Students may specialize in here areas: family nurse practitioner, psychiatric mental health nurse practitioner and public health nursing leadership.

A full time student with a baccalaureate degree will take 4 years. A post masters student’s course of study will take approximately 2 years; however, this is dependent on the congruence of prior coursework with their intended plan of study.

Courses within the School of Nursing are generally offered on Tuesday and Thursday; however, other courses at the University and practica may vary. Some courses are available on-line. The Public health nursing leadership course is available primarily on-line.

You will receive a Doctorate of Nursing Practice Degree from the University of Massachusetts. For those family and psychiatric mental health students, you will also qualify to sit for national certification examinations. At present there is no certification examination for the public health nursing leadership specialty.

Not necessarily. GRE’s are no longer required of all applicants. Applicants must demonstrate evidence of high scholastic achievement. The School of Nursing uses the degree-granting institution GPA as one measure of an applicant's academic potential. A successful applicant will typically have a GPA of 3.00 or above (on a 4.00 scale). If the GPA is lower than 3.00, applicant may still apply and be considered for admission, but might wish to submit a GRE score if they feel that the GPA does not accurately reflect their abilities. The final admission decision is based upon the complete file. You can have the scores forwarded to the Graduate School at the University of Massachusetts when you apply. If you need information on taking the GRE, you can visit the Web page www.gre.org, or call 1-800-537-3160. On campus you can call (413) 545-0333 for information.

Yes. You will need to complete the School of Nursing application.

Yes. You can take up to 2 courses (6 credits) as a Non-Degree student. There is an application that you will fill out to become a non-degree student. Once you are accepted into the program, you can transfer those credits in to be applied to your degree. You can also transfer in 6 other credits from another institution if those courses fulfill the requirements of the program in which you will be enrolled (transfer credits are up to the discretion of the Program Director and have to be approved).

Costs are determined by the UMass Amherst Graduate School, and may change from year to year. Please refer to the fee schedule posted by the Bursar’s Office (for academic year 2006-7), or contact the Bursar’s Office directly at (413) 545-2368.