Checked 15 Nov 2026 by the team. Sources are listed at the end of the page.
Most New Mexico nursing prerequisites follow the NMNEC common curriculum used by 12 public and tribal programmes. The ADN asks for 26 to 29 credits of sciences and general education, including Anatomy and Physiology, Pathophysiology, Psychology and Lifespan. The BSN asks for 55, adding Microbiology, Nutrition and Statistics. Each school decides where a prerequisite may be taken.
Under the NMNEC programs of study, an ADN student completes 26 to 29 credits of prerequisite, co-requisite and general education courses and a BSN student completes 55, alongside the nursing courses, for a minimum of 66 to 73 credits for the ADN and 120 for the BSN.
The rule asks for 26-29 non-nursing credits for the ADN (66-73 total); 55 non-nursing credits for the BSN (120 total). The legal source is NMNEC programs of study.
| Area | ADN (NMNEC) | BSN (NMNEC) |
|---|---|---|
| Basic sciences | Biology or Chemistry with lab, 4 | Biology with lab 4, Chemistry with lab 4, Microbiology 4 |
| Health sciences | Anatomy and Physiology 6, Pathophysiology 4 | Anatomy and Physiology 6, Pathophysiology 4, Nutrition 3 |
| General education | Communications 3, Psychology 3, Lifespan 3, Math or Humanities 3 | Communications 6, Psychology 3, Math 3, Statistics 3, Lifespan 3, Humanities 3, Fine Arts 3, Flexible 6 |
| Non-nursing total | 26-29 credits | 55 credits |
| Programme total | 66-73 credits | 120 credits (65 nursing) |
New Mexico Nursing Education Consortium (NMNEC) member programmes; New Mexico Board of Nursing approves programmes decides how this rule applies to you. We read its published rule and the pages below; each was checked on 15 Nov 2026.
Each nursing programme sets its own prerequisite list, its own time limits for science courses and its own rule on which credits it takes. Read the programme's published list first and ask its admissions office in writing before you enrol in any course.
UPI Study does not yet offer Microbiology with lab, Nutrition or Lifespan Development. Our courses carry no clinical hours, and they do not clear a deficiency for a board of nursing.
Each course below is ACE-recommended or NCCRS-recommended for college credit. Whether it counts here is the decision of the college and of New Mexico Nursing Education Consortium (NMNEC) member programmes; New Mexico Board of Nursing approves programmes.
NCCRS-recommended for 3 credits; ask your programme before you rely on it.
Self-paced online Anatomy and Physiology I course (Biology 211). NCCRS recommends 3 semester credits; each college decides how it applies them.
See the course →
NCCRS-recommended for 2 credits; online labs are a common question for nursing schools.
Self-paced online Anatomy and Physiology I Lab course (Biology 211L). NCCRS recommends 2 semester credits; each college decides how it applies them.
See the course →
Matches the BSN statistics slot.
Self-paced online Principles of Statistics course (Statistics 101). ACE and NCCRS recommend 3 semester credits; each college decides how it applies them.
See the course →
Matches the psychology slot in both the ADN and BSN lists.
Self-paced online Introduction to Psychology course (Psychology 110). ACE and NCCRS recommend 3 semester credits; each college decides how it applies them.
See the course →
Matches the communications slot.
Self-paced online English Composition 1 course (ENG 101). NCCRS recommends 3 semester credits; each college decides how it applies them.
See the course →
A general chemistry option for the BSN chemistry slot, where the programme agrees.
Self-paced online Chemistry I course (Chemistry 111). ACE and NCCRS recommend 3 semester credits; each college decides how it applies them.
See the course →TESU and UoPeople are partner colleges that consider ACE-recommended or NCCRS-recommended credit; whether a New Mexico nursing programme counts that credit is the programme's decision.
ACE and NCCRS have over 2,100 cooperating colleges that will consider accepting credits; the final decision is with the universities.
| Option | Price | For this rule | Price checked |
|---|---|---|---|
| UPI Study PRO | $99 a month, every course | $99 for each month you are subscribed; take as many courses as you finish in that time | 15 Nov 2026 |
| Sophia Learning | $99 a month or $799 a year | Self-paced general education; ask your programme first whether it counts the credit | 15 Nov 2026 |
| StraighterLine | $99 a month + $79 a course | $316 in course fees for four courses (for example statistics, psychology, composition and A&P), plus the months you study | 15 Nov 2026 |
Your NMNEC school's own tuition is the other option; we did not confirm a current rate today, so none is listed. UPI Study PRO is $99 a month for as many courses as you finish, but it saves money only if your nursing programme confirms in writing that it counts the credit.
UPI Study is not a college and is not accredited. ACE and NCCRS review our courses and recommend credit; a college decides whether to give that credit and records it on its own transcript.
Email the nursing programme you will apply to and ask in writing whether it counts each course, and each online lab, before you enrol; keep the reply with your application.
New Mexico's public and tribal nursing programmes share a common pre-licensure RN curriculum through the New Mexico Nursing Education Consortium, NMNEC. It runs in 12 schools across 16 locations, from CNM and UNM to San Juan College, Navajo Technical University and Western New Mexico University. Because the curriculum is shared, the prerequisite list looks much the same from school to school.
The shared list does not mean shared admissions. Each school runs its own entry process, its own transfer review and its own rules on grades, time limits and where a course can be taken. The New Mexico Board of Nursing approves programmes; it does not list approved places to take a prerequisite.
General education is where online credit is most often considered: composition, psychology, statistics and humanities. Science prerequisites are stricter. Programmes often ask about labs, and some want sciences from a college transcript only. UNM, for example, lists each prerequisite by its own course number and checks transfer courses through its Transfer Equivalency System.
UPI Study's courses carry ACE or NCCRS credit recommendations. Anatomy and Physiology 1 and 2 are NCCRS-recommended for 3 credits each, with labs recommended for 2 credits each. TESU and UoPeople are partner colleges that consider ACE-recommended or NCCRS-recommended credit, but whether your nursing programme counts that credit is its own decision. Ask in writing before you enrol.
Send one short email to the nursing office of the school you will apply to. List each course you plan to take, say who teaches it and which body recommended the credit, and ask whether it would count for the matching NMNEC prerequisite. Ask about online labs separately, because that is where answers differ most. Ask too whether there is a time limit on science courses, since some schools set one.
Most schools follow the NMNEC common curriculum. The ADN lists Biology or Chemistry with lab, Anatomy and Physiology, Pathophysiology, Communications, Psychology, Lifespan and Math or Humanities, 26 to 29 credits. The BSN lists 55 credits, adding Microbiology, Nutrition, Statistics, Humanities and Fine Arts. Check your own school's list.
Each programme decides, and NMNEC's programs of study do not say. Some programmes want lab sciences from a college transcript with an in-person lab; others review online labs case by case. Email the nursing office of your school and ask in writing before you take any lab course online.
No. We do not offer Microbiology, Nutrition, Lifespan or Developmental Psychology, Pathophysiology, Organic Chemistry or Pharmacology, so those come from a college. We offer Anatomy and Physiology with labs, Chemistry with lab, Statistics, Psychology and Composition, and your programme decides whether it counts them.
Some New Mexico programmes set one, and the limit varies by school. The NMNEC programs of study do not state a single limit. Ask your school's nursing office in writing how old a science course can be, and plan to retake an older course if the school asks you to.
The school you apply to. NMNEC sets the shared curriculum, and the New Mexico Board of Nursing approves programmes, but each school runs its own admissions and transfer review. UNM, for example, checks transfer courses through its Transfer Equivalency System. Ask that school, in writing, before you take a course.
Ask your nursing programme in writing first, then take only the courses it confirms, at your own pace.