Steps to apply for undergraduate programs

Have you completed your pre-professional and liberal studies requirements with Northern Arizona University or another institution? If so, then you are eligible to apply for our Bachelor of Science in Nursing (BSN) program. If not, you can still get started today by applying to NAU.

How to apply for your Bachelor of Science in Nursing

Step 1: Apply to NAU

You may be a new or continuing student. Before you’re ready to apply to the nursing program, you’ll need to complete all of your preprofessional requirements (prerequisites and liberal studies courses).

Step 2: Apply to the School of Nursing

The traditional, accelerated, compressed, and American Indian programs all have separate application forms. Admission requires a completed application, the HESI A2 exam, and completed prerequisite courses or degree.

Admission requirements

• Completion of all prerequisite courses with a C (3.0) or higher (note: the minimum GPA of 3.0 does not guarantee admission to the program; most successful applicants have a GPA well above 3.0)
• 5 or less in-progress prerequisite courses at time of application (all prerequisite courses must be completed by the beginning of the program)
• Proctored HESI A2 admissions exam for the traditional and American Indian BSN programs
• Completed online application with unofficial transcripts from each college or university attended
• For Accelerated BSN program only: must have bachelor’s degree complete by the start of the program

Incomplete applications will not be considered for admission.

Application dates and deadlines

HESI A2 exam

The HESI A2 admission exam score is used for screening and ranking of undergraduate nursing applicants to pre-licensure programs. You may take the HESI A2 exam only once per application cycle through ProctorU, and the exam must be completed in the cycle for which you are applying by the exam deadline.

The School of Nursing will not accept HESI A2 exams from previous testing cycles or from other institutions. A complete application must be submitted to take the HESI A2 exam. Incomplete applications will not be considered for admission.

Those applying to the Accelerated BSN program, please note that the admissions cycle is a first-come, first-served enrollment so the application may close before the deadline if all seats are filled. The School of Nursing encourages applicants to complete the HESI A2 as soon as possible.

Exam preparation and content

To help prepare for the HESI A2 admissions exam, we recommend the Admission Assessment Exam Review, 5th Edition (2021–2022). ISBN: 9780323582261

How to schedule your HESI A2 exam

1. Apply to NAU.
2. Submit your undergraduate School of Nursing BSN application during the application cycle.
3. The School of Nursing admissions team will review your application. If the application meets all the prerequisite criteria, then you will receive an email with instructions on how to register, schedule, pay for, and take the HESI A2 exam via ProctorU.
4. Schedule and pay for your HESI A2 exam ($63-$75). Once you have done so, the School of Nursing will receive a registration confirmation email with the date and time of your exam.
5. Take the HESI A2 exam through ProctorU.
6. The School of Nursing will automatically receive your exam scores. You do not need to send your scores.
7. Admissions decisions will be sent to your NAU email address 4–6 weeks after the exam deadline.