The RN-MSN Early Entry Program is designed for the outstanding student who wants to pursue an accelerated path to the MSN. Applicants must meet all admission requirements for the RN-to-BSN and graduate program and make application directly to the Graduate School with the appropriate fee simultaneously with the application to RN-to-BSN. The following application criteria apply to Early Entry MSN applicants:

1. Meets all criteria for admission to the RN-to-BSN Program (all prerequisites taken).
2. Satisfactory performance on the Graduate Record Examination or the Miller Analogies Test or a previous Graduate degree with documentation of test scores.
3. One year of professional nursing practice is recommended.
4. An essay (statement of purpose) describing the applicant’s experience and objective in undertaking graduate study in the chosen specialty.
5. The program of study will substitute ten (10) credits from the MSN for the BSN program. NURS 6160 (Nursing Research) will be substituted for NURN 4900 - Research in Nursing Practice ; NURS 6115 (Health Policy) will be substituted for NURN 4201 - Information Technology: Applications in Healthcare ; NURS 6101 (Theoretical Basis for Nursing Practice) will be substituted for NURN 3103 - Concepts of Professional Nursing Science ; and one additional graduate course will be substituted for the Nursing Elective. These 10 credits will apply to both programs. Credit hours for NURN 3103  are awarded upon successful completion of NURN 4450 .
6. Progression in the MSN program is provisional upon evidence of successful completion of the BSN with a GPA of 3.0 in the RN-to-BSN program. (Note: if only the BSN degree is awarded, any graduate level credit hours taken as part of the combined curriculum become part of the BSN degree and are not eligible for transfer into an MSN major.)
7. Students graduate with a BSN and then a MSN.
8. Nurse Anesthesia Across the Lifespan, Family Nurse Practitioner, and Adult-Gerontology Acute Care Nurse Practitioner do not admit Early Entry students.

Tuition rates for courses are based on the academic status of students, not on the undergraduate or graduate level of the course. As soon as students enroll in a graduate course, their academic status changes from undergraduate to graduate. This changes the tuition charges from undergraduate to graduate for all courses taken in the remainder of the RN-to-BSN program as well as the courses in the MSN program.