Grambling State University College of Professional Studies, School of Nursing

Grambling State University sits on 384 acres in Grambling, Louisiana, a small town in Lincoln Parish in the rural northern part of the state. The school opened on November 1, 1901 as the Colored Industrial and Agricultural School, founded by the North Louisiana Colored Agriculture Relief Association, and is one of the older HBCUs in the Deep South. If you are weighing Louisiana HBCU nursing options, the location distinction matters: Southern University and A&M sits in Baton Rouge, a state capital with academic medical centers within walking distance of campus. Grambling is rural. Clinical rotations require driving to Ruston, Monroe, or Shreveport, and the nearest large academic medical center is Ochsner LSU Health Shreveport about 65 miles west. That trade-off cuts both ways, and prospective students should weigh it honestly before committing.

Accreditation and program status

The Bachelor of Science in Nursing program is accredited by the Commission on Collegiate Nursing Education. CCNE granted initial accreditation in November 2021 through December 2026 with zero compliance issues, which is the maximum five-year window CCNE awards on first review. A reaccreditation site visit is on the books for March 2 to 4, 2026. The Master of Science in Nursing program is accredited by the Accreditation Commission for Education in Nursing through 2028. The Louisiana State Board of Nursing granted full state approval to both programs in 2022. This combination of CCNE plus full LSBN approval is the standard that matters for hospital hiring, federal loan eligibility, and graduate school applications.

NCLEX outcomes

The School of Nursing has posted a 100 percent first-time NCLEX-RN pass rate for three straight cohorts. In 2022, all 16 new graduates passed on the first try, the first 100 percent year in the program's history. The 2023 cohort of 11 graduates repeated the feat. The 2024 cohort of 13 made it three in a row. The Louisiana State Board of Nursing requires an 80 percent first-time pass rate to keep full state approval, and Grambling has lapped that bar three times running. The university's posted Student Achievement Outcomes for the 2025 reporting year also list a 100 percent NCLEX pass rate, an 83.33 percent program completion rate, and a 90 percent job placement rate for BSN graduates.

Cost

Louisiana resident undergraduates in nursing pay the differential tuition rate of $3,976.02 per semester for the 2025 to 2026 academic year, which works out to roughly $7,952 per year before housing, books, and per-course nursing clinical fees of $300 to $358. Out-of-state nursing students pay $8,487.52 per semester. On-campus housing brings the in-state full-time semester total to $7,777.02. Per the university, tuition and fees have not risen since 2021. The university financial aid office reports that 87 percent of Grambling undergraduates receive grants or scholarships with an average award around $8,945. Add LASFA TOPS for qualifying Louisiana residents, federal Pell, and HBCU-specific scholarships such as the Tom Joyner Foundation and UNCF awards, and net tuition for many in-state students approaches zero.

Program structure

The traditional BSN runs 120 credit hours over four years. The first 60 hours are pre-nursing general education and prerequisite sciences. Students apply for the professional component during the sophomore year and complete the final 60 hours of clinical and theory courses across the junior and senior years. The program requires 160 total service learning hours, split between 80 course-based and 80 community-based hours, which is a heavier civic engagement footprint than most BSN programs. The RN to BSN track is built for working nurses and awards 30 credit hours by examination for clinical content already mastered, leaving roughly 30 hours of upper-division coursework to finish the degree.

Getting in

BSN admission requires completion of all pre-nursing courses with a C or higher and an overall pre-nursing GPA of 2.8, a 2.8 GPA in all science courses, an ATI TEAS score of 64 percent or higher on the first or second attempt, and a minimum ACT score of 21 or SAT score of 1060 to 1090. The 2026 BSN Application Packet is posted on the School of Nursing page. Apply early. Cohorts run 11 to 16 students, so seats are tight. The university application portal is at goingto.gram.edu/apply with a $20 fee, and the School of Nursing direct contact is (318) 274-2528 or brownmar@gram.edu, which reaches Dr. Meg Brown, PhD, RN, Associate Dean and Nurse Administrator.

Why this program for Black students

You will study in cohorts where you are the majority, taught by a Black faculty led by a Black female nurse administrator who publicly framed the program's revival after its earlier accreditation lapse as a phoenix rising. The small cohort size means faculty know your name, your prep gaps, and your clinical performance in detail, which shows up in the NCLEX numbers. The rural setting means fewer big-city distractions and a tighter campus community organized around football, the World Famed Tiger Marching Band, and a deep tradition of producing Black professionals in Louisiana and beyond. The cost is among the lowest of any CCNE-accredited BSN in the South for in-state students. The honest trade-off is travel time to clinical sites and fewer hospital choices than you would have at a metropolitan program. For students who want a strong, affordable, culturally affirming path to RN licensure and are willing to drive for clinicals, Grambling is delivering results the numbers back up.