BSN Admission Requirements

Use the links below to skip to a section:

• BSN Eligibility
• BSN Prerequisite and Corequisite Courses
  • Transfer Course Information
• TEAS Exam
• Conditional Acceptance

For information on the application process, deadlines, and tuition, please visit Undergraduate How to Apply.

REMINDER: If you are not already a student at SJSU, there is a two-step application process to be admitted to the BSN program. Applicants must also meet CSU admission requirements.

BSN Eligibility 

BSN applicants must meet the following BSN eligibility requirements to be considered:

1. Students must complete lower division coursework before the time they intend to start the BSN major coursework.
2. Applicants must provide proof of citizenship and/or California residency with the NursingCAS application. DACA and non-DACA undocumented students must include the DACA/AB540 form with the NursingCAS application. The program does not admit international students without a green card. See How to Apply for details.
3. Transfer applicants can only apply for Fall terms.

4. Second bachelors can only apply for Spring terms and are limited to 10% of the available spots (6 out of 60). 

Beginning January 1, 2017, U.S. military veterans may receive priority selection for the nursing program [pdf]. This includes those who have completed active duty, have an honorable discharge (DD214), and meet the minimum program and university requirements. Three (3) spaces will be held per application cycle. It is also important to connect with the SJSU Veterans Resource Center.

BSN Prerequisites and Corequisites

• Applicants must achieve a 'C' grade or better in all BSN prerequisite and corequisite courses. 
• The combined GPA of the 8 BSN prerequisite courses must meet the minimum GPA of 3.3 or better.
• BSN prerequisites must be complete before submitting a NursingCAS application. BSN corequisite courses must be in progress or complete upon submitting NursingCAS application but must be completed before starting the program.
• The department strongly recommends receiving a letter grade for prerequisite courses. Only letter grades are calculated in the prerequisite GPA.

• 8 Prerequisite Courses
  • 1. BIOL 65: Human Anatomy*
    2. BIOL 66: Human Physiology*
    3. MICR 20: General Bacteriology*
    4. ENGL 1A: Composition
    5. STAT 95: Elementary Statistics
    6. CHEM 30A: Intro to Chemistry-Inorganic (or general chemistry equivalent)
    7. COMM 20/COMM 96PS: Public Speaking
    8. CSU GE Area A3: Critical Thinking Course
• *Recency Requirements for Prerequisites
  • BIOL 65, BIOL 66, MICR 20 must be completed within five (5) years of nursing application deadline. Courses may be repeated only once for academic forgiveness or recency requirements to achieve a minimum “C” grade. If a combined “Anatomy & Physiology” course is taken, all courses in the sequence should be taken at the same campus.
• 3 Corequisite Courses
  • 1. PSYC 1: Introduction to Psychology
    2. CHAD 70: Lifespan Development in the 21st Century (development from birth to death)
    3. NUFS 8: Nutrition for Health Professionals
• AP Scores

  • AP courses are accepted for ENGL 1A, STAT 95, CHEM 30A, and PSYC 1. You must submit your college board scores to the NursingCAS Application.

    If you are already a current SJSU students and your AP courses show at the top of your SJSU transcript, you do not need to submit your college board scores.

Transfer Course Information

Courses from other institutions (not SJSU) used for prerequisite and corequisite courses. 

You may check for course equivalency (articulation) by visiting SJSU Articulation. Use School to School Transfer or Course to Course Articulation to find your course equivalency.

If a course is not listed on articulation, check the course equivalency via the Transfer Evaluation System (TES). SJSU continues to update TES with more equivalencies on a regular basis. If the course is not on TES, you may submit a copy of the syllabus or course description to Delia Chavez, delia.chavez@sjsu.edu, for review. Once approved, it will be listed on TES.

Please visit Transferring Credits from Other Schools to SJSU or contact the Office of the Registrar if you have any questions.

The nursing department does not give credit for courses taken outside of the U.S. unless the degree is accepted through university admissions and the coursework is deemed as equivalent by the Admissions office.

TEAS Exam

• Applicants must complete the TEAS exam and achieve a minimum score of 84%.
• Starting in Fall 2024, TEAS exams must be taken within five years of application.
• Version 7 is preferred.
• A total of two attempts is allowed. The highest score of the first two attempts will be used. 

Applicants are required to upload a copy of your TEAS score to your NursingCAS application as instructed by the deadline. Review our BSN FAQs for more helpful information regarding the TEAS exam.

Conditional Acceptance

Acceptance to the BSN program is conditional until all required next steps are completed. Review Acceptance to the Program for more information on what to expect.