Purpose: This methodological study was conducted to develop and test a cultural competence scale for nursing students. Methods:Based on the five constructs of cultural competency identified in the conceptual analysis of Suh, 76 items for the tool were derivedinitially. These items were reduced to 58 items after content validity tests (two times) by 6 multicultural experts. Data collected from526 nursing students were utilized to test the validity and reliability of the preliminary tool. Item analysis, factor analysis, Pearsoncorrelation coefficients, and Cronbach’s alpha were used for the analysis. Results: Twenty-seven items were selected for the finalscale, and categorized into 5 factors explaining 62.1% of the total variance. Cronbach’s alpha was .91 and the reliability of the subscalesranged from .76 to .91. Criterion validity between the developed tool and empathy (r=.26, p qqqlt;.001) was significant. Conclusion:The results show that this scale can provide scientific and empirical data when evaluating the effectiveness of school curriculumsor multicultural empowerment programs regarding cultural competence of nursing students.