Next fall, qualified Arlington ISD high school students will be guaranteed admission into TCU and the Harris College of Nursing and Health Sciences, the assistant director of communications said.

Shawn Kornegay, assistant director of communications, said AISD approached Harris College a year and a half ago about the partnership and soon after they started working on the program.

Paulette Burns, dean of the Harris College, said most nursing schools have a limited number of openings each year.

“Currently there is a nursing shortage, and nursing schools are doing their best to keep up with the demand,” she said.

Each year, the university has more nursing school applicants than can be admitted, Burns said. The AISD agreement offers one of those opening slots to an Arlington student, provided he or she has met the admission requirements, she said.

Last year, 148 students entered the university with a declared major in nursing or health science, according to the TCU Fact Book. Admission rates were unavailable, according to Burns and the Office of Institutional Research.

To qualify, Arlington students must graduate with an SAT score of 1800 or an ACT score of 27, three years of a foreign language and four years of math and science courses.

Mac Bernd, AISD superintendent, said there is no difference in admission requirements for AISD students and other students being admitted.

“That’s the beauty of the program,” Bernd said. “TCU looked extensively at each prerequisite class taken by our students and the content they offered. TCU agreed that the classes would make the students pre-qualified.

“TCU is a worldwide prestigious school that is giving AISD students an outstanding opportunity.”

Sharon Hudson, assistant to the dean of the Harris School, said because these requirements are tough to meet, she doesn’t expect a large number of students to apply or meet these expectations. However, she said, those who do apply and qualify are likely to succeed in the program.