Are you interested in pursuing a bachelor of science in nursing directly out of high school? These degrees can prepare you for the NCLEX-RN exam as well as prepare you for future nursing training.

Thousands of colleges across the United States now offer Bachelor of Science in Nursing (BSN) programs that are available to high school seniors applying to colleges. In the last decade, as the number of BSN degrees offered has grown, the amount of open nursing jobs has also increased and is projected to continue growing by 6% over the next decade (Association of Colleges of Nursing).

We’ve put together a list of 28 great nursing programs using a variety of sources. Continue reading to learn more about each.

Several popular colleges and universities now support the Self-Reported Academic Record (SRAR), also known as the Self-Reported Student Academic Record (SSAR), which allows students to submit their courses, grades, and test results to colleges during the application process.

That said, how the SRAR is used by these institutions varies. To help you navigate it all, we've enhanced the current list of participating institutions and polices for domestic and international applicants with admit rates, test score ranges and direct links to the SRAR section of their admissions websites.

Note that while most of the 30+ participating institutions are public universities, there are two notable privates requiring the SRAR: New York University (NYU) and Northeastern University.

Click on continue reading for the details.

Most schools have completed their updates for the 2021-22 admission cycle (Class of 2026), and several of the changes we've observed are worth noting. 

Roughly 25 schools have modified early admission options available to applicants this fall.  Notable changes include the resumption of Restrictive Early Action at Princeton, the introduction of Early Decision 2 at Carnegie Mellon, Emerson and Loyola Marymount, and the removal of Early Decision 2 at Syracuse University.

If you're considering early admission, be sure to check out our list as it may impact how you decide to apply this fall.   Note to our subscribers: the data has already been incorporated into the product, simply re-run College Kickstart to see how it impacts your plan.

Click on Continue Reading below for the details.

Interested in studying “the skill of the century” and accessing a global market that is worth over $300 billion? Look no further than artificial intelligence (AI) and check out our latest list of colleges with strong undergraduate AI programs in the United States.

The term “artificial intelligence” was coined as early as 1956 and refers to the broad concept of making it possible for machines to perform human-like tasks, such as solving problems, making decisions, understanding language, and processing sounds and images. However, AI only became increasingly popular recently, and along with this rise in popularity came spikes in investment, which led to rapid growth in the AI industry.

Studying AI prepares students to solve problems across a variety of fields and introduces them to a huge job market that continues to expand today. Drawing from U.S. News, TechTarget, CSRankings, Computer Science Degree Hub, Great Value Colleges and Value Colleges, we've curated a list of some of the top undergraduate programs in artificial intelligence across the nation. This list also covers information about the overall admission rates and profiles, offered AI programs, curriculum, and research opportunities and facilities for each listed institution.

Click on Continue Reading to see our list of top undergraduate AI programs nationwide.

In search of schools with strong undergraduate programs in environmental science/studies?

Look no further, here's a list of 40 colleges with strong environmental programs curated from several sources, including the National Environmental Health Science & Protection Accreditation Council, The Ecology Project, US News, Environmental Science.org, Niche, Learn.org and USA Today.

Each entry includes the institution's overall admission rate, mid-50th percentile test scores and a link that takes you directly to the college’s Environmental Science program for more information. We've also included notes that give insight to why we believe that each institution is noteworthy.

Click on Continue Reading for the list.

In search of colleges and universities with strong undergraduate international relations programs?

Courtesy of Foreign Policy magazine and the College of William & Mary, we've compiled their list of top 50 programs in the United States, along with admit rate and test score data to help you locate likely, target and reach schools to add to your list.  As always, we've also included a link to each school's website to help you explore further.

Click on Continue Reading for the list, or here for the Foreign Policy article. 

In search of colleges and universities with strong engineering programs?

Look no further, we've identified 60+ schools that fit the bill.  To make the grade, we looked for public and private institutions that granted engineering degrees to 10% or more of its graduates last year and were consistently ranked highly by a variety of third party sources.

There are plenty of household names like MIT, Caltech and Stanford on the list, in addition to several lesser known gems.  If you're 100% certain about engineering, you might consider schools like Franklin W. Olin College of Engineering or Webb Institute, or if you're looking for engineering in a liberal arts setting, consider checking out Harvey Mudd, Swarthmore, Bucknell, Lafayette, Lehigh, Trinity or Union Colleges.  

To help you categorize schools into safeties, targets and reaches, we've included admission rates, mid-50th percentile SAT and ACT scores.  We've also provided links to each school's website to help you explore fit.

Click on Continue Reading for the details. 

A group of 80 higher education institutions called the Coalition for Access, Affordability and Success will be introducing a new alternative to the Common Application in 2016.  Designed to level the playing field for college admissions, the Coalition will deliver free tools to increase transparency around admissions and financial aid and promote awareness and engagement prior to senior year.

Details to come later this year, with more insight expected at this week's NACAC Conference in San Diego.

Click here for the press release or here for the related article from the Washington Post.

We're pleased to announce the latest release of College Kickstart 2015!  You'll notice faster performance, updated admissions data (including 2019 admission rates for several top schools), expanded school coverage, and for College Kickstart Plus users, over 200 department-specific admission rates across 34 public and private institutions.

Click on continue reading for the details. 

Good news—we've just expanded the College Kickstart database by another 30 schools, bringing the total to 225 competitive 4-year colleges and universities.

The following schools have been added to the list: 

New Additions