Program Resources

Tuition adjusts each academic year and depends on the credit hours taken. Find tuition, fees, in-state vs. out-of-state tuition, residency requirements, and payment information at the IU South Bend Bursar Office

Prospective students wanting to transfer MSN credits petition the Graduate Program Director (cwendelb@iu.edu) to review graduate level courses taken elsewhere for credit in the MSN track must submit the following:

1. A formal, written request to the Graduate Program Director for course review. This request must list the course(s) to be reviewed, including course number, course title, number of credit hours, grade earned, and semester/year completed.
2. Official transcripts for all requested courses to be reviewed.
3. Syllabus for any course may be requested from the Graduate Program Director

Students must submit copies of the syllabi for each graduate course completed at another university. The syllabi must be evaluated in comparison to the IU graduate course requirements. IU courses from other campuses, if they pertain to the IU South Bend curriculum, will be accepted without further review and without limit as long as taken within the last 5 years.

Intercampus transfer requests are evaluated individually on the basis of the student’s academic record, the availability of space in the required courses, and faculty and facility resources.

Graduate nursing students in good academic standing at another university who wish to transfer should contact the Graduate Program Director at cwendelb@iu.edu. Graduate courses completed at other universities must be evaluated by the Graduate Program Director for transfer equivalency and for student placement. This process can take time; therefore, students are encouraged to make the request at least two months prior to the semester they wish to begin. Transfer students are evaluated by the Graduate Faculty for admission on a case-by-case basis. A maximum of 9 graduate transfer credits are usually all that can be accepted. Courses must have been taken at an accredited school and completed within 5 years of the date of the petition with a grade of B- or above.

Students take 6-7 credits per semester, which is considered part-time to allow for financial aid. Nine credits are considered full-time. We (the Nursing Consortium) state the program is full-time because we expect students to take the two classes (6-7 credits) each semester. Rarely do I have students take only one class at a time. That would extend the program by 1-2 years.

Attached is the FNP plan of study.

As you can see from the plan of study, it is highly recommended to complete the program in 7 semesters (two and ½ years). If you take only one core class at a time, it would take 3 ½ to 4 years to complete.

All courses are taught online, some with or without synchronous Zoom meetings. The health assessment lab (summer 1) is held on campus, in person. Also the clinicals are local with face to face meetings with faculty. The attached plan of study mention which classes have synchronous Zoom meetings. They are held on Thursdays from 10a-12p EST.

See the comment above. The lab meets once a month, on Thursdays, from 8:30a-12pm on campus.

Yes, the program director (currently myself) talks with students to determine future goals, current employers (Beacon, Goshen systems have applications for NP rotations), and locations that are suitable for the students. I help liaison with the healthcare institutions as many of them have internal clinical coordinators or processes to follow.

Many students stay employed full-time, but many reduce to part-time or PRN if they are able to financially, especially once clinicals start.

For a 6-7 credit semester, they recommend 2-3 hours per credit hours of studying (homework,reading, preparation), so that is 12-21 hours of school time preparation/studying. Clinical hours are included in those credits so some semesters the course/class work is only 3-4 credits. But you will be required to complete 8-16 hours of clinicals depending on the semester.

The application opened May 1 and closes September 15 .You can create an application for free. The website with the requirements is here.

We have never required students to have nursing experience but when it comes to advanced practice nursing, beginning to diagnose disease based on symptoms and conditions, it is highly recommended that students have 2 years of nursing experience before applying.

The bursar’s page has up-to-date information. This is the current tuition per credit hour. I tell students $22-25k total including tuition, fees, books, etc.

Yes, many employers have tuition assistance. IU has many program and campus scholarships. 

Here is our data for the past 5 cohorts:

FNP students start every January.