Nursing Program Application Requirements

Traditional first year students

• First-year admissions requirements, with a GPA of 3.0 or greater
• High school or secondary school transcript is required at the time of application. You will be required to submit final transcripts documenting graduation).
  • Verification for any non-U.S.-based secondary education must be validated by an approved agency. Four approved agencies include: Center for Educational Documentation, World Education Services, North American Educational Group, or Educational Credential Evaluators.

Non-traditional first year students

(a non-traditional student has been out of high school for more than 3 years or has a GED)

• Minimum high school or equivalent GPA of 3.0
• High school or secondary school transcript is required at the time of application. All admitted students will be required to submit final transcripts documenting graduation.
  • Verification for any non-U.S.-based secondary education must be validated by an approved agency.  Four approved agencies include: Center for Educational Documentation, World Education Services, North American Educational Group, or Educational Credential Evaluators.
• Non-traditional applicants should contact the admissions office at Salem State University to request additional information about specific requirements at admissions@salemstate.edu.

Transfer students

• 12 credits of college-level work completed with a minimum GPA of 3.0 (most recent college attended) 

• Official transcripts from all colleges and universities attended.  

• Two required science courses completed with a minimum C grade  

  • BIO105   Biological Systems 

  • CHE117  General Organic & Biological Chemistry 

  • BIO200   Anatomy & Physiology I 

  • BIO201   Anatomy & Physiology II 

  • BIO304   Microbiology 

• The TEAS test version 6.0 or 7.0 is required. Applicants must score at the proficient level (58.7%) in all four categories: Math, English, Science, and Reading. *see below for the new TEAS exam policy 

• High school or secondary school transcript are required at the time of application. All admitted students must submit final transcripts documenting graduation, GED or equivalent. Students who have already completed a bachelor's degree do not need to submit high school documentation.

• An unencumbered LPN license (email to proof of licensure to admissions@salemstate.edu) 

• Official transcript from an accredited LPN program attended with a minimum GPA of 3.0 

• 12 credits of college-level work completed with a minimum GPA of 3.0 (most recent college attended) 

• Official transcripts from all colleges and universities attended 

• Two required science courses completed with a minimum C grade 

  • BIO105   Biological Systems  

  • CHE117  General Organic & Biological Chemistry 

  • BIO200  Anatomy & Physiology I 

  • BIO201   Anatomy & Physiology II 

  • BIO304   Microbiology 

• The TEAS test version 6.0 or 7.0 is required. Applicants must score at the proficient level (58.7%), or higher, in all four required categories: Math, English, Science, and Reading. *see below for new TEAS exam policy 

• High school or secondary school transcript are required at time of application. All admitted students will be required to submit final transcripts documenting graduation, GED or equivalent. Students who have already completed a bachelor's degree do not need to submit high school documentation. 

At this time the RN to BSN program has been suspended.

• An unencumbered RN license (email to admissions@salemstate.edu) 

• Official transcript from an accredited RN program and any other college transcripts from all colleges and universities attended. A minimum GPA of 2.7 across all coursework is required. 

• Official transcripts from all colleges and universities attended 

• High school or secondary school transcripts are required at the time of application. All admitted students must submit final transcripts documenting graduation, GED or equivalent. Students who have already completed a bachelor's degree do not need to submit high school documentation.

• A completed bachelor's degree from a U. S. college or university with a minimum GPA of 3.0. For students with a degree from outside the U. S., please see below*. 

• Official transcripts from all colleges and universities attended 

• Completion of the following prerequisite courses with a minimum grade of B-:   

  • Anatomy and Physiology I (with a lab)  

  • Anatomy and Physiology II (with a lab) 

  • Microbiology (with lab) 

  • Chemistry (with lab) 

  • Statistics  

  • Developmental Psychology 

• An applicant may be enrolled in up to two prerequisite courses at the time of the application deadline. Applicants must have all prerequisites completed before enrollment. Completed transcripts must be submitted before the start of the program in May. Proof of enrollment in these courses must be provided.  

• AP credit may not be used towards ABSN prerequisites.  

• If using a graduate-level course for an ABSN pre-requisite, please email admissions@salemstate.edu with the course information to be sure it is equivalent. 

* Graduates of a non-U.S. college or university are eligible to apply if the following two conditions are met: 

• Submit a complete, official transcript documenting the award of a bachelor's degree. All transcripts from institutions outside of the United States must be evaluated by an approved agency of all courses completed, final grades, academic degree(s) earned, and grade point averages. 

• Completion of the MassTransfer Gen Ed Foundation at a Massachusetts community college with the official stamped transcript on or before the start of Summer Session I (May 1) of the year in which enrollment begins. Please see the Salem State University for information pertaining to the MassTransfer Block: Salem State University Catalog.

A student who has previously been enrolled in a nursing program at another institution is required to submit official documentation from the nursing department stating they are eligible for readmission into that previous program. The official documentation must be emailed to admissions@salemstate.edu directly from the nursing department program administrator.  

Students who are not eligible for readmission into their previous program will have this considered within their admissions review. A personal statement or recommendations are strongly suggested.

Please note: Transfer students applying for spring, summer, or fall 2024 (and beyond) who have a bachelor’s degree and meet all other admission requirements will not be required to take the TEAS exam. 

Starting for the Summer 2023 application semester, we will only accept TEAS exam scores that were proctored in person at either Salem State University or North Shore Community College.

Prospective students who cannot take the exam at one of the approved locations, due to distance barriers, may request an alternative in-person proctored location to be approved by the Nursing Department by emailing admissions@salemstate.edu.  

As a grace period to this policy, TEAS scores taken at other locations between May 2021 and November 2022 may still be considered if approved by the nursing program by emailing admissions@salemstate.edu. 

• TEAS Exam Scores must be within two calendar years of the application deadline. 

• The TEAS Exam may only be taken up to two times in the calendar year of the application deadline. 

• We will use the highest score from each section across the two most recent exam dates. 

TEAS Exam Requirements and Registration Instructions

All original secondary/college transcripts/credentials from institutions outside the United States must have an approved agency's evaluation of courses, grades, academic degrees, and grade point averages. 

All original transcripts/credentials from overseas institutions must be in English or professionally translated into English, and evaluated by a professional evaluation service. 

Approved Agencies

• The Center for Educational Documentation (CED) 

• ECE 

• NAEG 

• Spantran 

• World Education Services (WES) 

It usually takes at least three weeks for one of these services to evaluate your transcript. Please note: to transfer international coursework to Salem State University, an official course/subject description or syllabi in English must be submitted.