Get a Solid Career: Undergraduate and Graduate Nursing Programs in Texas

Online and On-Campus Degrees for Aspiring TX RNs and LPNs

Associates in Nursing degree programs and the schools that offer them remain popular pathways to a nursing career in Texas. Despite the fact that these 2-year programs offer a “fast-track” to nursing they have become a number one obstacle to the state’s nursing shortage: they are clogged with an overabundance of prospective nursing students and with too few faculty and facilities to service the glut. Instead many eager nursing students are sitting for months on community college waitlists.

While you’re searching for nursing schools consider the advantages to enrolling in a baccalaureate, or BSN, program versus ASN. You’ll encounter fewer wait lists AND you’ll be prepared to quickly jump into nearly any nursing specialty once you hit the job market. If you already have a Bachelors degree in another non-nursing field, make sure you look specifically for Accelerated BSN degrees. These newish programs are increasing in number: they slash the time to job for mature adults with previous degrees which in turn helps head off the growing nursing shortage.

Texas Team is a consortium of nursing and health care agencies in Texas that formed to aggressively address and react to the state’s alarming nursing shortage and projected shortfalls through 2013. The taskforce will likely inspire new nurse educational strategies to meet the industry strain. The number one goal is to double the number of nurse graduates. Innovations many schools have already implemented include: shared curriculums, shared facilities, use of clinical nurse assistants, creation of onsite clinicals, addition of online programs, increased nurse faculty salaries, etc. What does this mean for you? No better time to shop for a nursing degree in Texas.

Check out the list of schools below and keep these things in mind:

  • Associates degrees have more waitlists than to BSN or MSN schools
  • Accelerated degrees for BSN and MSN nursing students make quicker work of students with previous degrees in non-nursing fields—fast-track to staff nurse jobs
  • Experienced RNs pursuing Nurse Education degrees could find lucrative financial incentives in form of loan repayment/forgiveness as lures to this high-demand field Increased enrollment and extra funding for nursing schools to expand resources could come from state resources.
  • More schools are developing and launching nursing degree programs for online learners.

Alternative Career Opps for Nursing School Grads in TX

Besides staff nursing in the state’s bevy of hospitals, new nursing grads have other equally challenging opportunities available:

  • Rural nursing is a major challenge in Texas. In fact you’ll find that the larger schools of nursing may offer coursework specifically for nursing students interested in pursuing the rural nursing career track.
  • Advanced Practice Nursing – Nurse Practitioners, Nurse Midwives, Nurse Anesthetists, and Clinical Nurse Specialists – are in high demand across the board.
  • Nurse Educators – you’ll find big incentives to pursue this specialty, including loan repayment and possible salary hikes.

Board of Nursing

The Texas Board of Nursing is the agency responsible for regulating the state’s nursing workforce. Refer to the TX BON when you need information on the following:

  • Licensure for RNs and LPNs
  • Licensure and certification guidelines for APRNs
  • Prescriptive Authority for APRNs
  • Current nursing legislation and industry news
  • List of approved TX nursing schools and current education trends
  • and much more

List of Accredited Campus-Based Nursing Schools in Texas

  • Abilene Christian University
  • Alvin Community College
  • Amarillo College
  • Angelo State University
  • Austin Community College
  • Baptist Health System
  • Baylor University
  • Blinn College
  • Brookhaven College
  • Central Texas College
  • Cisco Junior College
  • College of the Mainland
  • Collin County Community College
  • Covenant Health System
  • Del Mar College
  • East Texas Baptist University
  • El Centro College
  • El Paso Community College
  • Galveston College
  • Grayson County College
  • Hardin-Simmons University
  • Houston Baptist University
  • Howard College
  • Kilgore College
  • Lamar University
  • Laredo Community College
  • Lee College
  • Lone Star College-Cy-Fair
  • Lone Star College-Kingwood
  • Lone Star College-Montgomery
  • Lone Star College- North Harris
  • Lone Star College-Tomball
  • Lubbock Christian University
  • Mclennan Community College
  • McMurry University
  • Midland College
  • Midwestern State University
  • Navarro College
  • North Central Texas College
  • Odessa College
  • Panola College
  • Paris Junior College
  • Patty Hanks Shelton School of Nursing
  • Prairie View A&M University
  • San Antonio College
  • San Jacinto College Central
  • San Jacinto College South
  • South Plains College
  • Stephen F. Austin State University
  • Tarleton University
  • Tarrant County College
  • Temple College
  • Texarkana College
  • Texas A&M International University
  • Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi
  • Texas A&M University-Texarkana
  • Texas Christian University
  • Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center
  • Texas Woman’s University
  • Trinity Valley Community College
  • University of Mary Hardin-Baylor
  • University of Texas-Arlington
  • University of Texas –Brownsville and Texas Southmost College
  • University of Texas-El Paso
  • University of Texas-Tyler
  • University of Texas Health Science Center-Houston
  • University of Texas Health Science Center-San Antonio
  • University of Texas Medical Branch-Galveston
  • University of Texas-Pan American
  • University of the Incarnate Word
  • Victoria College
  • Weatherford College
  • West Texas A&M University

Explore Your Nursing Degree Options Today!