The NIU School of Nursing and the College of DuPage Health, Social and Behavioral Sciences Division have reached an agreement to offer an NIU Bachelor of Science in nursing degree at the College of Dupage Glen Ellyn campus which is a traditional two-year college.

Anne Kaplan, vice president for Administrative and University Outreach at NIU, said similar programs have been previously organized to offer NIU BSN’s at five other community colleges in the area.

“These programs help attract working students who might not be able to make it to our campus,” Kaplan said.

The program will enroll 35 students beginning in the fall 2009 semester. Current and former C.O.D. students have enrollment preferences. The program will provide two classes held back-to-back for six hours one night a week. This schedule is designed to fit into the lives of working nurses. A second group of students will enroll once the first group graduates following the spring 2011 semester.

NIU will provide School of Nursing and Health Studies professors to assist members of the C.O.D. nursing faculty. Academic advisers will also be provided to help coordinate course assignments.

Joseph Collins, the executive dean of Academic Affairs at C.O.D., feels this program will help existing nurses with associate degrees advance their careers with baccalaureate degrees.

“This arrangement will make it possible for nurses in the area to get their degree with minimal interruption with their work schedule,” Collins said in a press release.

The agreement will also help students in this struggling economy. Students living in Illinois pay $249 a semester hour at NIU while students living in district pay $108 a semester hour at C.O.D. NIU will provide 24 semester hours through the program at C.O.D., saving students at the community college over $3,300.

However, despite the many advantages of the new program, some students feel the experiences a four-year university offers cannot be passed up.

Cassandra Williams, nursing student at Kishwaukee Community College who plans to transfer to NIU, is one of those students.

“Although it would save me a lot of money to try to get in the program at C.O.D. and it is a little more conveniently located, you can’t quantify the experiences you get at NIU,” Williams said.