Post-Master's Doctor of Nursing Practice
Transform care, lead with confidence and shape the future of health.
Program overview
Ohio State’s Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP) program builds on your professional foundation to prepare you for the highest level of nursing practice. Through the DNP program, you will focus on evidence-based practice, advanced management of direct patient care, health systems leadership, innovation, wellness, ethical decision making and more.
Whether you aspire to elevate your clinical expertise or drive change at the organizational level, our two tracks are designed to help you reach your goals:
- Clinical Expert — Deepen your clinical mastery and deliver care at the highest level to improve patient and population outcomes.
- Nurse Executive — Build the leadership, strategic and systems-thinking skills needed to guide teams, influence policy and advance organizational transformation.
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Online
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38-45 credit hours
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2-3 years
Eligibility requirements
- Master of Science in Nursing from a program accredited through the CCNE, ACEN or CNEA or a Bachelor of Science in Nursing with a non-nursing master's degree
- Your degree must be conferred by Aug. 1, prior to beginning enrollment in the Post Master's DNP program
- International applicants must hold the equivalent BSN degree or higher from a regionally accredited institution
- All transcripts must undergo a course-by-course credential evaluation by an approved evaluation agency to verify program equivalency and calculate a GPA on a 4.0 scale
- Active, unencumbered RN license in the state where you practice
- You may apply before receiving your RN license, but must be in possession of a current, unencumbered RN license by Aug. 1
- Cumulative GPA of 3.0 or higher in the most recent relevant degree.
- Applicants with lower GPAs may still be considered.
- Residence in an authorized state
- Completed statistics prerequisite course with a B- or higher
Clinical Expert track
Students applying to this track must possess an active APRN certification (CNS, CNM, CNP or CRNA) by Aug. 1
Prerequisite requirements
- Complete an undergraduate or graduate statistics course before the application deadline for admission consideration
- Earn a grade of B- or higher is required
- Courses that are in progress at the time of the deadline do not meet this requirement
- Credit by examination (such as AP test scores) cannot be used to fulfill this requirement
- Pass/fail courses are not accepted
- Completed the course within five years of the application deadline
- This includes the full calendar year in which the course was taken
The prerequisite statistics course should include:
- A review of basic statistical concepts
- A review of univariate statistical analysis
- A review of bivariate statistical analysis
- An overview of commonly used statistical tests
The following Ohio State courses fulfill the prerequisite course requirement:
- PSYCH 2220 Data Analysis in Psychology
- PSYCH 3321 Quantitative and Statistical Methods
- PUBHIBO 6210 Applied Biostatistics I
- STATISTICS 1350 Elementary Statistics
- STATISTICS 1450 Introduction to the Practice of Statistics
- STATISTICS 2450 Introduction to Statistical Analysis
Use Transferology and Ohio State equivalency tools to determine if your coursework meets requirements.
If you cannot find an equivalent course, you must request a course evaluation through Graduate and Professional Admissions.
Course evaluation
- Email ESUE-gpevaluation@osu.edu
- State that you are submitting courses for the DNP program
- Provide the following
- Course number and title
- Institution
- Term completed
- Credit hours
- Course description (from the institution's course catalog)
Course evaluations may take several weeks and may require additional documentation.
Learn more about resolving transfer credit.
Clinical Expert track
This program uses an interprofessional collaborative approach steeped in wellness and evidence-based practice. Our faculty serve as mentors and advisors to provide you with the tools to achieve your professional goals. A national-level APRN certification is required.
Nurse Executive track
This track is for those who want to lead innovative, transformative health care organizations. You will also gain experience in organizational culture, advanced leadership training and unique immersion experiences. A national-level APRN certification is preferred, but not required.
Time to degree
- 2 years full-time
- 3 years part-time, including summers
Credit hours
- 38-45, depending on your specialty track
Delivery format
- Online (most online classes will meet on a set day and time (ET) at least once a week)
Immersion hours
- Complete over course of the program.
- Students can complete at their place of employment, with approval from your advisor and employer.
Our curriculum emphasizes the core competencies that define modern nursing leadership: quality improvement, informatics, health policy, systems thinking and organizational change. Graduates emerge prepared to create meaningful impact across patient care and health systems.
Sample schedules
Year 1
Autumn
- Evidence-based Practice (2 credits)
- Quality Improvement (2 credits)
- Methods and Measurements (2 credits)
- Professional Seminar (1 credit)
- MINDSTRONG (1 credit)
Spring
- Health Promotion, Theory and Population Health (2 credits)
- Implementation of Evidence-based Practice (2 credits)
- Leadership (3 credits)
- Specialty Coursework Systems Application I (2-3 credits)
Summer
- Policy (2 credits)
- Health Informatics (2 credits)
- Systems Application II (3-5 credits)
Year 2
Autumn
- Healthcare Economics and Finance (2 credits)
- Systems Application III (4-5 credits)
- Final Project (1 credit)
- Professional Seminar (1 credit)
Spring
- Systems Application IV (5 credits)
- Final Project (1 credit)
Year 1
Autumn
- Methods and Measurements (2 credits)
- MINDSTRONG (1 credit)
- Quality Improvement (2 credits)
- Specialty coursework
Spring
- Health Promotion, Theory, and Population Health (2 credits)
- Evidence-based Practice (2 credits)
- Professional Seminar (1 credit)
- Specialty coursework
Summer
- Implementation of Evidence-based Practice (2 credits)
- Policy (2 credits)
Year 2
Autumn
- Leadership (3 credits)
- Healthcare Economics and Finance (2 credits)
Spring
- Systems Application I (2-3 credits)
- Health Informatics (2 credits)
Summer
- Systems Application II (3-5 credits)
Year 3
Autumn
- Systems Application III (4-5 credits)
- Final project (1 credit)
- Seminar (1 credit)
Spring
- Systems Application IV (5 credits)
- Final project (1 credit)
Allow up to five business days for the status of materials to be updated on the application center. You can track the status of your application through your applicant center. Ohio State graduate transfer applicants can track their application status by emailing OnlineEnrollment@osu.edu.
- Deadline
- Submit your application and all required materials by the posted deadline.
- Decision
- Late April
- You will be notified through your Applicant Center and/or by email from the Office of Graduate and Professional Admissions.
- Accept offer
- Four weeks post decision
- If you do not respond to your admission offer by the deadline, your offer will be cancelled.
- You cannot defer admittance. If you are unable to begin your studies in the term to which you applied, you will be required to reapply in the future.
- Requirements
- A conferred master’s degree in nursing or a non-nursing master’s degree and a BSN.
- A valid, unrestricted RN license in the state where you anticipate clinicals will be performed.
- Clinical Expert students must also provide proof of an active, unencumbered advanced practice national certification.
How to apply
- Submit an online application
- Pay the $60 application fee at the time of submission
- Indicate your track:
- Clinical Expert
- Nurse Executive
- Specify your attendance: full-time or part-time
Submit official transcripts from all colleges and universities you’ve attended at the undergraduate and graduate levels. This includes coursework taken in high school that appears as transfer credit. Ohio State transcripts are not required.
- Official transcripts must be sent directly by the institution via mail or electronic transfer:
- Email: gpadocs@osu.edu
- Mail:
The Ohio State University
Graduate Admissions Office
P.O. Box 182004
Columbus, OH 43218-2004
- You may upload a copy of an official transcript with your application; these are considered unofficial but sufficient for application review.
- Web-based grade reports or other online documents are not acceptable. If admitted, official transcripts must be sent directly from your institution(s).
- For questions or details, contact the Graduate and Professional Admissions Office at 614-292-9444 or gpadmissions@osu.edu.
- Format your resume or CV as you would for a job application.
- Include education, professional experience, community service, volunteer work, publications, presentations, research, and leadership activities.
- Submit your document with your application via the admissions uploader.
- Upload a statement describing your professional experience, career goals and alignment with the goals of the DNP program.
- Keep your statement no longer than three double-spaced pages.
- The statement should demonstrate your writing skills and show alignment between your goals and those of the program.
- Address the following:
- Why are you seeking education in the DNP program at this time in your career?
- What specifically are your academic and career goals for which the DNP will prepare you best?
- How have your life experiences prepared you for being a doctoral-prepared nurse?
- Identify a clinical area of interest and explain why this is an important issue to address in your area of expertise in nursing.
- Complete a recorded online interview through HireVue after submitting your application.
- The interview includes questions about your interests and goals in nursing and the DNP program.
- You may complete the interview at any time during the application window, but it must be completed before the application deadline.
- Provide the names and email addresses of three individuals who can speak to your clinical and leadership abilities.
- After you submit your application, recommenders will receive an email with a link and instructions to upload their letters.
- Submit your application early so recommenders have enough time to respond.
- Letters should come from people familiar with your academic ability, professional experience, and potential for graduate study.
- Give your recommenders your intended degree, specialty, and purpose and goals statement.
- Letters should address your potential for success in a rigorous graduate program and why they believe you would excel as an advanced practice nurse or nurse executive.
If you completed the equivalent of a bachelor’s degree or higher at an institution outside of the United States, you must submit a course-by-course credential evaluation that verifies U.S. degree equivalency and includes a cumulative Grade Point Average (GPA) on a 4.0 scale.
The evaluation must be completed by an approved credential evaluation agency and sent directly to the university by the agency. Our preferred agency is TruMerit (formerly CGFNS International) as TruMerit credential evaluations are also required by the Ohio Board of Nursing for RN licensure.
You can find additional information on Ohio State's Graduate and Professional Admissions website.
We will also accept evaluations from the following approved agencies:
- World Education Services (WES)
- SpanTran (The Evaluation Company)
- Educational Credential Evaluators (ECE)
- International Education Evaluations (IEE)
- Josef Silny & Associates (JS&A)
- International Education Research Foundation (IERF)
- International Consultants of Delaware (ICD)
The course-by-course credential evaluation must include:
- Verification of U.S. degree equivalency
- A list of completed coursework with credit hours and grades
- Calculation of a cumulative GPA on a 4.0 scale
If you are currently or previously enrolled in a graduate program at Ohio State, you are considered a Graduate Intra-University Transfer Student. Select the application for current or former Ohio State students when you apply.
In addition to the online application, you must submit a supplemental application directly to the College of Nursing at CON-gradrecords@osu.edu.
Choose your preferred format:
- MS Word Document: Supplemental DNP Application
- PDF: Supplemental DNP Application
Applicants must submit all application materials by 11:59 p.m. ET on the deadline to be considered for admission.
Contact
FAQ
Your application will be reviewed using a holistic approach, meaning all aspects of who you are as an applicant will be considered. This assessment will include academic preparedness and formative experiences in your professional background, education and life. We are also looking for applicants that demonstrate a preferred set of attributes, experiences and strengths described in the following list. This list is not all encompassing, but is meant to guide you in what you may wish to highlight in your written application materials and in your recorded online video interview:
- Clear understanding of the role of a DNP and the alignment with goals for the future
- Experience with evidence-based practice (EBP), quality improvement, innovation and scholarship
- Demonstration of leadership, interprofessional collaboration and teamwork
- Evidence of resiliency, ability to overcome obstacles, critical thinking and personal and professional growth
- Local to global community engagement, and diversity of thought, perspective and experience
- Written and oral communication skills, organization of ideas and emotional intelligence
- Overall commitment to nursing
The DNP is a practice-focused doctoral degree. Those who earn a DNP are experts in translating research into clinical practice. The PhD in nursing focuses on research and generating new knowledge to advance nursing science.
Students who enroll in two graduate-degree-granting programs concurrently are called dual degree students. Dual degree students must satisfy the credit hour requirements for each degree program. There may be little overlap between the two sets of coursework, which can result in students being required to fully complete the degree requirements for both programs to graduate. This can extend time to graduation. Due to the rigorous nature of some of our graduate clinical programs, prospective students interested in a dual degree option with the College of Nursing are advised to closely examine the curriculum requirements of our programs before applying. For degree programs with clinical components, it is important to recognize that adjustments to the standard curriculum plan may not be possible.
After you have reviewed dual degree information, contact the director of the program in which you are interested in further discussion. This discussion should occur before you begin applying to gain a better understanding of program requirements. Applicants interested in applying to a College of Nursing graduate program as a dual degree student must follow the application process listed for that academic program and adhere to all deadlines. Email nursing@osu.edu if you have any questions about how to apply.
Yes, most online, graduate nursing courses will include a synchronous component, This means you are required to be logged in and participating in class. Most classes meet once per week, on a weekday, in the afternoon or evening. All times listed are Eastern time. There may be classes or times that differ from these norms.
No, you will follow your established course schedule, either full time or part time, to graduation.
Yes, you may take classes as a Graduate Non-Degree (GND) student. Graduate Non-Degree provides more information. You may apply up to ten credits of coursework taken as a GND student to the DNP program.
Maybe, Ohio State offers a tuition assistance program for employees. Eligibility is based on your employment status. Contact your Human Resources representative if you have questions about tuition assistance.
Students interested in pursuing an APRN specialty track leading to advanced practice certification while also pursuing their DNP can do so through Ohio State’s BSN to DNP program.