LVN to BSN Program Entry Requirements
Requirements for entry into the LVN to BSN Program:
- You must be a current CSUSM student or admitted to the University as a Transfer Student
and completed the Intent to Enroll process by no later than May 1, in order to be
considered for admission to our Fall LVN to BSN program.
- Proof of an active California LVN licence must be provided to the School of Nursing
by May 1 for fall admission.
- Proof of IV certification must be submitted to the School of Nursing by May 1 for
fall admission.
- Vocational Nursing coursework completed at a BVNPT-approved (Board of Vocational Nursing
and Psychiatric Technicians) Nursing Program.
- OR program approved by a State Board for VN licensure other than in California.
- OR equivalent coursework completed through military training; and completion of LVN
coursework at a regionally-accredited institution (WASC or other regional affiliate),
at which college credit is earned for the LVN coursework and is reflected on a college/university
transcript from a regionally-accredited institution, or equivalent coursework through
military training.
- Completion of the Pre-Nursing Core, or their equivalents, with an overall GPA of 2.75. For
Fall entry, all Pre-Nursing Core courses or equivalents must be completed the previous
Spring semester. We do not have a limit on how many Core courses can be in progress
in the Spring semester.
- Students must complete prerequisite (Pre-Nursing Core) courses with a grade of C or
better (grade of C- is not acceptable), and courses with substandard grades can be
repeated only once. Grades will be averaged for repeated Core courses. This includes
any science labs which may be listed as separate courses. Students are limited to
a maximum of two C's in the Pre-Nursing Core science requirements.
- Minimum overall college/university GPA of at least 2.0
- Applicants must successfully pass the LVN Nursing Skills Assessment, covering skills
learned from LVN coursework or equivalent military training. This assessment verifies
that an applicant retained competency from their LVN coursework/military training. If an applicant does not pass the Assessment, he/she cannot be admitted to this
program, and must seek admission to one of our other BSN programs, if desired. More
information is provided regarding the assessment via a separate link from our main
LVN to BSN Program Web page.
- If an applicant's skills are not adequate, Licensed Vocational Nurses may choose/need
to pursue our Traditional BSN program instead of our LVN to BSN, or complete an LVN
to RN step-up program at another regionally-accredited institution and then enter
CSU San Marcos for our RN to BSN or RN to MSN programs.
- In addition to completion of the required entrance requirements and the actual LVN
to BSN Nursing course work, students will also need to complete any outstanding CSU
GE and Cal State San Marcos graduation requirements, as outlined under "Additional
Graduation Requirements" below, in order to graduate with the BSN degree. Students
may have already completed some or all of these entry requirements, below, but if
students have completed 70 or more units in a community college, they may want to
complete any outstanding Pre-Nursing Core and support courses at CSU San Marcos (CSUSM)
to possibly avoid taking unnecessary electives. Your Community College Counselor can
assist you in making this decision.