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YONKERS, N.Y. – Yonkers’ oldest hospital-based nursing school is teaming up with a college in Albany, giving its graduates a change to earn a bachelor’s degree.
The Cochran School of Nursing at St. John’s Riverside Hospital has announced it has joined forces with Excelsior College, a partnership that will allow Cochran’s associate degree graduates a chance to enroll in a distance-learning program at the upstate university.
“Cochran School of Nursing’s articulation with Excelsior College will provide an additional opportunity for graduates of our school to make a seamless transition into an educational program in nursing leading to the bachelor’s degree,” Karen Davenport, dean of the Cochran School of Nursing, said in a statement.
Administrators said the partnership is important because advanced degrees are becoming more important in the nursing profession. The U.S. Bureau of Labor agrees.
“Bachelor's degree programs usually include more training in the physical and social sciences, communication, leadership, and critical thinking, which is becoming more important as nursing practice becomes more complex,” the bureau says.
Cochran’s partnership with Excelsior is the nursing school's second. It already is working with Mercy College. Under the newest agreement, Cochran graduates, as well as employees of the nursing school, are eligible to enroll in Excelsior’s RN to Bachelor of Science in Nursing program at reduced rates for tuition and fees.
Excelsior College President John Ebersole said the college welcomed the partnership.
“Through this joint initiative we’ll be able to build a direct pipeline for Cochran graduates to earn an advanced nursing education at Excelsior and meet a growing demand within the health care industry for well-educated nurses,” he said.
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