Cloud County Community College granted bilevel designation to allow PN exit option; PN site visit and admissions planned for fall 2025

The Kansas State Board of Nursing Education Committee approved Cloud County Community Collegerequest for a bilevel designation that will allow students in the collegeADN program the option to sit for the PN NCLEX after completing the first year of coursework while remaining enrolled in the ADN program.

Why it matters: Bilevel designation creates a formal pathway for students who wish to earn a practical nurse license during an ADN programwithout leaving the registered-nurse curriculum. Cloud College told the committee the change is intended to respond to local workforce needs and the demographic profile of their students, many of whom are second-career and nontraditional students.

What the college proposed: Cloud representatives said the bilevel designation would be optional (students would remain enrolled in the ADN program), that curricular alignment had been created to meet PN competencies (with added emphasis on IV therapy and scope-of-practice orientation for PN candidates), and that the college has consulted its clinical partners. The packet asked permission to admit PN-level students beginning fall 2025 and requested up to 100 admissions annually for the transition period.

Student eligibility questions: Committee members asked whether students already in Year 1 who entered before the bilevel approval would automatically be eligible to sit for the PN NCLEX. Staff and the committee clarified that the new approval applies to students admitted after formal approval; Cloud was encouraged to consider an optional bridge or short review course for current Year-1 students and to present a plan at the June meeting if it wants to make a targeted offering for existing cohorts.

Follow-up and site visit: The committee approved the initial PN application and admissions start for fall 2025, with a PN-level site visit required before full PN-level approval is granted. Cloud will submit documentation and the board will schedule the PN site visit during the site-visit cycle.