• Requirements and Procedures
• Entrance and Placement Exams
• Tuition and Fees

Requirements and Procedures

All applicants work closely with an Admissions Advisor to assess career goals, motivation, and commitment to learning.

To be considered for admission, an applicant must meet the following requirements: 

1. Pay the non-refundable application fee as shown below:
2. Complete the Application for Admissions. (The application and the paid fee are valid for one [1] year).
3. Submit a proof of a high school graduation (diploma) or equivalency, as described below, one week prior to the first day of attendance.
4. Submit proof of current active unencumbered Practical Nurse or Vocational Nurse (LPN/LVN) licensure from Nursys.com and disclose any encumbered licenses.  Nightingale College’s PN diploma program graduates may enroll in the LPN to ASN Program on a non-matriculated basis if entrance and HESI testing requirements are met.  Learners must become licensed within the first academic semester of the Program to matriculate and progress within the Program.
5. Pass the Prelicensure Nursing Entrance Exam.
6. Pass the Medical Dosage Calculation (MDC) course.
7. All advanced placement LPN/LVN learners must successfully complete the prescribed Medical Dosage Calculation (MDC) self-paced, non-facilitated online course and score 100% on all MDC quizzes prior to the deadline given during the admissions cycle. Learners are limited to three (3) attempts to pass each of the quizzes. The MDC course is available to Advanced Placement prospective learners by requesting access from their Admissions Advisor.  Learners who fail to pass all MDC modules may elect to enroll into the BSN program and take the corresponding Pharmacology course. Nightingale College graduates of the PN Diploma Program who enroll in the LPN to ASN program within one year of graduation will not need to complete the MDC course. If more than one (1) year lapses from the time of graduation from the PN Diploma Program, learners must successfully complete the MDC course.
8. If requesting transfer of credit, learners must submit official college transcripts for the previous post-secondary coursework by the deadline in accordance with the Transfer of Credit section of this Catalog.
   • A total of twenty (20) general education semester credits is required for graduation from the Licensed Practical Nursing (LPN) to Associate of Science in Nursing (ASN) Program and must be completed prior to the end of the last academic semester in the LPN to ASN Program. Learners may refer to the General Education Requirement section (under Curriculum Plan) of this Catalog for the minimum number of credits required in each of the three (3) required general education (GE) breadth areas. GE courses may be completed at the College or another institution of higher learning concurrent with enrollment in nursing courses.
   • A minimum of eleven (11) GE semester credits are required to enroll in Freshman 2 (F2) nursing courses. Learners may elect to complete the requisite coursework at the College or another institution of higher learning.
   • A minimum of fourteen (14) GE semester credits are required to enroll in Sophomore 1 (S1) nursing courses. Learners may elect to complete the requisite coursework at the College or another institution of higher learning.
   • Official transcripts are required for matriculation into the LPN to ASN Program.
   • Learners admitted without the full twenty (20) semester credits of general education are required to complete at least one (1) general education course per academic semester at the College or another institution of higher learning and provide the official transcript to the Registrar prior to the beginning of the next academic semester to register for the next academic semester. To register for the last academic semester of the LPN to ASN Program, the learner must submit the proof of enrollment in the final general education course to the Registrar and, upon completion, submit an official transcript to graduate.
   • The College reserves the right to accept or reject any and all credits earned at other post- secondary institutions or through course challenge exams.
9. Complete Smarter Measure Assessment for evaluation of online learning readiness.
10. Meet with a Learner Funding Advisor to initiate the financial aid process.
11. Be in good financial standing with the College.

Recognized Equivalents of a High School Diploma
Several equivalents to a high school diploma may be submitted:

• a GED certificate;
• a certificate or other official completion documentation demonstrating that the learner has passed a state-authorized examination such as the Test Assessing Secondary Completion (TASC), the High School Equivalency Test (HiSET), or, in California, the California High School Proficiency Exam that the state recognizes as the equivalent of a high school diploma (certificates of attendance and/or completion are not included in this qualifying category);
• an associate degree;
• successful completion of at least sixty (60) semester or trimester credits or seventy-two (72) quarter credits that does not result in the awarding of an associate degree, but that is acceptable for full credit toward a bachelor’s degree at any institution; or
• enrollment in a bachelor’s degree program where at least sixty (60) semester or trimester credits or seventy-two (72) quarter credits have been successfully completed, including credits transferred into the bachelor’s degree program;
• a “secondary school leaving certificate” or similar document from the proper government agency for learners who completed secondary school in a foreign country, accompanied by a foreign credentials evaluation.

Note: The highest level of academic integrity is expected throughout the admissions process. Violations of the academic integrity policy at any point in the admissions process will result in automatic denial of admission. See the Academic Integrity section of this College Catalog for more details.

Entrance and Placement Exams

This section has been updated. Please view the Errata and Addenda section of the catalog to see what was changed.

Passing of entrance and certain placement exams is required to enroll in the program as indicated below:

Prelicensure Nursing Entrance Exam (ACCUPLACER^® Diagnostic Test)
To be admitted to the program learners must achieve the required scores in each academic area of the entrance exam. The entrance exam determines learners’ readiness for success in the program by assessing knowledge in three (3) academic areas: Arithmetic, Reading Comprehension, and Sentence Skills. A score of 260 in each of the three (3) areas is required for admission with full matriculation. Learners have three (3) attempts to achieve the required score. Conditional admission is granted to learners who score at least 240 but less than 260 as follows:
 

• Learners who score below 240 in any of the three (3) areas will not be admitted.  
• Learners who score between 240-259 in Arithmetic will be admitted on a non-matriculated basis and will be required to take and successfully complete MAT 90 in the first semester of enrollment.  
• Learners who score between 240-249 in Reading will be admitted on a non-matriculated basis and will be required to take and successfully complete ENG 90 in the first semester of enrollment and ENG 95 their second semester of enrollment. 
• Learners who score between 250-259 in Reading will be admitted with conditional matriculation and will be required to take and successfully complete ENG 95 in the first semester of enrollment. 
• Learners who score between 240-259 in Writing will be admitted with conditional matriculation and will be required to complete ENG 95 in the first semester of enrollment.

The entrance exam voucher fee is included in the application. Scores are valid for one (1) year. Proctoring fees are separate from the voucher and must be paid for each attempt.

Nightingale College graduates of the PN Diploma Program who enroll in the LPN to ASN program within one year of graduation will not be required to take the MDC for the LPN to ASN program.  If more than one (1) year lapses from the time of graduation from the PN Diploma Program, learners will be required to take and pass the MDC to be admitted. 

Nursing Placement Exams
Advanced placement candidates who are requesting academic credit for courses in ASN 241 and/or ASN 261 are required to pass the corresponding HESI exams as described in the table below:

Applicants may retake the exam one (1) time after completion of mandatory remediation. The fee to retake an exam is $45. On the second attempt, the applicant will take a different version of the exam. Free personalized remediation materials are available at www.evolve.elsevier.com after the first exam attempt.

If the score on the second attempt is below the minimum score requirement, the applicant is allowed to retest after one (1) year from the date of the first attempt upon completing a new program application and paying a new application fee. Applicants who do not pass the exams may choose to enroll in the corresponding course(s).

Tuition and Fees

Tuition for the LPN to ASN Program is $825 per semester credit. Tuition and fees may be changed at any time with a 30-day notice. Audit fees are non-refundable and cannot be paid with Title IV funding.

Program Fees
Additional Program fees are presented in the table below.

 

Tuition does not include the non-refundable application and testing fees. In addition, learners are responsible for expenses such as transportation and lodging, if any, associated with the required experiential learning sessions.

Estimated Total Program Cost
The estimated total program cost for a learner who does not transfer in any college-level general education credits and does not test out of ASN 241 and ASN 261 is $50,755.

• General Education Requirements
• Curriculum Plan
• LPN to ASN Program Sample Curriculum Plan
• Satisfactory Academic Progress Table

General Education Requirements

General Education (GE) courses can be completed at the College or another institution of higher learning accredited by an accrediting agency recognized by the U.S. Department of Education or the Council for Higher Education Accreditation (CHEA). The College may grant GE academic credit pursuant to the policies described in the Experiential Learning and Extra-Institutional and Non-Instructional Learning sections of this Catalog. Twenty (20) GE semester credits are required for graduation. Learners may refer to the Admissions Requirements and Procedures section above for more information.

The nursing core courses progression requirements do not allow the final academic semester of the Program to consist of only GE courses. GE course requirements must be completed prior to or during the final semester of enrollment. GE courses in math, human anatomy, and human physiology must be completed prior to enrollment into any nursing course. Pathophysiology must be completed no later than the first semester of enrollment in the nursing courses.

 

Standardized Exams

Standardized end-of-course exams are administered at the end of each level of the LPN to ASN Program. Required scores for mandatory remediation on standardized exams are specified in the table below.

Standardized Exam Schedule for Generic LPN to ASN Learners:

Curriculum Plan

The LPN to ASN Program consists of eight (8) lower-division core nursing courses, comprised of forty-eight (48) academic semester credits delivered over four (4) academic semesters or sixty-four (64) academic weeks, and six (6) GE courses, comprised of twenty (20) semester credits. The total length of the Program for learners electing to complete all GE requirements at the College is sixty-eight (68) semester credits, four (4) academic semesters, or sixty-four (64) academic weeks. Other general education and elective courses are available for learners who transfer in the required GE credits (or for any learner who is interested in taking these noncompulsory courses), provided there is room within the individual’s semester credit load.

All didactic instruction is delivered via online learning modalities. However, the College may require learners to attend didactic instruction in any course with on-ground components. All experiential learning for the core nursing courses takes place on-ground at a variety of experiential learning sites. For learner residency and course delivery modalities definitions, see the Learner Residency and Course Delivery Modalities section of this Catalog. For learning modalities definitions, see the Learning Modalities Definitions section of this Catalog. A sample curriculum layout is presented in the table below

LPN to ASN Program Sample Curriculum Plan

Satisfactory Academic Progress Table

• Course Descriptions

Course Descriptions