Predicting Nursing Student Success. It is important that higher education administrators and nursing programs implement admission practices that are fair, efficient, and effective. Often academic achievement is used as the primary screening and selection criterion without comprehensive study regarding the effectiveness of those variables in predicting student success. This book describes the state of the literature regarding the use of academic achievement to predict success in a variety of professional programs. This book also disseminates the results of a study involving 294 nursing students in an associate degree nursing program. The study yielded important information regarding which academic and demographic variables were predictive of nursing program completion and NCLEX-RN success. Specific recommendations are presented for policy and future research. Recommendations focus on increasing emphasis on variables predictive of student success in admission policy, using caution when using test scores for screening and selection of applicants, and employing a variety of variables in the ranking of applicants.