N.C. A&T School of Nursing Boasts 97 Percent NCLEX-RN Pass Rate

EAST GREENSBORO, N.C. (Dec. 10, 2019) – Reflecting a “rebound in confidence” by students and faculty, North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University’s School of Nursing has achieved a 97 percent National Council Licensure Examination-Registered Nurse (NCLEX-RN) pass rate for 2019.

Of the 34 North Carolina A&T State University School of Nursing students who took the exam between Jan. 1 and Sept. 30, 33 passed on their first attempt resulting in the school’s 97.06 percent pass rate, according to the National Council of State Boards of Nursing.

The national rate for U.S.-educated students on their first attempt in the same period stands at 89.11 percent. The NCLEX has been the exam used for licensing nurses in the United States since 1982.

All 34 of N.C. A&T’s students ultimately passed the exam, said Dr. Terry Ward, director and associate professor of the School of Nursing and associate dean for the College of Health and Human Sciences.

The latest pass rate data demonstrates a comeback for N.C. A&T’s School of Nursing.

“This year’s 97 percent NCLEX-RN pass rate demonstrates a rebound in confidence we were called to achieve,” Ward said. “It is evidence that our program improvements have really worked.”

North Carolina Administrative Code requires that a nursing program “shall maintain a three-year average at or above 95 percent of the national pass rate for licensure level pass rate on first writing of the licensure examination for calendar years ending Dec. 31” under rules readopted Jan. 1, 2019.

N.C. A&T Nursing’s three-year average for 2015-17 was 86 percent. The average rose to 90 percent for 2016-18 and will be 91 percent for 2017-19.

N.C. A&T’s School of Nursing will have its traditional pinning ceremony to welcome fall graduates into the nursing profession at 6 p.m. Friday, Dec. 13. The event will feature Dr. Wallena Gould, founder and CEO of the Diversity in Nurse Anesthesia Mentorship Program and the first certified registered nurse anesthetist of color to be inducted as a Fellow of the American Academy of Nursing.

The school, which celebrated its 65^th anniversary this year, was first accredited by the National League of Nursing in 1971 and has maintained continuous accreditation ever since.

It offers B.S. and M.S. programs accredited by ACEN through 2022. Students can pursue their B.S.N. through three entry options: traditional, accelerated second degree and registered nurse completion.

In September, Nursing School Hub ranked N.C. A&T’s School of Nursing No. 5 on its list of the 25 best for 2020 among historically black colleges and universities. It used data drawn from sources like the Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System, College Scorecard, Niche, and U.S. News & World Report, which recognized N.C. A&T as the nation’s No. 1 public HBCU.