Mississippi
Best RN to BSN Programs in Mississippi, Ranked (2026)
Mississippi's Middle 4 Programs Finish Within 1.1 Points of Each Other
That is an unusual thing for a ranking to admit, and it is the most useful thing this page can tell you.
Alcorn State University scores 71.4 and finishes 4.7 points clear of everything else in the state. Belhaven University scores 44, 21.6 points behind the program above it. Those two ends are decided. Between them sit 4 programs — Delta State University, Mississippi University for Women, William Carey University, University of Southern Mississippi — separated by 1.1 point of score, 66.7 down to 65.6. On the two things we measure, those 4 are the same program four times, and anyone who tells you the fourth is meaningfully worse than the second is reading precision into a number that does not have it.
The reason the middle is so flat is that Mississippi's public sector prices this degree at close to one number. 4 of the 6 ranked programs are public and they charge between $8,105 and $9,888 in state — $1,783 apart across a full year. Cost is the heaviest input in the score at 55%, and it has almost nothing to work with. Graduation rates then run 47% to 60% across the 6, which is not enough of a spread to pull the middle apart once price has stopped separating them.
Alcorn State University escapes the pile by winning both inputs at once: the lowest price in the state at $8,105 and a 57% institutional graduation rate, second only to William Carey University's 60%. That graduation figure carries a limit worth stating rather than burying — IPEDS counts first-time, full-time, degree-seeking undergraduates, and as a working RN you are none of the three, so it describes the institution you would enroll at and not the completion cohort you would join.
So if the score cannot separate the middle, what should? The thing the federal data never captures and this reader cares about most: whether the coursework runs at fixed times. One Mississippi program says on its own page that its is not — William Carey University. That is covered below, and it is the question to take into every phone call.
The 6 RN to BSN Programs in Mississippi, Ranked
Scored on in-state tuition (55%) and institutional graduation rate (45%). How we rank.
- 1st in Mississippi
Alcorn State University
Alcorn State, MS · Public Online $8,105 annual in-state tuition 57% institutional graduation rate 65 degrees a year 71.4 scoreAlcorn’s RN-to-BSN option is an online, two-semester pathway for nurses with an associate degree or nursing diploma.Nursing accreditation on file: ACEN. DAPIP, . Learn more about Alcorn State University's RN to BSN (opens the school's own site)The RN-specific admissions sheet linked by Alcorn lists a 2.0 overall GPA and a 2.0 GPA on transferable college credits, with at least a C in prerequisites. Applicants submit both university and nursing applications, an unencumbered RN license, two recommendations, a resume and a personal statement. Prerequisites must be documented before the first clinical nursing course.
- Online RN-to-BSN option
- Two-semester pathway
- 2.0 overall and transfer GPA criteria
- C or better in prerequisite courses
- Separate university and nursing applications
- 2nd in Mississippi
Delta State University
Cleveland, MS · Public Fully online $8,435 annual in-state tuition 48% institutional graduation rate 59 degrees a year 66.7 scoreDelta State awards 39 hours of test-free validation credit for prior associate or diploma nursing coursework once a student passes four specified courses, and lets nurses take four courses as non-degree-seeking students before they formally apply.Nursing accreditation on file: CCNE. DAPIP, . Learn more about Delta State University's RN to BSN (opens the school's own site)Delta State University's RN to BSN is a completion program at the Robert E. Smith School of Nursing and Health Sciences, built for registered nurses who already hold an associate degree or diploma. Coursework is online, with clinical experiences completed in a healthcare or community setting where the student is already geographically located. Students choose full-time or part-time: the full-time plan of study finishes in two semesters, carrying 14 nursing credits in the fall and 13 in the spring, while the part-time plan spreads the same courses across four semesters. Total degree requirements come to 120 credits, made up of 41 hours of general education, 13 hours of special degree requirements and a 66-hour major. Course and lab fees for 2025-2026 total $425 for the program, $190 in the fall and $235 in the spring; tuition covers the classes themselves.
The school says applications are accepted year round, but materials are due to the Robert E. Smith School of Nursing by February 15 prior to the semester of enrollment, and students are admitted in the fall term. Applicants need an overall GPA of 2.0 or higher in the nursing major, a C or better in every prerequisite, graduation from an accredited program, and a copy of a current unencumbered RN license to practice in the state where they will perform clinical. Mississippi statute also requires fingerprinting and a criminal background check at the student's own expense, and accepted students submit a health and immunization form, evidence of personal health insurance and Basic Life Support certification for healthcare providers. Prior nursing coursework is credited without testing: 39 hours of validation credit for associate or diploma nursing courses is awarded once a student successfully completes NUR 311, NUR 331, NUR 312 and NUR 358, and nurses may enroll in NUR 311, NUR 331, NUR 312 and NUR 320 as non-degree-seeking students before admission and apply that credit toward the degree later. The BSN is accredited by the Commission on Collegiate Nursing Education.
- 100% online
- 120 credits total
- Two semesters full-time
- Unencumbered RN license required
- 39 hours test-free validation credit
- 3rd in Mississippi
Mississippi University for Women
Columbus, MS · Public Online $8,392 annual in-state tuition 47% institutional graduation rate 312 degrees a year 66.3 scoreTuition is a flat $10,000 for the entire program whether the student enrolls full-time or part-time, and the university states that rate carries no additional charge for living out of state.Nursing accreditation on file: CCNE. DAPIP, . Learn more about Mississippi University for Women's RN to BSN (opens the school's own site)Mississippi University for Women offers its RN-to-BSN as an Advanced Placement Option through the Vandergriff College of Nursing & Health Sciences, and both of its tracks are online and written for nurses who are already working. The full-time plan of study runs three semesters; the part-time plan runs five. Clinical time is built into the program in both. The degree totals 128 credit hours including prerequisites, 62 of which are prerequisite hours, and students who complete the four introductory nursing courses (NU 360, NU 361, NU 362 and NU 363) receive validation credit for 24 hours of junior-level coursework. Coursework in the later semesters is weighted toward six-hour professional perspectives courses in community nursing practice, leadership and management, and complex health alterations.
Tuition is a flat $10,000 to complete the program on either pace, a figure the university says includes capital improvement fees and adds no extra cost for living out of state. Applicants need a cumulative GPA of 2.0 or greater and an unencumbered registered nursing license from Mississippi or a state in the Nurse Licensure Compact, though part-time students may obtain that license during their first summer semester. Students may apply with at least 50 prerequisite hours finished and may enter still lacking 12 hours or fewer. After acceptance the program requires a document packet covering CPR certification, immunization records, a drug screen and an annual health examination, plus a criminal background check that must be run through Mississippi University for Women. The program accepts no other. The Bachelor of Science in Nursing program is accredited by the Commission on Collegiate Nursing Education, last reviewed in February 2020 with the next review scheduled for spring 2030. The RN-to-BSN office operates from a satellite branch at the Advanced Education Center in Tupelo.
- $10,000 flat-rate tuition
- Three semesters full-time, five part-time
- 128 total credit hours
- Unencumbered RN license required
- CCNE accredited
- 4th in Mississippi
William Carey University
Hattiesburg, MS · Private nonprofit Fully online $14,250 annual in-state tuition 60% institutional graduation rate 114 degrees a year 66.2 scoreTwenty-seven of the degree's 120 credit hours are awarded outright for holding an unencumbered RN license, leaving a 30-hour nursing major of RN-specific coursework that the catalog lists as 100% online.Nursing accreditation on file: CCNE. DAPIP, . Learn more about William Carey University's RN to BSN (opens the school's own site)William Carey University's RN-BSN appears in the 2026-2027 undergraduate catalog as Nursing (RN-BSN), B.S.N., with a listed location of 100% Online. The degree requires a minimum of 120 credit hours, and the catalog breaks them into four blocks. Thirty hours are the nursing major itself: nine NRN courses built for practicing nurses, covering pathophysiology, applied assessment and health promotion, professional writing and informatics, managing health care, community nursing, evidence-based practice, the RN's role on interdisciplinary teams, and a senior capstone called Transition to Baccalaureate Nursing. Another 27 hours are granted rather than taken. The catalog awards credit for seven clinical nursing courses (including Adult Health Nursing I and II, Pediatric Nursing, Mental Health Nursing, and Maternal Child Nursing) by virtue of holding an unencumbered license as a registered nurse in all states where licensed, with a faculty advisor initialing each course on the degree planner when the student applies for the degree.
The balance is 20 hours of additional program requirements, among them both anatomy and physiology courses, general microbiology, nutrition and diet therapy, developmental psychology, introduction to psychological statistics, and sociology, plus 5 hours of general electives and the university's general education curriculum, which at William Carey includes six hours of biblical studies. Every course in the nursing major and in the additional program requirements must be passed with a minimum grade of C. The catalog also sets the transfer arithmetic: no more than 60 of the 120 hours may come from a community or junior college, at least 40 hours must be numbered 300 or above, and the last 30 hours must be earned at William Carey. For admission, progression, and graduation criteria the degree plan points students to the School of Nursing's own program requirements. The School of Nursing describes the RN-BSN as a post-licensure program that augments the associate's degree in an online environment, and states that its baccalaureate and master's nursing programs are accredited by the Commission on Collegiate Nursing Education.
- 100% online
- 120 credit hours
- 27 credits awarded for RN license
- 30-credit RN-specific nursing major
- CCNE-accredited
- 5th in Mississippi
University of Southern Mississippi
Hattiesburg, MS · Public Fully online $9,888 annual in-state tuition 49% institutional graduation rate 170 degrees a year 65.6 scoreSouthern Miss awards RN-BSN students 34 "validation credits" for coursework already completed in their associate degree, part of a plan of study the page says can be finished in two semesters.Nursing accreditation on file: CCNE. DAPIP, . Learn more about University of Southern Mississippi's RN to BSN (opens the school's own site)The RN-BSN track at the University of Southern Mississippi is a post-licensure completion program delivered through the university's online division. It totals 120 credit hours, 30 of them in the major area of study, and the page states the degree can be completed in two semesters with a fall or spring start. Students are granted 34 credits, which the program calls validation credits, for the coursework already taken in their associate degree; they register for those credits during the plan of study. Coursework is priced at $433.59 per credit hour and runs in 7-week and 15-week sessions across the fall and spring plans, with a 10-week summer block in the spring-start sequence. There are no required chemistry courses, and the program lists CCNE accreditation.
Admission is a separate application from admission to the university, and the page is direct that it is competitive and not guaranteed regardless of grades. Applicants must have graduated from an accredited associate degree nursing program, hold a current unrestricted RN license, have an overall nursing GPA of 2.0, and pass all nursing prerequisites with a C or higher alongside an overall GPA of 2.5 or higher. A criminal background check, immunizations, CPR, physical health exam and substance screening are also required. One restriction shapes who can enroll: applicants must be registered to practice nursing in a compact state, and the program states it is not suited to students located outside the United States. Deadlines are May 1 for fall and October 1 for spring, with no exceptions. Every course is available online and students are not required to visit campus for in-class lectures, but two clinical experiences are completed in the student's own health care agency or through community health services.
- 120 credit hours, 30 in the major
- 2 semesters to complete
- 34 validation credits for ADN coursework
- Compact-state unrestricted RN license required
- CCNE accredited
- 6th in Mississippi
Belhaven University
Jackson, MS · Private nonprofit Online $29,800 annual in-state tuition 49% institutional graduation rate 21 degrees a year 44 scoreBelhaven’s online RN-to-BSN has 10 courses totaling 30 credits.Nursing accreditation on file: CCNE. DAPIP, . Learn more about Belhaven University's RN to BSN (opens the school's own site)Belhaven's online nursing sequence contains 10 courses totaling 30 credits. The university's 12-month completion plan assumes prerequisite and general education requirements are already met. Have those requirements reviewed first, because the nursing sequence is not a substitute for any remaining work elsewhere in the degree.
Coursework approaches nursing through a Christian worldview. Applicants enter with a nursing associate degree or diploma and an unencumbered RN license in their home state. Nursing prerequisites require at least C grades and a 2.5 prerequisite GPA. That GPA applies to the prerequisite work, so compare the actual transcript requirements with your record rather than assuming the program uses only an overall college GPA.
- 30-credit, 10-course nursing sequence
- Online completion program
- Published 12-month plan
- 2.5 nursing-prerequisite GPA
- Christian worldview in nursing study
In Mississippi the Public Band Ends and Private Prices Start
The median in-state figure across the 6 ranked programs is $9,162, and the more useful number sits just above it: the public band tops out at $9,888 with University of Southern Mississippi, and everything dearer than that is private. In most states the median sits somewhere in the middle of the public band with programs on either side of it. Here it lands near the end of the public sector, so it is telling you where the public options run out rather than what a typical program costs.
Read it as two prices instead. 4 of 6 programs sit between $8,105 and $9,888. Then William Carey University at $14,250, and then Belhaven University at $29,800 — 3.7 times what Alcorn State University charges, and the single largest jump on the page. Belhaven University finishes 6th on price alone: its 49% graduation rate is mid-table, not low. A 3.7x difference is more than 45% of the score can overcome. One more wrinkle: University of Southern Mississippi is the only ranked program in the state that prices residency differently, at $9,888 in state and $11,888 out. Every other program here charges one price to everyone.
These are annual published tuition figures from IPEDS, not the price of the completion track. Most RN-to-BSN programs run around 30 upper-level credits, so what you actually pay turns on how many of your ADN credits transfer, whether your existing general education counts, and how many terms you spread the rest across. Ask each of these six for a total-to-degree number and for its transfer evaluation in writing. Per-credit pricing is how this field hides the total, and with $1,783 separating the public options, transfer credit will move your real bill further than tuition does.
One Mississippi Program Says Its Coursework Is Asynchronous
When the scores are a point apart, this is what decides it. "Online" is not the question — the question is whether there is a live class at 6pm on a Tuesday you are scheduled to work, because the shift does not move.
3 of the 6 ranked Mississippi programs state on their own pages that the completion track is fully online: Delta State University and William Carey University and University of Southern Mississippi. Of those, William Carey University also states that the coursework is asynchronous — no fixed meeting times. Delta State University and University of Southern Mississippi publish the online part without saying anything about scheduling either way, which is a question to ask rather than an answer to assume.
The remaining 3 have published nothing about delivery in the pages we hold. Most completion tracks in this field are distance education, so the odds are that several of them run online too — but a school that has not published it is a phone call, not an inference, and we do not fill it in on their behalf. Treat 3 as a floor.
Two more things to raise on that call, because no public dataset carries them. First, clinical hours: many completion programs require no traditional bedside clinicals and substitute a community or workplace project, while others still want precepted hours you have to arrange yourself, which is the biggest hidden cost in this decision. Second, start dates — several entry points a year is worth real money when a semester start you miss costs you four months.
Mississippi RN Pay Sits $20,460 Under the National Median
BLS reports a median of $77,090 — $37.06 an hour — for Mississippi's 29,060 registered nurses, with the distribution running from $60,610 at the 10th percentile to $100,350 at the 90th. The national median is $97,550, and Mississippi ranks 50th of 51 states.
That is a fact about the state's pay level, not about its nursing schools or the nurses working in them, and no degree moves a statewide pay level. Any program that quotes you a salary lift for finishing is quoting you something the data does not support. Which is exactly why the price of entry matters more here than it does in a high-wage state: at $8,105 to $9,888 — what 4 of these 6 programs charge — the bar for the degree being worth doing is low, and it clears easily on access to charge roles, case management, public health work and the MSN pathway. At $29,800 it is a different arithmetic, and the question to put to that program is what it gives you that a $8,105 program does not.
One caveat that applies to every salary figure on this site: BLS reports all registered nurses as a single occupation and does not separate pay by degree. There is no federal number for what a Mississippi BSN earns against what a Mississippi ADN earns. Anyone quoting one has made it up. What the BSN is associated with is access to roles that pay above the RN median, not a raise in the job you already hold.
Source: BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025 release.