Program Admission
Admit Terms and Deadlines
Applications are accepted on a rolling basis; students may start the program in the Winter. See Application Deadlines.
International applicants may apply to begin coursework during the fall semester.
The university takes an average of 2-3 weeks to make admission decisions. Therefore, the response time from the School of Nursing may be longer depending upon the submission date and application deadlines.
Minimum Graduate School Requirements
For full admission, applicants must have 1) Earned a four-year baccalaureate degree from a regionally accredited U.S. institution or an equivalent degree from a non-U.S. institution, 2) a minimum cumulative undergraduate grade point average of 2.7 on a 4.0 scale, or 3.0 in the last half of the undergraduate program. Conditional admission may be available to applicants not meeting minimum admission requirements.
Program Requirements
Applicants must also meet the following program requirements. Requirements may be more stringent than the minimum graduate school requirements.
- Possess a BSN degree (Applicants holding an RN license with a bachelor’s in another discipline may apply for conditional admission).
- Have at least a cumulative 3.0 (on a 4.0 scale) college GPA. (Applicants may seek conditional admission with a GPA of 2.75).
- Have a current unrestricted license to practice as a professional registered nurse in the U.S. or eligibility to obtain a Michigan license.
- Have completed an approved basic statistics course that includes descriptive and inferential statistics within the last ten years.
- Have completed a basic health assessment course.
- Have completed an undergraduate community health nursing course and clinical (or equivalent) from an accredited university. In addition, RNs with a Bachelor’s in a discipline other than nursing must either complete the Community Health Nursing courses (NURS 450 & NURS 451 ) or complete the Community Health ATI Examination to demonstrate equivalency.
- A telephone or in-person interview may be a part of the admission process
Additionally, the following documents are required and must be submitted with the application.
- Current licensure as a registered nurse in the state in which practice will occur (Applicants who are eligible for a license may apply for conditional admission)
- Resume or Curriculum Vitae
- A two to three-page (500 words maximum) personal statement describing your goals as a Doctor of Nursing Practice in Adult-Gerontological CNS.
The personal statement should reflect your understanding of (1) the role of an Adult-Gerontological CNS and (2) the DNP-prepared Advanced Practice Nurse. It should indicate that your goals are a fit for your chosen program. It is most effective when you have researched the program and the scope of practice of your area of interest before writing your statement. Review the documents linked above from the AACN, NACNS, and NCBSN to help articulate the fit with your goals. The personal statement is evaluated based on your understanding of the DNP-prepared Advanced Practice Nurse’s role, fit with our program, and the ability to express yourself clearly and professionally.
Application
Your application will be submitted using NursingCAS, a Centralized Application Service (CAS) hosted by Liaison. After reviewing the admission requirements, please review the application instructions and select the appropriate application.
Domestic Applicants Within the application, follow the instructions to submit an official transcript from all previously attended institutions.
International Applicants Before applying, applicants must review the international application/process deadlines at emich.edu/international as they may differ from general program requirements.
For additional information regarding the application process, please see Graduate Admissions or International Admissions.
Degree Requirements: 75 hours
Students enrolled in the Adult-Gerontology Clinical Nurse Specialist - DNP program will complete 75 credit hours, a minimum of 550 direct patient care clinical hours, and an additional 500 minimum of DNP practicum hours.
Students who complete the minimum course requirements for an MSN in their area of study and the minimum direct patient care clinical practicum hours may apply for the MSN program at the end of Term 5 (or equivalent part-time) and graduate with a Master of Science in Nursing at the end of Term 6 (or equivalent part-time). Transcripts will reflect the conferral of an MSN degree at this point. Students will continue to complete the remainder of their doctoral work within the DNP program (Terms 7-9 or part-time equivalent) and can graduate with a DNP degree after their doctoral-level coursework and clinical practicum hours.
Critical Graduation Information
Each graduate student is responsible for fulfilling the requirements or their equivalents of the Eastern Michigan University catalog in force at the time of their initial registration or a subsequent catalog, including the one in effect at the time of their graduation.
Students have seven (7) years to complete the requirements for the doctoral degree from the date of first enrollment in the doctoral program at EMU.
In the event a student does not complete the degree requirements within seven years of the date of their original registration, the student may be required to have their credits re-evaluated by the academic department(s) of their degree in keeping with catalog requirements in force during the year of their graduation.
The following are minimum requirements for all doctoral degrees awarded by Eastern Michigan University. Some programs require more than the minimum in one or more areas below.
- Minimum Credit Hour Requirements
- A Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.) degree must require a minimum of 90 credit hours post-bachelor’s degree.
- A Ph.D. degree in a program that requires a master’s degree for admission must require a minimum of 60 credit hours post-master’s.
- A Ph.D. degree in a program that allows a specialist’s degree for admission must require a minimum of 36 credit hours post-specialist.
- Doctoral degrees in clinical or practitioner programs must require a minimum of 75 hours if admitting students post-bachelor’s degree. If admitting students post-master’s degree, a minimum of 41 new hours are required.
- Doctoral programs must require a minimum of 15 total credit hours of research and research support coursework.
- No more than six credits of independent study courses, and no more than 12 credit hours of special topics and independent study courses combined, may be applied to a graduate degree.
- Residency Requirement - See Academic Policies and Processes—Graduate School for residency requirements.
- Students must maintain a 3.0 cumulative GPA in all graduate-level courses taken at EMU and in their program of study to remain in good academic standing and be eligible for graduation. Students do not need to be registered for classes during the semester of graduation.
- The Graduate School does not permit the use of undergraduate courses (499 and below) to meet degree requirements on graduate programs of study.
- Some doctoral programs require a dissertation. See the Graduate School website for Thesis and Dissertation Manuals, all forms, and information about research and human subject approval. Every completed thesis or dissertation must be submitted to Digital Commons. Any form of graduate student work submitted to Digital Commons must first be approved by a faculty advisor and the Graduate School.
