Associate Degree Nursing Admission Requirements-Fall

To be considered for an M State Nursing program, a student must first be accepted to M State. Only accepted students are able to access the Associate Degree Nursing program application.

New to M State - Follow the admissions checklist at Admissions. 

Returning to M State - Submit an online application for admission at Admissions. If you have attended another college since you last attended M State, please ask that the official transcript be sent to the M State Processing Center.   

M State Processing Center
1414 College Way 
Fergus Falls, MN 56537

Students should allow up to six weeks for transfer work to be received, evaluated and entered into their degree audit.

Transfer courses will not count toward admission to the program until they have been evaluated by the M State transfer specialist and successfully transferred.

Current M State student - If you are currently attending M State, you will not need to update your application to the college.

The ADN program application must be submitted for an applicant to be considered for the program. Please read and understand eligibility criteria before applying. 

Associate Degree Nursing Program Application

ADN applicants must complete all developmental English and/or math courses with a grade of C or higher. Placement in these courses may be determined by ACT, SAT, Accuplacer assessment or high school GPA. Guided self-placement for students who do not have an ACT, SAT, Accuplacer or high school GPA waiver on file cannot be used for nursing applicants. 

Complete the Accuplacer assessment to determine which, if any, English and/or math developmental courses you need to complete. Sign up for the Accuplacer assessment at Placement Testing. 

Students must graduate from high school before starting core nursing program courses (courses with a NURS prefix).

Current high school students must complete their junior year before applying and supply a high school transcript with a GPA of 3.0 or higher upon completion of their junior year.

Postsecondary Enrollment Options (PSEO) students are not eligible to take nursing courses.

GED completers are eligible to apply. Eligibility will be determined as indicated in the GPA requirements section below. Applicants must submit their GED score report. 

Students must earn an overall score of 70 percent or higher on the HSRT-AD. 

HSRT-AD scores expire one year after the test date. HSRT-AD scores must be valid at the time of the application deadline.

Applicants are allowed to take the HSRT-AD up to two times for the fall 2025 application cycle. If taking the test for a second time, applicants must wait two weeks (14 calendar days) between test attempts.

The HSRT-AD must be taken at an M State campus. For more information regarding the HSRT-AD, including special accommodations, exam dates, and how to register, visit HSRT Exam. 

All eligible nursing program applicants are ranked by their HSRT-AD overall score.

Math scores on the Accuplacer/ACT or high school GPA must place the student into Math 1114 College Algebra or higher. Students testing into developmental math must complete the highest-level developmental course with a grade of C or higher before starting the program.

Reading scores on the Accuplacer/ACT or high school GPA must place the student into English 1101 College Writing. Students testing into developmental English must complete the highest-level developmental course with a grade of C or higher before starting the program.

Students may be conditionally accepted into the ADN program while courses are in progress, but courses must be completed prior to the program's start. If you have coursework in progress, you can submit the ADN program application to maximize your chance of being admitted into the program.

Applicants who HAVE earned nine or more college credits in the following general education courses must have a 2.5 cumulative GPA or higher AND a grade of C or higher in each course: 

• BIOL 2260/2261 Human Anatomy and Physiology I and Lab (4 credits)*
• BIOL 2262/2263 Human Anatomy and Physiology II and Lab (4 credits)*
• BIOL 2267/2268 Medical Microbiology and Lab (4 credits)*
• ENGL 1101 College Writing
• PSYC 2222 Lifespan Development
• CHEM 1100 Fundamental Concepts of Chemistry

While applicants are not required to take all of these courses before being accepted, grades in completed courses must average a 2.5 GPA and applicants must earn a grade of C or higher in each course. Students who have earned a grade of less than C (D, F, FN, FW) in any of the required general education courses will not be eligible until the grade has been replaced with a grade of C or higher.

To calculate your cumulative GPA, visit GPA Calculator - Associate Degree Nursing.

*Course must have been completed within five years before the program start date. For the fall 2025 program start, the course must have been taken fall 2020 or later.

The ADN program requires four credits of Anatomy and Physiology I and lab, four credits of Anatomy and Physiology II and lab, and four credits of Microbiology and lab. Applicants requesting to transfer three-credit Anatomy and Physiology I, three-credit Anatomy and Physiology II or three-credit Microbiology from another institution will be required to take a one-credit lab in order to make up the required credit difference and/or lab component.

Applicants who HAVE NOT earned at least nine general education credits of the courses listed above must meet one of the following criteria:

• High school GPA must be 3.00 or higher. Successful completion of one year of high school chemistry and/or biology OR earn a minimum of 24 on the science portion of the ACT. A grade of C or higher in any completed general education courses required for the program. (These courses are listed above.)
• GED completers must earn a score of 165 or higher in each of the four content area modules OR a combined score of 660 or higher. A grade of C or higher in any completed college general education courses required for the program. (These courses are listed above.)

Calculate grade point average for certain courses:

Applicants who meet all requirements for admission will have the greatest chance of being admitted into the program. Students are encouraged to submit the program application even if they are in the process of meeting all the requirements for admission to the program. If the application deadline has passed, check this page to see if applications are still being accepted. 

Eligible students are awarded seats in the following order:

1. HSRT-AD Overall score - those with the highest scores will be awarded a seat.
2. HSRT-AD Analysis score - will be used only if a tiebreaker is needed.
3. HSRT-AD Inference score - will be used only if an additional tiebreaker is needed.

If there are more eligible applicants than available seats by the application deadline, eligible applicants with the highest entrance exam score will be offered a seat first. Eligible applicants who do not get into the program due to the competition for a limited number of available seats will be placed on the waiting list. If a seat in the program opens, it will be offered to the student with the highest entrance exam score who was eligible to be accepted by the application deadline.

Each student who has submitted a complete admissions file by a posted deadline will receive an email from M State indicating whether they have been accepted into the program, placed on the program waiting list or are currently ineligible for the program. Be sure to provide your current email address on your program application. 

Applicants will be notified of their application status within 30 days after the application deadline.

All nursing students are required to have a laptop computer. The cost will be in addition to the cost of tuition, fees and books. 

To learn what you'll need for this program:

Students must upload evidence of nursing assistant experience to CastleBranch by July 1 to be eligible to start NURS courses in the fall. The following are means of demonstrating experience:

• Successful completion of a nursing assistant course OR healthcare core curriculum with nursing assistant skill set within the last five years with a minimum grade of C or Pass.
• Current Certified Nursing Assistant (CNA) in good standing with a department of health nursing assistant registry.

Applicants with health care experience other than CNA who believe this experience is equivalent to CNA may test out by challenging the national nurse aide registry exam, rather than enrolling and completing the nursing assistant course. Students are responsible for all costs and fees incurred as part of the test-out process. Students who do not successfully test out will be required to complete a nursing assistant course and upload supporting documentation into CastleBranch before the July 1 deadline.

Students are required to upload official documentation of American Heart Association Basic Life Support certification into CastleBranch by July 1 to be eligible to start nursing courses in the fall. Certification must include a hands-on component.

Accepted nursing students are required to upload into CastleBranch a cleared Minnesota Department of Human Services background check by July 1 to be eligible to start classes in the fall. A $54.50 fee will be assessed for processing the background check and fingerprinting/photo. The process for background checks and fingerprinting will be included with acceptance documents.

Accepted students who choose not to complete the background check OR who do not pass the background check may not be permitted to attend clinical experiences or service-learning opportunities. In such cases, the college cannot guarantee alternative learning opportunities, which ultimately will affect students’ ability to complete the program.

Accepted nursing students are required to have a cleared national background check by July 1 to be eligible to start classes in the fall, even if they have completed a national background check for employment. National background checks are completed through a third-party vendor.

Instructions and codes will be provided via official M State email after acceptance to the program. The cost of the background check is $47.75. Subsequent annual background checks are $28. Students are responsible for the cost.

Accepted students who choose not to complete the background check OR who do not pass the background check may not be permitted to attend clinical experiences or service-learning opportunities. In such cases, the college cannot guarantee alternative learning opportunities, which ultimately will affect students’ ability to complete the program.

Students are required to upload a completed Health Division Health Form into CastleBranch by July 1. The form will be emailed upon acceptance to the program.

Students with clinical and/or lab restrictions must be able to meet all associated course outcomes to successfully complete the course(s). Clinical partners may choose not to permit students with restrictions(s) to participate in their facilities, resulting in the students not being able to meet those course outcomes. Nursing program technical standards are available at Accepted Nursing Students.

Proof of immunizations (including a yearly influenza vaccination) is required by clinical facilities. Conscientious objectors may not be able to complete clinical courses at the discretion of the clinical facilities.