For Butler Tech nursing students, earning an RN is a major career milestone that unlocks limitless opportunities. RN graduates who want to continue advancing their education and careers have a clear path toward a BSN and beyond through a newly established articulation agreement with Indiana Wesleyan University (IWU).
The agreement is the latest step in Butler Tech’s continued expansion of nursing education, creating opportunities for students to enter healthcare, earn credentials, build experience, and continue advancing throughout their careers.
Different Starting Points, One Nursing Pathway 
There is not a single starting point for a career in nursing at Butler Tech.
For some students, the journey starts with Butler Tech in high school, where they explore healthcare careers, gain hands-on experience, and begin earning credentials through on-campus and satellite programs.
For others, it begins after high school or years into another career. Butler Tech Adult Education offers opportunities to earn credentials as a Certified Nurse Aide, Phlebotomy Technician or Certified Clinical Medical Assistant, while the Licensed Practical Nursing program prepares students to become LPNs and enter the nursing workforce.
Butler Tech’s LPN to RN Bridge Program is preparing to welcome its sixth cohort. Launched in 2025 and now offered at both the LeSourdsville Campus and Bioscience Center in West Chester, the accelerated RN diploma program takes approximately 11 months, currently costs about $16,000 and offers four start dates each year. Designed for working LPNs, the hybrid format combines online coursework with laboratory instruction one day each week and clinical experiences up to two days per week.
From Butler Tech RN to BSN
As Butler Tech’s LPN to RN Bridge Program grows, so do the possibilities for its graduates.
After Butler Tech and IWU connected at the TriState Nursing Excellence Symposium in April 2026, the organizations began exploring how diploma RNs could more easily build on what they had already accomplished.
The result is Butler Tech’s first articulation agreement specifically for graduates of the LPN to RN Bridge Program.
“This new articulation agreement expands the nursing pathway by creating an additional opportunity for students to begin their nursing education at Butler Tech and continue seamlessly into the next stage of their education,” shared Dr. Sarah Delong DNP, APRN, FNP-C, Director of Butler Tech Adult Education Campuses. “Ultimately, we hope this agreement makes nursing education more accessible and attainable for students by allowing them to start their journey here at Butler Tech and complete a clear path from a CNA to completing a BSN.”
Eligible Butler Tech graduates receive 40 assessed credits toward their IWU degree in recognition of their nursing diploma, successful completion of the NCLEX-RN and RN licensure. With eligible transfer credit from prior college or military experience, students may apply up to 90 transferable or assessed credits toward the 120-credit BSN degree.
Butler Tech nursing graduates are also eligible for partnership tuition pricing, currently at $275 per undergraduate credit when enrolling in IWU’s RN-to-BSN pathways. Remaining coursework can be completed fully online through eight-week courses, one course at a time.
“The partnership between Butler Tech and Indiana Wesleyan University reflects our shared commitment to helping nurses advance their education and expand their professional opportunities,” said Misty Emmons, DNP, APRN, AGNP, Dean of Nursing at IWU. “Adult learners often balance significant responsibilities with limited time and financial resources. By reducing barriers to continuing education, this partnership makes it easier for nurses to pursue a bachelor’s degree and achieve their academic and career goals.”
Indiana Wesleyan University sees the preparation Butler Tech graduates bring to the partnership as one of the greatest strengths.
“Butler Tech graduates are exactly who we want in our programs: motivated, experienced nurses who are already making a difference in their communities,” said Shellie Doub, Senior Partnership Executive with IWU. “They bring real clinical skills and a commitment to patient care that you can’t teach in a textbook.”
Doub added that the organizations shared focus on adult learners made the partnership a natural fit.
Building a Pathway for Career Advancement
The agreement adds another step to a nursing pathway that can begin at Butler Tech and continue throughout a student’s career. A student may enter healthcare through an initial credential, pursue practical nursing, return to become a registered nurse and continue toward a bachelor’s or graduate nursing degree, earning credentials and creating new career opportunities along the way.
Paul Adams, Associate Director of Healthcare at Butler Tech Adult Education noted, “We are committed to providing flexible, affordable pathways while continually evaluating how we can strengthen the educational experience and better prepare students for the workforce. We especially want working adults to know that Butler Tech offers a realistic pathway to pursue the healthcare career they have always wanted. By listening to students, faculty, and employers, we can identify barriers, adapt our programs, and create opportunities that support both individual career goals and the healthcare needs of our community.”
As Butler Tech nurses advance, the impact extends beyond their own careers. They bring new skills back to their workplaces, care for patients throughout the region, and help strengthen the healthcare workforce that will serve the next generation.
Learn more about Butler Tech’s LPN to RN Bridge Program and upcoming start dates at butlertech.org/program/registered-nurse-lpn-rn-bridge/
Read more about the IWU RN to BSN program: https://www.indwes.edu/program/bs-nursing/