Program Description
The traditional Bachelor of Science in Nursing (B.S.N.) program prepares students for licensure as entry-level professional nurses. The General Education program engages students in the liberal arts, promotes community and civic engagement, and develops students’ abilities to use ethical reasoning in decision-making. The B.S.N. program builds on the liberal arts to develop discipline-specific knowledge, skills and abilities needed to promote health, prevent disease, manage acute and chronic conditions, and coordinate care to individuals, families, and communities across the lifespan in a variety of healthcare and community settings.
Admission and Retention Requirements
Traditional B.S.N. Program
Admission to the nursing program is limited and competitive. Each semester 113 students are admitted into junior level nursing courses. All students, including transfer students, must complete the B.S.N. admission application after receiving admission to the university. B.S.N. admission application information is available on the nursing school website.
A fully completed B.S.N. admission application must be received by December 1 to be considered for the following fall semester and by July 1 to be considered for following spring semester. Students not admitted to the program must reapply to be considered in the applicant pool for the following admission cycle.
Application Requirements: For admission to the program beginning in Fall 2024 (students who enter as first years in Fall 2023), the following must be completed by the end of fall semester of the sophomore year. For spring admission, the following must be completed by the end of spring semester of the sophomore year.
The following are required to apply for admission to the B.S.N. program:
- Enrolled at JMU
- B.S.N. declared major
- One full-time semester at JMU completed
- 36 credit hours completed
- Earn a minimum grade of “C-” in prerequisite courses and maintain a minimum prerequisite GPA of 3.0
- General Education “Madison Foundations” – one Critical Thinking and one Human Communication course*
- One of the two biology course sequences: BIO 270 /BIO 270L Human Physiology** or BIO 290 /BIO 290L Human Anatomy
- PSYC 160 Life Span Human Development***
- After the criteria and pre-requisite courses are met the following will be used in applicant consideration:
- Experiences such as prior military service or veteran status, currently ROTC, current work experiences, and/or current community services
- Attributes such as Pell grant eligibility, first-generation college student, and/or being multilingual
- An essay of no more than 250 words to address a prompt that demonstrates students’ commitment to the values of the School of Nursing
Admission Requirements
After application and before entry into the B.S.N. program, the remaining prerequisite courses must be completed with a minimum grade of “C-.”:
- Maintain a minimum prerequisite GPA of 3.00.
- 48 credit hours completed
- Earn a minimum grade of “C-” in prerequisite courses:
*Prerequisite courses included in General Education “Madison Foundations” one Critical Thinking and one Human Communication course
**Prerequisite courses included in General Education “The Natural World”
***Prerequisite courses included in General Education “Sociocultural and Wellness Area”
Students may elect to repeat up to two courses during their enrollment at JMU on a repeat/forgive basis following university policy. For prerequisite courses used in the admission application, specifically biology, chemistry and statistics, when taken at JMU or other institutions as repeat credit, the nursing program will average the grade of the repeated course for a final grade used in the admission application.
The nursing curriculum is a full-time program with courses and clinical during day, evening and night time hours. The associate director for undergraduate programs must approve any deviation from the full-time enrollment pattern as outlined in the catalog. Once admitted to the program, the student must earn a minimum grade of “C-” or “Pass” in each required nursing course to remain in good standing in the nursing program. A grade of “D+/-“, “F” or “Fail” is considered a course failure. A student who receives a failing grade in a nursing course may repeat one nursing course, with school approval. A student who receives a second failing grade will be ineligible to continue in the program.
Other academic and related policies in effect for students in the nursing program are outlined on the school website.
Additional Information
Students can seek fall or spring admission to the program. Students must complete 36 credit hours before they will be considered for admission to the program.
Cluster One normally is completed during the first year. General Education courses in clusters two, three, four and five can be scheduled as desired by the student across the first and second years.
Most students can complete general education and prerequisite courses in four semesters, but some students find it necessary to enroll in summer school or an additional year to complete the work satisfactorily.
