St. John's College of Nursing

About St. John's College of Nursing

St. John's College of Nursing is a single-purpose nursing institution at 729 East Carpenter Street in Springfield. It traces its history to St. John’s Hospital School of Nursing, established by the Hospital Sisters of St. Francis in 1886. The school became St. John’s College, Department of Nursing in 1991 and now publicly uses the name St. John’s College of Nursing. It remains part of Hospital Sisters Health System and describes its educational mission in Catholic and Franciscan terms, emphasizing professional preparation, ethics, service, and care. The college is institutionally accredited by the Higher Learning Commission and approved by the Illinois Board of Higher Education and the Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulation. Its baccalaureate, master’s, and clinical-doctorate nursing programs also hold Accreditation Commission for Education in Nursing accreditation. These recognitions establish St. John’s as a degree-granting college, despite its close organizational and physical relationship with a hospital system. The educational setting is unusually specialized. Students do not choose among unrelated majors: the institution concentrates on nursing pathways at the bachelor’s, master’s, and practice-doctorate levels. That focus can suit applicants who have already committed to nursing or licensed nurses seeking advancement, but it offers little room to change into another academic field without transferring elsewhere. Program delivery differs by pathway, so applicants should compare in-person clinical obligations with the online or hybrid components of completion and graduate study. The institution remained operational as of August 2026, with official pages accepting applications for Fall 2026 graduate enrollment.

Admission is program-specific and assumes prior college coursework or an existing nursing credential. For the BSN and LPN-to-BSN routes, applicants submit the free online application, proof of identity, and official transcripts from every regionally accredited college attended. High-school transcripts are not requested; dual-credit records must come from the college that awarded them. Applicants need the six required general-education courses and normally enter with transferred college credits. The college states that undergraduate admission does not require the ATI TEAS or another standardized entrance examination. LPN-to-BSN applicants additionally need an unencumbered Illinois LPN license and completion of an accredited practical-nursing program. RN-to-BSN applicants need an unencumbered RN license from any state, an accredited associate nursing degree, and 80 transfer credits. MSN applicants must hold a BSN from a regionally accredited institution and a current, active, unencumbered RN license. The post-master’s DNP requires an MSN from a regionally accredited institution and an active, unencumbered US RN license. The current admissions page lists November 1 through March 1 as the fall application period and May 1 through September 1 for spring admission. Fall applications cover BSN, LPN-to-BSN, RN-to-BSN, and MSN, while the listed spring intake covers BSN and LPN-to-BSN. Admitted campus-based undergraduates, except RN-to-BSN students, must attend June orientation and an August onboarding day. Applicants should verify the cycle displayed in the application portal, especially for DNP admission; the DNP page specifically states that Fall 2026 applications are open.

Academic offerings are concentrated entirely in nursing. Undergraduate routes include the Bachelor of Science in Nursing, LPN-to-BSN, and RN-to-BSN pathways. The standard BSN is an upper-division model rather than a conventional four-year program entered directly from high school: the 120-credit degree combines 56 transferred general-education credits with 64 nursing credits completed at St. John’s. Students may start with 48 transfer credits if all six specified prerequisite courses are complete, but must finish the remaining general education on the college’s stated schedule. The required foundation includes anatomy and physiology with laboratories, microbiology with a laboratory, two composition courses, and lifespan development. The RN-to-BSN pathway is a two-semester, fully online completion program for registered nurses with an associate nursing degree and 80 accepted transfer credits. Graduate study includes an MSN for bachelor’s-prepared registered nurses and a post-master’s DNP. The current MSN page describes a four-semester, approximately 20-month program intended for working nurses. The current DNP is a part-time practice doctorate delivered through asynchronous online study, synchronous seminars, and limited on-site sessions; its four-semester sequence includes more than 500 mentored practicum hours and a practice-improvement project. It is a systems, education, and quality-improvement doctorate, not an APRN-certification program. Hands-on preparation is supported by a Simulation Learning Center two blocks from the main campus. Required simulation is integrated into clinical courses, with hospital-style environments for areas such as emergency, medical-surgical, pediatric, obstetric, operating-room, examination, and skills practice. Recorded scenarios and faculty-led debriefing support development of clinical judgment, communication, and technical competence before students enter or advance in practice settings.

Key Highlights

• Founded in 1886 by the Hospital Sisters of St. Francis
• Specialized Catholic college devoted to nursing and professional health education
• Institutionally accredited and approved by Illinois higher-education and professional regulators
• Offers bachelor’s, master’s, and Doctor of Nursing Practice degrees

Student Life & Environment

St. John’s describes itself as a commuter college, so student life is organized around learners who travel to campus and may also balance employment or family responsibilities. Events are commonly scheduled at lunch, after class, or online. The college presents opportunities in student leadership, professional organizations, wellness, recreation, and campus programming, but prospective students should expect a small professional-school environment rather than the residential life and broad activity catalog of a comprehensive university. Academic support is central to the student experience. Each student receives a faculty adviser, while staff advisers provide additional guidance. Pathways 2 Success offers coaching in study methods, time management, and goal setting. The on-campus Student Success Center provides tutoring, workshops, computers, printing, and quiet study space. Accessibility services address participation in classes, laboratories, and clinical experiences while maintaining program standards. The Health Sciences Library offers round-the-clock student access to its facility, along with electronic journals, databases, e-books, print nursing collections, study technology, and interlibrary loan. Students also receive remote access to digital resources through OpenAthens. Because the college provides no institutional housing, applicants must arrange their own accommodation and should evaluate commuting time, parking, transportation, and the scheduling demands of classes, simulation, and clinical work before enrolling.

Location & Surroundings

The main college building is at 729 East Carpenter Street in Springfield, Illinois. Its Simulation Learning Center is at 850 East Madison Street, approximately two blocks away, and HSHS St. John’s Hospital is also on East Carpenter Street. This compact relationship places nursing education, simulation, and a major healthcare environment within the same immediate area, although applicants should confirm where individual clinical placements occur because not every practical experience is necessarily held beside the college. Springfield is Illinois’s state capital, and the campus sits in an urban healthcare district rather than on a self-contained residential university campus. The location may appeal to students who want a professionally oriented setting tied closely to a health system. It also requires practical planning: St. John’s does not house students, and commuter-focused attendance means learners must secure independent housing and reliable transportation. Online RN-to-BSN and MSN students may spend less time at the main site, while BSN students and DNP learners with limited on-site sessions should review their program calendar before deciding how close to Springfield they need to live.

Costs & Career Outcomes

For 2026–2027, the official cost-of-attendance schedule lists first-year BSN tuition of $23,055, plus $3,342.50 in mandatory fees and course materials. After estimated books and supplies, living costs, transportation, personal expenses, and loan fees, the published first-year total is $47,168.50. These indirect allowances are budgeting estimates rather than charges owed to the college. The second BSN year shown for fall 2027 and spring 2028 has a total estimated cost of $48,797.50. The same document lists RN-to-BSN tuition of $10,000 and a total budget of $28,411 for 2026–2027. First-year MSN tuition is $10,512, with a total estimated budget of $29,797. The current DNP program page separately estimates approximately $27,000 for the whole post-master’s program before assistance. Students can apply for federal aid through the FAFSA, and the college describes scholarships, grants, employer assistance, veterans’ benefits, and payment plans. Tuition and fees are generally due one month before a semester unless a payment plan is in place. Because St. John’s supplies no housing, the living-cost component must be compared with a student’s actual off-campus arrangement. Career preparation is tightly tied to nursing practice. The college connects students with part-time and post-graduation opportunities within HSHS, but employment is not guaranteed. Its latest posted outcome data report a 95% first-time NCLEX-RN pass rate for 2024 and 100% nursing employment approximately six months after graduation among responding 2024 prelicensure graduates. That employment figure comes from the college’s graduate follow-up survey, so students should interpret it as a cohort survey result rather than a universal promise.