How to Apply - Nurse Practitioner

Admission Process

The University of Louisville School of Nursing participates in Nursing’s Centralized Application Service (NursingCAS), which provides you with an online application. NursingCAS collects and processes your application documents and verifies your transcripts. We receive your application information from NursingCAS and use it to make our admission decisions.

You do not need to submit any of your supporting documents to the University of Louisville. In addition to the NursingCAS application fee, you will be required to pay a $40 supplemental application fee directly to UofL Graduate Admissions in order to be considered for admission. Once you submit your Nursing CAS application, you will receive an email from UofL Graduate Admissions with instructions on how to pay the fee.

All required items must be uploaded, and transcripts verified by NursingCAS on or before the published deadline. The transcript verification process can take several weeks after receipt, so please see that all materials are received by NursingCAS well before the published deadline.

Questions on uploading required documents or receiving transcripts should be directed to NursingCAS and not to the School of Nursing.

Questions regarding admission requirements should be directed to nursinginfo@louisville.edu.

Admission Requirements

A holistic review process is used when considering applications for admission to the MSN, Post Graduate Certificate, and DNP programs. The holistic review considers multiple criteria for admission, including the applicant’s professional career goals, academic capabilities, GPA, work experience, leadership, and community engagement.

Neonatal specialty applicants: Minimum of one year of RN experience in a Level III or Level IV NICU recommended prior to admission. All NNP applicants must have the equivalent of 2 years of full-time clinical practice experience (within the last 5 years) in Level III and/or IV NICU inpatient settings before a student begin clinical courses

Adult-Gerontology Acute specialty applicants: One year of RN experience in the ICU or one year of RN experience in any area and a commitment to complete one year in the ICU prior to starting program clinicals.  Applicants that do not have one year of RN experience at the point of application, but will complete one year prior to starting the program, will satisfy the work requirement.   

Pediatric Acute specialty applicants: One year of RN experience in an acute care setting or one year of RN experience in any area and a commitment to complete one year in an acute care setting prior to starting program clinicals.

Nurse Anesthesia specialty applicants: All NA applicants must have CCRN certification, the equivalent of two years of full-time Critical Care/ICU experience (within the last two years), and 24 hours minimum of job shadowing with a CRNA prior to admission. Completion of the GRE exam is also required.

To Nursing CAS:

• Official transcripts representing all college course work. Bachelor of Science in Nursing degree must be from a regionally accredited institution and a NLN, CCNE or ACEN accredited nursing program. Recommended undergraduate cumulative grade point average of 3.0 on a 4.0 scale. If applicable, recommended cumulative graduate GPA of at least 3.0 on a 4.0 scale.
• Applicants who have attended a college or university outside the United States are also required to submit a course-by-course evaluation of their transcript through World Education Services (WES) or Educational Credential Evaluators (ECE). 
• Two letters of recommendation from individuals who can speak to your academic and/or professional capabilities and potential.
• Within the Nursing CAS application, be prepared to answer the following questions:
• Describe your reasons for applying to the selected program, including your short and long-term professional goals.
• What is your motivation for choosing your selected specialty?
• Explain your professional growth and development that has specifically prepared you for the specialty for which you have applied.
• (DNP applicants only) Identify and discuss a system or population health problem that could benefit from an evidence-based change.
• Professional resume or curriculum vitae (CV).
• Unencumbered RN license from a U.S. state board of nursing. (Prior to clinicals a RN license in the state of Kentucky or a compact state is required)
• Students for whom English is not their primary language must show English Proficiency
• In addition to the NursingCAS application fee, you will be required to pay a supplemental application fee directly to UofL Graduate Admissions in order to be considered for admission. Once you submit your Nursing CAS application, you will receive an email from UofL Graduate Admissions with instructions on how to pay the $40 fee. You should receive the email within 48 hours of submitting your Nursing CAS application.