TL;DR: BS Nursing is a four-year, 192-unit degree under CHED CMO No. 15, series of 2017: 36 units General Education, 14 units PE/NSTP, 17 units pre-clinical major courses, and 125 units of professional nursing (NCM) coursework. CHED's own curriculum annex specifies 53 RLE units totaling 2,703 contact hours of clinical and skills-lab work, plus 540-810 hours of self-directed learning on top of that. Tuition runs roughly ₱200,000-₱700,000 for the full four years at private schools, or is effectively free at state universities under RA 10931. This guide covers the degree program itself; for the exam, licensing, and career path after graduation, see our companion guide on how to become a nurse in the Philippines.
BS Nursing shows up in searches every way a prospective student might phrase it: "bachelor of science in nursing," "BSN subjects," "how many RLE hours in nursing." This guide is about the degree itself, not the exam or career path that follows it, our separate guide on how to become a nurse in the Philippines already covers the NLE, PRC registration, and working abroad in full. Here, we work directly from CHED CMO No. 15, series of 2017, the memorandum that prescribes the BSN curriculum, to break down exactly what subjects you'll take by year, how many RLE (clinical) hours the program actually requires, the full unit breakdown, and what it costs.
What Is BS Nursing?
BS Nursing (BSN) is a four-year undergraduate program governed by CHED CMO No. 15, series of 2017, "Policies, Standards and Guidelines for the Bachelor of Science in Nursing (BSN) Program." This 2017 policy replaced an older, longer curriculum with a shorter, outcomes-based structure built around four progressive competency levels, from simulated first-year scenarios to fourth-year practice with groups of clients across community and institutional settings.
The degree combines classroom lecture with Related Learning Experience (RLE): supervised clinical rotations and skills-laboratory practice that pair with nearly every major nursing course, so students apply what they learn in a hospital, health center, or lab setting under direct faculty supervision.
Disclaimer: curriculum sequencing can vary slightly by school within CHED's framework. Confirm the current year-by-year course list with your target school's nursing department.
What Subjects Will You Take, Year by Year?
CHED's CMO 15 Annex B provides a sample program of study. The table below lists the major nursing (NCM) and pre-clinical courses by year; General Education and PE/NSTP subjects run alongside these each semester but are omitted here for readability.
| Year | Major / Professional Courses |
|---|---|
| First Year | NCM 100 (Theoretical Foundations in Nursing), Anatomy and Physiology, Biochemistry, NCM 101 (Health Assessment), NCM 102 (Health Education), NCM 103 (Fundamentals of Nursing Practice), Microbiology and Parasitology |
| Second Year | NCM 104 (Community Health Nursing I), NCM 105 (Nutrition and Diet Therapy), NCM 106 (Pharmacology), NCM 107 (Care of Mother, Child, Adolescent — Well Client), NCM 108 (Health Care Ethics/Bioethics), NCM 109 (Care of Mother and Child At-Risk or With Problems), NCM 110 (Nursing Informatics) |
| Third Year | NCM 111 (Nursing Research 1), NCM 112 (Care of Clients with Problems in Oxygenation, Fluid & Electrolyte, Infectious/Inflammatory/Immunologic Response, Cellular Aberration), NCM 113 (Community Health Nursing II), NCM 114 (Care of the Older Person), NCM 115 (Nursing Research 2), NCM 116 (Care of Clients with Problems in Nutrition/GI/Metabolism/Endocrine), NCM 117 (Care of Clients with Maladaptive Patterns of Behavior) |
| Fourth Year | NCM 118 (Nursing Care of Clients with Life-Threatening Conditions), NCM 119 (Nursing Leadership and Management), NCM 120 (Decent Work Employment and Transcultural Nursing), NCM 121 (Disaster Nursing), NCM 122 (Intensive Nursing Practicum — Hospital and Community Settings) |
This is CHED's sample sequence; a school may shift a course to an earlier or later term as long as prerequisites are respected and the same total course list is covered.
How Many RLE Hours Does BS Nursing Require?
CHED's CMO 15 curriculum annex specifies 53 RLE units, totaling 2,703 contact hours of combined skills-laboratory and clinical work across the four years, plus an additional 540-810 hours of self-directed learning, set at 20-30% of total RLE contact hours. CHED's framework treats one RLE unit as equivalent to 51 clinical or lab hours.
This is a more specific figure than the "roughly 2,300 to 2,500 hours" range that circulates on nursing-school compilation sites without a direct citation to the CMO text; the 2,703-hour total comes from CHED's own published RLE hour table for the program. Individual schools may still structure the exact rotation schedule differently, so confirm your target school's specific RLE calendar and hospital/community affiliation sites before enrolling.
| RLE Component | Hours |
|---|---|
| Skills lab and clinical contact hours (53 units) | 2,703 hours |
| Self-directed learning (20-30% of total RLE hours) | 540-810 hours |
Disclaimer: RLE distribution by year and by hospital/community site varies by school within CHED's framework. Ask your target school's nursing department for its current RLE rotation plan.
What Is the Full Unit Breakdown?
BS Nursing totals 192 units under CMO 15, split across four components.
| Curriculum Component | Units |
|---|---|
| General Education (Core 24 + Elective 9 + Rizal 3) | 36 |
| PE and NSTP 1 & 2 | 14 |
| Major Courses (Anatomy & Physiology, Biochemistry, Microbiology & Parasitology) | 17 |
| Professional Courses (NCM series) | 125 |
| Total | 192 |
Does BS Nursing Lead to a Board Exam?
Yes. Every BS Nursing graduate must pass the Nurses Licensure Examination (NLE), administered by the PRC's Board of Nursing under Republic Act No. 9173, before legally practicing as a Registered Nurse. Because this guide focuses on the degree program itself, we cover the full NLE schedule, passing score (a 75% general average with no subject below 60%), PRC registration process, and what comes after in our companion guide, how to become a nurse in the Philippines. If your SHS strand choice is still ahead of you, see the best strand for nursing for how that maps onto BSN's science-heavy first year.
How Much Does BS Nursing Tuition Cost?
Based on SchoolFinderPH's own nursing school tuition research, a full four-year BSN typically costs ₱200,000-₱700,000 at private schools, or roughly ₱60,000-₱180,000 a year in tuition alone, plus another ₱30,000-₱60,000 a year in clinical fees, uniforms, hospital affiliation fees, and supplies. It's effectively free at state universities and colleges under RA 10931, subject to admission and retention requirements.
Disclaimer: tuition and fee figures change by school year. Always verify the current rate directly with your target school's admissions office.
What Schools Offer BS Nursing?
Nursing is one of the most widely offered programs in the Philippines, with strong options across price tiers, including University of Santo Tomas, Silliman University, Centro Escolar University, Our Lady of Fatima University, and Far Eastern University, alongside strong-performing regional schools. For a ranked comparison by NLE passing rate and tuition tier, see best nursing schools in the Philippines.
What Can You Do With a BS Nursing Degree Besides Bedside Nursing?
A BSN opens paths beyond hospital bedside work once you're licensed: community and public health nursing, school nursing, occupational health nursing in corporate settings, nurse education (with graduate study), case management, and clinical research coordination. Many graduates also use the degree as a stepping stone into overseas nursing work, which requires a separate set of country-specific exams on top of the NLE. For what these roles actually pay across government, private, and overseas settings, see nurse salary in the Philippines.
Choosing and Preparing for BS Nursing: Practical Tips
- Expect a science-heavy first year even before clinical rotations start — Anatomy and Physiology, Biochemistry, and Microbiology and Parasitology are prerequisites for most second-year NCM courses.
- Ask specifically about RLE hour distribution and hospital affiliation sites before enrolling. CHED sets the 2,703-hour total, but how a school spreads that across four years, and which hospitals it partners with, varies and affects your day-to-day schedule.
- Budget beyond tuition. Clinical fees, uniforms, and hospital affiliation charges commonly add ₱30,000-₱60,000 a year on top of tuition.
- Decide early if you're aiming for local practice, government deployment, or working abroad, since the abroad track requires additional country-specific exams well beyond the NLE. See how to become a nurse in the Philippines for that full breakdown.
- Confirm current curriculum sequencing with your target school, since CHED's CMO 15 is a floor, not a rigid schedule every school follows identically.
Ready to find the right school? Browse schools or compare BS Nursing programs and tuition across hundreds of Philippine schools on SchoolFinderPH.
Sources
- CHED CMO No. 15, s. 2017 — Policies, Standards and Guidelines for the BSN Program (official PDF)
- PRC — Republic Act No. 9173, Philippine Nursing Act of 2002 (official PDF)
- SchoolFinderPH — How to Become a Nurse in the Philippines
- SchoolFinderPH — Nursing School Tuition in the Philippines
- SchoolFinderPH — Best Nursing Schools in the Philippines
- SchoolFinderPH — Nurse Salary in the Philippines
- SchoolFinderPH — SHS Strand for Nursing
