Practical Nursing Admission Requirements
Students attend classes on a two-semester schedule, classes are offered Monday- Friday. Get a great education & plenty of hands-on patient care experience in just one year.
Admission Requirements:
Candidates must have earned the following within the last seven years to be considered for admission:
- High school diploma with an overall grade average of 75 or a high school equivalent (GED) with minimal score of 275 or 2750
- Meet Expository Writing (English 101) or Oral and written Expression (English 102) prerequisites of one of the following:
- Having a minimal score of 60 on the ACCUPLACER test for Reading and a minimal score of 75 on the ACCUPLACER test for Sentence Structure, or
- Students are exempt from the ACCUPLACER test if they:
- Achieve a minimum NYS English Regents score of 75
- Achieve a minimum SAT verbal score equal to or higher than 420
- Achieve a minimum ACT score of 17 on the English and Reading sections
- Satisfactory completion of Algebra math proficiency
- Completion of two high school Regents math courses with a grade of 75 or above on the second New York State Regents mathematics examination, or
- Completion of equivalent college-level course work: intermediate Algebra with a final grade of “C” or higher
- Satisfactory completion of Biology proficiency
- Completion of high school Biology or Living Environment with a grade of 75 or above on the New York State Regents Examination, or
- Completion of equivalent college-level course work: Introduction to Biology with a final grade of “C” or higher
- Satisfactory completion of Chemistry proficiency
- Completion of high school chemistry with a grade of 70 on the New York State Regents, or
- Completion of equivalent college-level course work: Introduction to Chemistry with a final grade of “C” or higher
- Meet the minimum technical requirements for the nursing program.
- Have proof of United States citizenship or legal residence. New York residents are given priority.
- Be at least seventeen years of age at the time of applying for nursing licensure.
- Submit an application for admission into the nursing program.
Transfer Students
Candidates must have earned the following to be considered for transfer into the practical nursing program:
- Satisfy the criteria stated in Admission Requirements: PN.
- Have a college GPA of 2.5 or higher at the time the application is submitted.
- **Students requesting transfer from another nursing program must:
- Satisfy the criteria stated in the admission requirements: PN
- Satisfy the co-requisite criteria if seeking advanced placement.
- Obtain an overall college GPA of 2.5
- Students requesting transfer from a non-credit bearing PN course must take the Excelsior LPN Fundamentals exam and pass with a “C” or higher.
- Students requesting transfer from a non-credit bearing PN course must take an equivalent Drug Dosage Calculation and Pharmacology course and pass with a “C” or higher.
- Student to request a written statement from the transferring institution directly to SUNY Canton Admissions on college letterhead and sealed indicating their standing upon leaving the college.
- Complete SUNY Canton’s LPNC 102 and LPNC 103 courses.
Note: Transfer credit may be awarded for courses that were previously taken at an accredited institution, passed with a grade of “C” or better, and are similar in content and credit hours to those in the SUNY Canton curriculum, such as Anatomy and Physiology I and II, and Microbiology. Science courses completed more than seven years prior to acceptance will need to be repeated.
Important Dates
- Admissions to SUNY Canton’s undergraduate nursing programs are very competitive; therefore, it is important to remain aware of dates for application submission and completion of health and CPR requirements.
- Fall application Deadlines:
- Applications for external applicants is February 1st
- Review and first round selection of applicants with waitlist offers will occur by March 1st
- Applications for internal applicants is May 1st
- Review and final selection of applicants with waitlist offers will be decided by June 1st
- Enrollment deposit deadlines
- External applicants by April 1st
- Internal applicants by July 1st
- Submission of current CPR certification and completed health requirements to the SUNY Canton Health Center by August 1st for fall admission and January 4th for spring admissions.








