Imagine a career in nursing in one year’s time.
For those individuals who possess a bachelor’s degree in any field, the University of Oklahoma Fran and Earl Ziegler College of Nursing can make that a reality.
Stacy King, DNP, RNC-OB, CNE is the BSN Program Director and is excited about the school’s newest offering.
The Accelerated Bachelor of Science in Nursing (ABSN) program is tailored for individuals who want to pursue a career in nursing and already have a bachelor’s degree from a US regionally accredited institution. The nursing curriculum is 60 credit hours of courses incorporating theoretical and clinical content and designed to be completed in 12 months of concentrated study.
The program initially began as a 14-month offering.
“Our road to this 12-month ABSN program really started during the Covid 19 pandemic and all of the fallout,” King said. “You know how in Oklahoma we really stalled with the nursing shortage. Our hospitals were feeling the strain. Our communities were feeling the strain and basically in nursing education we really wanted to respond to this and work with our community partners.”
King is an OU nursing graduate from 2007. Bedside precepting opportunities kindled a love of teaching. A master’s in education followed and she started working as an educator in the OU system before her doctorate.
Now as the program director she gets to help people find a new passion.
Students entering the ABSN program already have earned a bachelor’s degree in another field.
“They come in with all sorts of backgrounds. We have people who were accountants, K-12 teachers, people who have a biology degree,” King said. “I absolutely love our ABSN students. They come in very highly motivated. No matter what kind of background they have it just helps contribute and makes their experience in the program more robust.
“All of them bring something unique to the program and they are equipped.”
With that existing experience King said ABSN students often progress more quickly in the nursing field and seek out higher level degrees.
The streamlined program continues OU’s goal of training the next generation of nurses.
Historically, the College of Nursing accepted approximately 20% of all qualified applicants.
“We basically doubled our enrollment within a year,” King said, noting the college began admitting all qualified applicants beginning with the incoming Fall 2022 class.
That equates to nearly 600 students across all nursing platforms each year.
The ABSN program naturally became part of that discussion. This program is an example of how OU is meeting its strategic goal of addressing the healthcare workforce needs with the urgency it deserves.
“We realized we had the opportunity to not only get more nurses into the workforce but potentially get them into the workforce even quicker through our ABSN program,” she said.
In 2021, the OU College of Nursing took a significant step to address the growing demand for nurses in the workforce. By partnering with Norman Regional Health System and Duncan Regional Hospital, the college expanded its BSN program. This initiative added to existing BSN program locations at OU Health Campus in Oklahoma City, the OU-Tulsa Schusterman Center, and Cameron University in Lawton.
In 2023, the college extended its educational footprint even further. Partnering with the University of Sciences & Arts of Oklahoma and Murray State College, the college created an exciting opportunity for articulation agreements that ease the student’s ability to transition to OU for a traditional BSN or for RN-BSN.
Also in 2023, the College of Nursing was awarded two federal grants from the Health Resources and Services Administration of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. These grants were specifically designed to alleviate Oklahoma’s critical nursing shortage by providing essential funds for scholarships for nurse practitioner and clinical nurse specialist graduate programs and faculty loan repayment.
Growth at the OU College of Nursing is not limited to student enrollment. Driven
by increased enrollment, the number of faculty members at the college has increased significantly over the years, from 75 in 2021 to an impressive 102 in 2025.
“The Fran and Earl Ziegler College of Nursing is the flagship College of Nursing in Oklahoma. This means that we play an integral role in nursing workforce development
for all of Oklahoma,” said Melissa Craft, dean of the college. “Having multiple community partnerships with other academic facilities as well as clinical agencies facilitates and augments the success of this mission. The ABSN program going from 14 months to 12 months is a best practice so that busy adult learners are able to quickly and efficiently gain a degree that leads to a highly satisfying and societally important role. We are honored to be a part of the development of so many excellent nurses in Oklahoma.”
