Nursing Admission Deadlines

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).
  • An approved agency must validate verification for any non-U.S.-based secondary education. Four approved agencies include the Center for Educational Documentation, Educational Credential Evaluators, North American Educational Group, and World Education Services.

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
• A high school or secondary school transcript is required at the time of application. All admitted students must submit final transcripts documenting graduation.
  • An approved agency must validate verification for any non-U.S.-based secondary education. Four approved agencies include the Center for Educational Documentation, Educational Credential Evaluators, North American Educational Group, and World Education Services.
• Non-traditional applicants should email Salem State's admissions office at admissions@salemstate.edu to request additional information about specific requirements.

Transfer students

• 12 credits of college-level work completed with a minimum GPA of 3.0 (most recent college attended)
• Students are accepted into the nursing program on a space available basis. 
• Official transcripts from all colleges and universities attended. Transcripts from a college or university outside the U.S. must be validated by an approved agency.
• Two required science courses completed with a minimum C grade 
  • BIO105   Biological Systems
  • CHE117  General Organic & Biological Chemistry (with lab) 
  • BIO200   Anatomy & Physiology I (with lab) 
  • BIO201   Anatomy & Physiology II (with lab) 
  • BIO304   Microbiology (with lab) 
• The TEAS test version 7.0 is required. Applicants must score at the proficient level (58.7% minimum) in all four categories: English, Math, Reading, and Science. See below for the new TEAS exam policy.
• High school or secondary school transcripts are required at the time of application. All admitted students will be required to submit official transcripts documenting graduation, GED, or equivalent 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 Group, or Educational Credential Evaluators.

• Students who have already completed a bachelor's degree do not need to submit high school documentation. 

• An unencumbered LPN license (email proof of licensure to admissions@salemstate.edu)
• Official transcript from an accredited LPN program attended with a minimum GPA of 3.0 (with an equivalency of 80%)
• 12 credits of college-level work completed with a minimum GPA of 3.0 (most recent college attended) - Transcripts from a college or university outside the U.S. must be validated by an approved agency
• Official transcripts from all colleges and universities attended must be provided
• Two required science courses completed with a minimum C grade
  • BIO105   Biological Systems 
  • CHE117  General Organic & Biological Chemistry (with lab)
  • BIO200  Anatomy & Physiology I (with lab)
  • BIO201   Anatomy & Physiology II (with lab)
  • BIO304   Microbiology (with lab)
• The TEAS test version 7.0 is required. Applicants must score at the proficient level (58.7% minimum) or higher in all four required categories: Math, English, Science, and Reading. See below for the new TEAS exam policy.
• High school or secondary school transcripts are required at the time of application. All admitted students will be required to submit official transcripts documenting graduation, GED, or equivalent. 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 Group, or Educational Credential Evaluators

• Students who have already completed a bachelor's degree do not need to submit high school documentation.  

• Students are accepted into the nursing program on a space available basis. 

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 must be provided
• All admitted students will be required to submit official transcripts documenting graduation, GED, or equivalent. 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 Group, or Educational Credential Evaluators
• 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 
  • General Psychology
  • Developmental Psychology (Equivalent to Adulthood and Old Age)
• An applicant may be enrolled in up to two prerequisite courses at the time of the application deadline. Proof of enrollment in these courses must be provided.
• Applicants must have all prerequisites completed prior to enrollment. Completed transcripts must be submitted before the start of the program in May. AP credit may not be used towards ABSN prerequisites.
• AP credit may not be used towards ABSN prerequisites. 
• If using a graduate-level course for an ABSN prerequisite, please email admissions@salemstate.edu with the course information to ensure it is equivalent.
• Students are accepted into the nursing program on a space available basis. 

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

• An official transcript documenting the award of a bachelor’s degree is submitted. All transcripts from institutions outside of the United States must have an evaluation from 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 Catalog for information about the MassTransfer Block. 

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 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 email admissions@salemstate.edu to request an alternative in-person proctored location that the nursing department will approve.

• 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 U.S. must be evaluated by an approved agency for 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.

Evaluating your transcript usually takes at least three weeks for one of these services.

Please note: To transfer international coursework to Salem State, an official course/subject description or syllabi in English must be submitted.

Approved Agencies

• The Center for Educational Documentation (CED) 
• ECE
• The Evaluation Company (formerly Spantran)
• NAEG 
• World Education Services (WES)

On October 14, 2026, the Massachusetts Board of Registration in Nursing voted to grant Full Approval status to Salem State University’s prelicensure Registered Nursing program leading to the Bachelor of Science in Nursing (BSN) degree.

Online biology and chemistry courses are not transferable. Hybrid biology and chemistry courses are transferable only when the laboratory component is completed in person. 

COVID-19-related exceptions: Biology and chemistry courses, including online laboratory components, completed during the COVID-19 pandemic may be considered for transfer credit on a case-by-case basis if they were previously reviewed and approved for transferability. These exceptions apply only to coursework covered by prior approval and do not establish a general policy of accepting online laboratory coursework. 

Students who have not received prior approval should plan to complete all biology and chemistry laboratory prerequisites in person. Online laboratory components are not guaranteed to be accepted for transfer credit, regardless of when the coursework was completed. 

Course transferability can be referenced through our Transfer Equivalency Viewer. All courses remain subject to review and approval.