AAS Nursing Program Admissions

Application Period: April 2 - May 15, 2025

APPLY Early! It is critical that interested applicants apply as soon as the application period begins to be considered for admission to the AAS Nursing Program!

AAS Nursing Program Application

Please read all Application/Admissions Requirements very carefully and use the application link below to apply to the AAS Nursing Program.

Application for Consideration for Fall 2025 Admission

Application/Admissions Requirements

Applicants to the AAS Nursing Program must

• Earn a minimum cumulative Grade Point Average (GPA) of 2.5
• Earn a minimum Grade Point Average (GPA) of 2.9 in the Nursing pre-requisite courses below
  • ENG 111 Introduction to College Writing
  • PHL 130 Introduction to Ethics (preferred*) or SOC 100 People and Society
  • PSY 100 Introduction to Psychology
  • BIO 150 Human Anatomy and Physiology

        *NOTE: If a student has earned grades for both courses, the PHL 130 grade will be calculated in the pre-requisite GPA.

• Have completed BIO 150 within five (5) years of application and have earned a minimum grade of C.
• Take the National League for Nursing (NLN-NEX) exam and submit scores by email to AASnursingadmission@csi.cuny.edu. NLN-NEX or PAX benchmark scores vary each semester, and all sub scores are used in the admissions decisions.

         Students are advised to review for the exam, and they must register for the NLN-NEX exam (see guide below) before they file their AAS Nursing Program Application.

         NLN-NEX Guide and Instructions for Fall 2025 (updated 3/27/25)

         STUDENT GUIDE TO Taking NLN Exams with Proctor360 (updated 11/1/23)

         NLN-NEX Testing Dates for Fall 2025 Admissions

         NOTE 1: The nursing application portal closes on May 15, 2025. Students are strongly encouraged to take the NLN-NEX exam and submit their scores as early as possible and preferably before May 15, 2025. Applications cannot be processed until applicants have submitted their NLN-NEX or PAX scores.

     NOTE 2: The CSI Nursing Department accepts older NLN-PAX scores of exams taken within three (3) years of the application deadline (May 15, 2025).

• Provide proof of U.S. Citizenship or Lawful Residency Status

         Residency Information

Special Considerations

• Students may repeat one (1) pre-requisite course with a minimum grade of B once only. Pre-requisite courses include BIO 150, ENG 111, PHL 130/SOC 100  and PSY 100.
• If the BIO 150 course was completed more than 5 years from date of application, either in residence or at a previous institution, the course will need to be repeated in order to be considered for admission to the AAS Nursing Program.

CSI Freshman Forgiveness

CSI students who requested and received Freshman Forgiveness and do not meet the above admission criteria may appeal to the Admission Committee for consideration. A limited number of seats each semester will be assigned to students from Freshman Forgiveness on a competitive basis.
Students should apply and call the Nursing Department at 718.982.3810 to request an appointment with a nursing admissions advisor.

Transfer Students

In addition to the Admissions Requirements above, transfer students from other colleges must

• Be in good academic standing.

Students who are on academic probation, or who have been academically/administratively dismissed from a Nursing or health professional program at CSI or another institution are not eligible for admission to the AAS Nursing Program at the College of Staten Island.

Note: Nursing pre-requisite courses taken outside of CSI must have transfer equivalency at CSI. The letter grades earned in pre-requisite courses at other colleges are used in the calculation of the Nursing pre-requisite GPA for transfer students.

• Earn a minimum Grade Point Average (GPA) of 2.9 in the Nursing pre-requisite courses below:
  • ENG 111 Introduction to College Writing
  • PHL 130 Introduction to Ethics, preferred* or SOC 100 Introduction to Sociology
  • PSY 100 Introduction to Psychology
  • BIO 150 Human Anatomy and Physiology
  • BIO 160 Human Anatomy and Physiology II (transfer students ONLY)

Pre-college Coursework

Students who have completed college coursework or college-level examination programs recognized by CUNY, as high school students, may repeat pre-requisite courses to be considered for AAS Nursing Program admission without prejudice (AICE, AP, CLEP, DLPT, DSST, UEXCEL, IB).

Admissions Decision

Admission decisions are communicated to students using the Application Portal only. Students are required to check their application status after 10:00 am on Monday, June 9, 2025. Students will not be notified by email or in person of acceptance. This portal will close on Wednesday, June 18, 2025. Students unable to access the Application Portal may email AASnursingadmission@csi.cuny.edu. 

Admitted students will be enrolled in a Brightspace organization titled “2025 Fall Clinical Onboarding (CSI)”. This Brightspace organization provides detailed information on all clinical clearance requirements.

All students who are admitted to the AAS Nursing Program are required to have a dedicated working laptop that supports ExamSoft (Chromebooks are not supported). Students are responsible to have their device available for all NRS course examinations. All classes use a national leading software program called ExamSoft – sometimes called Examplify for exams. Students and exam-takers downloading the test-taking software, Examplify, should review these Minimum System Requirements (MSRs) to ensure their devices are supported. Examplify works with most modern computers, both Mac and Windows operating systems. For example, Examplify will not run on Chromebooks, Android, or Linux operating systems. Examplify does not support touchscreen input on Mac or Windows laptops. See Examsoft link for for information (https://examsoft.com/resources/examplify-minimum-system-requirements/)

Admitted students must meet ALL matriculation clinical clearance requirements. 

Registration in any clinical NRS course has both academic and financial consequences. Clinical clearance is required for clinical class attendance. Successful applicants will be conditionally accepted to the AAS Nursing Program, contingent upon timely completion of matriculation clinical clearance requirements as shown below:

CastleBranch Urine Drug Screen (UDS), Nursing Physical Examination (NPE) & N95 Mask Fit-testing--Completion by Thursday, July 10, 2025

CastleBranch Background Check & AHA Basic Life Support (BLS) training--Completion by Tuesday, July 15, 2025 

Failure to submit all required paperwork to the Nursing Department by Tuesday, July 15, 2025, means that the seat in the program will be forfeited.  

The NPE & Clinical Onboarding Flowchart is designed to assist you keep track of the process.  

Matriculation Clinical Clearance Requirements

Matriculation in the AAS Nursing Program is defined as enrollment in NRS 110. Only students who are admitted to the AAS Nursing Program may enroll. Enrollment is predicated on clinical clearance requirements which are practice environment driven, and no exceptions can be made. Students are guests of the agencies and must comply with all agency requirements in real time. The requirements can change precipitously, and students must comply in order to participate in agency clinical experiences. 
NOTE:  Students may not contact the agencies directly at any time.

Clinical Clearance Requirements:

All admitted students to the AAS Nursing Program are required to submit hard copies of the following documents (NPE, BLS, Background Check) along with a signed Nursing Program Attestation form (found on Brightspace) to the CSI Nursing Department in 5S-213 (Monday-Thursday from 9:00am-5:00pm). Submission of these documents should be done IN PERSON only between Tuesday, June 10, 2025 and Tuesday, July 15, 2025. Students who fail to provide ALL required paperwork by this deadline will forfeit their seat in the AAS Nursing Program. 

NOTE: The Nursing Department staff will accept all required documents altogether. If admitted students try to submit only some of the required documents, these will not be accepted, and students will be asked to re-visit the Nursing Department with all required documents. The absolute deadline to submit all required documents is July 15, 2025.

• CastleBranch Urine Drug Screen (UDS)

Create a CSI CastleBranch account by visiting portal.castlebranch.com/uz86 and order and complete a Urine Drug Screen (UDS) by selecting the code UZ86dt from the drop-down menu. The UDS must be completed between Tuesday, June 10 and Thursday, July 10, 2025. All admitted students must submit a hard copy of their UDS results to the CSI Health Center along with the Nursing Physical Examination (NPE) form.

Note: Due to requirements of our clinical agencies, any student who tests positive in the CastleBranch Urine Drug Screen (UDS) at any point in the Nursing Programs will not be permitted to participate in clinical activities. This also applies to applicants to the Nursing Programs. 

• Nursing Physical Examination (NPE) 

Only admitted students to the AAS Nursing Program must have a physical examination. The Nursing Physical Examination (NPE) must be completed and approved by the CSI Health Center between Tuesday, June 10 and Thursday, July 10, 2025. More information regarding the Nursing Physical Examination (NPE) requirement will be offered prior to the end of April 2025. 

• AHA Basic Life Support (BLS) Certificate (Cost: Approximately $49)

Students must provide current American Heart Association Health Care Professional: Basic Life Support (BLS) certification valid for the duration of the clinical rotation. Only BLS certificates with hands-on skills sessions from the American Heart Association (AHA) are accepted. All students must reserve the following days for possible enrollment in a mandatory BLS hands-on class: 6/12/25, 6/13/25, 6/16/25. More information/instructions on how to meet the BLS requirement will be provided on the application status notification. 

• CastleBranch Background Check (Cost: Approximately $135)

Admitted students are required to use the same account they created when they ordered the CastleBranch Urine Drug Screen (portal.castlebranch.com/uz86) and order a criminal Background Check by selecting the code UZ86bg from the drop-down menu. Students without a clear CastleBranch Background Check may make an appointment to meet with a nursing admissions advisor at 718.982.3810.

Submission of Clinical Onboarding Documents

Admitted students must submit hard copies of the following documents to the Nursing Department office in 5S-213 (Monday-Thursday 9:00am-5:00pm) between Tuesday, June 10 and Tuesday, July 15, 2025: 

Nursing Physical Examination (NPE) that was previously approved by the CSI Health Center

AHA Basic Life Support (BLS) certificate

CastleBranch Background Check

Signed Nursing Program Attestation (found on the Brightspace onboarding organization titled “2025 Fall Clinical Onboarding (CSI).”

The absolute deadline for submission of these documents is Tuesday, July 15, 2025. Failure to provide the required paperwork by this deadline means that the seat in the AAS Nursing Program will be forfeited. 

Agency-Specific Clinical Requirements

In addition to the general matriculation clinical clearance requirements above, students may need to complete other agency-specific clinical requirements such as training and orientation, completing agency specific forms, etc. Enrolled students are required to monitor the Brightspace organization titled "2025 Fall Clinical Onboarding (CSI)" for more detailed instructions. Students who are not fully cleared will earn an absence in their clinical course. Excessive absences will result in an earned course grade of F (see course syllabus).

Enrollment in NRS 110

Enrollment in NRS 110 will be by permission only. After 10:00 am on Tuesday, June 10, 2025, students who are admitted to the AAS Nursing Program will be permitted to register (self-enroll) in NRS 110 and NRS 115. Detailed registration instructions will be available with the admission acceptance notification.

In the AAS Nursing Program, there is no guarantee of any specific clinical sites, days or times. All are subject to changes due to the evolving nature of the health care practice environment. "Schedule of Classes" designations for agencies and clinical days are always tentative and subject to precipitous change. Changes will be posted on CUNYfirst. Additionally, Navigate CSI is the official method of communication of the Department of Nursing and the College. Students who are unable to accommodate changes may defer enrollment until the subsequent semester without academic consequences. 

Nursing 110 Orientation

All admitted students must attend an in-person NRS 110 New Student Orientation on Thursday, June 12, 2025, from 9:00am to 1:00pm in building 1P-Lecture Hall.