According to the website of the National Council of State Boards of Nursing (NCSBN) (https://www.ncsbn.org/181.htm), entry into the practice of nursing in the United States and its territories is regulated by the licensing authorities within each jurisdiction. To ensure public protection, each jurisdiction requires a candidate for licensure to pass an examination that measures the competencies needed to perform safely and effectively as a newly licensed, entry-level registered nurse.

NCSBN develops two licensure examinations, the National Council Licensure Examination for Registered Nurses (NCLEX-RN) and the National Council Licensure Examination for Practical Nurses (NCLEX-PN) that are used by state and territorial boards of nursing to assist in making licensure decisions. Late-stage RMU Nursing students and Nursing graduates take the NCLEX-RN examination to qualify for licensing in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.

RMU's Nursing program began in the fall of 2003. The following table sets forth the NCLEX-RN pass rate for the program's first-time test takers:

Since the inception of the Nursing program at RMU, its students have a cumulative first-time NCLEX-RN pass rate of 84%.

One of the Department of Nursing's established objectives is to have its students achieve a NCLEX-RN pass rate of 90% or higher. The Department and its faculty have used the NCLEX exam results to institute improvements that will hopefully move RMU's NCLEX-RN pass rate past the stated objective. The NCLEX-RN pass rate for the state of Pennsylvania is 85% and it is 87% nationally.