Entry Requirements

Requirements for Admission to the BSN Program

Admission to the program is limited to residents of the state of Tennessee.

Graduation from high school is a minimum requirement for admission to American National University for those students enrolling in the certificate, diploma, associates, or bachelor’s programs. Those who have completed high school in a homeschool setting or have satisfied graduation requirements through the General Educational Development (GED) Test or a state authorized examination are also eligible for admission.

Applicants who wish to be considered for the BSN program must comply to the following information:

  1. Applicants must submit all college and high school/GED transcripts for academic review. Preference will be given to applicants with a GPA of 2.5 or higher; however, a GPA of 2.0-2.49 may be considered by the nursing admissions committee.
    a. Incoming transfer credit will be evaluated on a course-by-course basis. Due to the unique nature of nursing programs, it may not be appropriate to transfer nursing core classes.
    b. Students with no prior college experience will be evaluated on their cumulative high school GPA or GED score.
  2. Must submit updated resume (Preference points may be given to applicants, who supply proof of 1 year experience in the medical field within the last 3 years or holds an active medical licensure.)
  3. Complete the Pax Entrance Exam. *
  4. Other criteria that may be considered:
    • Preference points may be awarded, based on ACT/SAT scores.
    • Preference points may be awarded for industry certification in a medical field.

Admission to the Bachelor of Science in Nursing program is based on evaluation of all required admissions elements with offers of admissions based on these elements in totality.


Courses will be considered for transfer if they meet the University’s criteria for transfer credit. For biology courses to be considered for transfer, they must have had a lab component.


The University will notify the nursing candidate via email of the final admission decision to the nursing program. All notifications of acceptance to the program are conditional, pending submission of required documents and successful completion of any current courses. The nursing candidate must notify the University by the designated deadline of his/her intent to attend. Failure to notify the University by the deadline will result in forfeiture of the candidate’s place in the class start to which he/she applied. The candidate may use his/her existing admissions materials to reapply for a future class start within one year.


Candidates will be selected for the nursing program based on the overall outcomes of the Competitive Admissions Criteria.


*Applicants to the BSN program may take the National League for Nursing Pre-Admission Examination (NLN PAX) ONE (1) time per term. The PAX exam can be taken each term up to and including week eight (8) by midnight (12:00 am) on that Friday. Interviews will be held during week nine (9) of each admitting term.