Studies & Degrees in Pre-Nursing
Pre-Nursing Study Programs
Pre-nursing is the first stage of nursing education in the United States and Canada. It is not a nursing qualification. It is a set of general education and science courses that a student completes before applying to a professional nursing programme, where the clinical training takes place. Colleges call it pre-nursing, pre-professional nursing or a nursing transfer track.
The stage exists because many nursing programmes in North America admit students separately from the college itself. Labette Community College in Kansas, for example, states that admission to the college does not ensure admission into its nursing programme, and it places applicants in a Health Science major until they are admitted. Pre-nursing students therefore work towards two goals: finishing the required courses and building the grades needed for a competitive application.
What students learn
The content follows what nursing programmes require. According to the US Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), nursing education programmes usually include courses in anatomy, physiology, microbiology, psychology and the social and behavioural sciences. Pre-nursing covers the first part of that list. At Northeast Community College in Nebraska, the pre-professional nursing programme includes anatomy and physiology, sociology and mathematics for healthcare professionals. Chemeketa Community College in Oregon asks applicants to its nursing programme for a three-course anatomy and physiology sequence and intermediate algebra, each with a grade of C or better.
Students do not treat patients at this stage. Supervised clinical practice starts in the nursing programme itself.
Qualifications and levels
Pre-nursing takes several forms, and the names differ by school.
- Prerequisite courses without a separate award. Chemeketa reports that most students spend one or more years on pre-nursing courses before they apply to its nursing programme.
- A two-year associate degree. Northeast Community College awards an Associate of Science (2 years, 62 credits) or an Associate of Arts. The coursework serves students who go on to a one- or two-year nursing programme, and it may also be transferred to a four-year institution.
- A track inside a bachelor's degree. Arcadia University in Pennsylvania offers a 4+1 pre-nursing programme in affiliation with Villanova University. Students complete the prerequisite phase at Arcadia; the professional nursing major at Villanova consists of four semesters of nursing theory and clinical coursework.
The BLS describes three education paths to become a registered nurse in the United States: a bachelor's degree in nursing (BSN), which typically takes four years, an associate's degree in nursing, or a diploma from an approved nursing programme. Every state requires a licence. To obtain it, nurses must graduate from an approved nursing programme and pass a qualifying exam, the NCLEX-RN. A pre-nursing award alone does not give access to that exam.
The model is different in Spain, where nursing is a single bachelor's degree (grado) of 240 ECTS credits that students enter directly, with no separate pre-nursing stage.
Where to study
SpainExchange lists 12 active schools for pre-nursing: 11 in the United States and one in Canada. Most are community colleges and two-year campuses, alongside a smaller number of universities. Teaching is in English.
International students should check four points with a school before enrolling:
- whether the pre-nursing courses are accepted by the nursing programme they want to enter, at the same school or at another one
- how many places the nursing programme has, and what grades and admission tests it asks for
- how long the full route takes, pre-nursing and nursing programme together
- which licence the final qualification leads to, since nurses are licensed by the state in which they work
Careers
Pre-nursing leads to further study, not directly to a job as a nurse. The figures below apply to registered nurses, the profession most pre-nursing students aim for.
Registered nurses held about 3.5 million jobs in the United States in 2025, according to the BLS, and 59 percent of them worked in hospitals. The BLS projects employment to grow 6 percent from 2025 to 2035, faster than the average for all occupations, with about 180,800 openings a year. Licensed graduates of any of the three education paths can start as staff nurses, but employers, particularly hospitals, may require a bachelor's degree.
Frequently asked questions
Is pre-nursing a nursing degree?
No. It is the preparatory stage: general education and science courses taken before the professional nursing programme. To work as a registered nurse in the United States, a student must still graduate from an approved nursing programme and pass the licensing exam.
How long does pre-nursing take?
It depends on the school. Chemeketa Community College says most students spend one or more years on pre-nursing courses, and the associate degree at Northeast Community College takes two years.
Does finishing pre-nursing guarantee a place in a nursing programme?
Not usually. Nursing programmes select their own students. Labette Community College, for instance, states that admission to the college does not ensure admission into its nursing programme.
Which subjects does pre-nursing include?
Mainly anatomy and physiology, other sciences, mathematics, psychology and sociology, together with general education courses. The exact list is set by the nursing programme the student wants to enter.