NursingCAS Reference: How to Submit and What to Write

NursingCAS Reference: How to Submit and What to Write

A NursingCAS reference reaches you as an email from support@nursingcas.myliaison.com with a link to Liaison Letters, where you fill in whatever that program asks: questions, ratings, a letter upload or all three. References for the 2026–2027 cycle can be submitted until February 10, 2028 at 11:59 PM ET.

Our view: NursingCAS references are set program by program, so the same applicant can send you two requests with different questions. Answer each request for its program. Do not switch on Liaison's automatic reuse and let one answer go everywhere, because once it is on you cannot review an answer before it goes out.

Every NursingCAS and Liaison help page quoted below was checked on November 7, 2026. What to say about an applicant's nursing readiness is covered in the nursing school recommendation letter guide for BSN and ABSN programs and the NP and DNP recommendation guide for graduate programs. This page covers the request, the form and the portal.

How the request reaches you

NursingCAS puts references inside each program's materials. Its help page says: "The References section is only available for certain programs that require you to submit references" (NursingCAS Program Materials). Three things follow:

• One request per program. When the applicant adds a reference for a second program, they can "use an existing reference you previously entered or request a new reference." Either way, you get a request tied to that program.
• Only you submit it. References "are submitted by the references themselves; they cannot be completed or submitted by the applicant or another party on behalf of the reference."
• The applicant chose the target date. They "Select the date by which you would like this reference completed", which "should be before your program(s) deadline."

Open the request and read the left-hand panel first. Liaison shows the request type, whether the applicant waived access, their email, the date requested, the Requested By date, and an Applying To line listing "the programs the applicant is applying to" (Liaison Letters guide). The Applying To line tells you which program's form you are filling in.

What the form can contain

NursingCAS says "References may complete assessments such as writing essays, completing Likert scales, and/or uploading letters." The questions themselves are set by each program, and no NursingCAS help page lists them. You see them only when you open the request. Liaison's general guide describes the possible parts:

Formatting is fragile in the text boxes. Liaison suggests removing formatting first; in Chrome, right-click the box and choose Paste as plain text.

The countercase to answering every form fresh: if the applicant is applying to several programs of the same kind (for example, three ABSN programs that each want one professional reference), the forms may ask the same thing. Then one careful answer, reused, is reasonable. Check the second request's questions before you decide.

Reuse and its trap

Liaison Letters has an automatic reuse setting for services that collect references "through the Program Materials section using specific recommendation types (e.g., academic, personal, etc.)", which is where NursingCAS puts them. After you submit the first one, you choose whether to reuse it. The rule that matters:

"Note that if you select Yes, you can't review or edit the recommendation before it is submitted for any future recommendation request."

With reuse on, "any time the same applicant requests the same recommendation type for an additional program, the system automatically completes the recommendation and submits it." You get an email "every Friday" listing reuses, and you can click Stop Reusing at any time. Liaison's own advice if you use it: "keep it generic so it can be reused for any program at any school."

That advice is the trap. A generic answer is weaker for every program. An applicant applying to an ABSN program and an NP program is asking you two different questions: readiness to learn nursing, and readiness for advanced practice education. One reused answer cannot serve both.

Our recommendation: answer No to reuse unless every program on the Applying To list is the same kind of program.

Deadlines and edits

The cycle dates come from the NursingCAS cycle dates page. Both cycles are open in November 2026, so check which term the applicant is applying for.

If the Requested By date has passed, Liaison says to "submit your recommendation and contact the applicant to confirm deadline dates." NursingCAS tells applicants "We will not notify applicants about missing references", so tell the applicant when you submit.

Editing. "If available, you can edit completed recommendations by clicking Edit in the top right of your completed recommendation," including "comments, ratings, and uploading letters", then resubmit with Preview & Submit (Liaison edit guide). The applicant cannot pull it: "completed references cannot be removed or replaced."

Drafts. Save & Exit keeps a draft under the Accepted status on your dashboard.

Delegates. A unit secretary or program assistant can be added as a delegate to prepare or submit; your name still appears as the author, and "the recommender is responsible for the authenticity of the letter" (Liaison delegate guide).

No email. Check spam for the NursingCAS sender, then ask the applicant which address they entered. If the address is wrong, the applicant must delete the request and add a new one. The recommender link troubleshooting guide covers the same fixes on other portals.

Constructed example: a nurse manager's short answer

Constructed example, written by us, not a real reference. The question is invented; NursingCAS programs write their own. The applicant is applying to an NP program.

Question (invented): Describe the applicant's clinical judgment, with an example.

Weak: Ilaria has excellent clinical judgment and is one of my best nurses. I have no doubt Ilaria will be an outstanding nurse practitioner.

Revised: I have managed Ilaria on our 28-bed cardiac step-down unit for three years and review Ilaria's charting during audits. Last spring Ilaria noticed that a post-catheterization patient's heart rate had climbed over two hours while the blood pressure stayed in range. Ilaria checked the access site, found a developing hematoma, held pressure and called the rapid response team before the pressure fell. Of the 40 nurses I manage, Ilaria is one of three I assign to precept new graduates. I have not observed Ilaria in an advanced practice role.

The revised answer is 89 words. It gives the relationship and how you know the work, one incident with Ilaria's own actions, a comparison with a counted group, and a stated limit. That limit matters on an NP reference: you can describe RN judgment, not NP practice.

For a CRNA applicant the same structure applies, with different evidence; see the CRNA recommendation letter examples. If you are filling in a PA reference on the same Liaison portal, the CASPA evaluation form guide covers the CASPA rules.

Get a free review of the letter

Get a free Quick Review of your recommendation letter against GradPilot's advanced nursing recommendation rubric, for NP, DNP and nurse-anesthesia references. It reads whether your stated contact supports your judgments, whether your assessment rests on what the applicant did, whether it connects to the advanced study they are seeking, and whether your recommendation is supported. Writing for a BSN or ABSN applicant? Use the nursing school recommendation letter rubric. Paste form answers one question at a time.

More nursing guides are in the nursing essays hub, and health-professions letter guides are in the medical school essays hub.

Sources

Retrieved November 7, 2026.

• NursingCAS Applicant Help Center, NursingCAS Program Materials (2026–2027 cycle section): references only for some programs, existing-reference option, request email, reference-only submission, assessment types, no notification of missing references, completed references cannot be removed.
• NursingCAS Applicant Help Center, Application Cycle Dates: program-set deadlines; reference cutoffs for the 2025–2026 and 2026–2027 cycles.
• Liaison Letters Help Center, Complete a Recommendation: request panel, form parts, paste as plain text, upload rules, reuse setting.
• Liaison Letters Help Center, FAQs: Requested By date, file size, missing requests, drafts.
• Liaison Letters Help Center, Edit Completed Recommendations and Assign a Delegate: editing and delegates.