General Admission and Program Requirements

Admission Requirements for BSN Graduates

• Three professional recommendations

• RN licensure in Ohio

• Satisfactory scores on the Miller Analogies Test (MAT) or the Graduate Record Examination (GRE).

• Completion of an accredited first professional degree program in nursing.

• Some majors and sub-specialties (such as ACNP, NNP, Flight, Cardiac, and Anesthesia) require specific work experience and/or interviews. Our admissions advisors can provide you with specific information.

• A college or university statistics course equivalent to STAT 201 that includes ANOVA must be completed within 5 years of admission or prior to registering for NURS 425.

Applicants who do not meet the above requirements may be referred to the MSN Admissions Committee for special consideration and may be required to fulfill additional prerequisites.

See our entry options page to direct you to proper program based on your background.

Program Requirements

MSN majors require an average of 40 semester hours. Your individual program of study is designed to meet individual clinical interests, learning needs, and career goals.

In addition, clinical and research experience forms an integral part of graduate study in nursing. Most MSN majors require a minimum of 500 clinical hours; certain programs require more.

Most MSN students are required to take ten core courses in Professional Development, Scientific Inquiry, and Nursing Practice (for nurse practitioner majors). The general curriculum pattern is as follows:

* For Nurse Practitioner majors. Other majors differ in their major-specific core requirement.

Community Engagement Focus

Selected courses for MSN students at the Frances Payne Bolton School of Nursing incorporate projects with community agencies. These projects are designed to improve health care among under-served residents of the greater Cleveland area. Developed in collaboration with the community partners, these projects are a unique component of FPB’s masters curriculum. Community agencies that participate include but are not limited to the Hospice of the Western Reserve, The Heath Museum of Cleveland, the American Red Cross Greater Cleveland Chapter, Health CMHA (Cuyahoga Municipal Housing Authority), American Diabetes Association-Cleveland, and school districts in the Cleveland area.