Northwestern Michigan College (NMC) announced on Tuesday that it will celebrate the first dozen graduates of its new “fast-track” bachelor’s of science in nursing (BSN) program at a ceremony scheduled for next Monday. The 12 graduates are the first to go through a BSN track that NMC created with partner Davenport University after 2022 legislation opened the door for community colleges to offer bachelor’s degrees in nursing. Previously, a nursing student could only earn an associate’s degree through NMC.

In the summer of 2022, Michigan lawmakers passed legislation that allowed community colleges like NMC to partner with four-year colleges or universities within the state of Michigan to create “BSN completion programs.” The milestone came after a lengthy legislative battle where community colleges throughout Michigan implored the state to allow them to offer BSN degrees. NMC responded quickly to that legislative shift, issuing a request for proposals to potential BSN partners in mid-October of the same year. Nine universities ultimately submitted proposals for partnerships with NMC. 

Last February, NMC announced that it had selected Davenport to be its “exclusive partner” for providing local students with a new pathway toward earning BSN degrees. Now, that completion program is officially graduating its first cohort of students. The 12 graduates will be celebrated at a pinning ceremony at 5:30pm next Monday (August 19) at Lobdell’s Restaurant, located at NMC's Great Lakes Campus. According to a press release, 11 of the 12 students are also NMC alumni, having earned ASNs or other degrees from the college in the past. All 12 students are also “already employed at regional providers including Munson Medical Center, the Grand Traverse County Health Department, and Harbor Care Associates.”

BSN degrees are heavily sought after in the healthcare industry, and nurses who have them can generally command significantly higher salaries than nurses who only have ASNs. In addition, some hospitals – Munson Medical Center included – require nurses with ASNs to earn their BSN within five years of hire.

In the past, nursing students in northern Michigan struggled to meet those requirements due to the cost and time commitment of commuting downstate to earn their BSN at Michigan State University or other schools located hours away. The partnership with Davenport is intended to eliminate those burdens. Described as a “concurrent program,” the partnership allows students to spend two years enrolled at NMC and a third at Davenport. One graduate of the program, Aliyah Nowlin, even told NMC that the partnership saved her more than $3,000.

NMC reportedly has 278 students currently in its nursing pipeline.