NursingCAS Dispatch - May 2026

NursingCAS 2026-2027 Configuration Portal to Launch May 18

The 2026-2027 NursingCAS Configuration Portal opens on Monday, May 18. Access to the Configuration Portal in the Prelaunch Environment allows you to edit program pages, features, and requirements for the upcoming cycle. Configuring and submitting your pages is required every year for your program to launch.

The 2026-2027 cycle will launch on Thursday, August 6. This cycle includes the Summer 2027, Fall 2027, Winter 2028, and Spring 2028 semesters. Programs launching on that date must submit configurations by Friday, July 3. While not required to launch on August 6, the NursingCAS team encourages schools to consider this date to maximize recruitment exposure for your programs. 

Pathway to Purpose: Nursing School Admissions 101 Webinars on May 6 & 12

AACN is hosting a special NursingCAS event series for applicants to celebrate National Nurses Week! Pathway to Purpose: Nursing School Admissions 101 consists of two one-hour sessions: the first was held on Wednesday, May 6, and the second will take place on Tuesday, May 12 at 3:00 p.m. ET. Presenters will discuss the nursing school application process and answer common questions about the nursing school admissions process, such as:

• How do I decide what nursing program is right for me?
• What should I consider before deciding to apply?
• What are admissions advisors looking for in a successful application?
• What does a day in the life of a student nurse look like?

Engage with your applicant pool and prepare them for their nursing school journey by encouraging them to attend these sessions!

Student Recruitment: Echo Targeting Webinar on May 19

Registration is now open for the Student Recruitment: Echo Targeting webinar taking place on Tuesday, May 19, from 2:00 – 2:30 p.m. ET. Echo Targeting is an affordable retargeted digital banner advertising tool that allows member schools to exclusively reach NursingCAS applicants while they surf the internet.

AACN’s partner, Owen Landon of Echo Interactive LLC, will be joined by school users to share how you can use retargeted ads to reach prospective student audiences. Join us to discover why dozens of schools across four health professions utilize Echo Targeting! Please register in advance to attend. Additional information on Echo Targeting is available on the NursingCAS website.

NursingCAS Configuration Training Webinar on May 28

The 2026-2027 Configuration Portal opens on Monday, May 18. Register now to attend the NursingCAS: Configuration Training Webinar on Thursday, May 28, from 2:00 – 3:00 p.m. ET. The following topics will be discussed:

• Configuration portal terminology and the NursingCAS rollover process
• Steps for configuring your programs
• Features to streamline application reviews
• Best practices for closing out a cycle and preparing for a new cycle

At least one member from each institution must participate in this training, but all users are encouraged to attend to prepare for the new application cycle. Registrants will receive a copy of the recording even if they are unable to attend. 

Recording Available: NursingCAS Demo Webinar 

Are any members of your team new to NursingCAS or in need of a refresher? Review the recording of the NursingCAS Overview: A Demonstration of the Student Application and Admissions Management Portal webinar held last month. Prospective and current NursingCAS users are encouraged to access the recording for a walk-through of the platform and an overview of best practices and useful tools in WebAdMIT.

Recording Available: NursingCAS Student Webinar

AACN held a webinar for prospective NursingCAS applicants, Preparing and Strengthening Your NursingCAS Application, last month. The recording of the webinar is now available. AACN encourages admissions and recruitment teams to review the recording to learn about NursingCAS from the applicant’s perspective. Schools can consider hosting similar webinars to support their applicant pool as well. Please share the recording with your in-progress and prospective applicant pool.

Webinar content includes:

• Detailed overview of the NursingCAS application
• Guidance on requesting transcripts and submitting coursework entry
• Answers to FAQs (application statuses, references, etc.)
• Tips to avoid common mistakes
• Recommendations to ensure quick application processing times
• Resources available for NursingCAS applicants

Managing Your Applicant Pool Using WebAdMIT’s Core Features

Designed for new admissions team members, those transitioning into WebAdMIT, or anyone seeking a refresher on the platform’s core features, Liaison Academy’s Managing Your Applicant Pool Using WebAdMIT’s Core Features course trains attendees on practical skills for streamlining admissions workflows and enhancing efficiency within the WebAdMIT platform.

This course is two weeks long, with sessions on Tuesdays and Thursdays from 1:00 to 2:30 p.m. ET. The registration fee is $195, and attendees will receive a Certificate of Completion after finishing and passing the course. The registration deadline for the October session of this course is October 9, with the course sessions to begin on October 13.

During this virtual course, you’ll learn how to use:

• Work Groups to manage your admissions users’ permissions.
• Local Statuses to track applicants during each stage of your admissions process.  
• List Manager to group and manage applicants by common criteria. 
• Emails to correspond with applicants.  
• Custom Fields to store information that your program needs, which is not collected from the applicant in the NursingCAS application. 
• Requirements to create a checklist of supplemental requirements for each applicant. 
• Export Manager to integrate student data with Student Information Systems.  

Register Now! Experience: LIAISON | Baltimore

Registration for Liaison International’s Experience: LIAISON | Baltimore is still open! This event will be held from June 8–10, 2026, at the Baltimore Marriott Waterfront. Join this community of enrollment management professionals, thought leaders, and industry experts to help chart the course forward for higher education!

The registration fee is $795, and group discounts are available. Additional information is available on the conference website.

Featured Liaison Academy Course | Evaluating Your Applicant Pool with WebAdMIT's GPAs

Optimize your use of WebAdMIT’s GPA calculation tools with this Liaison Academy training webinar, Evaluating Your Applicant Pool with WebAdMIT’s GPAs. This webinar will provide an in-depth look at the WebAdMIT GPA tool and help you determine which options might be best for your team. Discussion topics include:

• Where WebAdMIT's GPAs come from 
• Using Local GPAs for a customized experience 
• Working with Prerequisite GPAs, both applicant-selected and program-selected

Create a free account with Liaison Academy today and become a NursingCAS super user!

NursingCAS Applicant Newsletter 

The NursingCAS Applicant Newsletter, provided by AACN, is emailed to 180,000+ NursingCAS applicants the third week of every month. This newsletter is for programs affiliated with NursingCAS only. Program submissions are FREE and due the Friday prior to publication.

Posts must relate to a program’s Open Seats, any Deadline Extensions that have been implemented, or New Programs that have launched in the Application Portal since the previous newsletter. We recommend including contact information for representatives or links to your website and the NursingCAS application within the announcement. Visit the Newsletter Archive for samples of previous submissions.

Submit an Item to the Applicant Newsletter today!

NursingCAS Applicant Events Calendar

The NursingCAS Events Calendar allows you to publicize your program’s information sessions, virtual fairs, open houses, and other recruitment events that connect you with potential applicants!

Submit an Item to the Events Calendar today!

Annual Spring Lookup Updates

Many fields in the Applicant Portal contain predefined answer values that applicants can select; for example, the Country and County fields both have predefined answer values. These values are housed in shared "lookup tables." Periodically, we update these tables to include additional response options.

The new lookup table values include updates to colleges, ISO codes, majors, and minors. Review the Shared Lookup Table Updates page for a full list of updates. Note that the Master High School List will be updated in the next release.

These lookup table updates impact the following portals, some of which you may use. If you created a "crosswalk" from our portals to your local data in your SIS/CRM, you may need to update this crosswalk for the newly-added options. For guidance on the optimal implementation of the new values, review the Shared Lookup Table Updates page.

• API
• Liaison Analytics
• Liaison Outcomes
• WebAdMIT

Date Field Reference Guide

In WebAdMIT, applicant files contain various date fields. Some of these dates are affected by applicant activities, while others are affected by the CAS processing documents or other data points. You can review the most common applicant date fields in this guide. Note that you can use many of these dates when identifying new and updated applicants.

Simplifying Federal Change: How Liaison Supports Compliance and Adaptation

Liaison is committed to supporting you as you navigate evolving legal and regulatory landscapes. This article provides guidance on how Liaison's products can support your institution's approach to recent legislative changes.

Subscribe to WebAdMIT Release Notes    

WebAdMIT Release Notes provide a summary of enhancements and new features that are made available in the Applicant Portal, Applicant Gateway, Configuration Portal, Letters by Liaison, and WebAdMIT. Want to receive Release Notes emails? Subscribe here.

Liaison International provides monthly updates on new features and enhancements available within the Applicant Portal, Configuration Portal, WebAdMIT, and information on upcoming training opportunities. Please note that these are only a few highlights of Liaison’s recent enhancements. See the complete list of recent enhancements in WebAdMIT Release Notes.

WebAdMIT Sandbox Environment Refresh

Are you utilizing the WebAdMIT Sandbox? If not, you should be! Sandbox is a duplicate test platform useful for testing and training purposes; any actions performed in Sandbox will not affect the live data in production. This tool provides users with a safe, “near-production” environment to test applications and run sample exports, among other actions. The Sandbox is a copy of the WebAdMIT production environment with sensitive applicant information (such as surnames, email addresses, etc.) obfuscated.

The WebAdMIT Sandbox is refreshed between 9:00 a.m. and 2:00 p.m. ET every Monday. If Monday is a U.S. or Canadian holiday, deployment is the next business day and includes all system changes from the preceding release. The WebAdMIT Sandbox environment is refreshed with current (cleansed) production data and program configurations. Any test exports, custom fields, etc., in the current Sandbox will be overwritten.