A Major Switch: Can current undergrads take on Nursing?

By Aurora Ferreira

Current Stonehill students who want to switch into the new nursing program may find themselves in school a bit longer.

With the preparation and advertising being put into Stonehill College’s new Nursing program, there are many questions waiting to be answered.

“We are in an unusual situation this year, as it is the first time we are recruiting nursing students. We have an established process for current Stonehill students to apply for an internal transfer,” said Susan Taylor, Stonehill’s Dean of Nursing.

Current students in the Class of 2029 who are interested in Nursing may apply for internal transfer consideration into the BSN program by first scheduling a meeting with the Office of Academic Advising and then completing the Nursing Internal Transfer Application Form. This form is due April 1st, 2026. The final decision on Nursing transfer applications will be made no later than May 15^th. Students who had previously attended other colleges will be allowed to transfer to Stonehill to apply for the Nursing program.

“Any student who has already been in college will have their transcript reviewed, and courses meeting Stonehill's policy will have transfer credits accepted. These credits may decrease the number of courses students need to take at Stonehill. However, since we are building the clinical courses as we go, it is not currently possible to transfer in at a higher level. All students must be part of the cohort slated to graduate in 2030,” Taylor said.

Stonehill’s Nursing Major homepage lists the approved final curriculum that nursing majors will be expected to complete. Over the course of four years, nursing students will finish their degree with 126 credits, a full six credits greater than the average Stonehill student needs to graduate.

The tight program leaves little wiggle room for students who might want to take on a minor, let alone another major.

“It’ll be hard for a nursing student to take on a minor, unless they want to take on 135 credits or something. They’d have to go quite a bit beyond,” said Mitchell Glavin, Dean of Healthcare Science.

Glavin said some current students may be interested in the nursing major. “It’s possible there may be Healthcare management students or Health Science students interested, but I haven’t heard of anything yet.”

Katherine Harris, the chair of the Health Science department, said the new major is generating curiosity. “There has been some interest, but from what I know, it’s been pretty minimal,” said Harris.

Harris said those who go into nursing must know from the start that what they want to do is nursing, describing it as “a straight and narrow path.”

Harris said the Health Science major is more open and offers many paths, including the opportunity to pursue a 14-16 month accelerated nursing program after graduating with their bachelor’s degree.

“We’ve had many students go down that path and be happy and successful,” Harris said.