College to Partner with St. Peter’s Health Partners to Grant Dual AS and BS Degrees in Four-year Program
Albany College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences has launched a new degree program in nursing. Students pursuing this program will earn both an Associate of Science degree and a Bachelor of Science degree in four years, while they prepare to take the registered nurse (RN) licensing exam after just three years.
The new nursing program will be available to students beginning in the Fall 2025, and the College will begin accepting applications now.
The interdisciplinary 1+2+1 program is offered in partnership with St. Peter’s Health Partners. Students will enroll in general education and foundational science classes on the ACPHS campus, followed by two years of clinical-skills classes at a nursing school affiliated with St. Peter’s Health Partners.
After the successful completion of year three, students will receive an associate of science degree and be eligible to sit for the NCLEX-RN examination. The final year of study, which is critical for those seeking leadership positions in nursing or those considering graduate study, will be offered in a hybrid format licensed nurses to begin working in the field while balancing their studies with employment.
“The new ACPHS nursing program offers students a seamless opportunity to obtain a bachelor of science degree, a future requirement for New York State and many other states for nurses to continue practicing,” said Dean of ACPHS’ School of Health Sciences, Meenakshi Malik, PhD. “We are confident this will be a leading program for nurses aspiring to practice patient care across a range of health-care settings given our College’s location in the heart of Albany’s medical corridor, the close connection students have with the ACPHS community, and renowned faculty expertise in biomedical sciences, health communication, ethics, and health equity.”
“We are very proud of the work our faculty, staff and administrators have done to get us to this point. We believe that the nurses graduating from this program will make an impact as we work to reduce nursing shortages in the region,” said ACPHS President Toyin Tofade, PharmD. “We are grateful to St. Peters Health Partners for partnering with us on this opportunity.”
Due to increased demand for nurses, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics projects jobs for registered nurses will grow by six percent from 2023 to 2032, with over 194,500 job openings projected annually and a mean salary of $86,000.
ACPHS nursing faculty have access to world-class laboratories, including a biology/anatomy and physiology lab with a digital cadaver, a public-health computer lab and a patient-simulation lab. Additionally, dedicated practice rooms allow nursing students to hone their health assessment and psychomotor skills while on the ACPHS campus. Most classes will involve students preparing for different health-care professions (pharmacy, medicine, public health, biomedical and social sciences) learning together to improve collaboration and patient outcomes and gaining interprofessional experience.
The nursing program is the latest addition to recent academic program opportunities launched by the College, including hybrid and online options. In the past 12 months, ACPHS has expanded its program portfolio by nearly 50 percent as it seeks to be a global leader in preparing students for transformative health careers to solve problems that change the world.
Learn more here about ACPHS’ nursing program.