The purpose of this ex post facto correlational study was to determine if the Test of Essential Academic Skills (TEAS) examination successfully identified nursing students capable of completing a nursing program. The study was based on correlational analysis that established the relationship between the TEAS V score, completion of the program, and a student's ability to pass the National Council Licensure Examination for Registered Nurses (NCLEX-RN) on the first attempt. The study also examined the relationship between the pre-admission nursing GPA, program completion, and a student's ability to pass the NCLEX-RN on the first attempt. The participants in this study were African American nursing students enrolled in a Mid-Atlantic community college during the 2012-2015 academic years. Theories on retention, integration, and persistence and the Nursing Cognitive Aptitude Model (NCAM) served as the framework for this study. The study utilized archival data collected by a school of nursing. Descriptive statistics were used to describe the students' demographic characteristics, while inferential statistics were employed to answer five research questions. Chi-square and binary logistic regression were used to determine if there was a relationship between the independent and dependent variables and to assess if TEAS composite scores and the pre-admission GPA were predictors of student success in passing the NCLEX-RN on the first attempt and/or successful completion of an associate degree in a nursing program. Overall, the study's findings supported the use of models of retention, integration, and persistence and the NCAM. Statistical significance was found in the relationships between TEAS composite scores and completion of an associate degree nursing (ADN) program, pre-nursing GPA and successful program completion, and TEAS composite scores and pre-nursing GPA as a significant contribution to the prediction of program completion. Contrarily, there was no statistical significance between TEAS composite scores and first-attempt NCLEX-RN success, pre-nursing GPA and first attempt NCLEX-RN success or the TEAS composite scores and the pre-nursing GPA's ability to predict whether a student would pass the NCLEX-RN on the first attempt. [The dissertation citations contained here are published with the permission of ProQuest LLC. Further reproduction is prohibited without permission. Copies of dissertations may be obtained by Telephone (800) 1-800-521-0600. Web page: http://www.proquest.com/en-US/products/dissertations/individuals.shtml.]