LPN to Associate Degree Nursing Bridge Admission Requirements - Spring

To be considered for an M State Nursing program, students must be accepted to M State. The application for the Nursing program is separate. You must be accepted to M State to access the LPN to ADN Bridge 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, you will also need to request your 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 onto 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 LPN to ADN Bridge program application must be submitted for an applicant to be considered for the program. The eligibility criteria must be read and understood prior to applying. You must be accepted to M State to access the program application.

LPN to ADN Bridge program application

Nursing applicants must complete all developmental English and/or math courses with a grade of C or better. 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. 

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 better before starting the 2-credit transition course.

English 1101 College Writing is a prerequisite and must be completed with a grade of C or better to start the program.

If you have coursework in progress, you can submit the LPN to ADN Bridge program application to maximize your chance of being accepted into the program. Students may be conditionally accepted while courses are in progress, but courses must be completed before the program starts.

The following prerequisite courses were completed as part of M State's Practical Nursing program.

• BIOL 2260/2261 Human Anatomy and Physiology I and Lab
• BIOL 2262/2263 Human Anatomy and Physiology II and Lab
• ENGL 1101 College Writing
• PSYC 2222 Lifespan Development

The following courses are additional prerequisites for the LPN to ADN Bridge program. They must be completed with a grade of C or better prior to the start of spring semester. 

• BIOL 2267/2268 Medical Microbiology and Lab (4 credits)*
• CHEM 1100 Fundamental Concepts of Chemistry (includes a chemistry lab)

All completed prerequisite courses must have an earned grade of C or better. Students who have earned a grade of less than C (D, F, FN or FW) in any of the prerequisite courses will not be eligible until the grades have been replaced with a grade of C or better.

*The program requires four credits of  Microbiology and lab. Applicants requesting to transfer 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.

The five-year recency requirement in select biology courses does not apply to the LPN to ADN Bridge program.

The general education courses listed above are prerequisites for all core NURS courses except NURS 2410 Role Transition. Students may be conditionally accepted into the program with prerequisite courses in progress. Students who have been conditionally accepted before completion of this requirement will become ineligible for the program if minimum requirements are not met before the program starts.

PLEASE NOTE: Program-required general education courses must be completed with a grade of C or better before or during the semester in which they appear in the program plan. Students who do not meet this expectation cannot continue taking NURS courses and should work with an advisor to create a Revised Plan of Study (RPOS).

An active, unencumbered practical nursing license is required at the time of application review. 

*We will verify state licensure at the time of application review.

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. 

Eligible students are awarded seats in the following order:

1. Previous M State Practical Nursing graduate within the past 10 years
2. HSRT-AD Overall score
3. HSRT-AD Analysis score - will be used only if a tie-breaker is needed.
4. HSRT-AD Inference score - will be used only if an additional tie-breaker is needed.

If there are more eligible applicants than available seats by the priority review, eligible applicants will be placed on the waiting list according to their program application date (for previous M State PN graduates) or highest HSRT-AD Overall score (for non-M State PN graduates and M State PN graduates over 10 years). If a seat in the program opens, it will be offered to the student highest on the waiting list.

Each student who has submitted a complete admissions file by a posted deadline will receive an email from the college indicating whether they are accepted into the program, placed on the program waiting list or currently ineligible for the program. Please 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. Learn what you'll need for this program at Computer Requirements.

Students are required to upload official documentation of American Heart Association Basic Life Support certification into Castle Branch by Dec. 1 to be eligible to start NURS courses in the spring. Certification must include a hands-on component.

Accepted Nursing students are required to upload into Castle Branch a cleared Minnesota Department of Human Services background study by Dec. 1 to be eligible to start classes in the spring. A $54.50 fee will be assessed for processing the background study and fingerprinting/photo. The process for background studies 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 the students’ ability to complete the program.

Accepted Nursing students are required to have a cleared national background check by Dec. 1 to be eligible to start classes in the spring, 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 initial background check is $47. 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 the students’ ability to complete the program.

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