SARATOGA SPRINGS — Responding to the need for more nurses with greater clinical and leadership skills, Empire State College is launching a new degree program for registered nurses.

The bachelor of science in nursing program will start this fall, college officials said Friday.

“It will bring them to a higher level of nursing skills and prep them for leadership roles,” said Dr. Joyce Elliott, the college’s interim president.

If the current nurse shortage continues, in two years there will be a 17,000-nurse shortage in New York state, according to figures provided by the American Association of Colleges of Nursing.

Elliott said a feature of the BS in nursing program is to interest nurses in obtaining master’s degree or higher credentials and becoming nurse educators.

“One of the goals is to create a pipeline for nurse educators,” Elliott said on Friday.

The nurse educators are needed to fill teaching positions in community colleges across the state so these schools, in turn, can graduate more nurses.

Empire State College, with its statewide headquarters on Union Avenue in Saratoga Springs, is the nontraditional arm of the State University of New York.

The nursing program is designed for early- to mid-career nurses who want to advance their education and careers as leaders in health care organizations and in community health settings.

The degree program is designed for people who already have their registered nurse license and an associate’s degree in nursing.

Students will study mainly online, using their personal computers. The program also includes an advanced, on-site clinical component.

“Our innovative, Web-based courses offer robust learning opportunities that support individual choices for lifelong learning as well as prepare registered nurses for leadership roles in health care,” said Rosann Carpenter, Ed.D, RN, who was appointed director of the Empire State program last year.

The program is expected to graduate nearly 500 baccalaureate nurses in its first 10 years, according to the college.

Elliott said the “cap stone” of the program will be a clinical experience in community health leadership, such as working with an outpatient clinic in inner-city Albany.

The curriculum is structured so that the students take a series of nursing courses with a limited number of electives, Elliott said during a telephone interview.

College officials say it will take students about 21⁄2 years to complete the degree program on a part-time basis. The per credit cost of $181 at Empire State College is the same as at other SUNY colleges.

“It is expected that at least 20 percent of the bachelor’s degree in nursing graduates will seek a master’s degree or higher credentials to qualify for faculty positions, supporting the known nurse educator shortage,” the college said in its announcement.

More information about Empire State College and its individualized programs for working adults is available at www.esc.edu.