There has been much research to suggest that depression, anxiety, and stress exist among college students. The results of this study also suggest that nursing students are at extremely high risk for experiencing increased levels of stress and anxiety. However, only minimal research exists to link these states to grade point average. The purpose of this study was to determine the effects of depression, anxiety, and stress among nursing students and to further investigate how those states affect grade point average. The study examined the percentage of nursing students experiencing depression, anxiety, and stress during the spring 2010 semester. The sample for this study consisted of baccalaureate nursing students from a mid-sized, rural university in the southern United States. The individual levels of students in a three step-wise progressive program were examined, and self-reported levels of depression, anxiety, stress, demographic characteristics, and grade point average were also analyzed. The Depression Anxiety Stress Scale, a demographic survey, and academic records were used as instrumentation for this study. A Kruskal-Wallis and three multiple regression analyses were used to explain and identify significant findings. These findings indicate that nursing students have a significant amount of self-reported anxiety during the first year of nursing. Level I nursing students have the lowest GPA among the three levels which indicates the higher level of anxiety may potentially lead to poor academic achievement. The multiple regression analyses indicated statistical significance in predicting end of semester grade point average among Level I and Level III students. Students in Level I had the highest stress level and the lowest GPA among the three groups. Level III nursing students had the highest GPA among the groups with a lower mean depression score than Level I, but slightly higher than Level II. This study provided insightful information related to anxiety levels and amount of stress that nursing students experience. Future research studies could include further analysis of a larger, more diverse population to strengthen the ability to predict GPA.