Undergraduate Special Requirements

All undergraduate degree applicants must meet the general admissions requirements. The programs listed below have additional requirements for admission.

Students must complete and submit the scores of the Test of Essential Academic Skills (TEAS) Exam to be reviewed for admittance into the Associate of Science in Nursing (ASN) program. The TEAS Exam is administered through ATI Nursing Education and is in place to evaluate academic preparedness for the ASN program. 

The ASN applicant will need to achieve a “Proficient” level on the TEAS Exam and achieve a 58.7% or higher cumulative score.

• To review information on the TEAS Exam and to register for it, please follow: TEAS Exam. 
• To review information on TEAS Exam preparation materials, please follow: TEAS Exam Prep Materials.
• To send your TEAS Exam score to Saint Joseph’s University in Lancaster, for your application, please follow:
  • How to Purchase a TEAS Exam Transcript
  • You will need to select “Saint Joseph’s University PA ADN” for the location of the transcripts to be sent.
  • There is no cost to access and send your first official TEAS Exam score.
  • There is a $29 fee for any additional TEAX Exam scores that you request.

Please also review the additional information and resources below:

• An applicant cannot take more than 3 attempts for the TEAS Exam in an Academic Year.
• An applicant will need to wait 3-4 weeks before attempting a repeat of the TEAS Exam.
• The TEAS Exam is not required for applicants for the LPN Assessment Module route of the ASN program.
• The TEAS Exam score can be accepted within one year of completion of the Exam.
  • If the TEAS Exam score is older than one year, the applicant will need to repeat the Exam.
• The ATI TEAS test is comprised of 170 questions that are formatted as both multiple choice items with 4 answer options and alternate-type items. This includes 150 scored questions and 20 unscored pretest questions. Students have 209 minutes to complete the exam. 
  • The number of questions in each content section and subsection are as follows: 
    • Reading – 45 questions (55 minutes) 
      • Key Ideas & Details – 15 
      • Craft & Structure – 9 
      • Integration of Knowledge & Ideas – 15 
      • Unscored Pretest Items – 6 
    • Math – 38 questions (57 minutes) 
      • Numbers & Algebra – 18 
      • Measurement & Data – 16 
      • Unscored Pretest Items – 4 
    • Science – 50 questions (60 minutes) 
      • Human Anatomy & Physiology – 18 
      • Biology – 9 
      • Chemistry – 8 
      • Scientific Reasoning – 9 
      • Unscored Pretest Items – 6 
    • English & Language Usage – 37 questions (37 minutes) 
      • Conventions of Standard English – 12 
      • Knowledge of Language – 11 
      • Using Language and Vocabulary to Express Ideas in Writing – 10 
      • Unscored Pretest Items – 4 

Students need to have successfully completed the following pre-requisite courses with a minimum grade of “C” prior to starting the LPN to RN Advanced Placement Module:

• Anatomy & Physiology I
• Anatomy & Physiology II
• General Psychology
• English Composition
• Clinical Math (typically taken at Saint Joseph's)
• CSS 101*

* For AY23/24, CSS 101 is a preferred pre-requisite, but may be a co-requisite.
For AY24/25, CSS 101 is the preferred pre-requisite, but it can be a co-requisite if BIO175 is transferred/Student must have 7 general education credits completed or transferred prior to start of clinical courses.

Note: A student can be accepted into the LPN Bridge Program without these pre-requisite courses, but is unable to start the module until they are completed.

Admission requirements for the LPN to RN module include a 3.0 GPA preferred (2.5 minimum), the successful completion (a grade C or higher) of Algebra II or College Algebra, and a science class (preferably Biology) with a lab. Students will need to have all high school and college transcripts sent to Saint Joseph's. Applicants need to have a minimum of 1,000 working LPN hours completed prior to LPN Module.

Applicants must have graduated from a regionally accredited program with a 2.0 minimum GPA.

Students must obtain their RN license within one year of starting the RN to BSN program and maintain an active RN license throughout the program.

Students must secure employment or be volunteering in a health care setting for eight hours weekly by the beginning of the second semester in the RN to BSN program which must be continued throughout the program.

Because of the rigor of the accelerated BSN curriculum, applicants must meet the following requirements:

• Applicants must have graduated from an approved secondary school, met the requirements for the GED or received a diploma from an accredited home school association.
• High school-level courses must include a minimum of 16 units, with:
  • 4 units of English
  • 3 units of social studies
  • 3 units of mathematics (2 algebra)
  • 2 units of science with a related lab (1 biology and 1 chemistry)
  • 2 units of a foreign language.

*Post-secondary college-level equivalents will be considered to fulfill high school requirements.

• If more than two years have elapsed since either graduation or earning a GED, prospective students will be required to demonstrate academic success in a college-level math or science course with a lab.
• Preferred applicants will have:
  • A cumulative GPA of 3.4 or greater in secondary education
• Additional factors considered in the competitive admission process include:
  • Class rank
  • Personal interview
  • Extracurricular activities
  • Community service
  • Health care-related service
  • Satisfactory achievement on the SAT or the ACT
• Transcripts of students who have earned post-secondary credits will be reviewed to determine which courses may be transferred into Saint Joseph's to meet the requirements of the program.

Applicants should complete an associate degree from an accredited allied health program with a minimum of 33 credits related to the allied health field, an accredited paramedic program, or an accredited practical nurse or vocational nurse program. Applicants who graduate from a hospital-based program or from a program lacking accreditation will be evaluated on an individual basis.

Applicants should complete eight (8) credits of anatomy and physiology (with a lab) beyond the 33 course credits related to the allied health field.

The following courses (based on secondary school record or post-secondary college transcript, whichever is most recent) must be completed with a grade of “C” (74%) or higher:

1. Highest level applied math course (Algebra 2 is minimum requirement)
2. Highest level English Composition course