Nursing

Study nursing at Union College!

Contact Missy, your enrollment counselor, to find out how you can start nursing school in August 2024. Your nursing education may start sooner than you think!
Phone: 402.486.2504 | E-mail: nursing@ucollege.edu | Text: 402.607.8201

photo of Missy

Top test scores in Nebraska.

100%
NCLEX-RN first-time pass rate(May '23)

Thinking about transferring to Union? Click here!

Union's nursing program is among the best in the nation, and we prove it each year with our consistently high NCLEX-RN first-time pass rate. Union College nursing graduates are in high demand in Nebraska and across the nation.

If you want to be part of a rewarding, growing profession that demands equal parts excellence and empathy, then nursing may be the perfect fit for you.

Why study nursing?

  • Experts project that more than one million nursing jobs will be added in the U.S. over the next three years. And all that demand means great pay—$70,000–$80,000 per year on average.
  • Everybody needs nurses, so you’ll be able to find a job wherever you want.
  • Make a difference in the lives of people who need it most.

Guarantee your spot in nursing school.

Eligible students can ensure a spot in the nursing program even before completing prerequisites.

High school students — guarantee your spot!

Here's how getting into most nursing schools works: first, you have to complete two to four semesters of college with outlined prerequisite courses. Then, you apply to a nursing program. But depending on your competition that year, you may not get in. You might have to take a semester off or apply to multiple nursing schools.

At Union, we've transformed the process. With guaranteed admission, we save your spot so that once you're done with the three prerequisite semesters at Union, you can jump right into the nursing program. 

Who is eligible?

High school students enrolling in college for the first time (advanced placement courses in high school are allowed) who meet the following criteria:

  • Cumulative high school GPA of 3.5 or above on a 4.00 scale
  • Minimum score of 24 on the ACT or 1190 on the new SAT 1600 scale

Sound amazing? If you meet the criteria, all you need to do to secure your spot is complete Union College's application—Apply now!


Don't get stuck on a waiting list.

You'll get the best education and jobs.

One hundred percent of Union's nursing graduates get jobs within three months of passing the NCLEX-RN at health care organizations here in Lincoln and across the country. In fact, one health care system in Ohio guarantees a job and signing bonus just for graduating from the Nursing Program.

Why study at Union College?

  • Small class sizes mean plenty of personal attention—our NCLEX-RN first-time pass rate is higher than any other school in the state of Nebraska and it soars above the national average. Make that 100% in 2020.
  • Union’s Nursing Simulation Center allows you to practice in a hospital-like environment with patient volunteers and high-tech patient simulators.
  • Every month a group of Union nursing and physician assistant students hold a foot clinic at Matt Talbot Kitchen and Community Outreach, a food kitchen for Lincoln’s homeless.
  • Each year, nursing students make a trip to a developing nation to run medical clinics in remote areas of the country that receive little modern medical care.

After completing my first week in working at Johns Hopkins, I was very proud to say that I am a Union College graduate. As I compared myself to other new graduates in my residency program here at Hopkins, I humbly and proudly realized my teachers at Union thoroughly prepared me to assume my role as a new nurse. Union's faculty invest in students individually and teach the important content and skills that graduates need to be very prepared as we begin our nursing careers. I know I still have a lot to learn, but I believe Union College gave me a great foundation that will help me, by God's grace, succeed in my nursing career.

Dorinda Ackah
a recent graduate and now an acute care specialist in Laurel, Maryland
photo of Dorinda Ackah

Majors and minors

Union offers a Bachelor of Science in Nursing—a four-year degree that admits a new class every semester.

Traditional students
(beginning as freshmen at Union)

Transfer students
(prerequisites completed elsewhere)

State of Nebraska licensure requirements can be found here. Learn about Nursing licensure in other states.

Nursing runs in my family, and I never really considered any other career. But when I struggled with science classes at the private college near my Oregon home, my professors suggested I try another occupation. Every nursing school in the state had a two-plus year waiting list, but a Google search led me to apply to Union College in far away Nebraska. From my first interview, I could see a difference—a deep spiritual faith, a strong support system, and faculty who cared about my success. I wish I had discovered Union sooner. If I had come here my freshman year, I would have had the support and the community to succeed sooner. Now I’m proud to be a Union College nurse.

Heather Boone
a recent graduate now working in the emergency department of a hospital in Salem, Oregon
photo Heather Boone

Your career options

Registered nurse

Provide and coordinate patient care, educate patients and the public about various health conditions, and provide advice and emotional support to patients and their family members.

Job outlook
15% growth (much faster than average)

Median pay
$70,000

Nurse anesthetist

Advanced practice nurse who administers anesthetics for surgical, obstetrical and trauma care in a variety of medical settings.

Job outlook
30% growth (much faster than average)

Median pay
$110,000