California is experiencing a critical shortage of nurses -- a shortage that is likely to increase in the coming years (Coffman & Spetz, 1999). Although much of the nation is also experiencing similar shortages, California's shortage is more severe than that of any other state in the nation (Bureau of Health Professions, 2002). Most analyses of the state's nursing shortage find that too few nurses are being educated to meet future demand (Coffman & Spetz, 1999; Sechrist, Barter, & Dechairo, 2000). Unless California's nursing education programs can produce additional graduates the nursing shortage could jeopardize public health. This study, requested by the state legislature through Senate Bill 664, examines admission policies and attrition rates in California community college RN programs. Specifically, the authors ask whether admission policies affect attrition, what other program characteristics affect attrition, and whether these things affect first-time pass rates on the national nursing board exam. Based on their predictive models, on-time completion, delay, and attrition rates are better in programs that have fewer students, various support programs for all nursing students, services specifically aimed at diverse students, and lower shares of African-American and Asian non-Filipino students. Other researchers have found that students who achieve higher grades in certain prerequisites are more likely to complete nursing programs. First-time pass rates on the board exam are better in programs with more students, programs that do not have remedial support and similar programs, fewer African-American students, and fewer Filipino students. (Contains 60 tables and 1 figure. Appended are the following: (1) Technical Details of the Analysis; (2) Additional Tables and Figures; and (3) Multivariate Models Examining Nursing Program Success.) [Additional funding for this report was provided by the California HealthCare Foundation and the California Program on Access to Care in the California Policy Research Center, University of California Office of the President.]