Regents approve four-year nursing, 90-credit-hour professional studies degree programs with FY27 budget

Northwest Missouri State University's Board of Regents approved two academic proposals on Thursday that will significantly expand opportunities for students who are seeking pathways to nursing careers or to complete a bachelor's degree more efficiently than a traditional college degree.

With the Board's approval, Northwest will take steps to launch a Bachelor of Professional Studies (BPS) that offers students a reduced 90-credit-hour degree and a Bachelor of Science in Nursing (BSN) to provide students with a four-year nursing degree pathway.

Dr. Rose Marie Ward, who joined Northwest in February as its provost and vice president of academic affairs, presented the proposals to the Board after rigorous discussions and planning with University leaders and faculty this spring.

"I want to thank Dr. Ward, her leadership team, our Faculty Senate leadership, and faculty in general for taking on the work of building these curriculum proposals," Northwest President Dr. Lance Tatum. "It is going to help us position the institution for future enrollment growth in sectors that we are not currently serving."

Bachelor of Professional Studies degree

Ward explained that the innovative BPS degree, which is adapted from Northwest's Bachelor of Applied Science degree program, is designed to attract students who may not otherwise enroll at the University - primarily adult learners, transfer students, community college graduates, veterans and other individuals who have completed college credits or applied learning and need a more flexible and efficient pathway to degree completion.

Ward said justification for the program, which will be offered online, is grounded in an ongoing review of student demographics, transfer trends, workforce expectations and increasing demand for flexible degree-completion options. By offering the BPS degree, Northwest is better positioned to serve non-traditional and place-bound learners while expanding access to undergraduate education.

"It's advancing a lot of our strategic enrollment goals," Ward said. "Our hope is to expand this pathway to new students, including those who have prior credit, workforce experience or incomplete degrees. We know there are roughly 800,000 adults in the state who have some college but no degree, and so it really is moving into that space."

Ward emphasized that, although the BPS degree is structured differently from traditional bachelor's degree programs totaling 120 credit hours, it will complement existing academic offerings at Northwest, not compete with them. The program also will maintain the academic rigor and profession-based learning experiences that are centerpieces of Northwest's curriculum.

Once approved by the Missouri Coordinating Board for Higher Education and Northwest's accrediting agency, the Higher Learning Commission, Northwest could begin accepting students to the program as soon as fall 2027.

Bachelor of Science in Nursing degree

Similarly, by offering a four-year BSN degree program, Northwest will convert an existing pipeline in its academic portfolio - pre-nursing - to a full baccalaureate program, helping the University retain students who begin coursework at Northwest but transfer to complete their nursing degrees at other institutions.

Since fall 2019, Northwest has received more than 3,300 pre-nursing applications and admitted about 2,100 of those students, Ward said.

Northwest has started and stopped varied nursing offerings since beginning with a licensed practical nursing (LPN) training program in 1969. After eliminating its LPN and BSN programs in 1985, Northwest successfully launched its online RN-to-BSN completion program in 2018. It has since added an online Master of Science in Nursing (MSN) program, and both were granted accreditation through 2035 earlier this year.

Northwest plans to restart its on-campus BSN program in fall 2027.

By doing so, Ward explained, Northwest captures an urgent demand that already exists and is being forfeited to competing institutions. The University is well-positioned to launch the program, Ward noted, with its existing accredited nursing infrastructure, experienced faculty and established partnerships in the region.

"This helps us move into a market that is very much a strong interest of our students," Ward said. "We have been offering nursing for a very long time. It moves us back into a market for a degree that we've kind of put to sleep for a little while. Not only is there a market, there's a lot of advantage when we talk about how this would work for students in the multi-state region that we're in and those critical access points where nursing is really needed."

Annual budget approved

Regents unanimously approved Northwest's 2026-27 budget, which consists of its Education and General (E&G) and Auxiliary Services budgets, totaling about $116.6 million.

Presenting the University's proposed budgets to regents, Stacy Carrick, Northwest's vice president of finance and administration, explained the E&G budget projects total revenues and expenses that are nearly even with last year's budget. The Auxiliary Services budget includes investments supporting campus operations and services, including Northwest's new dining services partnership with Elior Collegiate Dining, which the Board also ratified on Thursday.

The FY27 budget reflects projected enrollment, anticipated scholarship support, a decline in state appropriations and mandatory cost increases for professional faculty and staff as well as student employment wages, among other factors.

The Board's approval of the budget follows its May approval of the University's 2026-27 tuition and fees.

Other business

In other business, the Board of Regents approved the appointments of 226 full-time faculty for the 2026-27 academic year.

The Board also approved a policy for space heater use on the campus in alignment with the technologies and infrastructure implemented as part of Northwest's Infrastructure Modernization Project.

Per its bylaws, the Board also conducted its election of officers, electing Steve Black to succeed Mel Tjeerdsma as chair and Leisha Barry to succeed Stephen Coppinger as vice chair. Additionally, Regents reappointed Diane Hargrave, the executive secretary in the Office of the Provost, as secretary of the Board and Carrick as treasurer.

The Board of Regents is responsible for sound resource management of the University and determining general, educational and financial policies.