No application for licensure as a licensed practical nurse shall be considered unless accompanied by a fee determined by the board by regulation. Every applicant for examination as a licensed practical nurse shall furnish evidence satisfactory to the board that he or she is eighteen years of age or over, is a citizen of the United States or has legally declared intention to become such, is of good moral character, has completed at least twelve years of education with diploma in public, parochial or private school, or its equivalent as evaluated by the Department of Education; and has satisfactorily completed a program in practical nursing prescribed and approved by the board in a school, hospital or other educational institution, of not less than fifteen hundred hours and within a period of not less than twelve months, or has completed a program considered by the board to be equal to that required in this Commonwealth at the time such program was completed. The board shall not issue a license or certificate to an applicant who has been convicted of a felonious act prohibited by the act of April 14, 1972 (P.L. 233, No. 64),¹ known as “The Controlled Substance, Drug, Device and Cosmetic Act,” or convicted of a felony relating to a controlled substance in a court of law of the United States or any other state, territory or country unless:

As used in this section the term “convicted” shall include a judgment, an admission of guilt or a plea of nolo contendere. An applicant's statement on the application declaring the absence of a conviction shall be deemed satisfactory evidence of the absence of a conviction, unless the board has some evidence to the contrary.