College Admission Pathway
The School of Nursing annually admits approximately half of the upper-division (300/400 level courses) nursing cohort through the College Admission Pathway. Those wishing to pursue Nursing at Southern Connecticut State University, should select BS Nursing as their program of interest on their application. Students admitted to the university will begin with a declared major in STEM Foundations for Nursing within Healthcare Studies Major. This program includes the necessary prerequisite coursework for the Nursing Program and optimal advisement towards the nursing application requirements (see Nursing Application Requirements section). Once admitted to the Nursing Program, students begin their final two years enrolled in the upper-division nursing coursework with a declared major in Nursing, along with those admitted through the high school admission pathway.
Application
Applications for the College Admissions pathway for Fall 2026 will open on November 1st, 2025, and close on February 2, 2026. Please read the outlined eligibility requirements below.
Minimum Application Eligibility Requirements
(February 1st Application Deadline)
- 6 of the 9 nursing prerequisite courses must be completed at the time of application with the minimum grade requirement
- As of Fall 2023, we will require that prereqs taken beginning the Fall 2023 and forward are completed with a minimum of a B-. Prereq courses completed prior to Fall 2023 will be accepted with a minimum grade of C+
- 3.0 minimum CUM GPA (includes all college work, including courses taken in high school and at other colleges/universities)
- No more than 2 nursing prerequisite repeats. This means that students are ineligible to apply if they repeat nursing prerequsites more than twice, for any single or combination of nursing prerequisites, due to not meeting the minimum grade requirement.
- Must not have been dismissed from a nursing program
- TEAS exam and score submission (for Transfer students)
Please note that as part of the nursing application, students will be required to submit a TEAS exam score through ATI Testing.
The selection process is highly competitive and determined through a ranking calculation consisting of CUM GPA, GPA of prerequisite coursework, and TEAS exam score.
Apply today on our Application Support Page.
Info for Transfer Students
Applications
Transfer students who wish to apply to the Traditional BS Nursing program through the College Admission Pathway must first place their Undergraduate Admissions Transfer Application and have an "admitted" to Southern decision for the term the student plans to attend. This university acceptance must be received by the time of the Nursing program application deadline of February 1st. Gaining acceptance to the university does not guarantee acceptance to the Nursing program.
Students must also submit a separate Nursing program application between November 1st and February 1st, which will be located on the BSN Application Support webpage and the BS Nursing webpage. Please be sure to review the College Admission Pathway minimum application criteria on the BS Nursing webpage and pay special attention to deadlines to ensure a proper review of your university records and transcripts. Meeting minimum nursing application requirements does not guarantee acceptance into the nursing program.
Transfer Records
All post-secondary transcripts from regionally accredited colleges and universities are considered in the Nursing program application process. While all official transcripts should be submitted to the Undergraduate Admissions Office as part of the university application review process, electronic copies of unofficial transcripts should be saved by students to upload into the Nursing program application.
As part of the Nursing admission process, all GPAs and all previous nursing prerequisite coursework will be reviewed. Applicants must meet the minimum eligibility requirements to be considered for the Traditional BS Nursing program. Meeting minimum eligibility requirements does not guarantee admission into the Nursing program.
Students previously enrolled in a nursing program outside of SCSU must complete the Nursing Disclosure Form (NDF) as part of their application. Students who have been previously dismissed from a nursing program are ineligible to apply to the Traditional BSN program. Transfer students previously enrolled in a nursing program seeking admission to the nursing program(s) at SCSU will not be allowed to transfer over nursing credits. If offered admission, transfer students will be expected to complete all of the SCSU nursing curriculum including labs, simulation, and clinical rotations.
Major Prior to Nursing
Students who are admitted to the university will have a declared major of Healthcare Studies while working towards meeting Nursing application eligibility requirements, or are in the process of waiting for a Nursing application admission decision. The first two years of the Healthcare Studies curriculum mirror the first two years of the Nursing program curriculum. However, it is recommended that students who transfer with most university Liberal Education Requirements (LEP) met, thoughtfully select a major from which to complete the remaining program prerequisite courses and apply to the Nursing program if full-time study is desired. The university's academic advising team will engage in these conversations at the time of the student's onboarding transfer advising appointment prior to registering for courses.
Advisement
While the Undergraduate Academic Advisement centers will be advising new transfer students prior to the start of the semester, students will then be assigned to major advisors once the semester begins. Students declared with a major in Healthcare Studies who applied to the university with an interest in Nursing will automatically be advised by the Center for Pre-Professional Programs. Students who mistakenly applied to the university with an interest in Healthcare Studies instead of Nursing should contact Angela Ruggiero at ruggieroa1@southernct.edu. All of those who are declared as any other major will be assigned an advisor in that major, but if interested in speaking with one of the Nursing application expert advisors, they may contact the Center for Pre-Professional Programs at cppp@southernct.edu.
Prospective transfer students who have not yet applied to Southern or are in the process of doing so may contact transferservices@southernct.edu for a review of their previous coursework or if their questions are not found at Admission to Transfer Students.
Apply today on our Application Support page.