Baylor University
FastBacc (Second Degree / Post-Baccalaureate accelerated BSN) · Dallas, TX · school's own site (opens the school's website in a new tab)
ActiveHybridlast verified Oct 2026
Prerequisites
The courses Baylor says you need before you start, as published on its own pages. Credits, labs, and minimum grades are shown where the school states them.
- 01MicrobiologyMicrobiologyScience GPA course. Credits implied by '2 of the 4 prerequisite science courses completed (8 hours)'. If offered with a separate lab, both lecture and lab must be completed.
source · nursing.baylor.edu
“If a science course is offered with separate lecture and lab, both portions must be completed.”
credits4min gradeC - 02Anatomy & Physiology IAnatomy & Physiology IScience GPA course. Credits implied (8 hours for two science courses). Both lecture and lab if offered separately.
source · nursing.baylor.edu
“Anatomy & Physiology I”
credits4min gradeC - 03Anatomy & Physiology IIAnatomy & Physiology IIScience GPA course. Credits implied. Both lecture and lab if offered separately.
source · nursing.baylor.edu
“Anatomy & Physiology II”
credits4min gradeC - 04General ChemistryChemistryScience GPA course. Credits implied. Both lecture and lab if offered separately.
source · nursing.baylor.edu
“Chemistry”
credits4min gradeC - 05English CompositionEnglish Composition ICredit hours not listed.
source · nursing.baylor.edu
“English Composition I”
labnomin gradeC - 06English CompositionEnglish Composition IICredit hours not listed.
source · nursing.baylor.edu
“English Composition II”
labnomin gradeC - 07OtherEnglish LiteratureAmerican, British or World Literature, or an upper-level literature course in a modern foreign or classical language.
source · nursing.baylor.edu
“1May be met by a course in American, British, or World Literature, or by an upper-level (that is, above the intermediate level) literature course in modern foreign languages or in classical languages.”
labnomin gradeC - 08OtherFederal Government
source · nursing.baylor.edu
“Federal Government”
labnomin gradeC - 09Religion / TheologyBible-based ReligionOne of two religion courses (6 hours); Old Testament and New Testament are accepted.
source · nursing.baylor.edu
“2Two courses (6 hours) are required to satisfy the religion requirements. Transfer students can take world religion for one requirement however the second requirement must be a bible-based religion course. We will also accept Old Testament and New Testament.”
credits3labnomin gradeC - 10Religion / TheologyWorld ReligionMay satisfy one of the two religion requirements.
source · nursing.baylor.edu
“World Religion”
credits3labnomin gradeC - 11OtherHistoryWorld History, Western Civilization, a survey of American History, or History of the American Woman.
source · nursing.baylor.edu
“3Must be a course in World History, Western Civilization, a survey course in American History, or History of the American Woman.”
labnomin gradeC - 12NutritionNutrition course
source · nursing.baylor.edu
“Nutrition course”
labnomin gradeC - 13StatisticsStatistics course
source · nursing.baylor.edu
“Statistics course”
labnomin gradeC - 14General PsychologyIntro to Psychology
source · nursing.baylor.edu
“Intro to Psychology”
labnomin gradeC - 15Lifespan / Human Growth & DevelopmentDevelopmental PsychologyMust cover the entire life span.
source · nursing.baylor.edu
“4Course must cover entire life span.”
labnomin gradeC - 16SociologyIntro to SociologyThe 15 courses total 52 hours: 'There are 52 hours of required courses a student must complete prior to starting our program.'
source · nursing.baylor.edu
“Intro to Sociology”
labnomin gradeC
Minimum grade
C (not C-) in every prerequisite course
source · nursing.baylor.edu
“A minimum grade of “C” (not “C-”) is mandatory in each prerequisite course.”
Prerequisites done by the deadline
33 of the 52 prerequisite hours, including 2 of the 4 science courses (8 hours), completed to apply; all 52 hours before the first day of class
Another page says something different. Baylor's general undergraduate admission policies page says prerequisites must be completed during the full academic semester before admission (for a May start, by the end of the preceding spring semester). We go by the program's own page. See both sources
source · nursing.baylor.edu
“33 of the 52 prerequisite course hours completed * All 52 hours of prerequisite courses must be completed prior to the first day of class. 2 of the 4 prerequisite science courses completed (8 hours)”
Last verified Oct 2026 · Something wrong here? Report an error
Do prerequisites expire?
Course attempt limits
A course with a C- or lower may be repeated once; at most two prerequisite courses may be repeated; a course passed with a C or higher may not be repeated unless the prior attempt was more than five years before program start; repeats more than five years before program start do not count; repeats are judged by course category, not course number or institution
source 1 · nursing.baylor.edu
“Applicants may repeat a prerequisite course (including pre-matriculated college courses) with a “C-“ or lower grade only once to earn a higher grade and may repeat a maximum of two prerequisite courses. A course repeated more than five years prior to the program start will not count as a repeat. Repeats are determined by the prerequisite course category and not the specific course number / institution.”
source 2 · nursing.baylor.edu
“Applicants may not repeat a prerequisite course (including pre-matriculated college courses) with a “C” or higher unless the prior attempt occurred more than 5 years prior to the program start. If an applicant repeats a course within 5 years, the first passing grade will be used for GPA calculations.”
Course age limit Not published. Confirm with the school. No expiration or recency limit on prerequisites on the FastBacc page, the admission policies page or the HESI page. The only five-year windows concern repeats (counted from program start) and letters of good standing for prior nursing coursework.
Last verified Oct 2026 · Something wrong here? Report an error
GPA and grades
Minimum cumulative GPA for admission
2.75 overall cumulative (admission policies page); the FastBacc page itself lists only the prerequisite and science GPAs
The policies page is written for all undergraduate tracks and does not name FastBacc; the 2.75 overall minimum is assumed to apply.
source · nursing.baylor.edu
“Applicants must achieve a minimum prerequisite GPA of 3.0, a minimum science GPA of 2.75, and a minimum overall cumulative GPA of 2.75.”
Prerequisite and science GPA
3.0 over the completed prerequisites and 2.75 over the four science prerequisites (Microbiology, A&P I, A&P II, Chemistry); the first grade earned in each course category is used
Policies page: 'If an applicant repeats a course within 5 years, the first passing grade will be used for GPA calculations.'
source 1 · nursing.baylor.edu
“3.0 minimum GPA of completed prerequisite courses 2.75 minimum GPA of science prerequisite courses”
source 2 · nursing.baylor.edu
“The first grade earned in a course for any subject category will be used to calculate the Nursing Science GPA and Nursing Prerequisite GPA. If the first attempt in a course was below a "C", this will be factored into the GPA until an applicant has retaken the course in order to achieve a passing grade”
Last verified Oct 2026 · Something wrong here? Report an error
Is there an entrance exam?
Entrance exam
HESI A2 required: 80 or better on both the English Composite (reading comprehension, vocabulary, grammar) and Math sections; no science section; at most three attempts in total, including attempts never sent to Baylor; once per semester with a 60-day wait between attempts; the most recent exam counts and sections cannot be combined across attempts; official scores due before the application deadline
The HESI page recommends at least one attempt within 30 days of submitting the application, says the exam is offered online via ProctorU (LHSON department code 198255), and warns that score requirements are subject to change. How old a score may be is not published.
source 1 · nursing.baylor.edu
“Minimum scores of 80 or better on both the HESI A2 math and English Composite portions are required to be eligible to apply to the nursing program. The HESI A2 exam may only be taken once during each semester, with a maximum of three attempts. A 60-day waiting period is required between tests. In the event a student has taken the exam more than once, the most recent exam will be counted. HESI A2 scores cannot be pieced together.”
source 2 · nursing.baylor.edu
“maximum of three attempts (this includes HESI A2 Exams not sent directly to Baylor University School of Nursing)”
Last verified Oct 2026 · Something wrong here? Report an error
Where can courses be taken?
Where prerequisites can be taken
Other accredited colleges and universities; use Baylor's Equivalent Course Tool to check transferability
No named online providers and no regional-accreditation wording beyond 'accredited colleges and universities'.
source · nursing.baylor.edu
“To determine whether a course will transfer into Baylor University from another college or university, please refer to the Equivalent Course Tool.”
AP / CLEP credit
Credit by examination from another school is accepted only where the exam and score match what Baylor itself accepts; no numeric limit stated
source · nursing.baylor.edu
“Credit by examination secured through another college or university by a student transferring to Baylor University will be accepted only to the extent that the exam and scores are equivalent to what Baylor accepts.”
Online labs Not published. Confirm with the school. No statement about online labs. The page does say: 'If a science course is offered with separate lecture and lab, both portions must be completed. It is recommended that separate lecture and lab portions be completed through the same university or college.'
Pass/fail grades Not published. Confirm with the school. Not addressed on the four pages checked.
Last verified Oct 2026 · Something wrong here? Report an error
Application deadlines and start dates
Upcoming cycles Baylor publishes. A date without a year on the school's page is noted rather than guessed.
May 2027 cohortDeadline Jan 15, 2027The page prints "August 15th" and "January 15th" without a year; we read them as the cycle for the May 2027 cohort (the one open on the research date). The deadline is 10:59 PM CST. The May start date is not published. All 52 prerequisite hours must be complete before the first day of class; the general policies page instead says the full academic semester before admission.
source · nursing.baylor.edu
“Second Degree seeking (post baccalaureate) students interested in applying to the Dallas campus from other accredited colleges and universities are eligible each year to apply for our one-year accelerated FastBacc® track that starts in May.”
Application
NursingCAS, with all official transcripts sent through NursingCAS; nothing is sent to Baylor in Waco; no edits after submission
source · nursing.baylor.edu
“Please submit your application and ALL official transcripts through NursingCAS.”
Last verified Oct 2026 · Something wrong here? Report an error
Cost
Tuition and fees as the school publishes them. Living costs vary; the source link has the full table.
Tuition
FastBacc flat rate $33,878 per term for 12 or more hours (Summer 2026, Fall 2026, Spring 2027), or $2,824 per credit hour for 11 hours or fewer; three flat-rate terms come to about $101,600 before fees
The three-term total is our arithmetic, not a published figure, and the page is the 2026-2027 schedule. The HESI A2 carries its own fee.
source · onestop.web.baylor.edu
“FastBacc, School of Nursing Tuition Summer 2026 Fall 2026 Spring 2027 Flat Rate (12 hours or more) $33,878 $33,878 $33,878 Per Credit Hour (11 hours or less) $2,824 $2,824 $2,824”
Last verified Oct 2026 · Something wrong here? Report an error
Other requirements
What the school asks for beyond courses and scores.
Prior degree
Bachelor's degree
source · nursing.baylor.edu
“Bachelor's degree”
Interview
Faculty interview
source · nursing.baylor.edu
“Faculty Interview”
- Resume
source · nursing.baylor.edu
“Resume”
- TOEFL for non-native English speakers, waived with a bachelor's or higher from an accredited U.S. institution
source · nursing.baylor.edu
“If a student holds a bachelor's or higher degree from an accredited U.S. institution, the TOEFL will be waived.”
- Accelerated-track applicants are exempt from the Foreign Languages and Communication / Fine Arts prerequisites; post-baccalaureate students skip Chapel and the New Student Experience course
source · nursing.baylor.edu
“Post-Baccalaureate and Transfer students are not required to complete Chapel or a New Student Experience course. Accelerated track applicants do not have to complete the Foreign Languages or Communication / Fine Arts prerequisites.”
- Texas Board of Nursing criminal background check before orientation, plus a further background check and drug screen before the first clinical
source · nursing.baylor.edu
“Applicants must complete the pre-admission criminal background check required by the Texas Board of Nursing prior to orientation and/or any participation in course activities at the LHSON.”
- Signed core performance standards document
source · nursing.baylor.edu
“Applicants must sign the core performance document provided by the LHSON signifying that they are able to meet these standards and behaviors.”
- Acceptance is term-specific; no automatic deferral
source · nursing.baylor.edu
“Acceptance to the LHSON is term specific. Applicants are not granted automatic deferment of acceptance.”
- Prior nursing coursework: letter of good standing from the former nursing program (unless the last nursing course was more than five years before program start); nursing courses do not transfer and do not count as repeats
source · nursing.baylor.edu
“Applicants transferring with nursing credits are required to provide a letter of good standing from their former nursing program unless the last nursing course was taken more than five years prior to program start. Applicants may not transfer nursing courses to LHSON and prior nursing courses will not count as repeats.”
Last verified Oct 2026 · Something wrong here? Report an error
Good to know
What the school says about the program that is not a requirement: how it selects, how many it admits, what to expect.
Format
Full-time; face-to-face learning combined with hybrid learning activities, clinicals and labs
Distinct from Baylor's separate Online Accelerated BSN listed on the tuition page.
source · nursing.baylor.edu
“The FastBacc track is an intensive, full-time program that combines face-to-face learning with hybrid learning activities and high-value clinical and lab experiences.”
Start
May, once a year
source · nursing.baylor.edu
“Second Degree seeking (post baccalaureate) students interested in applying to the Dallas campus from other accredited colleges and universities are eligible each year to apply for our one-year accelerated FastBacc® track that starts in May.”
Religion courses
Two religion courses (6 hours); a world religion course may count for one, but the other must be bible-based (Old or New Testament accepted)
source · nursing.baylor.edu
“2Two courses (6 hours) are required to satisfy the religion requirements. Transfer students can take world religion for one requirement however the second requirement must be a bible-based religion course. We will also accept Old Testament and New Testament.”
Last verified Oct 2026 · Something wrong here? Report an error
Where the school's pages disagree
We show the program's own page as the value and keep the other page as a note. Where two pages of equal standing disagree, we show both and mark the value Confirm.
- Prerequisites done by the deadline: Baylor's general undergraduate admission policies page says prerequisites must be completed during the full academic semester before admission (for a May start, by the end of the preceding spring semester).
Sources
Every page we read for Baylor, with when we last checked it. Tier 1 is the program's own pages; tier 2 the nursing school's general pages; tier 3 university-wide pages.
- FastBacc program and admission requirementstier 1 · program page · checked Oct 9, 2026curl receives a Cloudflare 403 challenge page; the page renders normally in a browser, where all quotes were copied from.
- LHSON undergraduate admission policiestier 2 · policy · checked Oct 9, 2026Written for all undergraduate tracks; does not name FastBacc. Cloudflare 403 to curl.
- HESI A2 informationtier 2 · other · checked Oct 9, 2026Cloudflare 403 to curl.
- One Stop: 2026-2027 tuitiontier 3 · tuition · checked Oct 9, 2026FastBacc figures sit inside a collapsed 'FastBacc, School of Nursing' accordion. Cloudflare 403 to curl.
Open questions we're still checking
- Per-course credit hours are not listed on the FastBacc page (only the 52-hour total, 8 hours for two sciences and 6 hours for religion); the 4-credit science values are implied.
- The application open and deadline dates are printed without a year; we read them as August 15, 2026 and January 15, 2027 for the May 2027 cohort.
- HESI A2 score validity window (how old a score may be) is not stated.
- No prerequisite course age or expiration rule was found; confirm with FastBacc@baylor.edu.
- Prerequisite completion deadline wording differs between the FastBacc page ('prior to the first day of class') and the admission policies page ('full academic semester prior to admission').
- The admission policies page covers all undergraduate tracks and does not name FastBacc; its 2.75 overall cumulative GPA minimum and C (not C-) grade rule are assumed to apply.
- All four pages returned a Cloudflare challenge to curl; quotes were captured from the pages rendered in a browser.
Something wrong here? Report an error
ABSNcheck summarizes requirements that schools publish on their own websites, with a link to each source and the date we last verified it. Schools change requirements, sometimes contradict themselves, and make individual decisions. Results show whether you meet published minimums; they are not an admission decision or a guarantee, and are not official advice from any school. Always confirm requirements with each program before you apply or enroll in a course.
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