HESI A2

Nursing Entrance Exam (HESI A2)

• Required for any student applying to an MCCCD Nursing program
• Set up Evolve account prior to testing – view instructions below
• Four-hour timed test
• Schedule an appointment to take the HESI A2.
  • For questions, contact Testing Services: [email protected].
• Cost is $45 for students testing for admission into a Maricopa Nursing Program – pay at Student Business Services.
  • Students testing for an institution outside of the Maricopa Colleges must pay an additional $35 proctoring fee, and can request the Untimed version of the HESI A2 if they prefer.

To prepare for the HESI A2

• The official practice book for the HESI A2 is the Hesi Admission Assessment Exam Review (published by ElSevier) and is available for check-out at EMCC's library.
• EMCC has Hesi prep workshops. Find dates and times: HESI prep workshops

Required Sections for Maricopa Nursing Program for HESI A2

1.  Math: 55-item exam. Focuses on math skills needed for health care fields, including basic addition, subtraction, multiplication, fractions, decimals, ratio and proportion, household measures, and general math facts that are useful, for example, when calculating drug dosages and solutions.
2.  Reading Comprehension: 55-item exam. Reading scenarios that are health related. Provides reading scenarios in order to measure reading comprehension, including: identifying the main idea, finding meaning of words in context, passage comprehension, making logical inferences, etc. The reading scenarios pop up on the screen. Students can move around the windows to see the entire scenario.
3.  Vocabulary and General Knowledge: 55-item exam. Contains basic vocabulary that is often used in health care fields.
4.  Grammar: 55-item exam. Contains basic grammar, including: parts of speech, important terms and their uses in grammar, and commonly occurring grammatical errors.

Score Requirements for Maricopa Traditional (RN) Program

• Math score 75% or higher
• English Composite score 80% or higher (Reading Comprehension, Vocabulary, and Grammar test scores averaged together)
• Scores will remain valid for 24 months from the date the test was taken.  Students may take the HESI A2 up to three times in a 12 month period, with 60 days minimum between attempts.

Applicants requesting advanced placement into Block 3 of the Maricopa Nursing Program take this exam.  The HESI PN exam is a 4-hour test designed to assess basic knowledge of practical nursing.  Applicants must achieve a score of 850 or higher.  Scores are valid for 6 months.  Visit the Maricopa Nursing Programs site for admissions requirements.   

Applicants who do not take the HESI PN Entrance exam or those scoring less than 850 are eligible to apply for Block 2 admission.  If a student elects to attempt the HESI PN a second time, remediation is strongly encouraged and there is a 6 month wait period to retake the HESI PN.  

• Hesi PN test fee is $59 for students testing for the MCCCD Nursing program.  (Students testing for an institution outside of the Maricopa Colleges must pay an additional $35 proctor fee.)

Applicants who feel they have sufficient behavioral health/psychiatric didactic and clinical content completed through coursework and/or work-related experience may request to waive NCE214OP by taking the HESI Psychiatric Content specialty examination.  A score of 850 or higher is required to waive NCE214OP.  Scores are valid for 6 months.  Students must obtain permission from the Nursing Director at their home campus to take the HESI Psychiatric Content examination.  (At EMCC, students should contact [email protected] for permission to take the exam.)  

The HESI Psychiatric Content examination is a placement test and may only be attempted once.  If the minimum score is not achieved, NCE214OP will need to be taken to be considered for placement into Block 3.  The student may also elect to apply for placement into Block 2 if they do not achieve 850 on the placement exam or do not wish to take NCE214OP.

• Hesi Psychiatric Content Exam fee is $45 for students testing for the MCCCD Nursing program.  (Students testing for an institution outside of the Maricopa Colleges must pay an additional $35 proctor fee.)

If you have a documented disability that requires testing accommodations on a HESI test, please contact Disability Resources and Services