A study was conducted to determine what progress is made by nursing students during their first two years of study in the development of affective characteristics closely associated with professional level practice. Two affective characteristics associated with professionalism were studied; autonomy and assertiveness. The Inner Directed Scale of Shostrom's Personal Orientation Inventory was selected to measure autonomy, and Gambrill's Assertion Inventory was selected to measure assertiveness. Study participants were students in a practical nursing degree program, students in the associate degree program (which served as the second year of the practical nursing program), and students at the sophomore level in a traditional baccalaureate nursing program. Approximately 30 practical nursing and associate degree students completed administrations of the two tests in fall and spring; 18 of the traditional degree sophomores completed two sittings of the two tests. The practical and associate program students tended to be older, were married and had children and prior work or college experience, whereas the traditional program students were younger and had less life and work experience. Testing results indicated significant gains in self-directedness for both the practical and associate degree groups. The baccalaureate students made higher independence-scale gains, although the difference was not significant. All three groups gained in assertiveness between the fall and the spring. The results of the study should be more fully investigated by planners of integrated curricula and considered when creating articulated programs. (KC)