From my understanding of a classmate's experience, it depends on the program. Her originial university program had it set up that way. You could do one year and then sit for the NCLEX-PN if you wanted to and just stop, or you could just finish the program and go for the NCLEX-RN.
Because of the authorizations needing to be submitted to state boards, I believe it has to be built into the program and not just something you could randomly choose to do.