: Despite numerous measures of their success, nurses from graduate nursing programs for non-nurses (GPNNN) often struggle to find acceptance in the workplace. Employers frequently describe these nurses' superior psycho/social capabilities when compared to traditionally educated nurses, but little substantiating quantitative data exist to support this. This study explored nursing students' psycho/social ability by comparing measured emotional intelligence (EI) ability among students from four nursing schools, including one GPNNN program. Findings included significantly higher scores in the EI subscore "understanding emotions" for GPNNN students over two of the three comparison nursing programs, even when data were controlled for age.