UCHealth/CU Nursing Employee Pathway

• Meet the criteria to apply for UCHealth’s Ascend program.
• Official TEAS score report submitted by the application deadline.
• Academic Requirements:
  • For applicants with no college coursework
    • High School Diploma with a cumulative GPA of 2.5 or higher, or GED with a minimum score of 165.
  • For applicants with less than 12 credits of post-secondary education 
    • High School Diploma with a cumulative GPA of 2.5 or higher, or GED with a minimum score of 165 and
    • 3.0 or higher cumulative GPA with no less than a B in any science course (AP1, AP2, Microbiology, Chemistry)
    • 3.0 or higher in other prerequisites with no less than a C in any prerequisite
  • For applicants with 12 – 30 credits of post-secondary education. Cumulative 3.0 or higher with no less than a B in any science courses (AP1, AP2, Microbiology, Chemistry)
    • 3.0 or higher in any other prerequisites with no less than a C in any prerequisite.

Earned grades in the prerequisite courses, as detailed below. These courses must be earned from a regionally accredited institution with a grade of C or higher. A minimum 3.0 prerequisite GPA is required. This prerequisite GPA only includes the highest grade attempts for courses listed on transcripts at the time of application. If your outstanding course(s) drops your prerequisite GPA to below a 3.0, your offer of admission will be withdrawn. Prerequisite courses must be completed within 10 years of the application deadline.

We strongly suggest a minimum overall GPA of 3.0. Note that the overall GPA calculation includes all previous course attempts from regionally accredited institutions, regardless of the year courses were completed. Grade forgiveness and repeat/delete policies are not honored for the overall cumulative GPA.

Please contact a member of our admissions team if you have questions.

The admission prerequisites required for admission will be based on the courses below. If you have not completed prerequisites, your high school/GED scores will be used.

All students admitted to the UC Health/CU Nursing Pathway are required to complete CU Nursing’s full 60-hour prerequisite prior to the start of the program. Shortly after admission, your assigned CCA advisor will create a course map that will outline which prerequisites courses to register for and when.

Please note that in the semester prior to the CU Nursing start student cannot be enrolled in more than 18 credits and only one course can be in the science prerequisite category.

The required courses include: (view BS prerequisite descriptions (pdf) and track your prerequisite progress (pdf))

Watch our video guide on prerequisite information.

• Human Anatomy (or A&P I)
• Human Physiology (A&P II)
• Microbiology
• Statistics
• General Chemistry*
• Science*
• College Algebra
• General Sociology
• General Psychology
• Developmental Psychology
• Cultural Anthropology or Multicultural Studies
• English Composition II
• Creative Arts
• Nutrition
• Two from Foreign Language, History, Microeconomics, Philosophy, or Political Science (courses must be from two different content areas)

*One of these science lectures must have an accompanying lab.

Note: Prerequisites alone often do not total 60 semester (or 90 quarter) credit hours. Some electives may be necessary. Elective credit hours may be selected from most major academic disciplines. Examples of exceptions are commercial or vocational courses, doctrinal courses in religion, and physical education activity courses.

Your application must be complete, fees must be paid and supporting documents must be received before the deadline in order to be considered for admission. View the Application Deadlines page for important dates regarding this program.

The $60 application fee is charged by and paid to NursingCAS; please have a credit card for payment.

All applicants to the University of Colorado College of Nursing must meet the minimum requirements outlined in the Technical Standards.

Within your NursingCAS application, you will be asked to upload a 500-word essay which responds to the following writing prompt.

• Given your personal background, describe your interest in nursing and what makes you special or unique?

Essay guidelines: the content of the essay will be used in the scoring/evaluation of your application. Essays needs to be written in 12-point Times New Roman font, double-spaced with one-inch margins.

All applicants must submit two letters of reference. One academic is required. References are submitted as part of the NursingCAS application process.

Selected applicants are required to attend Interview Day if they wish to proceed with the admissions process. Interview dates are included on the home page of the NursingCAS application.

Students invited to complete the interview process may also be required to complete a spontaneous writing sample.

All applicants are required to upload a CV/Resume as part of the application process.

All required transcripts and/or AP/IB/CLEP score reports must be received by the application deadline. Official transcripts must be submitted directly to NursingCAS from all institutions an applicant has attended. All score reports for AP/IB/CLEP credits are submitted directly to the University of Colorado College of Nursing.

Transfer Credit

All of your prerequisite classes will be considered transfer credit. This college level credit may be accepted by the University of Colorado if:

• It has been earned at a regionally accredited college or university.
• A grade of C (not C-) or better has been attained.
• The credit is for courses appropriate to the degree sought at this institution.
• It is not vocational-technical coursework.
• It is not remedial coursework.

Advanced Placement (AP) Credit

• Only specific prerequisites may be met using AP credit; view the AP Credit Transfer Guide.
• The minimum score shown is required to transfer the AP credit to meet prerequisites.
• The official transcript (score report) from the College Board is required to show the score(s) earned. This document needs to be sent directly to the University of Colorado College of Nursing.
• To ensure that your official score report is received by the College of Nursing, please request that the College Board mail the document to:

University of Colorado College of Nursing
Office of Admissions
13120 E. 19th Avenue, Mailstop C288-6
Aurora, CO 80045

International Baccalaureate (IB) Credit

• Only specific prerequisites may be met using IB credit. View the IB Credit Transfer Guide.
• The minimum score shown is required to transfer the IB credit to meet prerequisites.
• Instructions for ordering your IB diploma are available through on the IB Requesting Transcripts and Certificates page.
• To ensure that your official score report is received by the College of Nursing, please request that the International Baccalaureate program mail the document to:

University of Colorado College of Nursing
Office of Admissions
13120 E. 19th Avenue, Mailstop C288-6
Aurora, CO 80045

College Level Examination Program (CLEP) Credit

• Only specific prerequisites may be met using CLEP credit; view the CLEP Credit Transfer Guide.
• The minimum score shown is required to transfer the CLEP credit to meet prerequisites.
• The official transcript (score report) from the College Board is required to show the score(s) earned.
• To ensure that your official score report is received by the College of Nursing, please use the following school code when ordering the report from the College Board: 5281.

Pass/Fail Credit

• Standard Policy for Prerequisite Requirements - For the College of Nursing, courses taken on a Pass/Fail (P/F) or Satisfactory/Unsatisfactory (S/U) basis may not be used to fulfill prerequisite requirements.
  • COVID-19 Exception for Prerequisite Requirements - The CU College of Nursing's strong recommendation is that students choose to have standard grades listed on their transcript and not the Pass/Fail grade option. However, for courses completed in Spring 2020 only, Passing (P) or Satisfactory (S) grades may be accepted to fulfill prerequisite courses, provided the P or S indicates that the student has earned a C grade or higher. For GPA calculation purposes, an approved P or S course grade will be converted to the lowest score associated with the P or S by the sending institution (e.g. a C grade will be calculated as a 2.0). For spring 2020 grades only, the student, via the sending institution, will have the option of submitting the underlying/actual grade earned, e.g. A, B, etc., which will be used in the GPA calculation for review purposes. There will not be a cap to the total number of prerequisite credits that may be taken on a P/F or S/U basis for spring 2020 coursework, provided that the aforementioned criteria are satisfied.
• Standard Policy for Academic Electives - The College of Nursing will accept up to 6 credits of P/F or S/U courses in transfer to fulfill Academic Electives, provided the P or S indicates that the student has earned a C grade or higher. Academic Elective credits may be needed for applicants to reach the minimum 60 semester credits required to transfer into the Traditional Pathway program.  

Foreign Transcripts and Study Abroad Credits

Transcripts for all foreign (non-study abroad) coursework must be submitted directly to the University of Colorado College of Nursing for evaluation through the Office of International Affairs. Transcripts for study abroad coursework from a non-U.S. institution may be required depending on how foreign coursework is posted on the domestic (receiving institution) transcript. If all course information (course title, credits hours, and grades) is posted to the domestic transcript, applicants do not need to submit a separate transcript from the study abroad institution. If any course information is incomplete, or the grades are posed as Pass/Fail, a transcript for the study abroad coursework will need to be submitted directly to the University of Colorado College of Nursing Office of Admissions & Student Affairs.

Applicants who were previously enrolled in another nursing program (prerequisite courses excluded) are required to submit as part of the NursingCAS application a letter of good standing from the previous school indicating that the student left in good academic standing.

Due to the clinical nature of the nursing profession, all students must meet the following communication standards, as outlined in the Technical Standards of our Student Handbook:

1. A student must be able to communicate clearly and effectively in English with clients, teachers, and all members of the health care team. Written and oral communication must use standard, professional medical terminology.
2. He/she must communicate with clients clearly and effectively in English to elicit information regarding history, emotional status and activity, and to perceive nonverbal communications.
3. Communication includes speech, hearing, reading, writing, and computer literacy.
4. A student must be able to clearly and effectively report in English to members of the health care team. Additionally, students must be able to relay appropriate information to clients, as well as teach, explain, direct and counsel a wide variety of individuals.
5. In some instances the student will be required to provide clear, direct communication in English during highly stressful, crisis situations. These skills necessitate a strong command of the English language and prompt, timely interpretation of pertinent patient data.
6. Students must be able to communicate online in a timely, professional manner, e.g., enter an electronic medical record immediately after the patient visit.

If your primary language is not English, or if you are an International Student, you will need to demonstrate required English language proficiency by meeting one of the following criteria:

1. You are a citizen of a country whose official language is English including Australia, Belize, Botswana, Canada (except Quebec), Commonwealth Caribbean, Ghana, United Kingdom, Ireland, Kenya, New Zealand, Singapore, South Africa, and Zimbabwe.
2. You have obtained a total score of at least 560 on the paper-based TOEFL and 50 or above on the Test of Spoken English (TSE); a score of 83 on the Internet-based TOEFL with 26 or above on the spoken English section. For other minimum subscores see internationaladmissions.ucdenver.edu. The College of Nursing TOEFL Exam Code is 3377. Be sure to use this code when registering for the exam to ensure that we will receive the results.
3. You have obtained a total score of 6.5 on IELTS with a minimum speaking subscore of 8. Official IELTS scores must be sent directly to the College of Nursing.
4. You have graduated from the University of Colorado Denver’s ESL Academy.
5. You have graduated from a US/UK accredited school abroad with English as the medium of instruction.
6. You have earned a Bachelor’s degree in the U.S. or you have successfully completed a minimum of 2 semesters of full-time study in a master’s program at an accredited institution in the U.S.

*For non-international applicants whose primary language is not English (i.e. permanent residents), there may also be an opportunity to complete an English language evaluation to demonstrate language proficiency. Candidates may be identified and contacted during the application cycle if proof of English language proficiency is required.