TAMUCC's eLine BSN: online coursework, in-person clinicals in Corpus Christi
eLine is the online track of TAMUCC's pre-licensure BSN: lectures online, clinicals in person around Corpus Christi, with every placement assigned by the program. It runs five semesters, admits in the fall only, and asks for 90 to 135 hours in each clinical course. A preceptor search of your own comes later, if you continue to a TAMUCC MSN, and that search is what we do.
Heading from eLine to a TAMUCC MSN?
Tell us where you live in Texas and the MSN track you plan. We line up the preceptor search ahead of time.
How eLine is put together
eLine and the Traditional track are two routes through the same catalog BSN, with the same 58-credit nursing major. eLine moves the coursework online and keeps the clinical side in person. TAMUCC's program page labels the track On Campus while describing online coursework, so read it this way: classes online, clinicals in the Corpus Christi area.
The eLine page describes the track as five semesters long and 120 semester credit hours; the catalog gives 120 to 122 for the whole program. Entry is fall only, and the application window closes in mid-February.
Everything else that governs a TAMUCC nursing student still applies, from the grade rules to CastleBranch compliance. The Traditional BSN guide lists the full set of clinical courses in the major and their weekly lab loads, which are the same courses eLine students complete.
eLine and Traditional side by side
The clinical rule is identical for both tracks: the program chooses every placement, and all of them sit in the Corpus Christi area. What differs is how your life fits around it. Traditional students are already in the city for class. eLine students travel to the city for clinicals, several times a semester, for all five semesters.
Assigned placements also shape your role. As an undergraduate you are not negotiating with hospitals or collecting preceptor paperwork; your part is to arrive compliant, oriented and on time wherever the program sends you.
That makes eLine a fit for students who study well on their own and can reach Corpus Christi reliably. If regular travel is hard to arrange, compare the Traditional track before you apply.
| eLine | Traditional | |
|---|---|---|
| Coursework | Online | Face-to-face on the Island campus |
| Entry terms | Fall only | Spring, summer and fall |
| Total credits on the program page | 120 | 115 to 117 |
| Who arranges clinicals | The program assigns them | The program assigns them |
| Where clinicals happen | Corpus Christi area | Corpus Christi area |
| Clinical travel | Multiple trips each semester, at your own expense | Face-to-face in Corpus Christi |
Clinical travel to Corpus Christi
TAMUCC is direct about the travel. eLine students are required to come to the Corpus Christi area multiple times each semester, at their own expense, and to complete clinicals wherever the program assigns them. Each clinical course requires between 90 and 135 hours.
Build those trips into your work schedule and budget before each semester starts. A 135-hour course is a large block of time on site, so arrange time off, lodging if you live beyond commuting distance, and family coverage early rather than after assignments arrive.
The catalog's lab notation helps you gauge the load: it prints weekly lecture and lab hours for each course, and a single lab hour stands for three contact hours. Health Assessment carries four lab hours, and several care courses, including both adult health courses and community health, carry three.
When several students are assigned to the same hospital, the CONHS Student Handbook suggests organizing car-pooling. If classmates live near you, set that up in the first week of the term.
Staying in good standing between trips
Studying remotely makes compliance deadlines easy to miss. The catalog treats immunizations, BLS CPR and hospital orientation as conditions for progressing, and a lapse in any of them can cost you your enrollment. Keep your CastleBranch tracker current each semester; the CastleBranch guide lists what it holds.
Hospital orientation is one of the named items, so finish each assigned site's orientation before your first clinical day there and keep proof of completion with your records.
Grades follow the BSN rules. Each nursing course needs a C or better, the upper-division nursing GPA must stay at 2.25 or higher, and a single retake is the limit for any course. Collect two grades under C, or fail one course twice, and the program dismisses you.
An expired item discovered on a clinical day can cost the whole trip. Check your tracker's expiry dates before every drive to Corpus Christi.
Applying for a fall eLine seat
- Check the windowFall applications open December 15 of the prior year and close February 15, according to TAMUCC's application-dates graphic labeled April 2025. Confirm the current dates on the Nursing Education Department page.
- Meet the GPA minimumsBoth your GPA over the most recent 60 semester hours and your science GPA must reach 2.65.
- Take the right entrance examHESI A2 applies through Summer 2027. From the Fall 2027 cycle, TAMUCC uses the TEAS, with a Total of 60 and Reading of 77. Because eLine admits only in fall, applicants for Fall 2027 onward fall under the TEAS minimums.
- Clear the background checkComplete the background check the Texas Board of Nursing requires; TAMUCC accepts students only after it clears.
Post-baccalaureate applicants use the same route, since TAMUCC lists no accelerated BSN. The eLine military option that the 2024-25 catalog carried no longer appears for 2026-27.
After eLine: the MSN and your own preceptor search
eLine graduates who continue to a TAMUCC MSN meet a very different clinical model. MSN clinicals take place, where possible, in the Texas communities where students live, but the student finds the site and preceptor. For FNP students that means 630 hours spread over four clinical courses. See how TAMUCC's own-preceptor rule works for the detail.
If you completed eLine from outside Corpus Christi, that flexibility is welcome: graduate clinicals can sit closer to home. It also means building a local network of nurse practitioners and physicians, since TAMUCC's FNP guide describes personal contacts as the usual starting point.
We run that search when you get there. Your placement advisor finds Texas preceptors near you who meet TAMUCC's rules for each clinical course, prepares the paperwork TAMUCC's faculty review, and replaces anyone who withdraws. Start with the TAMUCC MSN FNP page, see our step-by-step process, and send your plans through the form here.
Questions TAMUCC students ask
Is TAMUCC's eLine BSN fully online?
No. The coursework is online, but clinicals are in person in the Corpus Christi area and assigned by the program, and students travel there multiple times each semester at their own expense. Expect regular trips to the city through all five semesters, plus any hospital orientation your assigned sites require.
Do eLine students choose their own clinical sites?
No. The Nursing Education Department assigns eLine clinicals, and TAMUCC's published rule keeps every BSN clinical component in the Corpus Christi area. Choosing a site and preceptor becomes the student's job only in TAMUCC's graduate programs, where the search is the student's responsibility and can take place anywhere in Texas.
Can I start the eLine BSN in spring or summer?
No. TAMUCC admits eLine students in the fall only; spring and summer entry exist only for the face-to-face Traditional track. If you miss the eLine window of December 15 to February 15, your next chance is the following fall cycle, unless you apply to the Traditional track instead.
Does the eLine BSN lead into a TAMUCC MSN?
A BSN is one of the MSN's three entry options, and eLine awards the same BSN as the Traditional track. MSN admission also asks for an RN license valid for Texas practice and a GPA of 3.00 or higher in the final 60 hours of coursework. The Texas RN license guide explains the license rules.
What if an immunization lapses during an eLine semester?
Compliance is a progression requirement in the BSN catalog, covering immunizations, BLS CPR and hospital orientation, and a lapse can lead to disenrollment. Watch the expiry dates in CastleBranch and renew items well ahead of time, since a remote student has less room to fix a problem in the middle of a term.
Related pages
Last checked 2026-09-26
We check these pages against TAMUCC's catalog, FNP clinical guides, MSN and DNP handbooks and college pages. Your course, your clinical faculty member and the handbook for your cohort have the final word.
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