Eligibility Requirements and Selective Admission Criteria to Apply for Nursing Education Programs

How to Gain Eligibility to Apply to the Virginia Peninsula Community College Nursing Education Program

The College's Nursing Education Program offers prelicensure/precertification education for Healthcare Technician (also known as Nurse Aide) for dual enrollment high school students and professional nursing (also known as Registered Nurse) for high school graduates and/or those persons with their General Education Diploma (GED) as a selective admission program. The Nursing Education Program also offers a Practical (LPN) to Professional (RN) transition program as selective admission program for prospective students who posses a current, unrestricted license as a Virginia Practical Nurse. The College's Workforce Education Unit offers non-credit prelicensure/precertification education for prospective Nurse Aide education students.

All prospective nursing education program students must apply to Virginia Peninsula Community College (if you have not already). After completing the application, schedule an appointment with the College's Academic Advising Office to select a program of study, complete enrollment, and begin taking the courses and/or prerequisite courses appropriate for their program of interest.

All prospective students will be responsible for transportation to and from the College and health agencies utilized for clinical experiences.

All prospective students will be responsible for completing a criminal history background check, drug screen, as well as for obtaining a medical physical at their expense. Random drug screens and repeat background checks may be required for current or returning students at any time at the student's expense. A student with an unsatisfactory background check and/or drug screening will be dismissed from their respective nursing education program of study.

All prospective students are responsible for successfully completing and/or holding a current, unexpired, Basic Life Support (BLS) (CPR/AED) certification from the American Heart Association (AHA); no others will be accepted. Virginia Peninsula Community College does offer multiple American Health Association (AHA) BLS courses throughout the year that meet this certification requirement.

All prospective students are notified that programs in the Nursing Education Program may and do have required additional costs and/or fees for licensure/certification exams, learning resource packages, uniforms (scrubs), equipment, etc. at the student's expense.

Students may be eligible for financial aid, scholarships, and/or other financial assistance; additional information is available in the Financial Aid Office.

IMPORTANT NOTE: The Commonwealth of Virginia Department of Health Professions Board of Nursing has the authority to deny certification and/or licensure to any applicant who has violated any of the provisions of 54.1-3007 of the Code of Virginia. The Nursing Education Program is not able to provide any additional information or answers to questions related to convictions, elapsed periods of time between conviction and application for certification or licensure, or answer any questions regarding criminal convictions and licensure. Any student convicted of illegal offenses other than minor traffic violations are encouraged to consider seeking an alternate program of study.

If Virginia Peninsula Community College and/or the Nursing Education Program determine through verification, review, notification, and/or reporting that a current nursing education student, prospective or current applicant, and/or conditionally offered student/applicant had provided incorrect, inappropriate, false, or misleading information on their application and/or as a part of their application packet, request for transfer evaluation, and/or any portion of documentation therein provided while making application to, seeking admission to, and/or gaining admission into Virginia Peninsula Community College and/or the Nursing Education Program, the student, regardless of current program and/or academic status, will be dismissed from the program, declared ineligible for acceptance into the program, and may be disciplined within College policy and procedures up to and including suspension and/or expulsion from the College. If the act(s) and/or submissions are determined to and/or potentially violate state statutes and/or law, the appropriate authorities will be notified. Students who are rendered ineligible, have conditional offers rescinded, and/or are dismissed from the program for these reasons are not eligible for refunds of cost(s) associated with the program's application and/or acceptance expenses, including but not limited to the costs of learning resources, uniforms, equipment, supplies, etc. Virginia Peninsula Community College and/or the Nursing Education Program reserve the right to verify all information and/or records submitted by students and/or prospective students.

Virginia Peninsula Community College Nursing Education Program Professional Nursing Admission Policies

Admission to the Virginia Peninsula Community College prelicensure Nursing Education Program - Professional Nursing Program is a selective and highly competitive process. Admission to the College does not constitute admission to the Nursing Education Program or any of its associated/affiliated programs/courses. Students must also apply for admission to Virginia Peninsula Community College if they are not already an active student. Applications to the College can be completed and submitted online.

To be considered for admission to the Nursing Education Program or any of its associated/affiliated programs/courses, applicants must:

  • Be eligible for readmission or be in good standing at the last college or university last attended.
  • Submit a completed application with all required materials to the Nursing Education Program, utilizing the nursingCAS online portal.
  • In summary the applicant must:
  • Apply and be admitted to the College as a degree seeking student.
  • Complete all prerequisite courses with a grade of "B" (3.0 curricular grade point average) or better.
  • Maintain a minimum cumulative grade point average of 3.0 or better.
  • Complete all prerequisite program requirements.
  • Submit a completed Nursing Education Program - Professional Nursing application through NursingCAS. A completed application includes completion/submission of all required information, transcripts, letters of reference, and letters of recommendation. Applicants may NOT mail and/or hand deliver any required information, documents, etc. to the College as part of the application process; they will not be accepted.

Late or incomplete prelicensure applications will not be considered.

Consideration of CLEP and/or Transfer Credit

Students seeking advanced standing credit (credit by CLEP and/or transfer credit from another regionally accredited college or university) must apply to Virginia Peninsula Community College and submit a completed Request for Transfer Evaluation Form and provide copies of unofficial transcripts, licensure, certification, and/or CLEP or other exam scores to the College's Admission's Office for consideration prior to applying to the Nursing Education Program. A copy of the transfer evaluation packet must be attached to the NursingCAS application.

Request for Transfer Evaluation does not guarantee that any and/or all requested credit(s) will be accepted/granted transfer into the College or Nursing Education Program. All requests (courses, degrees, credits, coursework, certification/licensure, and/or credit for exam scores) for transfer evaluation are reviewed on a case-by-case basis and credit, if awarded, applied, transferred, and/or granted by Virginia Peninsula Community College, is completed at the discretion of the College as a privilege and not by right.

Selected CLEP credits may be approved and applied toward associate degree requirements at the College. If approved, CLEP credits may be used to fulfill requirements for selected required degree courses at the discretion of the College.

The Virginia Peninsula Community College Nursing Education Program only accepts transfer credit completed with a grade of "B" or better, at/by regionally accredited colleges and universities.

The Virginia Peninsula Community College Nursing Education Program does not accept credit awarded and/or transcripted by colleges and/or universities for coursework transferred into their institution, i.e. the Virginia Peninsula Community College Nursing Education Program does not transfer credit that has been transferred into another institution and/or credit applied by another institution from a program for which the transcripting institution has an agreement to award credit for course completion.

If the College and/or Nursing Education Program denies the award, transfer, and/or granting of credit for courses, degrees, credits, coursework, certification/licensure, and/or credit for exam scores, the decision is final and is not subject to appeal; all reviews are conducted on a case-by-case basis and decisions are made at the discretion of the College.

Transferring from another Nursing Education Program

Students seeking to transfer nursing credits must be from another ACEN, NLNAC, or CCNE accredited ADN and/or BSN program whose graduates are candidates for licensure. A transferring nursing student must have already successfully completed laboratory and clinical nursing major course(s) and meet the Virginia Peninsula Community College requirements for admission to the nursing education program, indicate request for transfer on the application, and must submit photocopies of all nursing course syllabi for which they desire transfer credit approval with their application package.

The College's Nursing Program Admissions Committee will review the transfer course content for comparability with the College's Nursing Education Program nursing courses and determine if advanced placement in the ADN curriculum is appropriate.

To be considered for admission to the School of Nursing, applicants must:

  • Be eligible for readmission or be in good standing at the last college or university attended.
  • Submit a completed application with all required materials to the School of Nursing through the nursingCAS portal.
  • Request that the Director of Nursing and/or Dean of Nursing from the most recently enrolled Nursing Education Program/School submit a signed and dated (date may not be more than 30-days pre-application opening) letter that provides the following information to the Director of Allied Health at Virginia Peninsula Community College:
  • Applicants full name.
  • Name of previous institution or nursing education program.
  • Whether student is eligible for readmission.
  • That student is in good academic standing with the College/University/Program.
  • That student is in good affective standing with the College/University/Program.
  • That student does not have any previous or current registration/enrollment holds and/or charges/violations of institutional/program policies, procedures, and/or code of conduct.
  • Contact information for the Director of Nursing/Dean of Nursing.
  • Signature of the Director of Nursing/Dean of Nursing.

Decisions on admission offers to transferring applicants will be determined by the Nursing Program Admissions Committee following official transcript analysis, review of completed nursing course syllabi, submission and review of a signed and dated letter from the Director of Nursing and/or Dean of Nursing from the previously enrolled Nursing Education Program/School that indicates and/or conveys all the aforementioned information.

A transferring student must demonstrate expected cognitive and skill level proficiencies by testing. Students who do not successfully demonstrate the expected cognitive and skill level proficiencies will be required to complete one or more courses as determined appropriate in the curriculum.

A conditional offer of admission to a qualified transferring applicant will be contingent upon space available in the classrooms and nursing laboratories, the program's access to sufficient clinical spaces to meet the program's learning outcomes in the region's healthcare settings, and the number of qualified nursing faculty to teach the students in classrooms, labs, and clinical settings.

Admission Requirements for all Virginia Peninsula Community College Initial Admission Nursing Applicants

Requirements for admission into the nursing program are specific and admission is selective and highly competitive; failure to complete and/or provide any and/or all the requirements/required documentation will result in application/applicant disqualification.

Applicants must have official high school transcripts validating completion of high school, home school, or official documentation of GED, or prior college experience on file in the College's Admissions Office.

Applicants must have all official college transcripts, to include joint services transcripts, on file in the College's Admissions Office, if applicable. If not currently on file, all official college transcripts, to include joint services transcripts must be submitted to the NursingCAS portal.

All students will be required to demonstrate college readiness through assessment and/or transcript review, and may be required to take placement tests in math, writing, and/or reading to aid in placing students in the appropriate courses. Students who do not meet required placement levels must enroll in developmental studies courses.

Pre-admission nursing tests of essential academic skills are required. Scores on the preadmission nursing tests are expected to be a minimum score of 45% or greater in all five areas (Math, Science, English, Reading, and Critical Thinking) for admission to the nursing program. Preadmission nursing test scores are accepted if completed within two years prior to applying to the nursing program.

Complete an English language proficiency test for all non-native English speaking students. The TOEFL iBT, Pearson Test for English (PTE) Academic, and IELTS are the only acceptable proficiency exams. For TOEFL iBT, a minimum total score of 84 and a minimum speaking score of 26 must be earned. For PTE Academic, a minimum score of 56 must be earned. For IELTS, a minimum score of 6.5 with no communicative skill below 6.0 must be earned. Any student that has completed 6th grade through high school graduation in the United States and/or through a Department of Defense Education Activity (DODEA) school will be waived from this requirement. Completion of ENG 111 or ESL courses does not satisfy this requirement. These scores are based on recommendations from the National Council of State Boards of Nursing for the level of English proficiency required to perform entry-level nursing safely and effectively. Test scores are valid for up to two years. Students seeking exemption (waiver) of this requirement based upon the successful consecutive completion of 6th grade through high school graduation in the United States and/or through a Department of Defense Education Activity (DODEA) school must indicate such on the NursingCAS application and submit proof of consecutive successful completion of 6th grade through high school graduation in the United States or and/or through a Department of Defense Education Activity (DODEA) school.

In order to be eligible to submit an application for the professional nursing program selection consideration, applicants must have a minimum overall curricular grade point average of 3.0 and a curricular grade point average of 3.0 in the following courses: BIO 141, ENG 111, PSY 230, SDV 101, and MTH 154. Prospective students are advised that 3.0 is the minimum required grade point average for application submission; the Professional Nursing Program is a highly competitive selective-admission program and the overall and curricular specific grade point average of the average candidates offered admission should be expected to be 3.5 or higher.

All prerequisite courses must be completed prior to the program application deadline. *

All prerequisite math and science courses must have been successfully completed within five years of making application to the Nursing Education Program.

Students who fail any required prerequisite course twice within a five (5) year timeframe shall not be eligible for entry.

Students who retake courses to improve their grade point average or to pass the course with the minimum required grade will receive a deduction in possible points.

Pre-Admission Testing

All entrance testing requires in-person proctoring, either at the College when testing is hosted, and/or at an off-site testing center that provides proctoring services. Prospective applicants completing required entrance testing off-site are responsible for establishing their own in-person proctoring at their expense.

If the College is notified by the entrance test provider that a test has been flagged and/or should be reviewed due to anomalies and/or irregularities, the test attempt will not be accepted by the College as part of the admissions process.

Prospective applicants testing on-site at a College-hosted testing opportunity who display behaviors consistent with, and/or who are caught committing scholastic dishonesty (cheating), have identified anomalies and/or irregularities including but not limited to unexpected and/or unauthorized web browsing during the test time frame will render the attempt as not accepted by the College as part of the admissions process.

Students who have an admission test attempt rendered as "not accepted" will be notified by the testing administrator, testing vendor, and/or the College. If the College receives notification of potential/alleged scholastic dishonesty (cheating), have identified anomalies and/or irregularities including but not limited to unexpected and/or unauthorized web browsing during the test time frame after a student has received condition program acceptance, the conditional acceptance will be revoked.

The acceptance or non-acceptance of required admissions test and/or test scores is not subject to appeal. The College is not responsible for and will not refund test fees and/or any costs associated with test completion, submission, proctoring, etc.

The College reserves the right to accept and/or not-accept any and/or all required entrance test scores as part of the selective-admission application process and is not required to provide a rationale and/or reason for non-acceptance.

Students flagged by the test provider for potential/alleged scholastic dishonesty (cheating), have identified anomalies and/or irregularities including but not limited to unexpected and/or unauthorized web browsing during the test time frame will not be eligible to apply to the selective admission program during the current application timeframe.

Students flagged by the test provider for potential/alleged scholastic dishonesty (cheating), have identified anomalies and/or irregularities including but not limited to unexpected and/or unauthorized web browsing during the test time frame may contact the test provider directly; the College will not discuss these situations.

Guaranteed Admission - Professional Nursing Program

Guaranteed admission is only available to residents of Virginia Peninsula Community College's service area, who meet the following applicant category:

  • Virginia Peninsula Community College Dual Enrollment High School or Home School Students who successfully complete all prerequisite courses in a single attempt with a grade of "B" (80%) or higher prior to and/or on the date of their high school graduation.

Nursing Education Program - Professional Nursing Selection Criteria

The Nursing Education Program assigns points (review the scoring rubric) to specific categories of applicants and uses a tiered system for selection of candidates who may be eligible to receive an offer of admission.

Applicants who have successfully met all application requirements and completed all prerequisite requirements will be assigned points in accordance with the Professional Nursing Points Rubric.

Points will not be applied per section if the appropriate supporting documentation is not provided with application or if verification of request/claims cannot be obtained and/or determined.

Once all applications have been reviewed and appropriate points assigned, applicants will be assigned to a selection tier according to the cohort selection made by the applicant at the time of application (applicants cannot change their cohort preference after application submission and prior to selection process).

Students meeting the requirements for, and who have selected guaranteed admission consideration, will be placed at the top of the appropriate selection tier and cohort. If two or more students in a selection tier have the same point score the students will be ranked in descending order by the highest cumulative grade point average.

Scoring Rubrics

As previously mentioned, Virginia Peninsula Community College uses a points system in addition to pre-requisite course completion, grade point averages, background checks, as well as other selective admission criteria for admissions consideration into one or more of the College's nursing education programs. The points rubrics can be reviewed here.

Non-guaranteed admission applicants will be assigned in the appropriate selection tier and cohort in order of total point score in accordance with the residency requirements below:

  • Virginia Peninsula Community College students enrolled in nursing education pre-requisite courses at the College in the semester for which they are making application to the nursing program, who are residents of one of Virginia Peninsula Community College's service area localities (City of Hampton, City of Newport News, City of Poquoson, City of Williamsburg, James City County, and the County of York), who meet or exceed all prerequisite requirements, will be offered first priority consideration for offers of admission.
  • Applicants who are residents of one of Virginia Peninsula Community College's service area localities (City of Hampton, City of Newport News, City of Poquoson, City of Williamsburg, James City County, and the County of York), who meet or exceed all prerequisite requirements, will be offered second priority consideration for offers of admission.
  • If two or more students in a selection tier who meet the same residency criteria ranking have the same point score, the students will be ranked in descending order by the highest cumulative grade point average.
  • Non-guaranteed admission applicants will be assigned in the appropriate selection tier and cohort in order of total point score after all candidates meeting the program's residency selection requirement have been ranked.
  • If two or more non-residency requirement selection criteria students have the same point score the students will be ranked in descending order by the highest cumulative grade point average.
  • Applicants will be selected in descending order based upon the aforementioned scoring/ranking systems.
  • Students who have been "dishonorably discharged" from military service are not eligible to apply to the Professional Nursing Program.
  • Students who have been dismissed, discharged, suspended, and/or expelled from another Nursing Education Program, Allied Health Education Program, and/or College or Institution of Higher Education are not eligible to apply to the Professional Nursing Program.
  • No "In Progress Courses" are considered for meeting course prerequisites for the purposes of application submission to the Professional Nursing Education program. Do not ask or complete a Professional Nursing Education program application until all aforementioned prerequisites and/or selection criteria/requirements are successfully completed2.

Conditional Acceptance Final Decisions

Final decisions regarding conditional acceptance are made by a Nursing Admissions Committee, which is comprised of the Director of Allied Health, a Nursing Faculty Member, an Academic Advisor, and the Director and/or Dean responsible for enrollment services or their designee. The Director and/or Dean responsible for enrollment services is a non-voting/scoring member of the committee.

The number of qualified applicants receiving conditional offers of acceptance to the Professional Nursing program is contingent upon the space available in the classrooms and nursing laboratories; the program's access to sufficient clinical spaces in the region's healthcare settings in order to meet the program's learning outcomes; the number of qualified nursing faculty to teach the students in classrooms, labs, and clinical settings; and availability in the incoming cohort(s) based upon the number of eligible readmission applicants.

Conditional offers of acceptance into the Professional Nursing program, as well as non-acceptance decisions, are not subject to appeal. The decisions of the selection committee are final.

Professional Nursing Program Readmission Process

An applicant seeking readmission into the nursing program after having left the Nursing (NSG) major courses, for either academic or personal reasons, may apply for readmission in accordance with policies, procedures, and education standards as specified in the Nursing Education Program Handbook.

A readmission applicant who has been admitted to the nursing program a total of two times and fails to complete the program following the second offer of admission will not be readmitted to the program unless extenuating circumstances can be demonstrated by the applicant, and which are deemed valid by the Nursing Program Admission Committee. The offer of admission to a qualified readmission applicant will be contingent upon the space available in the classrooms and nursing laboratories; the program's access to sufficient clinical spaces in the region's healthcare settings in order to meet the program's learning outcomes; the number of qualified nursing faculty to teach the students in classrooms, labs, and clinical settings; and availability in the incoming cohort(s) based upon the number of eligible readmission applicants.

If the number of applicants exceeds the number of available qualified faculty and the amount of enrollment space available in the program, some applicants may not be accepted even if the minimum requirements for admission are met.

The application will be disqualified if submission does not include all required elements.

The Board of Nursing may deny any application for licensure if the applicant has committed a felony/misdemeanor under laws of the Commonwealth of Virginia or of the United States. Applicants who have a drug or alcohol related offense will be disqualified.

Readmitted students may be required to repurchase some or all educational resources, course materials, and/or uniforms if educational resources, course materials, and/or uniform requirements change between program acceptance.

2 High school students who are expected to graduate before the entrance date of the next incoming cohort, and who meet the requirements for guaranteed admission, must select the guaranteed admission area on the application and may apply to the program before completing all course prerequisite requirements. All other prerequisite requirements must be met prior to submitting the application. High school students granted conditional acceptance will be required to meet all program prerequisite requirements no later than 60 days prior to the start date of the incoming (accepted) cohort. High school students who are granted conditional acceptance and who do not successfully complete all program prerequisite requirements will have their conditional acceptance rescinded.

Post-Program Conditional Acceptance Requirements

All applicants granted conditional program acceptance shall be required to successfully complete the following post-conditional acceptance requirements by the date provided to all conditionally accepted students during the mandatory program orientation.

Criminal background checks and drug screens are required of all incoming nursing students. Random drug screens and repeat background checks may be required for current or returning students at any time. A student with an unsatisfactory background check and/or drug screen will be dismissed from the Nursing Education Program.

A student who has an absence greater than 12 months within the Professional Nursing program must meet all current admission and curriculum requirements, and must meet with the Director of Allied Health prior to applying for readmission.

A current working knowledge of the principles of biology, math, and chemistry is expected for success in human anatomy, physiology, microbiology, pharmacology, and in all nursing courses. Math and science prerequisite courses must have been successfully completed within the previous five years. Deficiencies may be corrected through appropriate courses at Virginia Peninsula Community College prior to admission to the program.

Prior to the onset of the first clinical nursing course, the date to be provided at orientation to the program, the nursing student must provide documentation of:

  • American Heart Association (AHA) BLS (CPR/AED certification) Certification
  • TDAP (Tetanus, diphtheria, and pertussis) vaccine
  • Rubella/mumps/measles/varicella vaccines or titer
  • Seasonal influenza vaccine
  • COVID-19 Vaccine(s)
  • Hepatitis B vaccines or waiver
  • 2-step PPD or Chest X-ray
  • Urine drug screen

Medical Physical Examinations documented on the Nursing Education Program's Physical Form

The College/Program will accept and review medical and/or religious exemptions to vaccination requirements. In doing so, the College/Program may grant the exemption; however, it is possible that current and prospective nursing education students who do not provide proof of the aforementioned vaccinations and/or request an exemption (medical/religious) may not be able to continue and/or be admitted into the Nursing Education Program; vaccination requirements are established by the College/Program clinical affiliates, and as such the College/Program does not have the ability to waive these requirements for clinical placement. The College/Program attempts to seek alternative clinical placement within one or more of the clinical affiliates within the College's service area; however, this is not always possible. When it is determined that clinical placement is not possible, the student will be required to withdraw from their educational program of study. This section includes current and/or potential COVID and/or Influenza vaccinations and boosters.

IMPORTANT NOTE: At this time, the College/Program has been notified that current and/or prospective students who do not have the following vaccinations can NOT be clinically placed within the College's service area:

  • TDAP (Tetanus, diphtheria, and pertussis) vaccine.
  • Rubella/mumps/measles/varicella vaccines or titer.
  • Seasonal influenza vaccine.
  • Hepatitis B vaccines (complete series).
  • 2-step PPD or Chest X-ray.

The College/Program has been notified that specific clinical affiliates have determined current and/or prospective students who do not have the following vaccinations can NOT be clinically placed within the College's service area:

  • COVID-19 vaccine and appropriate boosters

The College/Program has been notified that specific clinical/affiliates who will accept students without the COVID-19 vaccination will require COVID-19 testing, with a negative for COVID-19 test result within a specific time period prior to granting the current and/or prospective student entry to the facility/unit for the purposes of clinical internship/rotation providing direct and/or indirect client/patient care.

The College's Nursing Education Program has a contractual responsibility to provide upon request, the health, vaccine, test, and/or immunity status of students who will be assigned to the clinical affiliate.

The College's Nursing Education Program understands that students may not be able to submit to these requirements, and/or receive certain vaccines. In these instances, the Nursing Education Program will make every reasonable attempt to collaborate with each of the facilities, agencies, and/or healthcare systems for clinical internship placement. The Nursing Education Program cannot guarantee clinical placement for students; if student placement is not possible, the student may be required to withdraw from their program of study.

All admitted students are required to purchase all educational resources, course materials, and uniforms as a condition of program acceptance.

A transferring or readmitted student must submit current copies of all credentials and complete a new background check and drug screen.

All students accepted to the Nursing Education Program will be required to sign multiple documents and agreements, including but not limited to a Business Partner Information Agreement and an Assumption of Risk document that serves to provide a general outline of potential hazards encountered within nursing. This list includes but is not limited to exposure to infectious, biological, chemical, environmental/mechanical, and psychosocial hazards, as well as loss of personal property.