Can you become a nurse through Aspen?
No. Aspen's campus-based pre-licensure BSN, the programme that trained people to become nurses, closed following low NCLEX pass rates and a consent agreement with the Arizona State Board of Nursing. Every nursing programme Aspen still offers is post-licensure and requires an active RN licence.
What that means if you are not yet a nurse
Aspen is not your route. You need a pre-licensure ADN or BSN from a school that still offers one, and NCLEX pass rate should sit at the top of your criteria when you choose.
That is not a criticism of Aspen's remaining programmes. It is a different product for a different person, and the two get conflated constantly because both are described as nursing degrees.
If you already hold a licence
Then the closure is largely irrelevant to you. It concerned a programme you would never have enrolled in, and its NCLEX pass rate is not a measure of the route you would take, because post-licensure students never sit that exam.
Being able to explain that distinction is genuinely useful, since colleagues who half-remember the headlines may assume otherwise.
Common questions
Does Aspen still offer a pre-licensure BSN?
No. The Arizona campus-based pre-licensure BSN closed after a teach-out concluded.
Can I get an RN licence through Aspen?
No. Aspen's remaining nursing programmes are post-licensure and require an existing, active RN licence.
Is Aspen's nursing school closed?
No. The pre-licensure programme closed; the online RN to BSN, MSN, bridge and DNP continue.