A nursing degree is a college-level credential that prepares you to provide patient care, and it comes in several forms ranging from a two-year associate degree to a doctoral program. The level you choose determines how long you’ll be in school, what roles you qualify for, and how much you’ll earn. Registered nurses with a bachelor’s degree earned a median salary of $93,600 in 2024, while advanced practice nurses with graduate degrees earned $132,050.
Types of Nursing Degrees
Nursing education is structured as a ladder. Each degree level opens new career options and builds on the one before it.
An Associate Degree in Nursing (ADN) is the quickest path to becoming a registered nurse. It typically takes two to three years at a community college. Graduates qualify to take the national licensing exam and work as RNs, assessing patients, administering treatments, supervising nursing assistants, and educating patients and families. Many nurses start here because of the lower cost and shorter timeline.
A Bachelor of Science in Nursing (BSN) takes about four years at a university. BSN-prepared nurses qualify for the same RN license as ADN graduates, but the additional coursework in leadership, research, and public health opens doors to supervisory roles, specialty units, and hospital systems that prefer or require a bachelor’s degree. New York State, for example, now requires newly licensed RNs to earn a BSN or higher within 10 years of licensure.
A Master of Science in Nursing (MSN) takes an additional 1.5 to 2 years beyond a BSN and moves nurses into advanced practice. MSN graduates can become nurse practitioners, certified nurse midwives, clinical nurse specialists, certified registered nurse anesthetists, or nurse educators. These roles involve diagnosing conditions, prescribing medications, and leading clinical teams.
A Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP) is the highest clinical nursing degree. It prepares nurses for the same advanced practice roles as an MSN, plus top-level leadership positions like clinical director, healthcare executive, policy consultant, or university faculty.
What You Study in Nursing School
Nursing programs blend science courses, nursing theory, and hands-on clinical training. Before you get into nursing-specific classes, you’ll complete prerequisite science courses: two semesters of anatomy and physiology with lab work, microbiology, chemistry, nutrition, statistics, general psychology, and a course on human development across the lifespan. These prerequisites account for roughly 28 credit hours of foundational coursework.
Once you enter the nursing curriculum, coursework is organized into content areas: fundamentals of nursing and basic clinical skills, mental health nursing, obstetrics and pediatrics, and medical-surgical nursing (the broadest category, covering care of adults with a wide range of conditions). Programs may teach these as distinct blocks or weave them together in an integrated format where you learn about multiple patient populations simultaneously.
Clinical rotations are the other major component. In Virginia, for instance, RN programs require a minimum of 500 hours of supervised direct patient care, and practical nursing programs require at least 400 hours. No more than 25 percent of those hours can come from simulation labs; the rest must involve real patients in hospitals, clinics, or community health settings. Observational experiences don’t count toward the total. These rotations are where textbook knowledge becomes practical skill, and they’re often the most demanding part of nursing school.
Getting Into a Nursing Program
Most nursing programs require an entrance exam alongside your GPA and transcripts. The two most common are the TEAS (Test of Essential Academic Skills) and the HESI A2. The TEAS covers reading, math, science, and English language usage, and it’s the more commonly required exam for both ADN and BSN programs. The HESI A2 may include math, reading, vocabulary and grammar, anatomy and physiology, and additional sections depending on the school.
Admission is competitive. Programs weigh your exam scores alongside your prerequisite grades, particularly in the sciences. Some schools use a points-based system where your GPA, entrance exam score, and any healthcare experience are combined into a ranking.
Licensing After Graduation
Earning a nursing degree doesn’t automatically make you a nurse. You need a license from your state’s board of nursing. For registered nurses, that means passing the NCLEX-RN, a standardized exam administered by the National Council of State Boards of Nursing. Both ADN and BSN graduates take the same exam.
Licensing requirements vary by state. Each state board sets its own rules for application, background checks, and continuing education. If you plan to move or practice across state lines, you’ll need to check the requirements in the state where you want to work, though many states participate in a multistate compact that allows a single license to be used in member states.
Bridge Programs for Working Nurses
If you’re already an RN with an associate degree, you don’t have to start over to earn a BSN. RN-to-BSN bridge programs are designed for working nurses and give credit for prior education and clinical experience. At Iowa State University, for example, the nursing coursework can be completed in two semesters of full-time study or four semesters part-time. Many of these programs are offered entirely online, making them accessible for nurses juggling shift schedules.
Similar bridge pathways exist at the graduate level. BSN-to-MSN and BSN-to-DNP programs allow nurses to advance without repeating content they’ve already mastered.
Salary Differences by Degree Level
The financial return on a nursing degree increases with each level of education. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the 2024 median annual wages break down like this:
- Licensed practical nurses (LPNs): $62,340, requiring a certificate or diploma program (typically one year)
- Registered nurses (RNs): $93,600, requiring an ADN or BSN
- Advanced practice registered nurses (APRNs): $132,050, requiring an MSN or DNP
These are median figures, meaning half of nurses in each category earn more and half earn less. Geography, specialty, years of experience, and work setting all shift the numbers significantly. Nurses in metropolitan areas and those working in hospitals or surgical centers tend to earn more than those in rural clinics or long-term care facilities.
Specializations Within Nursing
A nursing degree gives you a generalist foundation, but most nurses eventually specialize. At the undergraduate level, specialization happens informally through your choice of clinical rotations and your first job. A new grad who takes a position in a cardiac intensive care unit starts building expertise in that area immediately.
Formal specialization comes at the graduate level. MSN and DNP programs offer concentrations in areas like family practice, psychiatric mental health, acute care, pediatrics, women’s health, and oncology. The University of Pennsylvania, for example, offers a pediatric acute care nurse practitioner track with an oncology concentration, preparing graduates to care for children with cancer and blood disorders. Completing a specialized graduate program qualifies you for national certification in that specialty through organizations like the Pediatric Nursing Certification Board or the American Nurses Credentialing Center.
Even without a graduate degree, RNs can earn specialty certifications through additional exams in areas like emergency nursing, critical care, perioperative nursing, or wound care. These certifications signal expertise to employers and often come with higher pay.