Degree Programs:  DNP Admissions Requirements

Applications will be accepted from individuals with baccalaureate or master’s degrees for admission in Autumn Quarter 2009 (depending on specialty). Post-Master’s of Nursing applicants may apply to either an area of study in which they are already credentialed or to a different area of study.

ADMISSION CRITERIA

For additional Admission information visit the University of Washington Graduate School's Homepage.

Admission is based on acceptance by the UW Graduate School and School of Nursing:

• a baccalaureate degree from a nationally accredited nursing program with a minimum grade point average of 3.0 on a 4.0 scale for the last 90 graded quarter credits
  or
  an associate of arts degree or diploma from a nationally accredited RN program, in combination with a baccalaureate degree in a field other than nursing, acceptable to the UW. In addition, RNs with non-nursing baccalaureate degrees are required to demonstrate competencies in community health and professional leadership equivalent to those of baccalaureate degree nursing graduates, and are required to submit nursing equivalency essays.
  or
  a Master’s of Nursing degree from an accredited nursing program.  Applications will be accepted from both Post-Master’s of Nursing applicants already credentialed in their chosen area of DNP study and from those applicants who wish to apply to an area of study different from one(s) they are already credentialed in.


• All applicants to the DNP program must have an active, unrestricted U.S. RN license at the time of application. If the applicant does not have an active, unrestricted Washington State license, they would need to obtain one prior to beginning the University of Washington Doctor of Nursing Practice program should they be admitted.

• Completion of a 3 quarter credit basic course in descriptive and inferential statistics with a grade of at least 2.0. Click here for a list of Approved Statistics Courses.  NOTE:  Post-Master’s of Nursing applicants are exempt from this requirement.

• Official Graduate Record Examination (GRE) General Test Scores--no longer being required--see note above.

• International Applicants, as well as Immigrants to the U.S. and U.S. Permanent Residents, whose native language is not English, and who have not received a Bachelor’s degree or higher in the U.S., Australia, Canada, Ireland, New Zealand or the United Kingdom, must show proficiency in English speaking as well as listening, writing and reading.  Required are ONE of the following:

  1. If you take the new TOEFLiBT exam you are required to have a minimum combined score for the listening, writing and reading sections of 70, PLUS a speaking section score of 28 or higher.
     
     
  2. The other option is one of the following: 
     TOEFL score of 580 or higher
     TOEFLC score of 237 or higher
     or
     IELTS (International English Language Testing System) score of 7.0 or higher, MLT (Michigan Language Test) score of 90 (the MLT must be taken at the University of Washington)
     
     IN ADDITION TO scores from one of the following spoken English exams:
     
     TSE (International Test of Spoken English) score of 55 or greater
     or
     SPEAK (Speaking Proficiency English Assessment Kit) score of 230 or greater
     (SPEAK is administered by the University of Washington through the Testing Center at the Office of Educational Assessment. To qualify to take SPEAK you must have already applied to the UW Graduate School.)
     
     
  Test scores must be less than 2 years old from the test date. English proficiency scores should be sent to the UW Graduate School and photocopies of score reports you receive included with the School of Nursing DNP application. The School of Nursing English proficiency requirement for admission may differ from that of other graduate programs at the University of Washington, and was established to ensure students' success in this graduate program and in clinical settings.
  
  

• In addition, all applicants to the UW School of Nursing DNP Program should review the University of Washington School of Nursing Academic Programs Memorandum No. 31, ESSENTIAL BEHAVIORS FOR ADMISSION, CONTINUATION, AND GRADUATION FOR UW SEATTLE, BOTHELL, AND TACOMA MASTERS STUDENTS, UW SEATTLE DNP, POST-LICENSED MEPN AND DEPN STUDENTS,
  AND UW TACOMA BSN STUDENTS, which outlines the behaviors and abilities for admission to, continuation in, and graduation from our Master and DNP programs.

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