around a date.
What happens if I skip a term in the RN to BSN?
One term without enrollment is tolerated, but the catalog drops students who go more than one consecutive term without enrolling. Separately, every requirement must be finished within three years of admission, so long breaks eat into that window. If time away looks likely, raise it with your advisor before the term begins.
Does the RN to BSN require a Louisiana license?
Any U.S. state's RN license works for admission, provided it is active and unencumbered; it need not be a Louisiana one. Where you live still matters, because the catalog warns that availability varies by state. The license rule changes at the MSN, which asks for a Louisiana or multistate RN license.
Which courses does NURS 354 give me credit for?
Completing NURS 354, Transition to Professional Nursing for RN to BSN, awards 13 credits covering NURS 104, NURS 204, NURS 208 and IPHE 310. Those are courses from the pre-licensure BSN plan, and the credit counts toward the 120 you need. Take NURS 354 early, since the catalog places it before the later nursing courses.
Related pages
Last checked 2026-09-27
We check these pages against UL Lafayette's 2026-27 catalog, its online program and state authorization pages, the ICMSN student handbook and Louisiana's nursing rules. Your course faculty and your plan of study have the final word.
Whether UL Lafayette helps or you start alone, we find the preceptor.
Tell us your UL Lafayette program, the practicum coming up and the Louisiana town you train near. We look for preceptors and sites that fit the course and gather the license, CV and agency details that must be on file before your first clinical day.
- Preceptors who meet Louisiana's rules: an active Louisiana license, most hours with an APRN in your population focus
- The preceptor's CV, the agency details and your letter of agreement items gathered early
- Across Acadiana and the rest of Louisiana, plus DNP residencies in your home state
Start your placement plan
Your program, your town and your next clinical semester is all we need to begin.