Massachusetts
Best RN to BSN Programs in Massachusetts, Ranked (2026)
Massachusetts Prices This Degree Twice, and Nothing Sits in Between
The 3 public programs on this page all post the same in-state tuition: $970 a year. The 3 private ones start at $27,038 and run to $49,680. Nothing is priced anywhere between those two figures. You are picking between two markets rather than shopping along a curve, and that shapes this decision more than the order of the list does.
What keeps the expensive market alive is what the state pays. The median Massachusetts RN earns $104,550 against $97,550 nationally — $7,000 above, and 8th of 51 states. A nurse here is weighing tuition against one of the higher state medians in the country rather than against a wage that lags it.
And the expensive market is winning on volume. The 3 private programs confer 361 nursing bachelor's degrees a year between them; the 3 public ones confer 218. Regis College, the priciest program here and the lowest-scoring, is the single largest at 151 a year. Price is clearly not what most nurses in this state are choosing on, which makes it worth pinning down what the $49,680 programs are actually selling: how much of an ADN they take, whether coursework is asynchronous, how many start dates a year, and whether you are expected to find your own precepted hours. Those answers justify a 51-fold difference or they do not.
One number on the list needs a caveat rather than applause. Laboure College of Healthcare posts a 100% institutional graduation rate, the highest in Massachusetts, and still sits 4th because cost carries 55% of the score. IPEDS measures graduation for first-time, full-time undergraduates, which no RN-to-BSN student is, so where an entering cohort is small that figure moves on a few students. Across the ranked programs the spread runs from 54% to 100% — read it as a signal about the institution, not about the completion track.
On delivery, 2 of the 6 state on their own pages that the track is fully online: Laboure College of Healthcare and Endicott College. Check each card for the school's stated delivery requirements. For a nurse working three twelves the question is never really "is it online", it is whether anything meets at a fixed hour, and only an admissions office can answer that.
The 6 RN to BSN Programs in Massachusetts, Ranked
Scored on in-state tuition (55%) and institutional graduation rate (45%). How we rank.
- 1st in Massachusetts
Worcester State University
Worcester, MA · Public Hybrid $970 annual in-state tuition 61% institutional graduation rate 45 degrees a year 81.1 scoreWorcester State runs its RN-to-BS track as a hybrid three-semester day cohort that meets on campus one weekday, either Tuesday or Thursday from 9am to 4pm, rather than as a self-paced online completion program.Nursing accreditation on file: CCNE. DAPIP, . Learn more about Worcester State University's RN to BSN (opens the school's own site)Track Two is Worcester State's completion route to a Bachelor of Science for nurses who already hold a license. Every applicant must hold a current, unencumbered license to practice as an RN in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. Admission calls for official high school and college transcripts and a minimum 2.5 GPA, and the full application has to be complete before May 1 to be considered for that September. Associate degree and diploma graduates earn 29 nursing credits for their NCLEX-RN licensure. Transfer students can bring in up to 72 credits from an accredited associate degree college and a maximum of 90 from four-year colleges and universities, and anyone who already holds a BA or BS in another major needs only the nursing courses plus the nursing prerequisites. Those prerequisites are College Writing I and II, Statistics I, Introduction to Sociology, General Psychology, Human Anatomy and Physiology I and II, and Microbiology or Medical Microbiology; all of them, statistics included, must be finished with a C or higher before a student can enter the nursing sequence.
The nursing portion itself is 31 credits, taken in sequence, and all Track Two courses are offered in a hybrid format combining in-class and online work. The full-time day program runs three semesters: nine credits in the first (Transition to Baccalaureate Nursing, Nursing Informatics, and Selected Mechanisms of Disease and Related Pharmacology), ten in the second (Health Assessment, Research Seminar in Nursing, and Advanced Nursing Perspectives in Chronic Illness), and twelve in the third, where the six-credit Community/Public Health Nursing course sits alongside Professional Nursing Leadership and Organization and Health Policy, the last of which the catalog lists as online. Students are admitted as a cohort and class meets either Tuesday or Thursday, 9am to 4pm. A minimum grade of 80 is required in every nursing course; only one nursing course may be repeated to reach that grade or the required GPA, and it must be repeated within two years. A minimum of 120 credits is required for graduation.
- 31 nursing credits
- Hybrid: in-class and online
- Massachusetts RN license required
- Three semesters, full-time day cohort
- Up to 72 transfer credits from an associate degree
- 2nd in Massachusetts
Fitchburg State University
Fitchburg, MA · Public Online $970 annual in-state tuition 55% institutional graduation rate 137 degrees a year 78.2 scoreFitchburg State's 32-credit online nursing core runs in seven-week sessions and requires two courses beyond the standard completion subjects: Social Justice and Advocacy, and Caring for Forensic Populations, which teaches forensic health assessment and violence prevention and intervention.Nursing accreditation on file: CCNE. DAPIP, . Learn more about Fitchburg State University's RN to BSN (opens the school's own site)Fitchburg State's RN to BS in Nursing is a post-licensure completion program, and a valid RN license is required for admission. The nursing portion is 10 courses covering 32 credit hours, delivered online in an accelerated format with seven-week course sessions and multiple start dates each year. Students who need only the nursing courses and carry two courses per seven-week session can finish in as few as 12 months; completion runs longer for anyone taking one course per session or still owing additional credits. The degree as a whole takes 120 credit hours, the 32 nursing credits plus another 88 including general education, which an applicant can satisfy by transferring credits earned in an associate program. Tuition is billed by the course at $311 per credit hour and $933 per course, $9,952 for the nursing program, at the same rate for in-state and out-of-state students with all fees included.
The curriculum covers health and physical assessment, evidence-based practice, health care policy and finance, genomics for nursing practice, and nursing in a global community, and it carries an emphasis on social justice and advocacy plus an introduction to caring for forensic populations, each a required course. Of the 32 credits, 24 are nursing core courses and two are clinical practicum courses: the four-credit Community Based Nursing applies the nursing process to vulnerable populations across distributive care settings, with a clinical practice experience that lets students apply practice to theory, and the four-credit RN to BS Capstone has students examine nursing trends in their practicum placement. Admission requires a nursing license in good standing, a minimum 2.5 GPA in prior coursework, a statement of purpose, and official transcripts from all colleges and universities attended. The baccalaureate degree in nursing is accredited by the Commission on Collegiate Nursing Education.
- 32 credits, 10 courses
- As few as 12 months
- Seven-week online sessions
- Valid RN license required
- $311 per credit, in- or out-of-state
- 3rd in Massachusetts
Westfield State University
Westfield, MA · Public Online $970 annual in-state tuition 54% institutional graduation rate 36 degrees a year 77.7 scoreWestfield State lets RN to BSN students choose a 12-month or 24-month pace, and the same full-time faculty who teach in the day nursing program teach the completion courses.Nursing accreditation on file: CCNE. DAPIP, . Learn more about Westfield State University's RN to BSN (opens the school's own site)Westfield State University's RN to BSN program is designed for licensed registered nurses building on an associate degree in nursing. Admission requires an associate degree in nursing from an accredited school of nursing, a minimum cumulative GPA of 2.75 on college coursework completed before admission, an unencumbered Massachusetts license to practice as a registered nurse in the United States by the start of the program, official transcripts from all colleges attended, and one academic or professional recommendation. The program starts in September with a June 1 application deadline, and the university accepts up to 90 credits from regionally accredited colleges and universities.
Coursework is online, and students choose to finish in 12 or 24 months. The nursing major carries 30 credits of nursing courses (Global Health, Advanced Health Assessment, Quality Improvement and Interprofessional Collaboration in Healthcare, Healthcare Research for Professionals, Business of Healthcare, Community Health Nursing (RN-BSN), Healthcare Leadership, and the Nursing Capstone and Clinical Internship) plus 28 credits of foundational requirements in microbiology, anatomy and physiology, chemistry, statistics, psychology, and sociology. Nursing and science lab courses require a grade of C or better to stay in good standing, and a student may repeat only one clinical course with a grade below C over the whole program. The program opens with a student-focused orientation to the online platform, and students apply program concepts to their current practice environments before completing a capstone project addressing real problems in care delivery. The baccalaureate degree program in nursing is accredited by the Commission on Collegiate Nursing Education.
- 12 or 24 months
- Online coursework
- Massachusetts RN license required
- 2.75 minimum GPA
- CCNE accredited
- 4th in Massachusetts
Laboure College of Healthcare
Milton, MA · Private nonprofit Fully online $27,038 annual in-state tuition 100% institutional graduation rate 81 degrees a year 71.7 scoreLaboure College of Healthcare ceased academic operations on August 26, 2026, and its RN-to-BSN pages now direct prospective students to Curry College, where the college's nursing mission continues through the Laboure Center.Nursing accreditation on file: CCNE. DAPIP, . Learn more about Laboure College of Healthcare's RN to BSN (opens the school's own site)Laboure College of Healthcare's RN-to-BSN program is no longer accepting students. Every page in the program carries a notice that the college "will cease academic operations on August 26, 2026," and points readers to Curry College, where Laboure's mission continues through the Laboure Center. That date has passed, so the details below describe what the program was rather than a program a nurse can apply to today.
The program was built for nurses who already held an RN license. Classes ran 100% online in seven-week terms with six start dates a year, in January, March, May, July, September, and November, and the college listed completion in 16 months or less with up to 90 transfer credits accepted from prior college coursework. Tuition was $384 per credit. Applicants submitted an application with a non-refundable fee and official transcripts from every institution attended; someone who had finished a nursing program but was not yet licensed could be admitted, but had to show evidence of licensure before the second nursing term started. The nursing curriculum was built from nine three-credit courses, ending with NUR 4336, an evidence-based practice course in which students worked with a mentor on a clinical practice problem and completed 45 hours of direct experience tied to that project. The baccalaureate nursing program was accredited by the Commission on Collegiate Nursing Education.
- Closed August 26, 2026
- 100% online
- Seven-week terms, six start dates
- $384 per credit
- Up to 90 transfer credits
- 5th in Massachusetts
Endicott College
Beverly, MA · Private nonprofit Fully online $39,750 annual in-state tuition 76% institutional graduation rate 129 degrees a year 46.2 scoreEndicott runs its RN to BSN fully online on a cohort model, accepting up to 85 transfer credits so licensed nurses can finish in 15 to 16 months while working full time.Nursing accreditation on file: ACEN and CCNE. DAPIP, . Learn more about Endicott College's RN to BSN (opens the school's own site)Endicott College's RN to BSN is a degree completion program built for experienced or newly graduated nurses who want to earn the BSN while continuing to work full time. It runs 100% online in what the college calls a flexible format, and it is organized as a cohort so students move through the sequence with the same group of peers. The page states completion in 15 to 16 months and accepts up to 85 transfer credits toward the degree, which the curriculum listing puts at 126 credits total. Coursework is aimed at evidence-based care, leadership, health promotion, disease prevention, and the use of technology in clinical and professional practice, with listed nursing courses including RN Role Transition, Scholarship for the Nursing Discipline, Leadership and Management in Nursing, Community/Population Health Nursing, and a senior research and capstone sequence.
The baccalaureate nursing program at Endicott College in Beverly, Massachusetts is accredited by the Accreditation Commission for Education in Nursing (ACEN), based in Atlanta. The page states that the most recent decision by the ACEN Board of Commissioners for the baccalaureate program is Initial Accreditation, and it points readers to acenursing.org for the public information ACEN discloses about the program.
- 100% online
- 15-16 months to complete
- Up to 85 transfer credits
- 126 total credits
- ACEN accredited
- 6th in Massachusetts
Regis College
Weston, MA · Private nonprofit Online $49,680 annual in-state tuition 72% institutional graduation rate 151 degrees a year 33.5 scoreRegis awards 45 credits for associate-level nursing courses and an active RN license.Nursing accreditation on file: ACEN. DAPIP, . Learn more about Regis College's RN to BSN (opens the school's own site)Regis awards 45 credits for associate-level nursing study and an active RN license, within a policy allowing up to 90 total transfer credits. The nursing-credit award is part of the transfer picture, not 45 credits added on top of the transfer maximum. Remaining bachelor's requirements depend on the student's prior coursework.
The completion program has no clinical component and ends with a capstone shaped around the student's nursing interests. Its online classes can be asynchronous or include scheduled Zoom sessions. For an RN working variable shifts, the format of the selected classes matters more than the online label alone: check whether a particular course has scheduled meetings before organizing a term around work.
- 45 credits for prior nursing study and licensure
- Up to 90 total transfer credits
- No clinical component
- Individual nursing-interest capstone
- Asynchronous or scheduled Zoom classes
What It Costs, and Why the Median Is the Wrong Number Here
The spread runs from $970 at Worcester State University to $49,680 at Regis College — a factor of 51. The median across the 6 ranked programs is $14,004, and it describes nothing. With 3 programs at the floor and 3 at the top, the median lands on the fourth-cheapest program rather than in the middle of a market, because there is no middle. Work from the two clusters instead.
The public figure has a second edge worth knowing. In-state is $970; the same 3 programs post $7,050 for out-of-state students, which still comes in under every private option on this page. The private programs charge the same in-state and out-of-state, so residency changes nothing there.
All of these are annual published tuition figures from IPEDS, not the cost of finishing. A completion track usually runs around 30 upper-level credits, so what you pay turns on how many of your ADN and general education credits transfer and how many terms you spread the rest across. Ask every program on this list for a total-to-degree figure in writing, and for what it does with credit you already hold. Per-credit pricing is how this field avoids quoting a total, and at a 51-fold spread the total is the only comparison that means anything.
Massachusetts Pays 8th in the Country
BLS reports a median of $104,550 — $50.27 an hour — for the state's 88,200 registered nurses, against $97,550 nationally. That is $7,000 above the national median and 8th of 51 states.
The spread inside Massachusetts is the more useful figure. The 10th percentile earns $80,310 and the 90th $174,510, a range of $94,200. Setting, specialty, shift differential and years account for far more of what you earn than the state line does, and none of that shows up in a single median.
The caveat that applies to every salary figure on this site: BLS reports all registered nurses as one occupation and does not break pay out by degree. There is no federal number for what a Massachusetts BSN earns against what a Massachusetts ADN earns, and anyone quoting one has invented it. What the BSN is associated with is access — charge and management tracks, case management, public health roles, and admission to an MSN — rather than a raise in the job you already hold.
Source: BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025 release.
2 More Massachusetts Programs, Confirmed but Not Scored
Each of these runs an RN-to-BSN completion track — that part is confirmed — but each confers too few bachelor's degrees a year in this CIP to be scored against the 6 above. That is a rule about comparability, not quality: a program graduating a handful of nurses cannot be placed on a list against one graduating 151 without making the ranking worse. If one of them is near you, it belongs on your shortlist.
- Bay Path University, Longmeadow — Confers fewer than 10 degrees a year, too few to compare
- Framingham State University, Framingham — Confers fewer than 10 degrees a year, too few to compare