A Montana RN working 12-hour shifts in Havre, Glendive, or Libby cannot realistically commute to a campus for a bachelor's degree, yet hospital employers keep raising the BSN expectation. Online completion programs resolve that conflict, but the in-state options are fewer than many directories suggest.
Only a handful of Montana nursing colleges currently run a genuine online RN to BSN: MSU Billings, MSU-Northern, Salish Kootenai College, and University of Providence. Each is compared here on cost per credit, accreditation, clinical rules, admissions, timelines, classes, and graduate earnings.
Clinical logistics often decide the choice more than tuition does. Programs that let you complete clinical hours in your own community spare rural nurses the long drives that derail part-time study.
Best Online RN to BSN Schools in Montana for 2027
Every school listed here delivers its RN to BSN online or in a hybrid format, so nurses in Montana can keep working and stay in the community where they already live and practice. This year's Montana list is short by design, and the four schools below appear in order of a blended quality score that reflects outcomes and institutional strength rather than price alone.
How we ranked these
- Earnings ten years after entry
- Institutional graduation rate
- Retention and student-faculty ratio
- Accreditation and online delivery
- Montana licensure approval
- Original research on individual programs
- NCES-IPEDS federal institutional data — nces.ed.gov
- College Scorecard post-completion earnings data — collegescorecard.ed.gov
- In-house program catalog data
Montana State University-Northern
#1Havre, MT · ~$13,000/yr (est.)
Best for: Working RNs who cannot relocate
Montana State University-Northern in Havre built its RN to BSN completion program for nurses who need to stay employed and stay put. Coursework is fully online and the required clinical hours are arranged in the student's own area, so no move to Havre is needed. Full-time students finish in three semesters while part-time students have up to five years, and the program is ACEN accredited. The school's graduation rate is 41%, and the average net price after aid across the institution is about $12,700, a figure that describes the whole university rather than this program.
- ACEN-accredited RN to BSN completion program
- Fully online coursework, no campus visits required
- Clinical hours completed in your own local area
- Full-time track finishes in three semesters
- Part-time students may take up to five years
- Builds on an associate degree in nursing
- Coursework covers leadership, community health, and evidence-based practice
- Financial aid and scholarships available
Salish Kootenai College
#2Pablo, MT · ~$8,000/yr (est.)
Best for: Nurses serving tribal and rural communities
Salish Kootenai College in Pablo is a tribal college whose RN to BSN program is fully online and asynchronous, with optional synchronous meetings. Nurses can study part time across six quarters or accelerate through a full-time three-quarter track, and both routes include a precepted quality improvement capstone. The college applies a Native American preference in admissions, and the nursing program holds ACEN accreditation. The school's graduation rate is 28%, and the average net price after aid institution-wide is about $7,900.
- Fully online asynchronous format
- Part-time track spans six quarters
- Accelerated full-time option finishes in three quarters
- Upper division entry for licensed registered nurses
- Precepted capstone quality improvement project
- Focus on clinical leadership and public health
- Application deadline of June 7, 2026
- Annual federal background check required
Montana State University Billings
#3Billings, MT · $17,000/yr (est. net price)
Best for: ADN students starting BSN coursework early
Montana State University Billings offers a CCNE-accredited RN to BSN completion program taught entirely online, with 49 credit hours delivered in 8-week blocks. Full-time students can finish in three semesters, and rolling admissions mean fall, spring, and summer start dates. Clinical hours come from faculty-led mentored projects in the student's own community, and nurses may begin coursework while still enrolled in an ADN program. The school's graduation rate is 30%, with an institution-wide average net price after aid of about $16,500.
- CCNE-accredited RN to BSN degree completion program
- 49 total credit hours, including co-requisites
- 8-week block scheduling
- Full-time completion in three semesters
- Rolling admissions with fall, spring, and summer starts
- Faculty-led clinical mentored projects in your community
- Concurrent enrollment while still finishing an ADN
- Minimum 30 credits must be earned from MSU Billings
University of Providence
#4Great Falls, MT · $15,000 – $20,000/yr (est.)
The University of Providence in Great Falls is a private university whose online RN to BSN blends synchronous and asynchronous coursework and can be finished in as little as one year. The CCNE-accredited curriculum covers healthcare administration, health informatics, leadership, compliance, and patient safety, and graduates often move into management or continue on to graduate study. Applications are accepted for a fall start, a narrower intake than the rolling calendars at some other Montana schools, so verify the current cycle before planning enrollment. The school's graduation rate is 28%, and the average net price after aid is about $17,600 institution-wide.
- CCNE-accredited online RN to BSN program
- 100% online with synchronous and asynchronous options
- Can be completed in as little as one year
- Builds on existing RN skills and licensure
- Curriculum spans health informatics, leadership, compliance, and patient safety
- Prepares graduates for management roles and graduate study
Why Some Directories List Nine Montana Programs and We List Four
Four Montana programs currently offer a genuine online RN to BSN completion pathway in 2026: MSU Billings, MSU-Northern, Salish Kootenai College, and University of Providence. If you have seen directories listing roughly nine Montana nursing programs, that higher number almost always folds in traditional entry-level BSN degrees, programs that have since closed or merged, and aggregator entries that were never completion tracks to begin with.
What Separates the Four
The order below reflects what actually matters to a working nurse: whether courses are truly online, what affordable online RN to BSN programs cost after aid, how graduates fare, and accreditation as a non-negotiable baseline. A campus-only, pre-licensure BSN is a different product from an RN to BSN completion program, even when a directory files them under the same heading.
MSU Billings runs three semesters of online courses plus two community-based clinical mentored courses completed where you already live and work. MSU-Northern offers its RN-BSN completion program with full-time and part-time options; its own page emphasizes flexibility, while third-party listings describe it as fully online. Salish Kootenai College and University of Providence both deliver online completion tracks.
Does MSU Offer an Online RN to BSN?
Yes, but it depends on the campus. MSU Billings and MSU-Northern are the two MSU campuses with RN to BSN completion programs. MSU Bozeman's Mark and Robyn Jones College of Nursing offers traditional and accelerated BSN degrees, not a completion track for already-licensed RNs. Carroll College similarly offers a traditional BSN only. Montana Tech does not appear with a confirmed completion program in current sources.
Formats and offerings change between catalog years. Before you apply, confirm a program's current status and delivery mode directly on the school's own nursing page rather than relying on any third-party listing.
What an Online RN to BSN Costs in Montana, Normalized per Credit
The lowest per-credit rate does not always produce the cheapest degree, because your real cost depends on how many nursing credits a school requires after your associate degree transfers in, based on its RN to BSN requirements. Putting every program on the same per-credit footing makes that tradeoff easier to see.
Per-Credit Rates for 2026-2027
Each school with published 2026-2027 pricing bills by the credit hour, so no conversion from semester or flat-rate billing is needed.
- University of Providence: $586 per credit, the same for Montana residents and out-of-state students.
- MSU Billings: $742.50 per credit for Montana residents.1 A separate nonresident rate for this program was not published.
- MSU-Northern: A $40 per-credit online course fee applies on top of tuition, but base per-credit tuition for the RN to BSN was not listed separately. The degree requires 120 total credits, with RN to BSN transfer credits from your prior nursing education counting toward that total.
- Salish Kootenai College: 2026-2027 per-credit pricing for the online RN to BSN was not available at the time of writing.
Estimated Program Tuition
At University of Providence, 33 nursing credits at $586 comes to $19,338. The university's own estimate runs higher, about $21,682, and it excludes application fees, textbooks, course materials, and clinical fees. Plan around the larger figure.
At MSU Billings, 49 credits at $742.50 works out to roughly $36,383 for residents, before any course or program fees.
Why These Figures Differ From Net Price
The net price shown in the ranking is an institution-wide average. It reflects what first-time, full-time undergraduates paid after grants and scholarships, and it usually folds in housing, food, and other living costs. Working RNs studying part-time online rarely fit that profile: you may receive less grant aid, but you are not paying for a dorm either. Use net price as a signal of a school's overall affordability and aid generosity, and use the per-credit math here to budget the degree you will actually complete.
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Admission Requirements and Transfer Credits for Montana's Online Programs
Requirements differ more than you might expect. Here is what each school's published materials confirm. Salish Kootenai College's current RN to BSN criteria could not be verified, so contact the college directly.
- RN license timingMSU Billings is the most flexible. You can enroll without a license, and concurrent enrollment lets you take most nursing courses while still in an associate degree program. You must hold a current, unencumbered RN license before the Community and Leadership courses, which include clinicals, and before graduation. University of Providence and MSU-Northern expect an active or current unencumbered license at admission. Neither says whether you can apply while awaiting NCLEX results.
- Accepted licensesUniversity of Providence asks for a license issued in the state where you live and work. None of the schools clearly addresses multistate compact licenses. If you live outside Montana, confirm eligibility with admissions before applying.
- Minimum GPA and prerequisitesUniversity of Providence requires a 2.75 GPA and may ask for an essay or academic review if you fall below it. It lists no added prerequisites beyond a completed ADN or nursing diploma. MSU-Northern requires a 2.50 cumulative GPA and a C or better in required courses. MSU Billings states no admission GPA minimum. Courses such as statistics or microbiology often appear as corequisites, so check your transcript early.
- ADN transfer creditsNone of these schools publishes a block credit figure or a transfer cap. University of Providence applies outside credits to its core curriculum after review by the program manager. Request an unofficial transcript evaluation first.
- Start dates and deadlinesPublished intake calendars weren't available. Ask each program for its 2026 and 2027 start terms and application cutoffs.
Fastest and Most Flexible Paths to Your BSN
How quickly can a working RN in Montana finish a BSN online, and does the schedule actually bend around 12-hour shifts? It depends heavily on which program you enter and whether you move at full speed or stretch the coursework out.
Timelines at the Montana Schools
The University of Providence online RN to BSN runs 12 months across three semesters. That is the clearest, fully verified timeline we can confirm among the online programs at the Best Nursing Schools in Montana. MSU-Northern's shortest completion time is three semesters with up to five years allowed, MSU Billings' is three semesters with up to three years, and Salish Kootenai College's is three quarters with up to six quarters; start dates for those three remain unconfirmed in the sources we can verify. Treat a roughly one-year full-time pace as the reasonable baseline, with part-time options typically extending the finish line when offered.
Realistic Weekly Workload
A 12-month, three-semester format means you're carrying a meaningful credit load each term, which translates to steady weekly reading, discussion posts, and written assignments on top of your clinical job. Nurses working full-time shifts should plan for consistent weekly study blocks rather than cramming, since the compressed timeline leaves little slack.
Delivery and Start Dates
The University of Providence program is 100% online and delivered through asynchronous lectures and coursework, so there are no required live class meetings to schedule around your shifts. New cohorts begin each fall (August), with one intake per year; the Fall 2027 application deadline through NursingCAS is July 9, 2027.
Do 6-Month Programs Exist?
No. There is no verified 6-month online RN to BSN in Montana. For the quickest routes, see the Fastest RN to BSN Programs; for lower-cost routes, see our most affordable RN to BSN hub pages.
Full-Time, Standard, or Part-Time: How the Timelines Compare
Full-time enrollment at Montana's public options typically wraps up in three semesters or three quarters, while part-time study stretches the same coursework over as many as five years. University of Providence advertises completion in as little as one year for its fully online program but does not publish a maximum timeframe. Schools generally do not publish credits per term, so confirm your course load with an advisor. For reference, MSU Billings requires 49 total credits.
