Bachelor of Science in Nursing - Admission Requirements

Minimum Academic Requirements for Admission (All BSN Program Options Except RN/BSN)

Cohorts will begin depending upon enrollment and approvals from the associated state board of nursing. All students must meet the requirements for general admission to South College in order to pursue core/general education courses. General admission to South College does not guarantee admission to the nursing program. Application deadlines are available in the School of Nursing and the Admissions Department.

Admission decisions will be made based on a holistic review of academic qualifications, previous educational experiences, and standardized test scores. The School of Nursing reserves the right to update or modify admission criteria as deemed necessary.

Applicants must meet the following requirements to be admitted without stipulation:

Submit a School of Nursing application by the applicable deadline.
Entrance Exam:
- Achieve a minimum ATI TEAS Assessment score at the academic preparedness level of BASIC or equivalent score on the HESI A2*.
- Scores below this threshold will not be considered for admission.
Completion of all required prerequisite courses. Courses may be in progress at time of application, but to be admitted without stipulation they must be completed. Applicants who have completed all required prerequisite courses except NSG 1000 Introduction to the Nursing Profession and NSG 2000 Transitions to Core Nursing and have additional earned college credit from other institutions will have their transcripts reviewed to determine if credit can be applied as a course substitution or transfer credit for NSG 1000 and/or NSG 2000.
Complete all required general education/core courses with a grade of C or higher.
Achieve a minimum of 2.50 cumulative grade point average for general education/core prerequisite courses.
Achieve a minimum 2.50 cumulative grade point average for required science prerequisite courses.

* HESI A2 Entrance Exam will be accepted at as an equivalent passing score.

Applicants who are not in good academic standing from a previous nursing or allied health program (e.g. Medical Assisting, Dental Assisting, EMT, etc.) or who have been dismissed from such a program must submit the required School of Nursing Mitigating Circumstances Form and provide supporting documentation of the mitigating circumstances to be considered eligible to apply to the South College School of Nursing. Admission is not guaranteed, and the School of Nursing may require a letter from the former program explaining the circumstances.

Applicants who are not in good academic standing from two previous nursing or allied health programs (e.g. Medical Assisting, Dental Assisting, EMT, etc.) or who have been dismissed from two such programs will not be considered for admission or readmission to the South College Nursing program.

TEAS Assessment
TEAS Assessment requirements and procedures:

Applicants are required to take the ATI TEAS Assessment as part of the application process. The TEAS Assessment schedule and additional information is available in the Admissions Department, Student Services Department, and/or School of Nursing.
Applicants have three attempts within 12 months to achieve the required score of BASIC or higher on the ATI TEAS entrance exam.

Readmission:

For applicants seeking readmission, a retake of the entrance exam is not required.

Readmission eligibility will be assessed based on previous academic performance and adherence to the school’s policies.

Competitive Admissions and Ranking Criteria
Admission to the School of Nursing is competitive and dependent upon class size. Applicants are ranked based on an approved ranking system that includes, but is not limited to, GPA and TEAS score.

Transfer Credit Evaluation from Previous Nursing Programs
For a nursing class (or classes) to be considered for transfer into a South College Nursing program, the class must have been completed within the past 18 months prior to the cohort start date. Only nursing courses with a grade of A or B are considered for transfer and a course description or syllabus may be required to evaluate equivalency. Please refer to the transfer timeframes on the South College website.

Requirements for Admission (Other Than Academic)

Prospective students must meet the following requirements to be admitted without stipulation. Stipulations must be met as described below or the offer of admission may be withdrawn:

Take the required drug test before the 1st day of class*.
Complete the background check application before the 1st day of class*.
Attend the nursing orientation on the scheduled date in its entirety.

*Prospective students who fail either the drug test or background check will be canceled.

In addition, each prospective student must provide proof of ability to perform the skills needed to practice nursing effectively. Health care facilities must meet federal guidelines, and students must also meet these requirements in order to be allowed to gain clinical experience. All nursing students must comply with communicable diseases/blood-borne pathogen requirements that the clinical agencies require. Therefore, proof of the following are minimum requirements for the nursing applicant (additional requirements may apply depending on clinical agency requirements):

Health history and physical exam certifying ability to function in the required capacity prior to admission to upper level courses.
Common communicable disease immunization or immunity, including MMR (2 in series if born after 1957), TDaP (booster required every 10 years) and varicella vaccine (2 in series). Some clinical facilities may require titers for MMR, HBV, and Varicella even though you have proof of previous immunization.
Hepatitis B immunization (3 in series) or HEPLISAV-B (2 in a series one month apart.) or completed Declination Form for Hepatitis B Vaccination depending on the requirements of the clinical affiliate. The Declination Form must only be used for medical reasons and must be documented by student’s primary care provider. A vaccine titer test showing immunity is also acceptable.
Annual Flu immunization or completed Declination Form for Influenza Vaccination depending on the requirements of the clinical affiliate. The Declination Form must only be used for medical reasons and must be documented by student’s primary care provider.
Annual screening for tuberculosis.
Acceptable drug screen.* Students may be required to obtain more than one acceptance drug screen per year depending on the requirements of the clinical affiliate. In any case where a drug screen is positive and no authorized prescription is produced to validate the presence of the drug in the individual’s system, continuation in the program will be denied. Upon notification of the drug screen results, the student will have 5 working days to provide prescription validation. Students are responsible for costs associated with any required testing.
Acceptable criminal background check for a minimum of past 15 years. Students may be required to obtain more than one acceptance criminal background check per year depending on the requirements of the clinical affiliate. If the background check reveals previous criminal convictions, admittance into the program will be made on a case-by-case basis. Students who are denied clinical experiences due to past convictions may be unable to progress in the program which will result in failure to complete the required courses for the program.
Proof of health insurance coverage throughout the entire nursing program.
Annual training on blood-borne pathogens.
Valid American Heart Association Basic Life Support (BLS) for Healthcare Providers** Course Completion Card or Certificate.

* Marijuana, or its metabolite, is not an accepted substance in drug screens and will result in a positive drug screen. Prospective students whose drug test results are positive for marijuana, or its metabolite, will be offered one additional opportunity to reapply for admission into the next admission cohort after the initial positive results. Prospective students whose repeat drug test results are positive for marijuana, or its metabolite, will be denied admission indefinitely.

**American Red Cross Course accepted on select campuses based on clinical affiliation guidelines; you can reach out to your clinical coordinator to make this determination.

Additional immunizations (such as COVID) and or Titers may be required per clinical facility. Students who choose not to meet the requirements of clinical sites will not be able to participate in clinical experiences as a student at those sites. This includes students who have received partial vaccinations but who are not fully immunized or students awaiting action on a clinical facility exemption request, if applicable. This may seriously impact ability to progress, graduate on time, or graduate at all.

Prospective students or students who do not comply with all communicable disease/bloodborne pathogen requirements and accurately maintain their records in the institution’s clinical tracking portal will be canceled or withdrawn.

Functional Capacities (Technical Standards)

Prospective students must demonstrate the following functional capacities. Prospective students who believe that they will not be able to meet one or more of these requirements without accommodation or modification must notify the Dean/Associate Dean of the School of Nursing, and a determination will be made on a case-by-case basis whether reasonable accommodation may be made. In no instance will an accommodation be made which will compromise nursing care, or that will put patients or other students at risk. Accommodation granted when a student is generally admitted to South College are not guaranteed to apply to admission to the nursing program.

Function	Requirement	Examples of Tasks For
Vision	Adequate to ensure safety of self and others in classroom and clinical settings.	Patient assessment; response to treatment; medication preparation and administration; reading of patient charts and physician orders.
Hearing	Adequate to allow effective communication with patients and others in person and by electronic means, and to ensure safety of self and patients.	Face-to-face communication with patients, families and the health care team; telephone consultations; heart tones; breath sounds; bowel sounds and other assessments.
Tactile Sensory	Adequate to allow effective evaluation and therapeutic intervention related to nursing care, and to ensure safety of self and others in providing care.	Palpation used in assessment; vital signs; medication administration, IV starts.
Gross motor strength and coordination	Adequate to ensure safety of self and others in class and lab sessions and clinical activities.	Patient positioning and transfer; walking, standing, bending, and/or stooping for extended periods involving patient care; moving of equipment/beds.
Fine motor strength and coordination	Adequate to allow mastery of activities requiring detailed movements.	Multiple skills in patient care; treatments; medication preparation and administration.
Critical thinking ability	Adequate to allow mastery of basic course content and to demonstrate sound judgment in simulated and real life nursing situations.	Effective use of nursing process; planning and implementation of the nursing care plan; identification of cause and effect relationship in order to modify nursing care plan; determination of unsafe situations; planning course of actions to meet needs of patient, family, community and nursing profession.
Interpersonal Skills	Adequate to allow establishment of effective working and/or therapeutic relationship with patients, families and professionals.	Establishing therapeutic relationship with patients and families; working with health care team; collaboration with other disciplines.
Communication	Adequate to allow completion of course work and effective verbal and written communication with patients, families, communities, peers, and others.	Class activities; therapeutic communication; writing/research at the bachelor’s level; documentation of patient care; education of patient/family/community.