Best RN Programs in Texas for 2026

The University of Texas at Austin School of Nursing offers a single, full-time traditional BSN that runs four years with no part-time or distance learning options. The program is direct-entry, meaning no separate application is required before upper-division coursework. Freshmen, internal transfers, and external transfers each follow a distinct admission pathway. External transfer applicants need only three prerequisite courses (Biology, Chemistry, and Statistics) and do not sit for HESI or TEAS. Highly motivated students can apply to the Undergraduate Nursing Honors Program, focused on undergraduate research and scholarship development. Fall is the only entry point for all pathways.

With a 27% admit rate, this is a genuinely competitive program. A 89% graduation rate and a Hakia Score of 96.1 put it first in Texas among the programs reviewed here. In-state tuition is $11,688 per year; out-of-state tuition climbs to $44,908, so residency is a significant cost factor. The program is grounded in clinical judgment, evidence-based practice, health policy, and informatics, with clinical rotations across hospital and community settings. It suits high-achieving applicants, especially Texas residents, who want a rigorous public university BSN with a direct path to the NCLEX-RN.

Registered nurses nationally earn a median of $97,550 per year according to BLS OEWS data. UT Austin graduates enter a wide range of clinical settings, and the program explicitly frames its curriculum as a foundation for graduate study at the master's and doctoral levels.

Texas A&M University's College of Nursing offers a Traditional BSN that runs two years (four semesters, 61 credit hours of professional coursework) after applicants complete approximately 59 prerequisite semester credit hours. The program runs at Bryan-College Station and McAllen campuses. Graduating high school students are not eligible; applicants must qualify as transfers under Texas A&M's definition. The College also offers a second-degree BSN in Round Rock for those who already hold a bachelor's degree, though applicants may only apply to one program per cycle. The BSN meets U.S. Army AMEDD Enlisted Commissioning Program requirements, a concrete differentiator for military-affiliated students.

Admission requires a 3.0 GPA in nursing science and prerequisite coursework, plus a 75% HESI score in each section, Kira Talent written and verbal assessments, and a NursingCAS application. With a 57% admit rate, entry is competitive but more accessible than UT Austin. The 84% graduation rate and Hakia Score of 94.6 reflect strong outcomes at scale: Texas A&M enrolls 78,321 students institution-wide. In-state tuition is $9,092 annually versus $36,169 out-of-state. Texas residents get exceptional value here. The program is a strong fit for transfer students who have already built their science prerequisites and want a structured two-year pathway to the NCLEX-RN.

Registered nurses nationally earn a median of $97,550 per year per BLS OEWS. Texas A&M guides students through Texas RN licensure during their final semester, giving graduates a clear, supported path to their license from day one of enrollment.

Baylor University's Louise Herrington School of Nursing runs a BSN that splits into two distinct phases. Pre-nursing prerequisites in liberal arts, natural sciences, and behavioral sciences are typically completed on Baylor's Waco campus or at another accredited institution. Students then transfer to the Dallas campus for two years of upper-division professional coursework, located directly on the campus of Baylor University Medical Center at Dallas. The program does not list separate accelerated or RN-to-BSN tracks on its program page; the focus is this traditional pre-nursing-to-upper-division pathway.

Baylor is private and nonprofit, so tuition is the same regardless of residency: $58,100 per year. That is a significant commitment. The tradeoff is a 51% admit rate (more accessible than UT Austin) and an 80% graduation rate, alongside a Hakia Score of 92.8. The Dallas Medical Center location means clinical exposure happens inside a nationally recognized teaching and research hospital, not a community affiliate. For students who want hospital-floor experience from day one of upper-division study and can absorb private-school tuition, Baylor makes a direct case. Financial aid and scholarship availability should be a primary question for any applicant weighing this cost against a public alternative.

Registered nurses earn a national median of $97,550 per year according to BLS OEWS. Baylor's program page notes that most graduates receive employment offers in Dallas or their chosen market, consistent with the demand picture for BSN-prepared nurses nationally per BLS Occupational Outlook.

Texas Christian University's Harris College of Nursing and Health Sciences offers a traditional BSN at its Fort Worth campus. The program page highlights its Health Professions Learning Center (HPLC) as a core differentiator: dedicated simulation staff and what TCU describes as cutting-edge technology for clinical reasoning and simulation practice before students enter hospital settings. Sample coursework includes Anatomy and Physiology, Pharmacotherapeutics, and Clinical Reasoning and Simulation, as well as a Research and Evidence Based Practice Community. TCU accepts applications from both first-year and transfer students; admission carries special requirements for the nursing program beyond the university's general process.

At 12,938 total enrollment, TCU is the smallest institution in this group, which translates to smaller cohort sizes and closer faculty-to-student ratios in practice. The 86% graduation rate is the highest of the four programs here. Admit rate is 44%, sitting between Baylor and UT Austin in selectivity. The cost, however, is the highest in the group: $61,650 per year with no in-state/out-of-state distinction, as a private university. A Hakia Score of 92.1 reflects strong program quality. TCU is the right choice for students who prioritize simulation-heavy preparation and a tighter campus community, and who can manage private-school costs or secure institutional aid.

The national median wage for registered nurses is $97,550 per year per BLS OEWS. RN employment is projected to grow 6% through 2033 per the BLS Occupational Outlook, making nursing one of the more durable career bets in healthcare for graduates of any of these programs.

Galen College of Nursing's San Antonio campus offers a focused, year-round 3-Year Bachelor of Science in Nursing for students who are new to nursing and want to start directly at the bachelor's level. The program runs four start times per year, requires no prerequisites at the point of application, and delivers all instruction on campus through a blend of classroom work, simulation labs, and clinical rotations. There is no separate accelerated track or RN-to-BSN pathway at this location; the 3-year model is the pathway, condensing what traditional programs stretch across four years into a continuous, structured curriculum.

Galen San Antonio earns a Hakia Score of 89 in the 2026 Texas rankings. The program posts an 81% graduation rate, a strong outcome for a private, open-access school that enrolls students who elsewhere might not clear a competitive admissions bar. Tuition runs $16,848 per year regardless of residency, since Galen is a private institution. That is the full stated rate with no in-state discount. Prospective students should weigh that cost against the one-year time-to-degree advantage over a four-year public program: paying more per year for fewer years may pencil out, especially for career changers who want to reach the workforce faster. Registered nurses nationally earn a median of $97,550 per year according to BLS OEWS data.

Enrollment across the San Antonio campus stands at 2,953 students. The admissions process is deliberately low-friction: a free, essay-free application, a required entrance assessment such as the TEAS (a bachelor's degree can substitute), and an admissions appointment before final enrollment. That accessibility is the program's deliberate design, not a gap in rigor. Support structures include personalized academic resources and faculty mentorship from day one.

Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center offers a Traditional Bachelor of Science in Nursing designed for students who are not yet registered nurses. The program completes in four consecutive semesters of nursing coursework after prerequisite completion, and TTUHSC runs it across five Texas sites: Abilene, Amarillo, Lubbock, Odessa, and Mansfield. The Mansfield location operates as a distance education site. The curriculum combines classroom instruction, patient simulators, and hospital clinical rotations. The school's page notes it has been ranked the number-one nursing school in Texas for three consecutive years, and the program holds CCNE accreditation. The National League for Nursing has also designated TTUHSC School of Nursing as a Center of Excellence in Nursing Education.

TTUHSC earns a Hakia Score of 88.7. For Texas residents, tuition is $6,672 per year, making this one of the most affordable BSN options in the state. Out-of-state students pay $18,972 per year, a meaningful jump that tips the cost calculus firmly toward in-state applicants. The program sets a preferred minimum cumulative GPA of 3.0 and a preferred science GPA of 3.0, and applicants must complete at least 14 of 19 required non-nursing prerequisite courses before the deadline, including at least four of the five required sciences. That prerequisite load reflects a selective, academically rigorous pipeline even if it is not described in terms of an admit rate.

The institution enrolls 5,098 students. Faculty maintain open-door communication policies, and students have access to a 24/7 online Student Resource Center covering writing tools, tech support, and English language learner resources. The multi-site footprint across West Texas gives the program unusual geographic reach for a health sciences university, which matters for students who want to stay close to home while attending a well-regarded public program.

The Andy and Barbara Gessner College of Nursing at the University of Houston offers a Traditional BSN Track built for freshmen who enter UH and plan to apply to the nursing program. The first two years of prerequisite and general education coursework happen on the main Houston campus; after gaining admission to the nursing program, the junior and senior clinical years move to the University of Houston Katy Campus. The program emphasizes synthesis across biological sciences, social sciences, behavioral sciences, and humanities, with explicit goals around culturally sensitive care, interprofessional collaboration, research application, and critical thinking. There is no accelerated or RN-to-BSN track listed on this page; the traditional four-year pathway is the program described.

UH's BSN earns a Hakia Score of 86.4. The graduation rate stands at 65%, the lowest among these four programs, which matters for students weighing selectivity against outcomes. The university admits 74% of applicants at the institutional level, making entry to UH itself accessible, though nursing program admission after the first two years is a separate, competitive step. In-state tuition is $8,685 per year; out-of-state students pay $21,515 per year. For Texas residents, UH offers research-university resources at a public price point. Registered nurses nationally earn a median of $97,550 per year per BLS OEWS, and Houston's large medical center presence creates a dense local job market for new graduates.

Total enrollment at UH is 47,980, giving nursing students access to the full breadth of a major research institution including career services, interprofessional health programs, and an established alumni network. The two-campus structure (main campus for prerequisites, Katy for clinical years) requires planning for students without reliable transportation between sites. That tradeoff is worth naming early in the decision process.

The School of Nursing at The University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio offers a Traditional BSN track for students who are not registered nurses. After four semesters of prerequisite coursework, accepted students complete the nursing curriculum across four additional semesters (semesters 5 through 8 of the full four-year degree), amounting to 22 months of full-time nursing study. The program targets generalist pre-licensure competencies and offers students the opportunity to earn distinction in research and in clinical service. Courses are designed around high-impact practices intended to build clinical reasoning. There is no separate accelerated or RN-to-BSN track described on this page.

UT Health San Antonio earns a Hakia Score of 85.2. In-state tuition is $7,767 per year; out-of-state tuition is $24,552 per year, a gap that makes residency status a primary financial variable. The school lists more than 40 scholarship opportunities, and the Bold Promise Program fully covers tuition and mandatory fees for eligible students, a meaningful backstop for cost-sensitive applicants. Admission requires a TEAS score of at least 65, a 3.0 prerequisite GPA, and completion of at least 51 of 60 required prerequisite hours (including all math and science courses) by the application deadline. Those thresholds set a clear academic floor. The institution enrolls 3,786 students, a focused health sciences environment rather than a large comprehensive university.

The San Antonio location places students inside one of Texas's largest healthcare ecosystems, with clinical training opportunities across a dense network of hospitals and specialty facilities. The compact, health-sciences-only campus means students interact primarily with future clinicians across medicine, dentistry, and allied health rather than a general undergraduate population. For prospective nurses who want an immersive clinical training environment with strong scholarship access, this is a program worth pricing out carefully using IPEDS net-price data against the published tuition figures.

Cizik School of Nursing at UTHealth Houston offers two BSN pathways: the Pacesetter Accelerated BSN, a 15-month entry-to-practice option for students seeking a direct route to RN licensure, and a flexible hybrid RN-to-BSN for working nurses advancing from an associate degree. The program is housed inside the Texas Medical Center, the largest medical complex in the world, and maintains clinical affiliations with more than 200 healthcare institutions in the Greater Houston area. The program is accredited by the Commission on Collegiate Nursing Education (CCNE) and approved by the Texas Board of Nursing.

Cost is a genuine differentiator here. In-state tuition runs $10,038 per year, and the UTHealth Houston Future Nurses Fund can reduce tuition and required fees to zero for full-time BSN students with a gross adjusted income under $100,000. Out-of-state tuition climbs to $37,422, so residency status matters. With a Hakia Score of 84.9 and an enrollment of 4,938, this is a large, research-connected health science center program built for students who want accelerated entry into practice without sacrificing clinical depth. National median salary for registered nurses is $97,550 per year according to the BLS OEWS.

The Simulation and Clinical Performance Laboratory gives students hands-on skills training before they enter affiliate hospital floors. Faculty are described as practicing nurses, meaning instruction is tied to current clinical realities. The school also offers need-based and academic scholarships beyond the Future Nurses Fund, making it one of the few public health science programs where cost can realistically approach zero for income-qualifying students.

Hallmark University in San Antonio offers a Bachelor of Science in Nursing designed for completion in 32 months, running on 8-week terms with six terms per year so students can start without waiting for a traditional semester cycle. The program prepares graduates to sit for the NCLEX-RN and is approved by the Texas Board of Nursing. Prerequisite courses are accepted but not required for admission. The curriculum blends simulation laboratories with hybrid learning, emphasizing case study analysis, critical thinking, and problem-based learning through virtual labs.

Accreditation is in process: as of March 12, 2025, the nursing program holds candidate status for initial accreditation from the Accreditation Commission for Education in Nursing (ACEN), with candidacy expiring March 12, 2027. The institution itself is accredited through ACCSC. Students choosing this program should weigh that provisional accreditation status carefully. The program carries a Hakia Score of 84.6, a 66% graduation rate, and a 51% admit rate, placing it in a moderately selective tier. Enrollment stands at 836, making this a significantly smaller cohort than large public health science programs. National RN median pay is $97,550 per year per the BLS OEWS.

Tuition is $550 per credit hour across 120 total credit hours, with additional lab and technology fees per term. The school emphasizes affordability and speed: Hallmark frames the 32-month timeline as saving students roughly $175,000 compared to the national average of 58 months to complete a bachelor's degree when lost wages and tuition are combined. Federal financial aid, scholarships, and veterans benefits are all available. This program suits students who prioritize calendar speed and lower cost over attending a research-intensive institution, and who are comfortable with a program still working toward full ACEN accreditation.