Nursing Schools in Atlanta, GA: 2026 BSN Admissions Guide

Atlanta anchors one of the strongest healthcare job markets in the South, and its nursing schools range from the top-ranked undergraduate program in the country to accessible public options ringing the metro. Our database tracks three BSN programs inside Atlanta itself, plus three suburban programs in Kennesaw, Morrow, and Lawrenceville that belong on any honest Atlanta shortlist.

The numbers below are published minimums on file as of July 2026. Treat them as floors, not targets: competitive applicants usually land above them, and schools revise cutoffs every cycle, so always check the school's page for current numbers. You can browse every program on our Atlanta hub and the wider Georgia hub, or check your odds free against the real requirements.

Programs inside Atlanta

Emory University

The Nell Hodgson Woodruff School of Nursing at Emory was ranked the number one undergraduate nursing program by US News in 2025. The main pathway serves current Emory and Oxford College students, who need a minimum 3.0 GPA to apply as freshmen or sophomores. External transfer applicants need 60 or more credit hours, and the TEAS is recommended at 90 percent for transfers with a GPA under 3.5. Sciences must be completed within seven years, and admissions are rolling. There is no CASPer and no required entrance exam for the internal pathway.

Georgia State University

Georgia State's Byrdine F. Lewis College of Nursing is the big public option downtown. Published floors are a 3.0 overall GPA and a 3.0 science GPA, with A&P completed within the last five years. The TEAS is required but has no published numeric minimum; the school notes accepted students average around 85 percent, so treat this as a competitive exam even without a cutoff. Regular deadlines fall in March for fall entry and August 1 for spring, with earlier Early Action dates for freshmen.

Mercer University (Georgia Baptist College of Nursing)

Mercer's Georgia Baptist College of Nursing is a private program offered on both the Atlanta and Macon campuses. It publishes the firmest numbers in the city: 3.0 minimums for cumulative, transfer, and science GPA, plus a TEAS composite of 76 or higher. Prerequisites include A&P I and II, microbiology, statistics, nutrition, lifespan development, and two English composition courses; chemistry is notably not on the list. Fall applicants can file Early Action by December 1 or hit the March 1 priority deadline.

Metro programs worth the drive

Atlanta traffic is real, but so is the value in these three suburban publics:

• Kennesaw State University, northwest of the city, publishes a 3.0 overall GPA and requires the TEAS with no official minimum (78 or higher is strongly recommended). Its Wellstar School of Nursing takes applications in long windows: mid-August through January 31 for fall, February through early August for spring.
• Clayton State University in Morrow, south of downtown, asks for a 2.80 overall and 2.80 math and science GPA, the lowest published GPA floor in the metro. It uses the Kaplan Nursing Admission Test rather than the TEAS or HESI, with no published minimum score.
• Georgia Gwinnett College in Lawrenceville runs a traditional BSN with about 42 seats per cohort. General education must be complete before entry, the science GPA is computed from chemistry, A&P, and microbiology, and the TEAS is required. The college does not publish a numeric GPA or TEAS minimum on its application page, so plan to be competitive rather than minimal.

How admissions work in Atlanta

A few patterns stand out across the metro:

1. A 3.0 is the practical ticket in. Emory, Georgia State, Mercer, and Kennesaw State all publish 3.0 floors. Clayton State's 2.80 is the metro's main exception, making it a genuine option for GPA rebuilders.
2. Published exam cutoffs are rare. Only Mercer posts a hard TEAS number (76). Georgia State, Kennesaw, and Georgia Gwinnett require the TEAS without a cutoff, which in practice means average admitted scores, not minimums, decide outcomes.
3. Pathways differ sharply. Emory's undergraduate pathway is built around students already enrolled at Emory or Oxford, while the publics run classic competitive-entry models open to transfers with prerequisites done.
4. Application windows are generous. Kennesaw and Clayton State keep applications open for months at a time, and Emory reviews on a rolling basis, so Atlanta rewards applicants who apply early in a window instead of racing a single deadline.

For statewide strategy, see how to get into nursing school in Georgia, our list of the easiest nursing schools to get into in Georgia, and what GPA you need for nursing school.

See where you stand in Atlanta

Every requirement above is already loaded into our free tool. Enter your GPA, science grades, and any exam scores, and the chance calculator will show your fit for every Atlanta area BSN program in seconds, no account required.

*This guide is for planning only, not official admissions advice; always confirm requirements with each school.*