
Watts College of Nursing traces its history to the nursing school established at Watts Hospital in Durham in 1895. Its origins as a hospital-based training program help explain its continuing focus on nursing education rather than a broad range of majors.
The institution was formerly known as Watts School of Nursing and later adopted the Watts College of Nursing name as its academic offerings changed. Applicants comparing older records with current program information should check which credential each record describes: a historical nursing diploma and a current college degree are not interchangeable.
Watts College of Nursing is a specialized nursing institution, not a university with multiple academic colleges. Its central academic offering is a bachelor's degree in nursing, with classroom learning, skills instruction, and clinical preparation organized around entry into the profession.
That narrow focus matters when comparing schools. Students seeking a major outside nursing would need another institution, while prospective nursing students should examine Watts's current degree plan, required general-education courses, clinical sequence, and the credential awarded at graduation. The reported student-to-faculty ratio is 8 to 1, but that institution-wide figure does not establish the size of an individual class or clinical group.
Watts College of Nursing is in Durham, North Carolina. Its setting places nursing students in a metropolitan area with health-care employers and clinical facilities, but the location of the college should not be confused with the location of every required clinical assignment.
Students planning a commute should ask where classes, skills sessions, and clinical rotations meet, and whether early-morning, evening, or weekend travel is required. Parking, public transit, and travel time may differ substantially between an academic site and a clinical site.
Watts College of Nursing's educational purpose centers on preparing students for professional nursing practice. For applicants, the practical question is how that purpose appears in the curriculum: scientific foundations, supervised clinical learning, professional judgment, and care for patients with varied needs.
A mission statement describes what an institution intends to do; it is not, by itself, evidence of student outcomes. Prospective students can assess how Watts puts its aims into practice by reviewing its current curriculum, clinical requirements, student-support policies, and published licensure-examination results.
Name of the institution
Watts College of NursingLevel of institution
Four or more yearsControl of institution
PrivateSetting type
City: LargeInstitutional Category
Degree - granting, primarily baccalaureate or aboveInstitution size category
Under 1,000School type
Four-year collegeMain student body
CoeducationalCalendar system
SemestersFoundation year
1895Watts College of Nursing is institutionally accredited by the Accrediting Bureau of Health Education Schools, an accrediting agency recognized by the U.S. Department of Education. Accreditation confirms that the school meets quality standards and is required for students to receive federal financial aid.
Bachelor's degreeData last updated on November 2, 2026
Data sources: IPEDS 2024-25, Peterson 2026, College Scorecard 10/2026, Clery 2024 (2023-24), OpenAlex 2026
Figures on this profile come from federal and third-party datasets in the editions listed above and are refreshed periodically, so they may differ from what the institution currently reports. Confirm costs, deadlines and requirements with the school before making decisions.