NATCHEZ — Sixty students will graduate from Alcorn State University School of Nursing on Saturday, about a dozen of those making the cut Thursday after getting a third chance to take a required nationally standardized nursing test.

“Of the 89 originally in the class, 60 of those have been cleared to graduate,” said Christopher Cason, ASU director of university relations.

“Of those, 34 are associate degree nurses, and 26 are bachelor of science nurses,” he said.

Students in both degree programs took the exam earlier in the spring, with about 70 students failing on the first try. On the second try, 41 of the 70 did not make the grade on the exit exam, which has been required at the nursing school since the spring term in 2000.

The test, provided by Health Education Systems Inc., is used by numerous nursing schools throughout the country. Mary Hill, dean of the nursing school, has said that the test is a predictor of how well students will do on the National Council for Licensure Examination.

Some students who did not pass the HESI on the third try will be eligible to take courses during the summer to prepare for another chance to take the test, Cason said. “I’m not sure what the criteria is for eligibility for the summer work, but those who are eligible will be able to take the courses in the summer and not have to wait until January,” he said.

Cason said school officials would like for the numbers of graduates to be 100 percent.

“Certainly she would like to see a 100 percent pass rate,” he said, referring to Hill. “She and the staff did everything imaginable to see that that happened, but unfortunately it did not work out that way.”

Providing a third retake of the test was out of the ordinary, as usually the school has allowed only two chances to pass the HESI.