Winston-Salem State University Division of Nursing

Why WSSU nursing matters for Black students

Winston-Salem State University is one of North Carolina's eleven HBCUs and a constituent campus of the University of North Carolina system. The Division of Nursing inside the School of Health Sciences was established in 1953 and has been producing baccalaureate-prepared registered nurses for more than seven decades. If you want a degree from a school where Black nursing students are the norm and not the exception, and where the faculty leadership has long been Black women in senior clinical and academic roles, WSSU is one of the most established options in the South.

Accreditation and what you actually graduate with

The BSN, MSN, DNP, and post-graduate APRN certificate programs are all accredited by the Commission on Collegiate Nursing Education (CCNE). CCNE accreditation is the credential nursing employers and state licensing boards look for, and it is the same accreditation held by every UNC-system nursing school. Graduates sit for the NCLEX-RN through the North Carolina Board of Nursing.

NCLEX pass rate

The North Carolina Board of Nursing publishes annual first-time NCLEX-RN pass rates. For 2024 WSSU's BSN program posted a 94% first-time pass rate, in line with the North Carolina BSN average of 94% and two points above the national BSN average of 92%. The three-year picture from NCBON: 83% in 2021, 86% in 2022, and 100% in 2023 (all 71 graduates passed). The trajectory matters because it shows a program that has tightened its prep pipeline rather than coasting on history.

Programs and pathways

• Traditional BSN on a holistic-admission model: prerequisites and general education first, then five semesters of upper-division nursing courses. Minimum cumulative and science GPA of 2.6, C or better in prerequisite nursing science courses, ATI TEAS required.
• Accelerated BSN (ABSN), 15 months full-time for students who already hold a bachelor's degree in another field.
• LPN to BSN and Paramedic to BSN bridges for licensed practitioners.
• RN to BSN, online with evening courses, 3 to 5 semesters, designed for working nurses.
• MSN, fully online, with two tracks: Family Nurse Practitioner (FNP) and Advanced Nurse Educator (ANE). 2 years full-time, 3 years part-time, no GRE or MAT required.
• DNP in two flavors: BSN-DNP (78 semester hours, FNP focus, approximately 3 years) and MSN-DNP (33 semester hours, 2 years). Both fully online with synchronous Zoom components.

Cost (2025-2026)

WSSU is among the most affordable BSN programs in North Carolina. Undergraduate tuition and fees at 12+ credit hours per semester run $3,049 in-state and $8,377 out-of-state, with per-credit-hour rates of $141.71 in-state and $585.73 out-of-state for the tuition portion. The published total Cost of Attendance, which adds room, meals, fees, and health insurance, is $19,728 per year in-state and $29,975 per year out-of-state. WSSU reports that roughly 85% of students receive financial aid, and the average net price for in-state students receiving federal aid is around $12,415.

Application deadlines

Different tracks run different cycles. The Traditional BSN holistic admission application window opens October 15 and closes January 31 at midnight for the following fall start in the upper division. The RN to BSN program has rolling deadlines: August 5 for fall, December 13 for spring, May 1 for Summer I. The DNP admits once yearly in fall with an early-consideration deadline of February 15 and a final deadline of June 30. For the ABSN, contact the nursing office directly because cycle dates shift year to year.

Clinical partners and simulation

WSSU sits inside one of the densest healthcare markets in the Southeast. The two anchor partners are Atrium Health Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center, the academic medical center two miles north of campus, and Novant Health Forsyth Medical Center. WSSU's Virtual Hospital simulation lab has two locations: the main lab in the New Science Building on campus, and a second simulation site on the first floor of the Progressive Care Building on the Atrium Health Wake Forest Baptist campus. RN to BSN students also rotate through cohort sites at Duke, UNC Hospitals, UNC Rex, WakeMed, FirstHealth Moore Regional, Alamance Regional, McDowell Hospital, and Appalachian Regional in Hickory.

Student support

Beyond the holistic admission process, WSSU runs a Guaranteed Admission Program (GAP) for qualifying applicants, a Nurse Faculty Loan Program for graduate students preparing to teach, and a pathway partnership with Salem Academy and College formalized in February 2025 that gives Salem students a defined route into the WSSU BSN. School of Health Sciences honor societies provide leadership opportunities on top of the academic load.

How to apply

Start at the Bachelor of Science in Nursing page and the Division of Nursing page. For admissions questions email nursingosa@wssu.edu or call 336-750-2513. Graduate nursing applicants use graduatenursingosa@wssu.edu.