The University of Louisiana at Monroe is a public university in the city of the same name that is part of the University of Louisiana School System. Established in 1931, ULM originally went by the name of Ouachita Parish Junior College because of its location. As a junior college, the campus offered shorter degree programs and some certificate programs. It later became a full university and expanded its curriculum to include programs for bachelor’s students. The campus went through four different name changes before finally becoming ULM. It experienced its most rapid growth in the 1950s and beyond, which is when its enrollment increased to nearly 10,000 students.

The business program offered by the university ranks among the country’s best, and the university itself ranks highly among high school guidance counselors. Washington Monthly also recognized ULM for its graduate school and ranked it among the top in the nation. U.S. News & World Report included ULM on its lists of the best regional colleges, best schools with undergrad business programs, best public colleges in the south, top online bachelor’s programs and top online graduate education programs.

University of Louisiana at Monroe Accreditation Details

ULM can give all its graduating seniors and graduate students degrees because it has regional accreditation from the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges. This type of accreditation also lets students attending this Louisiana university apply for financial aid. ULM remains committed to keeping and maintaining its accreditation too. It does an extensive review every few years to ensure it maintains its standards, and it has a panel that meets before every renewal phase, which occurs every 10 years.

Depending on what you want to study, you may want to look at whether the university has specialized accreditation for that program. Some of the specialized accreditation that ULM has comes from:

Aviation Accreditation Board International

Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business

American Chemical Society

Accrediting Council for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication

Council on Social Work Education

Council for Accreditation of Counseling and Related Educational Programs

Commission on Collegiate Nursing Education

University of Louisiana at Monroe Application Requirements

You can complete the entire ULM online application in just 20 minutes or less. The university requires that you create an online account first. This account will let you log in and out of the system to work on different parts of the application at different times. You can also use this account to log in and see if the university requires more information from you or if it reached a decision on your status. The online system will show you if the university accepts you.

Incoming freshmen must complete the university core in high school, which includes 19 credits of English, math, foreign language, social science and life science classes. New students must also submit a high school transcript and an official standardized test score. The university requires that students score 18 or higher on the ACT or at least 450 on the language portion and 460 on the math portion of the SAT. Students must also have a cumulative grade point average of 2.35 in high school too.

Those enrolling in the online RN to BSN program must meet other requirements. They must have a degree or diploma from a nursing program with state approval and have a full RN license from an American state. ULM also requires an official college transcript that shows you have a cumulative grade point average of 2.0 or higher in all the pre-nursing classes that you took in college.

Tuition and Financial Aid

The cost of attendance at ULM is around $16,700 a year for students who live at home. The cost rises to around $20,100 a year for those who want to live on the ULM campus. If you lived outside of Louisiana before starting classes and want to live on its campus, your costs will climb to more than $32,000 a year. The cost for online students is lower because they do not need a meal plan or a dorm room. As an online student, you’ll pay just $400 per credit. The university also charges fees that add a few hundred dollars to your total costs every semester.

Even online students can apply for financial aid though. The total amount of aid you get each year will depend on the number of classes you sign up for though. Part-time students receive less aid and may not qualify for some grants and loads. The federal government bases the amount of loans you can borrow each year on your year in school. You can also apply for grants that come from both the federal government and the state of Louisiana too. As an online student with good credit, you may qualify for private student loans also.

Online RN to BSN

The Online RN to BSN program available through ULM ranks among the best online programs of its type in the entire country. Designed for licensed and registered nurses, the program lets them finish a bachelor’s degree in nursing at the same time that they work as nurses. The university asks for a transcript from your college because it reduces the number of required courses that you must take based on which classes you already took. Depending on the type of degree you have, you can finish this program in as little as one year or up to two years as a full-time student.

The program includes 120 credits of classes, and 65 of those credits will come from within your nursing major. Though it consists of some pre-nursing classes, you can often skip those classes. General education courses cover subjects like life science, social science, math and English. The university may determine that you need to take fewer classes because of those listed on your transcript. At least 16 of the credits you take will come from the professional nursing arena and can include classes like nursing management, nursing research, public health nursing and adult nursing.

You can also take classes on using your nursing degree in other health care professions. The University of Louisiana at Monroe offers classes like health assessment, principles of pharmacology and professional nursing concepts during your final year that can help you with your career goals.

Related resource:

Cheapest Accredited Online RN-BSN Nursing Programs to Most Expensive- A Complete List