Best RN-to-BSN Programs in Missouri, Ranked for 2026

The University of Missouri's Sinclair School of Nursing runs three paths to a BSN: traditional, accelerated, and RN to BSN. The RN to BSN track is built specifically for registered nurses who already hold an associate degree and want to finish their bachelor's without leaving the workforce. Mizzou describes the completion option as a completely online program, so you keep working your current RN job while you finish the degree.

In-state tuition runs $13,658 a year, well below the $34,877 out-of-state rate, and Mizzou posts a 75% overall graduation rate. That combination, fully online format, in-state affordability, and a strong graduation rate, earns Mizzou the top Hakia Score in Missouri at 85. A BSN from a program like this matters more for the doors it opens than for an immediate raise: hospitals increasingly prefer or require BSN-prepared nurses, especially at Magnet-designated systems, and the credential is a prerequisite for MSN, nurse practitioner, and nursing leadership tracks. The national median RN salary is $97,550, the same whether you hold an ADN or a BSN; the BSN's payoff shows up in which jobs you qualify for, not in a guaranteed bump to that number.

Southeast Missouri State University offers its RN to BSN as a dedicated online program through the Department of Nursing, which has trained nurses since 1958. The completion track sits alongside SEMO's traditional BSN and MSN options, and the program page points RNs directly to an online RN to BSN track built for students who are already working as nurses. SEMO does not publish a specific credit-transfer count for the completion track on its program page, but the online format is designed around a working nurse's schedule rather than fixed campus class times.

SEMO's nursing programs, including the RN to BSN track, are CCNE-accredited and hold full approval from the Missouri State Board of Nursing. Tuition is $8,559 a year, and that rate is flat: SEMO charges the same $8,559 whether you are a Missouri resident or an out-of-state student, which is unusual and makes it one of the cheapest CCNE-accredited completion options on this list for an out-of-state RN. That combination, fully online, CCNE-accredited, single flat tuition rate, earns SEMO a Hakia Score of 78.8, second only to Mizzou in this ranking.

Webster University runs its RN to BSN as a fully online, part-time-friendly completion program built in eight-week terms. Webster's own program page states most part-time students finish in 2 to 2.5 years, while a full-time pace finishes the degree in about 1 to 1.5 years; your actual timeline depends on how many credits transfer in. Webster evaluates each applicant's transcripts individually to build a personalized credit plan rather than applying one blanket transfer number, so an experienced ADN-prepared RN with substantial prior coursework can move through the eight-week terms faster than that range suggests.

Tuition is $31,450 a year, the highest sticker price of any program on this list and a private-school premium over the public options nearby. That cost buys full-time faculty who are 100% doctorally prepared, along with part-time faculty working as nurse practitioners and clinical nurse specialists in current practice. Webster earns a Hakia Score of 77.8, and it fits an RN in the Saint Louis area, or anywhere, who wants a flexible online schedule and is willing to pay more for it than the state university alternatives on this list.

Missouri State University calls its completion option the BSN-C, RN to BSN, and pitches it directly at working nurses: the program page states it can be completed in as little as one year. That puts it on par with Webster's fastest full-time pace and quicker than SEMO's or Mizzou's stated timelines, though Missouri State's page does not spell out a specific transfer-credit count, pointing RNs instead to its general transfer-credit resources to map prior coursework.

Missouri State's nursing programs, including the BSN, are CCNE-accredited. In-state tuition is $8,120 a year, the lowest of any program in this group, versus $17,388 out of state. Combined with the one-year completion timeline and CCNE accreditation, that cost profile gives Missouri State a Hakia Score of 75.5. It is the pick for a Missouri-resident RN who wants the fastest, cheapest path to a CCNE-accredited BSN and can commit to a compressed one-year schedule.

Cox College runs five BSN tracks, and one is built for nurses who already hold a license: the school's own page lists "Already an RN? Advance your medical career with a baccalaureate degree in nursing" as its RN-to-BSN Completion option, sitting inside a 120-credit-hour BSN (52 general-education credits plus 68 nursing credits). But there's a hard stop working RNs need to know before they get further into research: Cox College has stopped admitting new students entirely and plans to cease operations at the end of summer 2027, keeping the doors open only long enough for currently enrolled students to finish.

Tuition runs $11,772/yr, and the college's overall graduation rate sits at 100%, a combination strong enough to earn a Hakia Score of 74.6 among Missouri completion options. But with admissions closed, this isn't a program a working RN can actually apply to today. It's useful context for how Missouri's completion landscape is consolidating, not an active choice.

Southeast Missouri Hospital College of Nursing and Health Sciences built its RN-to-BSN as a real completion path, not a repackaged entry-level degree. It transfers as many as 34 general-education credits and 38 nursing credits from your ADN, 72 credits total banked before new coursework starts. Classes run in a blended format, with didactic sessions meeting one day a week on campus, and you can pick an accelerated track, a part-time track, or a fully customizable schedule you have up to five years to complete.

Admission asks for an unencumbered RN license and a 2.5 cumulative GPA, standard for a program built around nurses already working full shifts. At $10,392/yr, it's the second-cheapest option on this list, and the college's overall graduation rate runs 75%. The program explicitly positions graduates for the next step, admission into an MSN. That combination, real transfer credit, flexible pacing, and a stated MSN pipeline, earns it a Hakia Score of 71.3, the highest of any option here that still requires weekly campus time.

Missouri Southern State University runs its post-licensure option as a genuinely separate track from its four-year, on-campus entry-level BSN. Per the school's own program page, "our flexible online RN-to-BSN pathway lets you advance your nursing education... without leaving your current practice," built to run alongside a working RN's shift schedule rather than replace it.

MSSU is a public university, and the price shows it: $8,700/yr in-state, less than half of Missouri Valley College's $22,000/yr for the same credential. As a state school with 4,147 total students and a 42% overall graduation rate, MSSU also has the scale to support advancement, its nursing graduates track toward nurse practitioner, CRNA, nurse educator, and administrator roles. A BSN alone won't bump your paycheck; the national median RN salary is $97,550/yr per the BLS regardless of degree level, so the real payoff here is hospital hiring preference and a clear on-ramp to those advanced-practice tracks. That low cost plus a stated online pathway gives MSSU a Hakia Score of 68.5.

Missouri Valley College lists a "post-licensure RN to BSN online program" as its own track, separate from its traditional 2+2 BSN and its LPN-to-BSN tracks. Per the school's page, this completion option runs fully online and is built for nurses who already hold an unencumbered license, not students entering nursing for the first time.

MVC doesn't publish RN-to-BSN-specific transfer credit or time-to-complete figures the way it does for its LPN-to-BSN track (which states 18 transferred credit hours), so confirm both directly with admissions before assuming a timeline. What is clear: at $22,000/yr, it's the most expensive of the four Missouri completion programs here, nearly double Cox College's $11,772 and more than double Southeast Missouri's $10,392. Combined with a 22% overall graduation rate, that price is why it lands at a Hakia Score of 67.5, last among this group. The fully online format is worth it if a hybrid or on-campus schedule genuinely doesn't fit your shifts, but price out Missouri Southern State's $8,700 online option first.