Keuka College has received approval from the New York State Education Department to offer a Master of Science in Nursing (MSN) degree.

Like the College’s RN (registered nurse) to BS (Bachelor of Science) program, the master’s degree will be offered through the Accelerated Studies for Adults Program (ASAP).

“Students will attend class one night a week and earn their degrees in 18 months,” said Dr. Marlaine “Sparki” Mangels, chair of the Division of Nursing. “This accelerated format has proven to be extremely popular with nurses in the RN to BS program because it allows them to pursue their degree while meeting the demands of work and family life.”

The program will debut Sept. 8 at Arnot Ogden Medical Center in Elmira with another cohort scheduled to begin Oct. 21 at Onondaga Community College (OCC) in Syracuse.

Enrollment in Keuka’s RN to BS program, which is offered at 10 hospitals and three community colleges in New York state, has risen steadily, which has made the Keuka an important player in the effort to alleviate the nursing shortage that impacts the region, state and nation.

There’s also a severe shortage of faculty to train nurses, which Keuka also aims to help reduce with its master’s degree program.

“Due to insufficient faculty, nursing schools turned away more than 40,000 qualified applicants from baccalaureate and graduate nursing programs in 2007,” said Mangels. “With the addition of a master’s degree designed to produce future nurse educators, Keuka will help alleviate that shortage as well.”

Keuka’s program features 25 credit hours of advanced nursing courses and 12 credit hours in the nurse educator track, bringing the total program credits to 37.

Mangels expects many of Keuka’s RN to BS alumni to enroll in the master’s program.

“Our alumni and current students have been asking for a master’s degree program,” said Mangels, who also expects to attract nurses with non-Keuka degrees. “Keuka has a long and storied history of educating nurses and the addition of the MSN program once again demonstrates that we are keeping current with trends in the nursing profession.”

The College will accept applications for the ArmotOgdenMedicalCenter and OCC cohorts until June 12.  Applicants applying by this date will be given first consideration. All applicants will be interviewed.

For more information, contact the Center for Professional Studies at (866) 255-3852 or go to www.keuka.edu/asap.