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M.S. Nursing – Education (BSN-to-MSN Program)

Master of Science Nursing – Education (BSN-to-MSN Program)

A nurse educator is a compassionate caregiver and dedicated teacher—all wrapped in one. Pass your passion on: Teach the art of caregiving. Become a nurse educator and inspire caregivers.

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Named a Center of Excellence™ in Nursing Education for creating environments that enhance student learning and professional development.

NLN Center of Excellence in Nursing Education 2015-2019 badge

Overview
Become a master’s-prepared nurse educator online and on your schedule. Earn your master's in nursing.

The value of experience: It’s what makes a great nurse educator. And it’s also what makes a successful MSN – Education student at WGU. With the knowledge and skills you have gained as a registered nurse with a BSN, you’ll be a powerful teacher for other nurses. And thanks to competency-based education at WGU, your nursing experience will also empower you to move quickly through material you already know. That lets you focus on gaining the know-how you need to go from BSN to MSN and become an in-demand nurse educator.

WGU’s online, CCNE-accredited BSN-to-MSN program will prepare you to teach a new generation of nurses.

63% of graduates finish in less than

2 years

WGU lets you move more quickly through material you already know and advance as soon as you're ready. The result: You may finish faster.
See how it works

Tuition per 6-month term is

$3,750

Tuition charged per term—rather than per credit—helps you control the ultimate cost of your degree. Finish faster, pay less!
See how time is money

Graduates who recommend WGU:

97%

The vast majority of alumni say WGU delivered on its promises. In fact, over 50% of students found WGU thanks to a friend's recommendation.
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Tuition as of January 1, 2018.
Impart excellence: Train caregivers in diverse settings.

Master’s-prepared nurse educators educate and train nurses, nursing students, school children, community groups, workers, patients, and consumers. You will be prepared to work in settings such as:
Hospitals.

Community agencies.

Schools.

Industry and businesses.

Nursing programs.
Learn more
What you’ll learn: a highly relevant curriculum developed by healthcare industry experts.

The WGU MSN – Education curriculum is evidence-based. Competencies for this specialty were derived from the National League for Nursing Nurse Educator standards and the Master’s Essentials for Professional Nursing practice.

Download Program Guide

In the M.S. Nursing core of this online program, you will develop knowledge related to complexities of healthcare, access, quality, and costs for diverse populations. The nurse educator specialization will cover topics like curriculum development, learning styles, assessment, and more.
MSN Core

Nursing courses that are core to your MSN degree work include:

Professional Presence and Influence

Translational Research for Practice and Populations

Organizational Leadership and Interprofessional Team Development

Pathopharmacological Foundations for Advanced Nursing Practice

Comprehensive Health Assessment for Patients and Populations

Essentials of Advanced Nursing Practice Field Experience

Policy, Politics, and Global Health Trends

See all courses
Nursing Science and Education

Courses specific to nursing science and your nurse education specialty include:

Advanced Information Management and the Application of Technology

Evolving Roles of Nurse Educators in Diverse Learning Environments

Facilitation of Context-Based Student-Centered Learning

Contemporary Curriculum Design and Development in Nursing Education

Assessment and Evaluation Strategies for Measuring Student Learning

Emerging Trends and Challenges in 21st Century Nursing Education

Nursing Education Field Experience

Nurse Educator Capstone

See all courses
The WGU Difference

We reimagined the path to a degree. How it works for you:

It’s doable.
Efficient, flexible, individualized, and supportive, WGU puts you in the driver’s seat—allowing you to advance as quickly as you're able.

It’s surprisingly affordable.
Low, flat-rate tuition and the opportunity to speed up your program allow you to control the cost of your education.

It’s worth it.
Employers love WGU graduates. And grads report greater satisfaction, career advancement, and income growth after earning a WGU degree.

See how we do it
A supported, personalized experience.

WGU is unlike any university you’ve experienced before—in the best possible way! Take a look at what we mean:

Faculty Learning Assessment Field Experience Alumni Support

Faculty

SUPPORTING YOU: Faculty focused on students.

WGU faculty members have one goal in mind: your success. Your Program Mentor is your individually assigned faculty member, providing guidance and instruction from the day you start to the day you graduate. In addition, Course Instructors provide subject-matter instruction and support, typically one-on-one, exactly when you need it.

Learning

YOUR ROADMAP: A personalized learning plan.

Your program is made up of a series of courses, each a personalized journey toward subject mastery. A preassessment provides insight into what you already know. You’ll then learn what you still need to learn, using online learning resources—available 24/7—along with one-on-one or cohort-based faculty instruction.

Assessment

PROVE IT: Show you know your stuff.

WGU measures learning, not time, so each course culminates in an assessment—a test, paper, project, or presentation that allows you to prove what you know. As soon as you’re ready, take the assessment—including the ability to take proctored exams from the comfort of your own home— via webcam, any time of day!

Field Experience

REAL-WORLD: Time in the field.

Most of your program will be completed online but all nursing programs include some learning that occurs in a healthcare facility. Sometimes that will be where you work; other times, it will require placement in a facility near you. We will help you make all the arrangements.

Alumni Support

ALWAYS a Night Owl: WGU for life.

Continued support after you graduate includes many opportunities for professional development and enrichment, career support, and networking. WGU Night Owls may be independent learners, but they also become highly engaged in our active alumni community through apps, groups, and events.

The accreditation you need, plus respect and recognition.

Healthcare and nursing employers want employees with the credentials that prove they can help improve patient care while streamlining facilities and strengthening their reputations. An important measure of a health degree’s value is whether it comes from an accredited university with programs that have been recognized for excellence by leading healthcare organizations.

Accredited

In addition to WGU's regional accreditation through the Northwest Commission on Colleges and Universities, the bachelor’s and master’s nursing degree programs at WGU are accredited by the Commission on Collegiate Nursing Education.

Respected

“What we need are people who are truly versatile, able to learn efficiently and effectively. ... Those are the kind of people [who] represent graduates of Western Governors University.”
John Steele
Senior Vice President of Human Relations
HCA Healthcare

Recognized

The National League for Nursing named WGU’s nursing programs a Center of Excellence™ in Nursing Education for creating environments that enhance student learning and professional development.

Accredited

Respected

Recognized

Our programs check all the boxes. If this degree is your goal, get started toward becoming a student today—programs start the first of each month.

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Cost & Time
When we say affordable, we mean it.

$3,750

Tuition per 6-month term

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+$145

Flat fee for e-books and learning resources, saving you hundreds per term

=

=$3,895

TOTAL PER TERM

+$65

One-time application fee

Apply FREE this week

This program also requires a one-time Health Professions Student Fee of $350.
Control the cost of your program: Our tuition links cost to time.

By charging per term rather than per credit—and empowering students to accelerate through material they know well or learn quickly—WGU helps students control the ultimate cost of their degrees.
Flat-rate tuition of $3,895 per term links cost to time.

By charging per 6-month term rather than per credit hour—and empowering students to accelerate through material they know well or can learn quickly—WGU helps students control the ultimate cost of their degrees.

Adjust the time and see your costs change

Your time

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1 yr
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There's help if you need it.

Financial aid is available.

WGU is approved for federal financial aid and U.S. veterans benefits.

View more about financial aid.

WGU students borrow less than half the national average.

Our goal: You graduate with little or no debt.

The average student loan debt of WGU graduates in 2016 (among those who borrowed) was less than half the national average. WGU’s three-pronged approach to keeping your debt low and your return on investment quick: One, provide useful information and advice on responsible borrowing before enrollment. Two, keep tuition low while you're enrolled. And three, offer degree programs that lead to better-paying jobs after graduation.

Read about our Responsible Borrowing Initiative.

Degree Cost Comparison*

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Other Online Nonprofit University

WGU

Earn your MSN for about half what you’d pay elsewhere.

Low tuition and the ability to accelerate make WGU a more affordable option than most other schools. When you compare us with other programs, WGU’s BSN-to-MSN – Education program offers rigorous curriculum with competitive post-graduation results, but at as little as half the cost—or even less.

*Estimates based on July 2017 WGU and comparable universities' tuition data. Learn more about WGU's tuition and how it compares.

Transparent fees and no hidden costs.

The cost of attending college often includes much more than tuition and fees. WGU is designed to be different, and that translates to cost savings everywhere from books to babysitting.

Other universities bury you in unexpected costs. Not WGU.

Click to explore the extra costs:

Tuition Books

Parking Gas

Library / resource fees Babysitter every week for
nighttime classes

WGU

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Traditional
4 year school

This demonstration shows how various costs—including official fees and incidental costs of attending school—can add up in different learning environments. It's meant as an illustration only.

Scholarships make our already low tuition even more affordable.

Many scholarship opportunities are available. Here are just a few you may be eligible to apply for:

$2,000

WGU Loves Nurses Scholarship

$2,000

ANPD Excellence in Nursing Education Scholarship

$2,500

Healthcare Partners Fund

The affordable, flexible programs offered at WGU put high-quality education within your reach. Start working toward your future.

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Courses & Competencies

Curriculum that ensures you’ve mastered the things employers want you to know.

Program consists of:
15 Courses Download Program Guide

At WGU, we design our curriculum to be timely, relevant, and practical—all to ensure your degree is proof you really know your stuff.

Every course in your M.S. Nursing – Education degree program focuses on a set of clearly defined competencies that you must prove you’ve learned—through tests, papers, projects, or other assessments. Demonstrating mastery is how you pass a course, so learning what it takes to be outstanding in your career is at the heart of WGU’s M.S. Nursing – Education (BSN to MSN) curriculum.

That means what you learn is often directly applicable the next day at work—and it means what you’re doing at work frequently informs the work you’re doing in your courses. It’s all about real-world applicability so every moment spent studying is time well spent.

Courses in this program.

This program consists of the following courses, which you will typically complete one at a time as you make your way through your program, working with your Program Mentor each term to build your personalized Degree Plan. You’ll work through each course as quickly as you can study and learn the material. As soon as you’re ready, you’ll pass the assessment, complete the course, and move on. This means you can finish as many courses as you're able in a term at no additional cost.

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MSN Professional Nursing Core

Professional Presence and Influence

Who we are and how we behave affects others. Our professional presence in therapeutic settings can support or inhibit well-being not only in patients, but also in the rest of the health care team, in the family and support system of the patients, and in the health care organization as a whole. This course will help registered nurses manage this impact by recognizing situations and practices that support a positive environment and cultivating actions and responses to achieve and maintain this environment. The growth of self-knowledge will expand nurses’ ability to direct influence in ways that are intended rather than in random or destructive ways.

Translational Research for Practice and Populations

This graduate-level course builds on your baccalaureate-level statistical knowledge to help you develop skills in analyzing, interpreting, and translating research into nursing practice using principles of patient-centered care and applications to individuals and populations

Organizational Leadership and Interprofessional Team Development

This graduate-level course builds on baccalaureate-level leadership knowledge to develop application skills in complex healthcare environments with diverse teams. Graduates will develop knowledge and competencies in the following areas: leadership theory, systems and complexity theory, advanced communication, and building consensus. Knowledge, skills, and abilities related to creating cultures of safety and leading quality improvement are key parts of this course and of contemporary leadership. Most importantly, students will develop and establish deep understanding of leadership roles within organizations, a central theme in the course. Upon successful completion of this course, Students will demonstrate: • critical decision making, critical analysis, and visionary thinking to lead and affect positive healthcare environments; • the ability to build consensus and communicate a compelling vision that facilitates teamwork.

Pathopharmacological Foundations for Advanced Nursing Practice

In Pathopharmacological Foundations for Advanced Nursing Practice, students will gain application skills by examining syndromes rather than looking at body systems independently. The course includes pathophysiologies, the associated pharmacological treatments, and social and environmental impacts Pathopharmacological Foundations for Advanced Nursing Practice is an integrated examination of five common and important disease processes: asthma, heart failure, obesity, traumatic brain injury, and depression. These processes are relevant to advanced nursing practice because of their prevalence and impact on the healthcare system and the health of the nation.

Comprehensive Health Assessment for Patients and Populations

In this course, students will learn about the principles of health assessment from the individual to the global level. Students will learn to perform a comprehensive functional health assessment that includes social structures, family history, and environmental situations, from the individual patient to the population. This course builds on prior knowledge gained in previous courses and in nursing practice, in areas such as pathophysiology, pharmacology, and epidemiology, and focus on applying this knowledge in various populations with common disorders. This course is roughly divided into three parts: • Advanced health assessment focusing on abnormal findings for common disease. • Integrating health assessment findings into a population, considering such issue as culture, spirituality, and continuum. • Functionality of clients based upon the problems and populations.

Essentials of Advanced Nursing Practice Field Experience

The Essentials of Advanced Nursing Practice Field Experience course gives you an opportunity to apply leadership knowledge to evaluate a healthcare facility and then recommend an organizational change to improve population health. In this course you will integrate and apply your learning in a clinical experience working with a nurse leader. You will demonstrate and document the following skills: • lead change to improve quality health in populations • advance a culture of excellence through lifelong learning • build and lead collaborative interprofessional care teams • navigate and integrate care services across the healthcare system • design innovative nursing practices • translate evidence into practice

Policy, Politics, and Global Health Trends

Social, political, and economic factors influence policies that impact health outcomes in acute care settings in communities, nationally and globally. Nurse leaders need to understand the determinants of health as well as how legal and regulatory processes, healthcare finances, research, the role of professional organizations, and special interest groups/lobbyists impact health outcomes.This course provides a framework for understanding the organization of healthcare delivery and financing systems in the U.S. and other nations. It addresses how policies are made and factors that influence policies at local, national, and global levels that impact health/wellness and the nursing profession. The roles of values, ethical theories, stakeholder interests, research, and recent legislation related to health policy and health outcomes will be explored. The nurse leader will gain expertise in effecting change through active participation in influencing or developing policies that impact health.

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Nursing Science

Advanced Information Management and the Application of Technology

In this course you will examine complementary roles of master’s level-prepared nursing information technology professionals, including informaticists and quality officers. You will analyze current and emerging technologies; data management; ethical legal and regulatory best-practice evidence; and bio-health informatics using decision-making support systems at the point of care.

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Nursing Education

Emerging Trends and Challenges in 21st Century Nursing Education

Emerging Trends and Challenges in 21st Century Nursing Education analyzes the emerging trends, technologies, and challenges that academic nurse educators encounter when facilitating learning in diverse healthcare settings. Students will focus on the necessity of interprofessional collaboration, and the barriers and facilitators to overcoming the challenges associated with teaching and learning in nursing. Topics include the impact of emerging technology, challenges in nursing practice, and the role of the academic nurse educator as a scholar and a nursing education policy advocate. This course has no prerequisites.

Nursing Education Field Experience

The Nursing Education Field Experience provides the academic nurse educator student an opportunity to work collaboratively with academic mentors and interprofessional stakeholders to analyze the need-gap for a curriculum change, innovation, or improvement. Based on the identified need-gap, the graduate student will design and develop a course that reflects evidence-based instructional design and assessment principles and practices. This course prepares students for the role of an Academic Nurse Educator, as an agent for change and quality improvement in nursing education.

Nursing Education Capstone

The Nursing Education Capstone course provides the Academic Nurse Educator student an opportunity to apply previous course work towards the completion of an evidence-based curriculum proposal project. During this course students will build on previous work during their Nursing Education Field Experience course by planning the implementation and evaluation phases of their proposed curriculum change, innovation or improvement. The capstone proposal project represents a synthesis of competencies across the Masters Science of Nursing—Nursing Education degree program, which prepares them to lead, manage, and transform nursing education in diverse and complex academic settings.

Evolving Roles of Nurse Educators in Diverse Environments

Evolving Roles of Nurse Educators examines the multidimensional roles of a contemporary academic nurse educator. This course explores the roles and responsibilities of the nurse educator as a teacher, leader, change agent, and curriculum innovator. Students will also examine the importance of personal and professional development by developing strategies that promote academic integrity, cultural sensitivity, social justice, and ethical/legal values in diverse environments. The course emphasizes the responsibility of nurse educators to utilize communication, collaboration, and leadership in mitigating challenges in academic nursing education.

Facilitation of Context-Based Student-Centered Learning

Facilitation of Context-Based Student-Centered Learning explores how the nurse educator will incorporate authentic experiences into the creation of course plans that facilitate scholarly inquiry, collaboration, and knowledge acquisition in varied educational environments. Emphasis is placed on innovative, transformational, and experiential teaching and learning strategies to facilitate student development of professional context-based nursing principles, knowledge, skills, and behavior. Evolving Roles of Nurse Educators in Diverse Environments is a prerequisite to this course.

Contemporary Curriculum Design and Development in Nursing Education

Contemporary Curriculum Design and Development in Nursing Education analyzes the concepts of creating curriculum based on national nursing accreditation standards and instructional design best practices. Nurse educator students will create course content that supports learning in diverse, real-world environments where nurse educators facilitate learning. Instructional design strategies for delivering course content will reflect the mission of academic institution programs, contemporary trends in nursing education, and the needs of key stakeholders in nursing education and practice. Facilitation of Context-Based Student-Centered Learning is a prerequisite to this course.

Assessment and Evaluation Strategies for Measuring Student Learning

Assessment and Evaluation Strategies for Measuring Student Learning addresses the academic nurse educator’s role in the design, development, implementation, and evaluation of student achievement outcomes in nursing education programs. This course requires students to integrate best practices from nursing theory and theories of learning to assess student learning in diverse educational settings. Topics include validity, reliability, and practicality of assessments, interpreting item difficulty and discrimination test results, and analyzing student achievement and learning outcomes data. This course has no prerequisites.

Plan to work hard: Program requirements and expectations.

The MSN – Education (BSN to MSN) is a mostly online degree program that you will complete by working and studying independently with support and instruction from WGU faculty. You will be expected to complete at least 8 competency units (WGU's equivalent of the credit hour) each 6-month term. (Each course is typically 3 or 4 units.)

The first person you speak with at WGU will be your Enrollment Counselor, an expert in your program who can explain all the requirements and expectations in more detail. You can also read more about each course in the Program Guide.

Request info from an Enrollment Counselor

Download the Program Guide

Special requirements for this program:

While most of your coursework will be completed online, your nursing program includes some requirements—including field experiences—that must be completed in a facility near you, which the university will help you find.

We offer degrees for in-demand careers that provide the knowledge and skills you need to succeed. Give your résumé the boost it needs!

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Quality you can trust: Curriculum developed with guidance from healthcare employers and experts.

Program councils—teams of industry and academic experts—drive the development of our degree programs, providing input on the competencies a successful graduate needs to have mastered.
How You'll Learn
Designed to be different: An MSN program built for a busy nurse’s schedule.

Competency-based education puts working nurses in the driver’s seat of their education. As a busy nurse, you need a degree program that's more than simply online—you need a program that truly reflects the realities of your work life and experience.

At WGU, your progress is driven by your ability to prove what you’ve learned. How—and how quickly—are largely up to you. Once you’ve mastered the defined competencies (knowledge and skills), you prove what you know through tests, papers, projects, or other assessments. Demonstrating mastery is how you pass a course, so learning what it takes to be outstanding in your career is at the heart of WGU’s MSN – Education curriculum.

Other universities' online M.S. programs may give you the convenience of distance learning; WGU's competency-based online programs take that flexibility further—many steps further!

“I hadn’t been in school for so long, but having the work experience from being a nurse, I not only did well, I actually loved it. The courses were practical, and everything made sense.” Keith Plant
B.S. Nursing, 2014

Designed for working nurses.

Day shift, night shift, or on-call; flu season or the onslaught of summertime injuries; 5-minute coffee breaks where you’re still on your feet… A nurse’s schedule is never predictable—and not very forgiving. That’s why we focus on making the best use of your time and experience and why we maximize the real-world impact of what you’re learning—so your years as a nurse can help you graduate faster, and the hours of study time you squeeze in actually pay off at work.

Competency-Based Education (CBE)

How it helps you

Efficient

Save time and money by focusing efforts where they matter the most.

No two students are alike—especially working adult students with nursing experience. Students come to school knowing different things, they learn at different speeds, and they have different amounts of time to spend studying. Competency-based education lets you prioritize where to spend your valuable time.

Flexible

Learn on your own terms.

Nurses' schedules are unpredictable. Online degree programs all offer some degree of flexibility, but not like WGU does! Whatever your week looks like, competency-based learning at WGU allows you to study and complete competencies when it fits your life—even if that means taking a proctored test online at 3 a.m.

Results

Know you’re learning real-world skills.

You earn an M.S. Nursing degree for results—not simply to accrue credits. Competency-based education centers on competencies—the clearly defined knowledge and skills that leading healthcare employers are looking for. How do we know what they’re looking for? They tell us—and their input drives our curriculum.

Finish courses by proving what you know, as soon as you’re ready.

With competency-based education at WGU, success is measured by actual learning, not class time. You advance by demonstrating that you've mastered the course subject matter—whether you learned it through your study at WGU or picked up that knowledge through years of work experience.

Your progress through a course is driven by you.

How quickly you learn

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The time you devote to studying

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How much previous knowledge you bring
See it in action.

Play the game to see how a competency-based course works at WGU.
competency, noun

Demonstrated knowledge, skill, or ability required to advance in a degree program.

At WGU, course competencies are defined by an expert council, including employers.

For this course, there are 3 areas you need to prove competency in.

Start

First, let's take a pre‑assessment.

Determine what you already know from previous work and education experience, and where you need to focus your studies. Prove your competency in 3 areas in this exercise.

Start Pre-Assessment

Competency 1: Retrieving results...
Competency 2: Retrieving results...
Competency 3: Retrieving results...

Start Course

Second, study course materials.

Click on the free learning resources created by education experts that will help you master the competencies.

E-textbook

Web-based Tutorials

Online Classes

Simulations

Learning Communities

Course Mentors

Ready? Take Assessment

Result:

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Measuring:

Skills

Knowledge

X
Your experience pays at WGU.

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Career Outlook
Real results for your career: An MSN – Education degree prepares you to be a nurse educator.

Once you have earned a CCNE-accredited M.S. Nursing – Education degree, you will have the knowledge and skills to be an outstanding nurse educator. You'll be in demand, because you'll be prepared to translate your extensive nursing knowledge into learning opportunities for other nurses.
WGU's M.S. Nursing – Education graduates are thriving in diverse careers.

Given the growing nurse educator shortage, earning your MSN with a focus in nursing education is both a rewarding decision and a solid career move. Once you master subjects like curriculum development, instruction and evaluation, and current technology in nursing education, your role in nursing can take on a whole new dimension. Our 3,000-plus M.S. Nursing – Education alumni have great jobs and satisfying careers:
Job Titles

Nurse Educator

Professor of Nursing

Programs Director

Nursing Instructor

Clinical Educator
Diverse Industries

Hospitals and healthcare clinics

Colleges and universities

Healthcare networks

Law enforcement and corrections

Hospice providers
Major Employers

Healthcare Corp. of America

Kaiser-Permanente

Purdue University

University of Utah

Hospice Care of California
Explore a career in nursing education.

Get info about a nurse educator's salary, job outlook, work environment, and more.

LEARN MORE
WGU is an accredited university committed to graduate success.

The ultimate test of your degree's value is whether it helps you become an outstanding employee and advance your career. Our happy grads—and their happy employers—confirm that WGU is the path to that kind of degree.
Happy employers

Happy grads

They're Prepared.

Employers said that WGU graduates were prepared for their jobs.

They Perform.

Employers rated WGU graduates' job performance as very good or excellent.

They Wow.

Employers said their WGU graduates have exceeded their expectations.

They're Confident.

Graduates said the majority of their coursework was related to their jobs.

They're Working.

Graduates are working full-time.

They're Satisfied.

Graduates said their degrees were worth the cost of their education.

Source: 2016 Harris Poll survey of 301 employers; 2016 Harris Poll Online survey of 1,403 new college graduates nationwide compared with survey of 1,207 WGU graduates; WGU--Gallup 2016 Report
“Our partnership with WGU enables our employees to advance their education affordably without interrupting their careers.” John Steele, Senior Vice President of Human Resources,
Hospital Corporation of America

Close the gap between you and your dreams.

Online degree programs start every month.

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Admissions
Your master's degree in nursing education is attainable—start by enrolling today.

Next Start Date

Sep 1

Start the 1st of any month—as soon as you complete enrollment!
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Get your questions answered and take the next step: Talk to an Enrollment Counselor.

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Request info
Your Enrollment Counselor is there to help you make an informed decision.
The first step toward change can be the hardest—we get it. Your "welcoming committee" at WGU is made up of Enrollment Counselors, Admissions Specialists, and faculty members. Your initial interactions at WGU will be guided by an Enrollment Counselor who specializes in the programs you're interested in.

Your Enrollment Counselor is ready with as much help as you may need:

Get your cost and admissions criteria questions answered.

Assess WGU's fit with your career goals.

Get started toward enrollment!

Contact an Enrollment Counselor.
Admission requirements unique to our M.S. Nursing (BSN-to-MSN) degree programs.
To be considered for this master's in nursing education program, you must:

Possess a bachelor of science in nursing degree (BSN).

Possess a current, unencumbered registered nurse (RN) license.

Submit a résumé and be actively working as an RN at the time of application and enrollment.

Submit to a criminal background check through American Databank. California residents are also required to provide proof of current immunizations. Additional fees apply.

View general admissions requirements
Making an informed admission decision.

WGU seeks to admit individuals who have the capacity and determination to complete a rigorous WGU degree program…and graduate. The admission process is designed to help you and the university reach an informed decision about your likelihood of success.

At WGU we want you to graduate, not just enroll. Consequently, not every applicant is admitted because not every individual is a good fit for WGU’s programs and competency-based, online academic model.
Common questions for College of Health Professions programs.

Do I have to pay the application fee to be admitted?

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Yes. You may talk to an Enrollment Counselor without paying the $65 application fee, but the fee must be paid before you can be admitted. The application fee helps defray our costs associated with admissions, transcript collection, enrolling students, etc. Note: It is against federal regulations to use financial aid for an application fee.

What is the deadline for transcript submission?

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Transcripts must be received by the 1st of the month before your intended start date. WGU requires that ALL official transcripts of previous academic work completed at other colleges and universities be submitted for evaluation.

How does WGU keep its tuition so low?

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As a nonprofit university, WGU doesn’t need to benefit shareholders. Our students are our only focus. We also try to keep our operating costs low. And since we’re an exclusively online university, we don’t need to maintain expensive classroom buildings, a campus, or other non-academic programs.

Should I consider financial aid?

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Using financial aid is a personal decision. When making this decision, you should know that a degree is a great investment in yourself that will pay for itself many times over. Individuals with a bachelor’s degree earn on average almost a million dollars more over the course their careers compared to those without one. A master’s degree typically has a similar impact on your wallet. You should definitely consider federal financial aid if it means the difference between getting your degree or not. Speak to an Enrollment Counselor to learn more.

Can a graduate of this program get into a nurse practitioner or other post-graduate nursing program?

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Admissions requirements vary widely from program to program and from school to school. Nurse practitioner programs—including Master of Science in Nursing (MSN), Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP), and post-MSN NP certificate programs—can be among the most competitive. One factor commonly considered for enrollment in post-graduate nursing programs is grade-point average (GPA) from previous college work. The nature of WGU’s competency-based model means WGU graduates do not have a GPA when they earn their degree.

However, other factors beyond GPA are considered by many programs across the country. WGU provides opportunities for students to students to demonstrate excellence beyond a GPA, including participation in nationally recognized honors programs, real-world projects that you complete as part of your program that you can showcase in your post-graduate applications, and letters of recommendation from WGU faculty or leadership.

For any aspiring graduate student, it is important to maximize your own qualities as well as do the research to understand the schools that offer the programs you seek to join.

You can start your research by reviewing this list of post-graduate programs that have admitted WGU alumni in the past. Look on LinkedIn for WGU nursing alumni who have gone on to become nurse practitioners, and check their profiles to see which schools they attended for the MSN or DNP program. Contact the school to ask whether they enroll students from competency-based programs like WGU’s. And talk to your WGU Enrollment Counselor. WGU can provide alumni with a letter they can share with graduate schools, explaining our competency-based model. This letter has helped WGU alumni be accepted into a variety of graduate programs in a number of fields and disciplines.

Have more questions? Find more info here.
See all transfer FAQs

Programs begin the 1st of any month.

New students can begin their first term at the beginning of any month. So you can start when you’re ready, rather than rushing (or waiting) for fall or spring enrollment. There's no need to wait!

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“The enrollment process was seamless. I talked to a gentleman on the phone, and he told me what I would need. I sent my transcripts in. Within three days they were evaluated. It was a really good process.” Robin Hill,
M.S. Nursing – Education

WGU is school on your terms.

School can fit into your life—start working toward your better future now.

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