Capella nursing programs have long been built for registered nurses going back for a bachelor's, master's or doctoral degree. That changed in July 2026, when Capella University opened enrollment in its first prelicensure Bachelor of Science in Nursing (BSN), a program for students who are not yet nurses and want to qualify for the NCLEX-RN licensing exam. Parent company Strategic Education (Nasdaq: STRA) disclosed the launch in its second-quarter earnings release on July 29, 2026.

Minnesota Board of Nursing records show the program received initial approval in February, and Capella's program page listed it as open to residents of 13 states as of Oct. 14, 2026. Strategic Education reports third-quarter results on Nov. 5, 2026, before the stock market opens.

What Strategic Education's Filing Says

The disclosure was a single sentence in the section on the company's U.S. Higher Education (USHE) segment, which covers Capella and Strayer University: "During the second quarter, Capella University launched a Bachelor of Science in Nursing (Prelicensure) program for enrollment in July 2026." The release gave no enrollment count for the new program, and the quarterly report on Form 10-Q filed with the SEC the same day does not break out nursing enrollment either.

The same release shows how much the business now depends on healthcare:

Healthcare share: healthcare programs made up 52% of USHE enrollment in the second quarter, up from 47% a year earlier. Healthcare enrollment grew 11%.
Employer partners: about 38% of USHE healthcare enrollment came from employer partners.
FlexPath: Capella's self-paced format accounted for 25% of USHE enrollment, up from 23%. Healthcare programs make up 73% of FlexPath enrollment.
Total enrollment: USHE enrollment slipped 0.5% to 85,894.

Those percentages combine Capella and Strayer, so they are not a count of Capella nursing students alone.

How Minnesota Approved the Capella Nursing Program

Capella is based in Minneapolis, and its approval ran through the Minnesota Board of Nursing over about eight months. On June 5, 2025, the board voted 11-0 to approve Capella's letter of intent to establish a prelicensure BSN. On Feb. 5, 2026, after an education survey team's site visit, the board voted 11-0 to grant initial program approval. The minutes say Capella "has met and fulfilled nursing program education standards" and that the program "is accredited and will begin on July 6, 2026."

Capella's program page describes the prelicensure BSN as accredited by the Commission on Collegiate Nursing Education (CCNE). The accreditation statement on that page covers the university's baccalaureate degree program in nursing as a whole, along with its MSN, Doctor of Nursing Practice and post-graduate APRN certificate programs. CCNE treats the addition of a new nursing track as a substantive change that schools must report to it. We did not find a public CCNE record specific to the new track.

Where the Capella BSN Is Offered

As of Oct. 14, 2026, Capella's BSN (Prelicensure) page lists 13 states: Alabama, Arkansas, Colorado, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Minnesota, Missouri, North Dakota, Ohio, South Dakota and Wisconsin. Capella says it is not accepting applications from residents of more than 40 other states and territories who plan to seek a license there, including California, Florida, Illinois, New York, North Carolina, Pennsylvania and Texas.

Capella's professional licensure disclosure breaks this down state by state. For Colorado, Kansas and Ohio, it says the program "alone will not meet" licensure requirements and will meet them only "if certain conditions are fulfilled," such as state-specific coursework or clinical hours. For most listed states, the disclosure cites Minnesota Board of Nursing approval. It cites the Alabama Board of Nursing for Alabama and the Wisconsin Board of Nursing for Wisconsin.

According to the 2026-27 Capella catalog and the program page, the program includes:

Credits: at least 180 quarter credits.
Clinical hours: at least 550 hours of supervised clinical and practicum experience.
Skills labs: two three-day, in-person skills labs.
Accelerated option: an accelerated BSN (ABSN) pathway for applicants with a non-nursing bachelor's degree. The catalog says this "is not a separate degree program."
Progression rules: students need a 2.5 GPA to move from the pre-nursing phase into the nursing phase. Three course failures result in dismissal from the program.
Admission: a minimum ATI TEAS composite score of 63%. RNs and holders of associate degrees in nursing are not eligible.
Cost: $250 per lower-division credit and $350 per upper-division credit in GuidedPath, Capella's structured 10-week course format. Capella estimates $52,875 for a student with the minimum transfer credits (an estimate effective July 13, 2026).

For a refresher on how prelicensure degrees differ from RN-to-BSN and graduate options, see our guide to nursing degree types.

A Capella FlexPath Rule for Future Nurse Practitioners

FlexPath's rising share of enrollment makes one catalog rule worth knowing. The 2026-27 Capella catalog says students in a Capella nursing program in the FlexPath format "will become ineligible to enroll" in the MSN Family Nurse Practitioner (FNP) or Adult-Gerontology Primary Care Nurse Practitioner (AGPCNP) specializations if they progress through certain coursework in specific graduate courses listed in the catalog. The catalog also says FlexPath courses "cannot be transferred into the MSN-AGPCNP or MSN-FNP specializations." Capella nursing students who may want an NP track later should check this before taking FlexPath graduate courses.

An Associate Degree Is Next in Line

Capella has already started on a second prelicensure program. On Aug. 6, 2026, the Minnesota board approved Capella's letter of intent for an associate degree nursing program, with 13 members voting yes and one abstaining. The minutes describe the letter as "phase 1 of a 3-phase process," followed by a full application and a survey visit before any initial approval. They list a proposed start date of January 2028 and say the program is seeking accreditation from the Accreditation Commission for Education in Nursing (ACEN). The minutes say the program would use online distance education and admit only students from states where clinical placements are available.

Capella is not the only online-heavy school adding prelicensure seats. Our preview of Covista's Oct. 29 report covers Chamberlain University, which already runs campus-based BSN programs.

What Happens Next

Nov. 5, 2026: Strategic Education releases third-quarter results before the market opens and holds a conference call at 10 a.m. ET. Things to look for: any enrollment figure for the prelicensure BSN, the healthcare share of USHE enrollment (52% in the second quarter) and FlexPath's share (25%).
Jan. 11: the next class start shown on Capella's BSN (Prelicensure) page as of Oct. 14, 2026.
January 2028: the proposed start of Capella's associate degree nursing program, if it clears the Minnesota board's remaining approval steps.

Information is from Strategic Education's SEC filings, Capella's catalog and program pages, and Minnesota Board of Nursing minutes, as of Oct. 14, 2026. Prospective students should check the licensure disclosure for the state where they plan to practice before applying.