Registered Nursing Pathways

Start at RTC, Go Anywhere

Are you ready to take the first step toward a rewarding career in nursing? At Renton Technical College (RTC), our Pre-Nursing pathways will help you pursue your dream of becoming a Registered Nurse (RN). Whether you’re just starting or transferring from another college, RTC offers resources, support, and guidance to help you reach your goals.

What is Your Goal?

Start your Career After Graduation Transfer to a University for a Bachelor's Degree

Associate's degree in nursing (ADN)

  • 2-year professional degree 
  • Offered at community & technical colleges 
  • Full-time, in person program at most schools 
  • Hands-on, professional & clinical training in nursing 
  • Prepares students to take NCLEX and begin career as a Registered Nurse in entry-level positions 
  • After earning RN license, explore RN to BSN programs to continue education while working as an RN

Associate of Pre-Nursing DTA  

  • 2-year transfer degree 
  • Offered at community & technical colleges 
  • Prepares students to transfer to a Bachelor of Science in Nursing (BSN) program at a four-year university 
  • Can be taken part-time or full-time 
  • Classes offered online and hybrid (combination of in person and online)
  • Classes include general education and nursing pre-requisites, not professional or clinical nurse training courses

Bachelor of Science in Nursing (BSN)

  • Offered at four-year universities 
  • Two-year professional program (builds on 2-year Pre-Nursing DTA transfer degree to earn 4-year bachelor's degree) 
  • Hands on, professional & clinical training in nursing 
  • Full-time, in person program at most schools 
  • Prepares students to take NCLEX and begin career as Registered Nurse in more specialized or managerial nursing positions

Application Requirements: 

  • See RTC’s RN AAS-T application requirements, under “admissions requirements”  
  • Complete prerequisite classes- keeping in mind minimum grade requirements, re-take rules & time limits   
  • Certified Nursing Assistant (CNA) License or Certificate of Completion 
  • Test of Essential Academic Skills (TEAS) exam scores- keeping in mind minimum score and re-take requirements  
  • Required vaccinations and health requirements 

*Keep in mind that application requirements vary between different schools and RN programs

Application Requirements:

Pre-Nursing DTA 

Bachelor of Science in Nursing (BSN) 

  • Pre-Nursing DTA degree (some BSN programs may require additional specific prerequisite classes) 
  • Several BSN programs require hands-on healthcare experience 

*Keep in mind that application requirements & deadlines vary between different universities and BSN programs 

An associate's degree in nursing (ADN) program will provide you with the training and clinical experience needed to become a Registered Nurse and prepare you to take the NCLEX- the RN licensing exam. Completing an ADN program will get you ready for entry-level nursing positions.  

Before applying for admission to a Registered Nurse ADN program, students need to complete application requirements. At RTC’s Registered Nursing AAS-T program, application requirements include:  

  • Certified Nursing Assistant (CNA) certificate of completion or WA State license 
  • Eight prerequisite classes  
  • Test of Essential Academic Skills (TEAS) exam 

Please review RTC’s RN program web page to learn about other admissions requirements and recommendations. 

This Pre-Nursing pathway is for students who are working on these application requirements to apply to an ADN program at RTC or another college. However, individual prerequisite classes may not qualify for financial aid unless they are taken as part of a financial aid-eligible degree program. Talk to the RTC Financial Aid office or an adviser for more details.

  • Associate Degree in Nursing (ADN) programs are offered at 2-year community & technical colleges
  • An ADN program is a 2 year/ 6 quarter RN training program
  •  After graduating from an ADN program and passing the NCLEX to become a licensed Registered Nurse, students can apply to an RN to BSN program to earn a Bachelor of Science in Nursing (BSN). These programs are meant for Registered Nurses with their ADN to earn a bachelor's degree, while they are working.

The Pre-Nursing Direct Transfer Agreement (DTA) is an associate’s degree to prepare for transferring to a four-year university. It includes prerequisite classes needed to apply for most RN programs- a Bachelor of Science in Nursing (BSN) program or Associate’s Degree in Nursing (ADN) program. The Pre-Nursing DTA is designed to be the first two years of the four-year BSN degree.  Students in this Pre-Nursing pathway are not eligible to take the NCLEX until they complete their BSN program at the university. In addition to requiring the Pre-Nursing DTA transfer degree, many BSN programs also ask for hands-on healthcare experience with a minimum of 100 hours, although many students complete 1000 or more hours.  

  • Bachelor of Science in Nursing (BSN) programs are offered at four-year universities 
  • A BSN program is 2 years/ 6 quarters long  
  • Because many BSN programs require hands-on healthcare experience, it is recommended to earn your Certified Nursing Assistant license to be able to earn those hours and experience 
  • After graduating from a BSN program, students are prepared to take the NCLEX to become a licensed Registered Nurse.  
  • RNs that have a BSN degree generally have more career opportunities, such as more specialized nurse roles or management positions and have higher average salaries

As a Pre-Nursing student, you will need to decide whether to be in a program & taking classes toward a degree or not while you are preparing to apply into a Registered Nurse program. These are the two most common pathways: 

  • Work towards the Pre-Nursing DTA degree program: this is a transfer associate's degree that includes all the prerequisite classes for both associate’s degree (ADN) and bachelor’s degree (BSN) Registered Nursing programs. This program is eligible for financial aid funding. The Pre- Nursing DTA is generally the best degree program for most Pre-Nursing students.  
  • Take prerequisite classes by themselves, without being in a degree program. This means you won’t be eligible for all types of financial aid (like financial aid grants) and will only be considered for any federal loans and work-study you qualify for. Your program at RTC would look like: 
    •  Undecided- academic: a student taking classes that are not part of a degree program 
    • Registered Nurse AAS-T(Applying): a student who selected Registered Nursing as their program when they applied to RTC, but who hasn’t met the application requirements for RTC’s RN program, applied or been accepted as an RN student. To financial aid, this counts as not being in a program because the student hasn’t been accepted yet.  

Check your program at RTC:  

  1. Log into your student ctcLink account 
  2. Go to “academics,” then “programs” 
  3. See which program(s) says “active in program”

If you are not in the right program for your goals, you will need to update it. There are two ways to make a change to your program. 

If the quarter has started not started yet:  

  • Fill out a Program Plan Update request form - use your RTC email to access this form  
    • Be sure to activate your desired program and deactivate discontinue the program you want to remove, so you end up being active in one program only. 
    • You can request a program plan update/ change yourself up until the financial aid census date of the quarter start of the quarter (see the RTC academic calendar to look up the financial aid census date). After the census date start of the quarter, any requested program update will go into effect the following quarter.

If the quarter has started and it is still before the census date:

Review different pathways to becoming an RN, financial aid options, and the steps to getting started at RTC.