Admission to the post-master's Doctor of Nursing Practice degree is limited to advanced practice registered nurses with a master’s degree from a Commission on Collegiate Nursing Education- or National League for Nursing Accrediting Commission-accredited program and who have current national certification in their specialty.

To be considered for admission to the Post Master's DNP program, and applicant must:

• Submit a university application and a curriculum vitae or resume. Click “start a graduate certificate application” to apply.
• Complete a Master of Science of Nursing degree from an accredited college or university.
• Possess a current unrestricted license to practice nursing as a registered nurse in the applicant’s state or country. For those applicants practicing in Michigan, a current registered nurse Michigan license is required. Applicants who hold registered nurse licensure from other states or countries and who are in the Nurse Practitioner and Anesthesia concentrations may be admitted provisionally with the requirement that a United States and Michigan registered nurse license must be obtained prior to progression.
• Possess current certification from a U.S. National Certifying Board as an NP, CRNA, CNS or CNM .
• A minimum grade-point average of 3.0 (4.0) scale for total credits completed during the master’s program.
• Complete a 3-credit statistics course, undergraduate (minimum grade 2.0 on a 4.0 scale) or graduate (minimum grade 3.0), within five years of intended program start date (not the application submission date or due date).
• Submit a written essay. This should addresses the applicant’s career goals and motivations for doctoral study.
• Submit three letters of recommendation. The reference letters must be from a source that has direct knowledge of the applicant’s work and educational experience specifying the applicant’s ability to do doctoral work.
• Complete an admission interview with the College of Nursing faculty. 
• Applicants whose native language is not English must demonstrate English proficiency by taking the Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL). For the paper-based test (PBT), a minimum average score of 550 is required, with no sub-score below 52. For the internet-based test (iBT), applicants must achieve a minimum average score of 80, with no sub-scores below 19 in reading, listening, and speaking, and no writing sub-score below 22. All test scores must be sent directly to the Michigan State University Office of Admissions by the testing agency.

Validation form (post-master's students only):

Applicants are required to submit a validation form to the administrator of their APRN program to verify the total number of clinical hours completed in the program as well as curriculum content for three APRN courses.  

All forms must be received by the final application deadline, April 1.

Applicants are responsible for uploading the completed validation form directly to the application or submitting to the Office of Student Affairs either via​​​ email or fax.

Out-of-State applicants:

Students who reside outside the state of Michigan who are considering an online nursing program should contact the appropriate board in their state of residency to confirm whether the course or program meets requirements for professional licensure in the student’s state of residence prior to beginning a course of study. MSU has an up-to-date, state-by-state summary available online.