In order to provide all eligible nursing school applicants with equal access to careers in professional nursing and to assure an adequate supply of professional nurses, a study was conducted to identify factors that contribute to the successful recruitment, selection, and retention of students by nursing schools. A questionnaire was sent to all 1,439 nursing schools in the country to obtain a picture of their admission policies and practices. To facilitate analysis of this data, a sample of twenty schools, representing various types of programs and different geographical locations, was selected for site visits and in-depth interviews with administrators and faculty. Another questionnaire was mailed to the more than 2,400 1974 applicants to these twenty schools. The following recommendations were made at the conclusion of the study: (1) to gain wider and more comprehensive recruitment, pool manpower resources with local schools and expand the geographic scope of recruitment coverage; (2) find methods of dealing with insufficient funding; for instance, incorporate the nursing school information into the school's general catalog rather than publish it separately; (3) develop recruitment of minority students, providing them with special brochures and encouraging them to apply early; (4) canvas the community for alternative sources of financial assistance to students; and (5) increase efforts to redirect applicants to other programs. (ELG)