Admission to the Missoula College Registered Nursing Program is competitive. Meeting the eligibility requirements listed below does not guarantee admission.  Applicants who do not meet the application requirements will be notified as soon as possible.

• Diploma: must have a high school diploma or equivalency
• Prerequisite Courses: must be completed or be in-progress when submitting RN program application.
• GPA Requirements - two different GPAs are considered:
  • GPA for Eligibility to Apply: In order for an application to be considered, the applicant must have a minimum GPA of 2.75 in their most recent 60 college credits. Applicants with less than 60 college credits must have a minimum GPA of 2.75 in their total college credits. Coursework from every college/university attended is included if applicable to the most recent 60 credits.
  • GPA of Prerequisite Courses: The prerequisite GPA is comprised of the GPA of the 6 prerequisite courses. The average prerequisite GPA of admitted applicants varies from semester-to-semester. For past admission cycles, the overall average has been approximately 3.70.
• Minimum Grades: 
  • BIOH Prerequisites:  A minimum grade of B- is required for both Human Anatomy and Physiology I and II lecture/lab (BIOH 201/202 and BIOH 211/212). The courses must be taken within 5 years of program application to be eligible to apply. A maximum of 2 attempts within a 5-year period is allowed.  
  • Other Prerequisites:  A minimum grade of C is required for all other prerequisite courses (CHMY 121 and 122; Math; and WRIT); however, higher grades are strongly recommended in order to have a competitive application.
  • Corequisites: A minimum grade of C is required for all 4 corequisite courses (BIOM 250 and 251; PSYX 100S; and SOCI 101S).
• Course Age: adhere to the nursing program's course age acceptability policies as follows:
  • 5-year Policy: required Human Anatomy & Physiology, Chemistry, and Microbiology courses must be completed within 5 years of program application
  • 10-year Policy: all other nursing program prerequisite and corequisite courses must be completed within 10 years of program application
    • Assessment of writing and math for course placement follows University of Montana guidelines and is done during orientations and at various times in the semester
    • Placement Tests: applicants with a writing and/or math pre-nursing course older than 10 years are required to take the respective placement test 
• Repeated Courses:
  • Prerequisite and co-requisite courses may be attempted only twice during the stated timeframes (5 years for science courses, 10 years for all other courses).
  • Courses with grades of CR (Credit), NCR (No Credit), WP (withdrawal pass), and WF (withdrawal fail) all count as attempts.
  • The grade from the most recent course attempt is the grade used.  
• Kaplan Test Score:  A 65% or greater on the Kaplan Nursing Entrance Exam is needed to be eligible for the nursing program.
• Advanced Placement (AP) Exams: Pass credit only is awarded for AP Exams versus a traditional letter grade. Since our prerequisite courses require a traditional letter grade for an applicant's "Prerequisite GPA" calculation, AP exams with passing scores are attributed a grade of “C” only.
• CLEP Exams: College Level Examination Program or CLEP exams that have been taken in lieu of any of our prerequisite or co-requisite courses, if passed, are attributed a grade of “C” only.
• LPN Applicants:  
  • Any applicant who is a Licensed Practical Nurse (LPN) with a current license should meet with the Nursing Program Director for advising about potential prerequisite courses and where the student would enter into the four-semester RN core curriculum if admitted. 
  • The nursing program has received a grant to offer an LPN-to-RN Bridge Program to rural LPNs in Montana. Certain qualifications apply. For more information about this program, please contact Mary Ann Zeisler, Bridge Program Director, at maryann.zeisler@umontana.edu
  • Website: LPN-to-RN Bridge Program