Criminal background checks and drug tests are conducted by CastleBranch, a third-party vendor, and are required even if the student has already completed one through another vendor or for another school.

Students pay the $37 fee for the criminal background check and $40 for drug testing ($44 for Medical Laboratory Technology). Fees are subject to change.

A criminal background check includes information from every county where an applicant has lived during the last 10 years. Reports will show any felony, misdemeanor or impaired driving conviction and/or dismissal, excluding minor traffic violations. All results are stored securely with CastleBranch. Students can review their results by logging back into their CastleBranch account.

Wake Tech sends flagged/positive reports to clinical sites as required by affiliation agreements. The sites have the right to deny placement to any student with a criminal background. Wake Tech will notify the student via telephone or email to the student's Wake Tech address, and the clinical compliance administrator will contact the student to discuss next steps. 

Clinical sites do not typically allow a student with a pending charge or court date to work in their facilities. Students with pending charges or court dates must submit a letter from a lawyer or official documentation from the clerk of court to the Health Sciences clinical compliance administrator indicating the outcome of their case(s) by these deadlines:

• Fall semester entry – June 30
• Spring semester entry – October 31
• Summer term entry – March 31

Students who do not submit documentation by the deadline will be removed from the acceptance or alternate list and must reapply for the next admission cycle.

A student who believes a criminal background check report contains false or inaccurate information should contact CastleBranch Customer Service at 888-914-7279 or [email protected] and notify the Health Sciences clinical compliance administrator as soon as possible. 

Students may not communicate directly with clinical sites. In some cases, a site may agree to review a letter of explanation, up to two letters of recommendation or other material pertaining to the criminal background check if submitted by the deadline. 

NOTE: Explanations and recommendations do not guarantee that a clinical site will accept, reconsider or change its original decision about accepting the student.

A student who is denied clinical placement cannot complete the required clinical component of the program and will be dismissed from the program. 

No exceptions will be made to college reimbursement policies.

Fingerprinting is required as part of a criminal background check for Associate Degree Nursing students who have not lived in North Carolina during the last five years. These students must submit a fingerprinting card to the City/County Bureau of Identification, a local police department or a local sheriff's office for completion.

Students are responsible for the additional fee of approximately $30 for fingerprinting.

Wake Tech may accept an existing criminal background check report if it was conducted with CastleBranch for Wake Tech and it is less than 6 months old. Typically, a background check re-check will be required.

The student is required to report, in writing, any criminal arrest, charge or conviction, excluding minor traffic violations, within three business days of its occurrence to the Health Sciences clinical compliance administrator.

A new charge will void the student's clinical clearance, and since the student will be unable to complete clinical training, the student would be dismissed from the program. The charge must first be resolved in order to be reviewed by clinical sites for the student to request re-entry into the program.