New Mexico nursing board puts college on notice

SANTA FE, N.M. (AP) — Santa Fe Community College won't be able to accept any new students into its nursing program until its graduates' test results improve or it wins an appeal. The Santa Fe New Mexican reports (http://bit.ly/2op1G89) that the state nursing board has placed the college's nursing program on conditional status for two years due to low scores on licensing exams. The passing rate for the exams is 80 percent. Students at the college averaged between 72 percent and 79 percent in the last three years. College leaders plan to ask the board to reconsider the program's status based on improved test scores for the first quarter of 2017. Eighty-six percent of students in the associate degree program and 90 percent in the bachelor's program passed the most recent licensure exam.