LPN to Associate Degree Nursing Bridge Admission Requirements - Fall

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 that 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 before applying. You must be accepted to M State to access the program application.

The fall 2024 LPN to ADN Bridge program application closed on May 5.

Nursing 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 score at the “Proficient” competency level (58.6%) or higher on the Assessment Technology Institute Test of Essential Academic Skills (ATI TEAS).

ATI TEAS scores will expire three years after the test date. TEAS scores must be valid at the time of the application deadline.

ATI TEAS official results are required and must be completed before the application deadline to be considered for the program. Nursing applicants who take the ATI TEAS exam at a site other than M State must request that their test results be sent prior to the nursing application deadline to M State Processing Center, 1414 College Way, Fergus Falls, MN 56537.

All eligible nursing program applicants are ranked by their TEAS scores.

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 2-credit transition course.

English 1101 College Writing is a prerequisite and must be completed with a grade of C or higher 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’s start.

A 2.75 cumulative GPA is required for the LPN to ADN Bridge program, both in core practical nursing courses and select general education courses.* The course grade on the applicant’s most recent attempt in core practical nursing courses will be used to calculate the cumulative GPA.

If the practical nursing degree was earned more than three years ago, only general education courses will be used to calculate the student’s GPA.

Grades of “Pass” or “Satisfactory” do not affect the GPA calculation. All completed general education courses must have an earned grade of C or higher. Students who have earned a grade of less than C (D, F, FN or FW) in any of the general education courses used to determine cumulative GPA will not be eligible until the grades have been replaced with a grade of C or higher.

*The following general education courses are used to determine cumulative GPA:

• 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 (includes a chemistry lab)

To calculate your cumulative GPA, visit GPA Calculator- LPN to ADN Bridge. 

The 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 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 completing this requirement will become ineligible for the program if minimum requirements are not met before the start of the program.

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. TEAS scores – those with the highest scores will be awarded a seat.
2. GPA for general education courses used to for application review – will be used only if a tiebreaker is needed.

If there are more eligible applicants than available seats by the application deadline, eligible applicants with the highest entrance exam scores 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 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 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.

An active, unencumbered practical nursing license is required to start the LPN to ADN Bridge program. (This does not include NURS 2410 Role Transition, which is taken prior to the start of the core Nursing courses.)

Students who have been conditionally accepted prior to the completion of this requirement will become ineligible for the program if minimum requirements are not met before the start of the program.

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

Accepted nursing students are required to upload into Student Passport a cleared Minnesota Department of Human Services background study by July 1 to be eligible to start classes in the fall. A $30 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 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 from Joel Hoffman, nursing lab assistant. The cost of the initial background check is $45.75. 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 the Student Passport system by July 1. If there is a change in a student’s physical or emotional health status, they are required to upload a Change in Health Status Approval Form from a health care provider indicating the specific activities in which they can or cannot engage during clinical and/or lab. Students with clinical and/or lab restrictions must be able to meet all associated course outcomes in order 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. A list of the nursing program technical standards is available at Accepted Nursing Students.

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

Health forms, supporting documentation, American Heart Association BLS (CPR) documentation and evidence of LPN licensure must be uploaded to the Student Passport system by July 1 for you to be eligible to start classes in the fall. Information on Student Passport will be sent to all accepted nursing students.