Selecting a graduate nursing school can be time-consuming, and choosing the right one can significantly impact your career. Our survey of graduate nursing programs includes more than 710 colleges and universities that offer graduate-level nursing degrees and certificates. These graduate nursing schools differ in their financial operations, the degree programs offered, and instruction formats.
Here are several factors that may affect your choice of a nursing program when selecting a graduate nursing school:
- Financial Operation – How is your tuition money spent, and what type of instructors and students are attracted,
- College vs. University – What is the difference between a College and a University,
- Degree Options – What degrees are offered and in what areas of specialization,
- Instruction Formats – Do you have a preference for how you receive instruction,
- Learning Delivery – Synchronous or Asynchronous coursework,
- Time Period – What is the time commitment? Are classes Full-Time or Part-Time, and
- Faculty Organization – “Department” or “School” – What’s implied in a name?
Financial Operation
Colleges and universities with graduate nursing programs fall into one of three types of financial operation:
- Private For-Profit – these companies operate for a profit. Investor consortiums own many of these companies,
- Private Not-For-Profit – these schools are privately held but operate on a non-profit basis. Many of these schools are religiously affiliated, and
- Public – these schools operate as agencies of government. Public funding supports these schools.
Here are a few attributes that describe how a school’s financial operation may affect your experience as a graduate nursing student. These are general descriptions, and specifics vary by school.
College vs University
Universities generally offer a more comprehensive range of degree offerings delivered by more tenured instructional staff. Universities are more likely to provide access to a well-equipped Simulation Laboratory and a larger pool of Preceptors. More prominent universities are likely involved in research programs that enrich the learning process for nursing students. Universities often provide undergraduate and graduate students with opportunities to participate in research programs. Senior faculty members lead these research programs and are a part of the Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) candidate curriculum.
Colleges generally provide a smaller selection of degree offerings than Universities. In general, Colleges offer a closer relationship with the instructional staff. Universities usually have a larger student population that some may find intimidating.
Degree Options
The focus of graduate nursing degrees falls into two major groups: Clinical and Non-Clinical.
Here are advanced Clinical nursing roles providing direct patient care:
Other Clinically oriented degrees include:
- Forensic Nursing,
- Nursing Science, and
- Public Health Nursing.
These clinical areas may involve areas of specialization such as pediatrics, cardiology, and oncology, to name a few.
Non-clinical degrees focus on roles that are not involved in direct patient care, including:
- Nurse Educator (NE),
- Nursing Administration and Healthcare Leadership, and
- Nursing and Healthcare Informatics.
Use the Graduate Nursing Degree Search Tools to locate graduate nursing programs for these roles and other nursing practice areas.
Instruction Formats
A significant factor in selecting a graduate nursing school can be the instruction format for your degree.
- Campus Classroom – an excellent option if you can live near or on the campus,
- Online – a great choice if a college or university campus is not readily accessible, and the subject lends itself to distance learning,
- Hybrid – a best-of-both-worlds combination of Campus Classroom and Online, and
- Executive – a popular option for students who work full-time.
The available formats of instruction vary by school and area of study. The Online option works well for non-clinical degrees. However, students in clinical areas of study generally benefit the most in a Campus Classroom environment.
The choice of an instruction format may also be affected by any work schedule you may have.
Learning Delivery
Coursework follows a Synchronous or Asynchronous learning schedule.
- Synchronous – Coursework follows a fixed schedule. This learning model is most common for the classroom-based instruction format. Students must be able to commit to a fixed schedule.
- Asynchronous – Coursework, including lectures, may be accessed and completed on your schedule within a prescribed but flexible timeframe. However, successful completion of prerequisite material requires the student to complete courses in the correct sequence. All instruction formats may include some Asynchronous course delivery.
Time Period
Virtually all nursing master’s and Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP) programs require coursework completion in a set time frame.
- Full-Time – Enables you to complete a program in the shortest time. However, this requires a significant time commitment that may be difficult to sustain against competing work or family obligations. Most full-time students are unable to maintain a full work schedule. Some schools have developed programs with highly compressed course delivery schedules that demand intense focus on the part of their students.
- Part-Time – These programs often allow twice the length of time for completion compared to Full-Time programs. Most students can maintain a full or abbreviated work schedule. These programs may contain a high percentage of Asynchronously delivered course material.
Most Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) nursing programs do not have a set time frame for completion. This flexibility is due to the varying amount of time required for students to complete research and dissertation work.
Faculty Organization
Schools (i.e., colleges or universities) organize their faculty by academic field of study. These nursing faculty organizations are often referred to by the widely recognized titles “Department of Nursing” or “School of Nursing.” The nursing faculty in the smallest schools may not have a widely recognized title, but our purposes may be called a Faculty Group. The title of a nursing program may provide clues to its characteristic when selecting a graduate nursing school.
No hard rules distinguish a Department from a School or a Faculty Group. However, it may be possible to make some general inferences concerning the depth and breadth of a school’s commitment to nursing by the name given to the nursing faculty.
Faculty Group
Most Private-for-Profit schools or smaller colleges do not use the titles “Department of Nursing” or “School of Nursing” in describing how they organize their nursing faculty. In this situation, the nursing organization may be considered a Faculty Group.
These Faculty Groups generally offer a relatively narrow range of graduate nursing instruction.
Department of Nursing
The title “Department of Nursing” is commonly used by most colleges and smaller universities. A Department of Nursing may be part of a larger School or College. For example, a Department of Nursing may be part of a School of Health Sciences or a College of Health and Wellness Professions.
A Department of Nursing typically offers a bachelors-level nursing degree and a limited number of graduate nursing degrees. Some schools offer graduate nursing degrees through a separate Department of Graduate Studies.
School of Nursing
The title “School of Nursing” is commonly used by more prominent universities. A School of Nursing is often divided into separate departments for undergraduate and graduate departments. The undergraduate departments host the associate and bachelor’s nursing degree programs. Meanwhile, graduate departments offer master’s and doctoral-level degrees and post-graduate certificates.
A School of Nursing usually has a more prominent faculty representing a broader range of nursing disciplines. School of Nursing graduate programs are more likely to be involved in nursing research. In addition, these graduate programs typically offer a more comprehensive range of degree options, including Accelerated Degrees, Dual Degrees, Dual Practice, and Tandem Degrees programs of study.
A Dean of Nursing usually leads a School of Nursing. Being led by a Dean enables the nursing faculty to advocate more effectively for resources with the school administration.
Also, think of a College of Nursing as having the same attributes as a School of Nursing.