Compare tuition, NCLEX pass rates, and program formats for Virginia Beach's top-ranked nursing programs.
Virginia Beach anchors the southern end of the Hampton Roads healthcare corridor, a regional network of military and civilian hospitals that employs over 60,000 healthcare workers. Demand for registered nurses in the metro area has grown 12% since 2020, driven by military family care and an expanding geriatric population.
BSN programs in and around the city range from traditional four-year degrees to accelerated tracks for career changers and RN-to-BSN programs for working nurses. Many now offer hybrid online components to accommodate clinical shift schedules.
Statewide, NCLEX-RN pass rates among Virginia BSN graduates averaged 87.3% in 2026, just below the national benchmark, making program selection a direct factor in licensure readiness.
Virginia Beach and the surrounding Hampton Roads area offer a strong mix of accredited nursing programs, from affordable ADN pathways to career-launching BSN degrees. The schools below were selected for their local campus access, student outcomes, and the real-world training opportunities they provide to future nurses in the region.
| Rank | School | Location | Net price | Best for | |
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| #1 | Old Dominion University | Norfolk, VA | $13,000 – $34,000/yr | Career-minded students prioritizing job placement | |
Old Dominion University offers a campus-based, pre-licensure BSN in Norfolk that draws students from across Hampton Roads. The five-semester program is known for its 100% job placement rate among graduates who seek employment, small clinical sections, and state-of-the-art simulation training. With affordable in-state tuition and hands-on partnerships with area hospitals, ODU is a practical choice for aspiring RNs who want a traditional on-campus experience.
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| #2 | Norfolk State University | Norfolk, VA | $15,000/yr | Students wanting a supportive HBCU experience | |
Norfolk State University’s BSN program combines a supportive HBCU environment with rigorous preparation for the NCLEX. The pre-licensure track requires two years of prerequisites followed by five semesters of nursing coursework, totaling 857 clinical hours. Graduates benefit from a reported 85% licensure pass rate and a 100% job placement rate within 60 days, making NSU a compelling option for students who want a diverse and close-knit learning community.
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| #3 | Virginia Wesleyan University | Virginia Beach, VA | $20,000/yr (net price) | Learners seeking hybrid format with clinical depth | |
Virginia Wesleyan University’s joint BSN program with Sentara College of Health Sciences launches in August 2026, offering a hybrid pathway that blends online coursework with intensive in-person clinicals. Students accumulate over 900 clinical hours, far more than state licensure requirements, through rotations at Sentara’s hospitals and advanced simulation labs. The small-group clinical model and 2.5-year completion time after prerequisites make it an attractive new option for Virginia Beach residents who want a flexible yet clinically immersive education.
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| #4 | Hampton University | Hampton, VA | $25,000 – $30,000/yr | ||
Hampton University delivers an accelerated online RN-to-BSN program tailored for working registered nurses. The CCNE-accredited curriculum can be finished in just 12 months, with 8-week courses covering leadership, informatics, and evidence-based practice. Though entirely distance-based, this program is a convenient upskilling path for Virginia Beach-area RNs who want to advance their careers without interrupting their employment.
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| #5 | Sentara College of Health Sciences | Chesapeake, VA | |||
Sentara College of Health Sciences offers a direct-entry MSN for non-nurses, enabling students to earn a master’s degree and RN eligibility in two years. The campus-based program features 945 hands-on clinical hours and reports strong NCLEX pass rates and employment outcomes. Located in Chesapeake, it serves career changers who already hold a bachelor’s degree in another field and are ready for an intensive, graduate-level nursing education.
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| #6 | Virginia Peninsula Community College | Hampton, VA | ~$7,000/yr (est.) | ||
Virginia Peninsula Community College provides an affordable ADN program that puts students in clinical rotations at local hospitals like Sentara and Riverside from the first semester. The ACEN-accredited associate degree requires 500 clinical hours and prepares graduates for the NCLEX-RN. An articulation agreement with Old Dominion University creates a smooth pathway to a BSN, making it a sensible starting point for budget-conscious students in the Hampton area.
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| #7 | Tidewater Community College | Norfolk, VA | $12,000/yr | ||
Tidewater Community College’s Beazley School of Nursing offers an ACEN-accredited ADN on its Portsmouth campus that blends rigorous science coursework with simulation lab training. The four-semester program emphasizes small class sizes and dedicated faculty, with graduates eligible for RN licensure. Students seeking a bachelor’s degree can later transfer credits into an RN-to-BSN program, making TCC a flexible and affordable entry point for nursing in the Southside.
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| #8 | ECPI University | Virginia Beach, VA | $23,000/yr (net price) | ||
ECPI University’s Virginia Beach campus delivers an accelerated ADN that can be completed in just 18 months. The year-round, on-campus program integrates arts and sciences with nursing courses and includes a 1:1 preceptorship for hands-on experience. Its fast pace and ACEN accreditation appeal to students eager to enter the workforce as an RN quickly.
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| #9 | Bryant & Stratton College-Virginia Beach | Virginia Beach, VA | $12,000/yr | ||
Bryant & Stratton College’s Virginia Beach branch offers a 20-month ADN that focuses on career readiness in a small-classroom setting. The ACEN-accredited program includes clinical internship opportunities with local healthcare partners, and its credits are designed to transfer into an RN-to-BSN program. With a $0 application fee and personalized instruction, it is an accessible, campus-based option for students starting their nursing education.
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Every nursing school ranking is only as useful as its methodology. We’re laying ours out in full.
We started by identifying all accredited BSN programs within a 75-mile radius of Virginia Beach, drawing from accredited nursing schools in Virginia across the broader Hampton Roads region. Each program was then assessed on four publicly verifiable data points: - Net price: The average cost after financial aid, drawn from the U.S. Department of Education’s College Scorecard, to capture affordability. - Graduation rate: The institution-wide completion rate, used as a proxy for overall student support and academic quality. - Program format: Availability of online, hybrid, accelerated, or part-time options that working students and career changers often need. - Earnings outcomes: Median earnings of former students one year after leaving the institution, from Scorecard data, to signal short-term return on investment.
No single statistic tells the whole story. The graduation rate applies to the entire school, not specifically to nursing students, and net price is an institutional average that may not reflect a nursing program’s actual cost. We treat NCLEX-RN pass rates, which come from the Virginia Board of Nursing and not federal data, as a critical measure of program effectiveness; those are analyzed separately in a dedicated section. These trade-offs mean our ranking provides a broad, data-informed starting point rather than a definitive judgment.
In 2026, Virginia’s overall NCLEX-RN pass rate was 87.3%1, landing just below the national average of 87.5%2. These numbers set a benchmark, but individual BSN programs in the Virginia Beach area often post higher or lower rates.
NCLEX pass rates measure how well a program prepares students for licensure, the exam every nursing graduate must pass to practice. Consistently low rates can signal weak instruction, inadequate clinical prep, or lax admissions. Most state boards, including Virginia’s, consider rates below 80% a red flag that may trigger closer scrutiny of a program.
The Virginia Board of Nursing publishes annual NCLEX-RN pass rates for every approved prelicensure program, searchable by school and campus. For example, Virginia Peninsula Community College (which offers an ADN but illustrates the region’s performance) recorded a 90.7% pass rate in 20243. While BSN-specific figures from nearby schools like Old Dominion University, Virginia Wesleyan University, and ECPI University fluctuate from year to year, you can compare their latest results directly on the board’s website. Because exam content and student cohorts change, look at three-year trends rather than a single year’s data before judging a program’s stability.
With demand for nurses at an all-time high across Hampton Roads, nursing programs in Virginia Beach have adapted by intensifying clinical placements and simplifying licensure pathways.
BSN programs in the Virginia Beach area generally require a high school diploma or equivalent and a minimum cumulative GPA between 2.5 and 3.0, though some may set a higher bar. Prerequisite courses typically include anatomy and physiology I and II with labs, microbiology with lab, a college-level math or statistics course, English composition, developmental psychology, and nutrition. Most schools mandate the TEAS or HESI entrance exam; for example, ECPI University requires the TEAS and supplements the application with a personal essay and admissions interview. Background checks are standard across institutions, and some programs also ask for CPR certification or healthcare experience.
Nursing students in Virginia Beach complete rotations at major regional health systems that often double as future employers. Key partners include Sentara Healthcare, Children's Hospital of The King's Daughters (CHKD), Bon Secours, and the Naval Medical Center Portsmouth. These facilities provide exposure to medical-surgical, pediatric, maternity, and community health settings. Many graduates find their first RN positions within these same hospital networks, thanks to strong clinical-to-hiring pipelines.
After earning a BSN from an approved program, candidates must pass the NCLEX-RN exam and apply to the Virginia Board of Nursing. The application requires a criminal background check and a fee (currently $190 for licensure by examination). Once licensed, RNs renew every two years with 30 hours of continuing education or alternative learning activities such as a refresher course or specialty certification. Out-of-state nurses can apply for endorsement if they meet equivalent standards.
For students who already hold an ADN or LPN, RN-to-BSN and LPN-to-BSN bridge programs offer streamlined advancement. Admission to these tracks usually requires an active nursing license, a minimum GPA in previous nursing coursework, and sometimes a statistics prerequisite. Accelerated second-degree BSN programs, designed for career-changers with a non-nursing bachelor’s degree, are more intensive and may demand a higher GPA (often 3.0 or above) along with strong grades in science prerequisites. These fast-track options compress clinical hours and coursework into 12–18 months.
Hampton Roads is a healthcare powerhouse, driven by a large military population, an aging demographic, and major investments like the Sentara expansion. These forces keep demand for registered nurses high across Virginia Beach and the surrounding metro area.
