Hays, Kansas, Dec. 15, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- FHSU’s new hybrid pre-licensure Bachelor of Science in Nursing (BSN) program opened its inaugural semester with its first cohort of 10 students arriving on campus in August. The program offers a combination of online and face-to-face learning experiences, featuring theory-based online courses and synchronous learning opportunities that facilitate real-time interaction with instructors and classmates.
Lab and clinical experiences are bundled together, allowing students to make fewer trips to Hays.
For Gabrielle De Waal, the program gives her the convenience of keeping her full-time job.
“This program allows me to work my 8-5 job and still have time to do homework after, versus being on campus all day and having to find an evening job,” she said. “It definitely is more flexible.”
Gabrielle is an LPN at a clinic in Hays and is planning a wedding in the spring. Returning to college, she said, is more challenging after a few years out of high school.
“When you are fresh out of high school, it’s a lot easier because you don’t have as many financial obligations,” she said. “After a couple of years out, you have a car payment, a house payment. You have to work. You can’t afford not to work.
“That’s why this program is so beneficial, because I can afford to pay all my bills and not have to worry about the financial burdens of being in school.”
Angelica Garcia, whose former job was at Home Depot, sees the program as a way to raise her son without seeing all her income going to daycare costs.
“I would rather raise my boy with my husband and avoid daycare,” she said. “Everything I would make would go straight to daycare. It’s just so expensive.”
In the fall semester, the hybrid students were on campus for three to four days and at a senior living community for three days. For the remainder of the semester, classes were held online.
Succeeding at online classes requires a great deal of discipline, according to Gabrielle.
“There is no waiting until the last minute, because you don’t have somebody telling you to remember to turn your assignments in for class,” she said. “You have to do this on our own. It’s a lot more responsibility, but I think it’s a good thing.”
Angelica agreed, pointing out that her course instructors have been very responsive to questions.
Ciara Christopher, Hays, started at Fort Hays State in 2019 and completed her freshman and sophomore years.
Andrea Hensley, Overland Park, traveled the greatest distance to attend the on-campus meeting. She was looking for an online program that could work for her circumstances as a mother of three with two jobs.
“I’m trying to juggle all that, so being here (on campus) is like a vacation,” she said with a laugh.
Although the program consists of eight courses during the first semester, Andrea and her classmates are confident that the semester will work out.
Andrea, who owns a spa, discovered the hybrid program in an unconventional way, through one of her clients who is originally from Hays.
“Then I heard the program was only taking 10 people, so I told my husband, I’m going to apply,” she said. “If I get in, I’m doing it, and if I don’t, we’re not going to talk about it again. And I’m not going to look anywhere else. So, here I am.”
Janine Van Niekerk, Arapahoe, Neb., is the mother of six.
“I previously looked into a traditional BSN, but I couldn’t commit to five days a week,” she said. I feel like the Lord has written this program for me. It’s a blessing because of the limited time that you need to spend on clinicals. Online is easier to manage.”
Admission to the hybrid program occurs once per year, with a fall semester start date. The application cycle opened on Nov. 1, with a priority deadline of Jan. 1 and a final deadline of June 15.
For more information or to apply, students are encouraged to contact Dr. Tanya Smith, Coordinator of the BSN program tlsmith17@fhsu.edu.
Attachment
Scott Cason Fort Hays State University 785.628.4208 sacason@fhsu.edu