| Fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Type | Private, for-profit nursing university; hybrid (online coursework, campus labs and simulation, local clinicals) |
| Campus | 1: Draper, Utah, in the Salt Lake City area |
| Who can enroll | Residents of the states Joyce lists for each program (15 to 18 states; BSN90 is Utah only) |
| Credentials | Associate (ASN), bachelor’s (BSN) and master’s (MSN) degrees, all in nursing |
| Accreditation | NWCCU (institution); ACEN (ASN); CCNE (BSN and MSN) |
| Federal aid | Yes |
| Students | 2,058 undergraduates, 1,105 of them full-time (federal data shown on Niche) |
| Founded | 1979 in Draper, Utah; renamed from Ameritech College of Healthcare in April 2022 |
| Facts checked | October 2026 |
A nursing-only university, taught mostly online from Draper, Utah
Joyce University of Nursing and Health Sciences is a private, for-profit school founded in 1979 in Draper, Utah, and formerly known as Ameritech College of Healthcare. It took its current name in April 2022, two months after the Northwest Commission on Colleges and Universities (NWCCU) granted it accreditation in February 2022. Federal data shown on Niche counts about 2,058 undergraduates, a little over half of them full-time.
Despite “Health Sciences” in its name, Joyce now teaches only nursing: an associate degree, four bachelor’s routes and a master’s. Most coursework is online. Students come to the Draper campus for labs and simulation, and the school places them in clinicals near where they live. That lets Joyce enroll residents of up to 18 states, but only the states it names for each program.
Six nursing programs, and who can take them
Four programs prepare students to sit the NCLEX-RN licensing exam; the RN to BSN and the MSN are for nurses who already hold an RN licence. Each program has its own list of states whose residents may enroll, so check that your state is on the current list before you apply.
| Program | Credential | Length | Clinical hours | Who can enroll | Prepares for |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Associate of Science in Nursing (ASN) | Associate | 69 credits; 5 semesters (75 weeks) | 472.5 | Residents of 17 listed states | NCLEX-RN |
| Bachelor of Science in Nursing (3-year) | BSN | 120 credits; 6 to 8 semesters | 517.5 | Residents of 18 listed states | NCLEX-RN |
| BSN90 | BSN | 90 credits; 26 months | 618.75 (411 in direct care) | Utah residents only | NCLEX-RN |
| Accelerated BSN | BSN | 85 credits; about 20 months | 517.5 | Residents of 18 listed states | NCLEX-RN |
| RN to BSN | BSN | 51 credits plus 69 transfer credits; 4 semesters (60 weeks) | 45 | Residents of 15 listed states | – (requires an RN licence) |
| Master of Science in Nursing: Leadership or Education | MSN | 32 credits; about 1 year full-time or 20 months part-time | 270 precepted | Residents of 17 listed states | – |
Joyce is registered in California for distance education only: California residents can take the online coursework, but there is no in-person teaching or clinical placement in California, so their clinicals take place in another state. The Occupational Therapy Assistant program mentioned on older pages is not enrolling, and Respiratory Care is not offered (see below).
What the nursing programs cover
Associate of Science in Nursing (ASN)
The ASN is Joyce’s main route to the RN licence: 69 credits over five semesters, which the school says can take as little as 20 months. Nursing courses include Fundamentals, Adult Health I and II, Mental Health, Maternal Newborn, Nursing Care of the Child, and Leadership and Management, including a Capstone and an NCLEX Success course. Clinical hours total 472.5. Students outside Utah make three trips to Draper for lab and simulation intensives. Entry needs a high school diploma or GED plus a qualifying ACT, SAT, HESI A2 or TEAS score.
Bachelor of Science in Nursing (3-year)
The 3-year BSN is a full pre-licensure bachelor’s of 120 credits, 52 in general education and 68 in nursing, spread over six to eight semesters. It is open to residents of 18 states, Arizona among them. Clinical hours total 517.5, and, as in the ASN, students outside Utah travel to Draper three times for labs and simulation. Admission follows the ASN rules: a diploma or GED and one qualifying test score, such as ACT 19, SAT 1000, HESI A2 60 or a TEAS composite of 55% with 60% in reading.
BSN90
BSN90 is a newer, shorter pre-licensure bachelor’s of 90 credits over 26 months, first priced for Spring 2027 starts and open to Utah residents only. Joyce aims it at people without a prior degree, such as nursing assistants, medical assistants and EMTs. It carries the most clinical time of any Joyce program, 618.75 hours, of which 411 are direct patient care, and it needs only one in-person visit to Draper for intensives. It is not eligible for the school’s Advancement Scholarship.
Accelerated BSN
The accelerated BSN is for people who already hold a bachelor’s degree in another field. It totals 85 credits, 17 in general education and 68 in nursing, over about 20 months, and applicants need 46 transfer credits from their earlier studies. Clinical hours total 517.5. Students living outside Utah make three trips to Draper of about a week each for labs and simulation, in semesters three to five. The official transcript for the earlier degree must reach the school by week eight.
RN to BSN
The RN to BSN is an online completion degree for nurses who already hold an associate degree in nursing. It adds 51 nursing credits to 69 transferred credits and runs four semesters, or 60 weeks, with 45 clinical hours completed in the student’s home community. Applicants need an ADN with at least a 2.0 GPA and an active, unencumbered US RN licence by week eight. The program is accredited with the BSN by CCNE and endorsed (not accredited) by AHNCC.
Master of Science in Nursing
The MSN offers two tracks, Nursing Leadership and Nursing Education, for registered nurses with a BSN and at least a 3.0 GPA. It is 32 credits, taken in three full-time semesters (about a year) or over 20 months part-time. Students complete 270 precepted hours, 225 indirect and 45 direct, arranged near home. In May 2026 Joyce announced that CCNE had given the MSN its maximum ten-year term, from 15 October 2025 to 30 June 2036.
Tuition locked from start to graduation
Joyce has no in-state or out-of-state tuition tiers. Each program has one per-credit rate for general-education credits and another for nursing credits, and the total is fixed by the term a student starts and stays the same through graduation. The totals below come from Joyce’s program cost breakdown for students starting in Fall 2026 or Spring 2027, and include an NCLEX resources fee in the pre-licensure programs ($3,510 for Fall 2026 starts, $3,710 for Spring 2027).
| Program | Fall 2026 start | Spring 2027 start |
|---|---|---|
| ASN | $56,340 | $56,540 |
| BSN (3-year) | $78,810 | $79,010 |
| BSN90 (Utah residents) | Not offered | $69,910 |
| Accelerated BSN | $64,030 | $64,230 |
| RN to BSN | $13,617 | $13,617 |
| MSN | $18,816 | $18,816 |
California students have a separate price table in the catalog, so they should check that table rather than the figures above. There is no technology fee for students who started in Fall 2023 or later.
Joyce takes federal student aid; federal loans need at least half-time enrollment of 6 credits. It also offers an interest-free tuition installment plan with no fees. Its scholarships include the selective Advancement Scholarship (up to $6,000 for the ASN, $7,000 for the accelerated BSN and $8,000 for the BSN, with an essay and a 3.0 GPA), a Joyce Alumni Scholarship of up to $5,000 and a one-time $1,000 Utah Student Success Scholarship for Utah BSN and accelerated BSN students from the Spring 2027 cohort. Awards cover tuition and fees only, are prorated for students who are not full-time and are limited to one per program. Federal data shown on Niche puts the net price at $28,110 a year. A 2022 school document says its registrar certifies VA education benefits under Chapters 30, 31, 32, 33, 35 and 1606.
Admissions and schedule
Programs start three times a year, in spring, summer and fall; the Spring 2027 term begins on 4 January 2027. Every applicant signs an enrollment agreement and completes a background check, and every applicant must live in one of the states listed for the program. The ASN and 3-year BSN need a diploma or GED and one qualifying test score; the accelerated BSN needs a bachelor’s degree; the RN to BSN and MSN need a nursing degree and an RN licence. Coursework is mostly online and asynchronous, but clinical schedules are set by the placement, and seats in each cohort depend on clinical capacity.
Accreditation and results
Joyce is accredited by the NWCCU, which lists it as accredited with no sanctions; its most recent evaluation was a Fall 2024 mid-cycle review, and the next evaluation is due in Fall 2027. The ASN holds continuing accreditation from ACEN, renewed in 2024 with the next site visit in Fall 2031, and the BSN and MSN are accredited by CCNE.
| Measure | ASN | BSN | Period and source |
|---|---|---|---|
| First-time NCLEX-RN pass rate | 78.99% (327 of 414) | 83.73% (175 of 209) | 2025, Utah Division of Professional Licensing |
| First-time NCLEX-RN pass rate | 83.97% (241 of 287) | 86.62% (136 of 157) | January to June 2026, same source |
| First-time NCLEX-RN pass rate | 88.05% | 94.31% | 2024, same source |
NCLEX-RN results fell in 2025: both the ASN and BSN pass rates were below the 86.70% national rate that Joyce’s outcomes page reports for that year, after being above 88% in 2024. They recovered partly in the first half of 2026. Joyce does not publish a separate rate for the accelerated BSN.
On its outcomes page, Joyce reports 89.46% retention for the 2023-24 report year, by its own measure. Federal data shown on Niche gives a 54% graduation rate, 97% of graduates employed one year after graduating and median earnings of $47,024 five years after graduating.
Before you enroll
- Check your state first. Each program enrolls only residents of the states Joyce lists, BSN90 takes Utah residents only, and California residents must do their clinicals outside California.
- Pass rates have dropped. In 2025, 78.99% of ASN graduates and 83.73% of BSN graduates passed the NCLEX-RN on the first try, both below the national rate. The first half of 2026 was better but still mixed; ask for the latest figures for your program.
- Online does not mean no travel. Pre-licensure students living outside Utah must travel to Draper for in-person labs and simulation, three times in the ASN, BSN and accelerated BSN.
- Clinical placements are assigned by the school and may change each semester, and cohort sizes depend on how many clinical seats Joyce can find.
- The Occupational Therapy Assistant program is not enrolling: in August 2024 ACOTE placed it on “Accreditation-Inactive” status at the school’s request. Respiratory Care is not offered either.
The Draper campus
Joyce has one campus, at 12257 Business Park Drive, Draper, UT 84020. The 60,000-square-foot building includes a 15,000-square-foot simulation center with 12 simulation suites, where pre-licensure students take their labs and in-person intensives. Joyce no longer lists any campus in Provo, where Ameritech once had a second site. We found no student housing; admissions staff help out-of-state students with travel and scheduling for their visits.
What students say
On Niche, Joyce is rated 4.03 out of 5 from 392 reviews, with an overall grade of B (checked October 2026). The reviews we read praise supportive staff and professors who care about student success, small classes and tutoring, and a welcoming admissions team. A complaint we read describes class schedules changed without notice, strict penalties for missed attendance, and students who say they were threatened with dismissal after speaking up. The listing is claimed by the college, the older Ameritech profiles on Niche show the same reviews, and we could not tell whether reviews were invited by the school or posted in bursts.
Facts checked October 2026.
Programs & Courses
Pre-licensure nursing (prepares for the NCLEX-RN)
- Associate of Science in Nursing (ASN)
- Bachelor of Science in Nursing (BSN, 3-year)
- BSN90 (Utah residents only)
- Accelerated BSN (for holders of a non-nursing bachelor's)
Programs for registered nurses
- RN to BSN (online)
- Master of Science in Nursing (MSN): Nursing Leadership or Nursing Education
Campus Locations
Salt Lake City (Draper), UT 12257 Business Park Drive, Draper, UT 84020