Bachelor of Science in Nursing (BSN)

Students pursuing the Bachelor of Science in Nursing (BSN) are provided both the theory and clinical base to assess, plan, implement, and evaluate health care to meet the needs of individuals, families, groups, and communities. The BSN program is offered through the University of Alaska Anchorage and based in Anchorage, but admits students in Fairbanks, Kodiak, and Mat-Su. All students who apply to UAA and qualify for admission to the BSN program are admitted as pre-majors. 

Please note: Admission as a pre-major does not guarantee admission to the nursing program; a separate application process is required. 

  • Pre-major Course Requirements

    For entry into the full-major portion of the program students must complete following prerequisites with a grade of 'C' or higher and an overall extracted GPA of a 3.0 or higher. We recommend seeing a College of Health advisor early in the process to create a personalized plan of study and determine the best timeline for your application. Additional courses may be required based on placement exams. 

    The following courses are required for applicants to the full-major BSN program in the 21/22 academic year. 

    Prerequisite Requirements (required prior to ranking)

    • BIOL A111 Human Anatomy and Physiology I
    • BIOL A112 Human Anatomy and Physiology II
    • 6 credits of Written Communication GERs
    • COMM A111, A235, A237, or A241 or 3 credits of Oral Communication GER
    • PSY A150 Lifespan Development (Social Science GER) or SON Reasoning Skills Requirement (PHIL A101 Introduction to Logic (Humanities GER), PHIL A201 Introduction to Philosophy (Humanities GER) or ENGL A120 Critical Thinking).
    • 6 additional credits of General Education Requirement (Fine Arts and Social Science GER recommended)
    • High School Chem or CHEM A054 (for 2021 applicants only) or higher

      A minimum of 26 credits is required to apply to the full-major BSN program.
      Click here for an up to date list of approved Baccalaureate Degree General Education Requirements (GER).

    Corequisite Requirements (Must be complete or enrolled in during ranking semester)

    • BIOL A240 Microbiology for Health Sciences
    • STAT A200 Elementary Statistics 
    • HLTH A151 Breaking Trails on your Health and Social Service Career
    • PSY A150 Lifespan Development or SON Reasoning Skills Requirement (PHIL A101 Introduction to Logic, PHIL A201 Introduction to Philosophy or ENGL A120 Critical Thinking)-- whichever is not complete, if applicable.

    Required prior to starting full-major nursing program

    • DN A203 Nutrition for Health Sciences
    • PHIL A301 Ethics, PHIL A302 Biomedical Ethics, or PHIL A305 Professional Ethics (301 and 305 are also Humanities GER)

    All courses must be completed with a C or higher (or Pass) and cannot be repeated unsuccessfully (D,F, NP, or No Credit) more than once.  Withdraws or audits do not count as an unsuccessful attempt.

    For a list which UAF and UAS pre-major courses meet UAA School of Nursing requirements please visit the Transfer page.

  • Major Requirements

    Once you are admitted into the full-major Bachelor of Science in Nursing (BSN) program, you will be required to complete courses in the following sequence. All students are enrolled in a specific local cohort. Students are expected to test, attend classes, labs, and clinical experiences with their cohort. Students are required to complete the program at the location they originally accepted placement.

    Plan of Study

    PRIOR to Semester I

    • Complete all Pre-Major courses
      • Exception: Alaska Native-Themed GER & Diversity and Inclusion GER may be completed during the program.
    • Current CPR certification 
    • Health & Immunization Requirements
    • National Level Criminal Background Check

    Semester I Nursing Major

    • NS A230 Pathophysiology for Health Professions (3)
    • NS A332/L/P Fundamentals of Nursing (6)
    • NS A333/L Health Assessment and Promotion (4)
    • NS A334 Nursing Informatics and Intro to EBP (3)

    Semester II Nursing Major

    • NS A231/L Pharmacology for Health Professions (4)
    • NS A388/L/P Medical-Surgical Patients I (8)
    • NS A389/P Mental and Behavioral Health Disrupt. (4)

    Semester III Nursing Major

    • NS A400 Nursing Research and EBP (3)
    • NS A452/P Children and Their Families (4)
    • NS A453/P Childbearing Families/Sexual Health (4)
    • NS A471/P Medical-Surgical Patients II (5)

    Semester IV Nursing Major

    • NS A454/P Communities and Populations (5)
    • NS A472 Nursing Leadership and Management (3)
    • NS A473 NCLEX Review and Career Coaching (1)
    • NS A474P Nursing Practicum Immersion (3)
    • NS A475 Nursing Integrative Capstone (3)

    Minimum total credit hours for degree: 120
    All nursing major lecture courses must be complete with a grade of 'C' or higher and clinical courses with a 'Pass'. 
    *The NS or College of Health Elective may be taken in an earlier semesters if the prerequisites for the elective are met.

    Please note: Graduates of this program must perform successfully on the National Council Licensure Examination (NCLEX-RN) to receive RN licensure. SON's program is approved by the Alaska Board of Nursing and the Accrediting Commission for Education in Nursing.

  • Admission: Process and Criteria

    To be considered for the ranking, the following BSN program admission requirements must be completed by the ranking deadline for their site.

    Prior to applying, we recommend:
    • If you are able, attend a group Information Session at the College of Health Advising. Call 907-786-1318 for next meeting time and location.
    • Meet with a College of Health Advisor to verify course completion, GPA, and to ensure you are on track to meet required deadlines. Call 907-786-1318 to set up an appointment.
    Applying
    1. Admission to UAA, including transcripts from both high school/GED and college, with transcript evaluations (if any) from Enrollment Services.
      • For Current UA Students: UA Students do not need to submit transcripts from UAA, UAF, or UAS.
      • For New and Transfer Students: The School of Nursing strongly recommends new students Apply to UA and submit their high school, GED, and/or out of state transcripts to Enrollment Services three months prior to the School of Nursing deadline to ensure timely and complete processing.
    2. Maintain a UAA cumulative GPA of 2.0 or higher and a minimum extracted grade point average (GPA) of 3.0 for courses required for the Bachelor of Science in Nursing (BSN). The extracted GPA will be calculated using grades from all courses required for the nursing major that have been completed by the ranking deadline.
    3. School of Nursing (SON) Digital Application on file. Students must submit a new digital application for each deadline they wish to be considered for.
    4. Chemistry Prerequisite: High School Chemistry or CHEM A054 or higher, with a grade of ‘C’ or better.
    5. A minimum of 26 credit hours of specified prerequisite courses with a minimum grade of C, which are: 
      Course
      Credits
      WRTG A111 and A211, A212, A213, A214, or GER
      6
      COMM A111, A235, A237, or A241
      3
      BIOL A111/L and BIOL A112/L
      8
      PSY A150 or (PHIL A101, A201, or ENGL A120)*
      3
      General Education Requirement (Fine Arts or Social Science)
      		 6
      High School Chem or CHEM A054 (for 2021 applicants only) or higher
      		 ---
    6. Enrollment in, or credit for, the following courses at the time of application to the major:
      Course
      Credits
      BIOL A240/L
      4
      STAT A200 
      3
      HLTH A151
      3
      PHIL A101, A201, or ENGL A120 (or PSY A150)* 
      3
      General Education Requirement (Fine Arts or Social Science)
      6

      *Either the Reasoning Skills requirement or PSY A150 must be completed at the time of application to the major. Students must be enrolled in whichever of these requirements has not yet been completed.

    7. Students must complete all Pre-Major courses before beginning Nursing clinical coursework.

    It is the applicant’s responsibility to remain informed of any changes to the Bachelor of Science in Nursing (BSN) program and to ensure that the items above have been received by the BSN office. Call prior to the deadline to verify receipt of all required documents.

    Completion of the TEAS Pre-Admission Exam is required. This test is an assessment tool, not a pass/fail test, to evaluate students’ verbal, math, and science ability. The cost will be determined by the UAA Testing Center.  The test takes approximately 2½ hours and will be available by appointment during times determined by the UAA Testing Center.

    Remote TEAS Exams are available to students who are unable to physically test at the University of Alaska Anchorage, Advising and Testing Center.  Remote exams are currently available throughout Alaska with selected proctors and testing centers throughout the United States. Additional proctor fees may be required for students testing at distance testing facilities.

    The TEAS can be taken once every 6 months and the highest score in the last 36 months will be used for ranking (starting July 1, 2020). Kaplan exam scores are no longer accepted.

    Special Note: Please ensure that you use the same name for testing that is listed on UAOnline or include the exam name under the Previous Name section of the Nursing Application to Rank.

    UAA Test CenterTEAS VI Test

    The application and TEAS Exam must be completed for an applicant to be eligible for ranking and possible admission to Semester I Nursing Science Major. Only a specified number of candidates (with highest rankings) will be invited to start based on the following ranking criteria:

    1. Extracted grade point average (60% of ranking score)
    2. Extracted Science GPA: BIOL A111/L and A112/L (25% of ranking score)
    3. ATI TEAS Preadmission test scores (15% of ranking score)
      • The TEAS can now be taken once every 6 months and the highest score in the last 36 months will be used for ranking.
      • Previously completed Kaplan results are no longer accepted.

    For transfer students, grades from equivalent courses will be used.

    All candidates that apply towards a ranking will be sent an official letter to their preferred email listed on UAOnline. Candidates will be sent either an invitation to accept a seat in the program or notice of unsuccessful ranking. Students must submit a new digital application for each deadline they wish to be considered for. 

    Please note there will not be a Bachelor of Science in Nursing (BSN) application opening on October 1, 2021. The School of Nursing (SON) is transitioning to the NursingCAS application for fall 2022 and forward for the Associate of Applied Science (AAS) Nursing and BSN programs. On March 1, 2022, the NursingCAS will open for AAS Nursing and BSN applicants for a fall 2022 start in the full-major programs. A new application will open September 1, 2022, for admission into the full-major programs for spring 2023 only. More information and guidance will be posted soon. Please continue to check the SON website for updates.

Important 21/22 Curriculum Updates
The School of Nursing has updated the curriculum for the Bachelor of Science in Nursing (BSN) program. These changes will be reflected in the 2021/2022 course catalog, however new course additions will not be required for applicants to the full-major BSN program in Fall 2021 or Spring 2022.  The proposed changes are as follows:

  • Additions:  
    • CHEM A103 Introduction to General Chemistry, CHEM A104 Introduction to Organic and Biochemistry, and MATH A151 College Algebra for Calculus (or test score into higher level) will become required courses for new students coming into the full-major nursing program. 
  • Deletions:
    • NS A230 Pathophysiology for Health Professions and NS A231/L Pharmacology for Health Professions/Lab will NOT be required prior to starting the full-major nursing program. These courses will be integrated into the core curriculum within the full-major nursing program.
    • NS A335 Ethical and Legal Considerations in Nursing Practice, NS A387/P Interprofessional Communications in Healthcare/Practicum, NS A471L Nursing Care of Adult Medical-Surgical Patients II: Skills, and NS A472P Nursing Leadership and Management: Practicum will no longer be required in the curriculum; the content of those courses will be covered within other courses in the full-major nursing program.

I plan on applying for the full-major nursing program in the future. Will MATH A151 and CHEM A103/104 be required?
Due to the recent change in the BSN curriculum requirements, MATH A151 and CHEM A103/104 will not be required to begin the full-major nursing program in Fall of 2022. However, successful completion of these courses is highly recommended, as these courses will better prepare you for successful completion of the full-major nursing program.  MATH A151 and CHEM A103/104 will be required to begin the full-major nursing program in Spring of 2023 and beyond.

I have already completed or am currently enrolled in NS A230 and NS A231/L.  How will this change impact me?
If you have already completed either NS A230 or NS A231/L or both within 2 years of starting the full-major nursing program, the courses will meet your degree requirements and you will not be required to retake them when in the full-major nursing program. 

SON Application for AdmissionBSN Student HandbookUAA Course Catalog