Concurrent Enrollment with Michigan State University

Officials from Muskegon Community College’s nationally accredited Nursing Program and the Michigan State University College of Nursing signed a concurrent enrollment agreement on May 7, 2014. The agreement provides a seamless pathway for MCC students to enroll at MSU while they are completing their associate degree program and to directly enter the MSU online RN to BSN program.

MCC graduates who are accepted will benefit through the facilitation of a smooth transition from their associate degree in nursing into MSU’s online Bachelor of Science in nursing program. “This agreement between MSU and MCC will offer our nursing students the opportunity to apply to the MSU College of Nursing and, if accepted, take MSU classes toward the Bachelor of Science in Nursing while they are taking our classes here on campus,” explained Pam Brown, director of the MCC Nursing Program.

The arrangement will allow MCC graduates to complete their RN-BSN degrees with Michigan State University in a shorter period of time than if the student begins an RN to BSN program after graduation added Brown.

MSU College of Nursing Dean Mary Mundt, MCC Vice President for Academic Affairs and Finance Teresa Sturrus, Chief Nursing Officer from Mercy Health Partners Kim Maguire, and Brown were among the institutional representatives present for the agreement signing in MCC’s Blue and Gold Room.

“We are pleased to welcome Muskegon Community College students into this important partnership program,” noted Mundt. “With both institutions working together to build a straight path to the BSN we will contribute to the educational goals established in the Institute of Medicine Report on the Future of Nursing to significantly increase the number of BSN prepared nurses.”

In 2010, the prestigious Institute of Medicine in its report The Future of Nursing: Leading Change, Advancing Health recommends increasing the percentage of RNs with a BSN degree from 55 percent to 80 percent by the year 2020. Nationally, community colleges and universities have increasingly engaged in discussions about cooperative initiatives to promote advanced educational opportunities for the nation’s 2.8 million registered nurses, the largest health care profession in the U.S.

“The agreement between MSU and MCC will assist Mercy Health in achieving its goal of 80 percent Bachelor-prepared nurses at the bedside by 2020,” said Maguire.” We appreciate our local community college’s efforts in responding to the Healthcare industry’s needs.”


The Michigan State University Bachelor of Science in Nursing (B.S.N.) program is approved by the Michigan Board of Nursing and accredited by the Commission on Collegiate Nursing Education (C.C.N.E.). Muskegon Community College Associate Degree in Nursing students who have enrolled in clinical nursing courses in the nursing major are eligible to apply for transfer admission to Michigan State University into the concurrent enrollment B.S.N. program. Acceptance is determined by the applicant’s previous academic record. Admission to the program is competitive; the most qualified candidates are selected from the pool of candidates meeting the minimum criteria. See the MSU web site for more information or MSU Transfer Guide 4.21

Please contact Jessica Knerr, MSU Graduate Academic Advisor College of Nursing,  (knerrjes@msu.edu / 517.355.8311) for more information.