Master’s Application Guide
Submitting your application to a College of Nursing master’s program or post-master’s certificate? See our application guide.
Required Documents
- A completed application form and payment of application fee; Application deadline varies -see concentration page
- Three professional/academic recommendations using the university’s recommendation format evaluating your scholarly potential.
- A statement of 300 – 500 words concerning your purpose for undertaking graduate study, your professional plans, career goals related to your chosen area of concentration and scholarly interests. Given the rigor and demands of graduate study, also describe your plans for balancing work, school and personal obligations.
- Transcripts from each university/college ever attended
- A copy of your U.S. RN license
- Your resume
Residency Notes
If you are interested in applying to one of our MSN concentrations or certificate programs and live outside of Indiana, Illinois or Wisconsin, please email Online MS Program with your name, state of residency, and state of RN licensure before applying. Online instruction is not currently available in every state.
If you reside or hold your RN license in another state where you may complete your clinical hours, please confirm your state’s status with us before submitting your application and fee.
Selecting an Enrollment Objective
After accessing the application form, you will be asked to select your enrollment objective. Your options will be non-degree, master’s or one of the post-master’s certificate programs.
If you do not already have a master’s degree in nursing, please do not select “Graduate Certificate.” This option is only for those applying to post-master’s certificate programs.
After selecting master’s you will then be able to select the area of concentration: Family Nurse Practitioner, Adult-Gerontology Clinical Nurse Specialist, Nurse Executive or Nursing Education.
Admission as a non-degree seeking student is dependent on space availability, and is useful if you are interested in taking just one or two classes. If you are interested in this option, contact the Graduate Program Advisor before submitting an application.
If you find that there will be space in the class(es) you are interested in taking, you will only need to submit proof of your baccalaureate degree (e.g. a copy of your transcript or diploma). This proof can either be uploaded into your application before submission, or sent directly to the College of Nursing.
There is no application fee for a non-degree application, and you will not be required to submit the remaining admission materials (recommendation letters, statement of purpose, resume, license, or official transcripts). A criminal background check will also not be required at this time.
You will select this option if you are applying for regular master’s degree admission into one of the four concentrations.
You will select this option if you already have a Master’s in Nursing and are applying for the Family Nurse Practitioner, Adult-Gerontology Clinical Nurse Specialist or Nurse Educator post-master’s certificate program.
Submitting Recommendations
To process your admission, you are required to submit three professional/academic recommendations evaluating your scholarly potential and ability to pursue graduate study.
Recommendations may be completed directly through the application system. You will just need the e-mail address of the people who will give your recommendations, and the system will contact them to complete the form.
As an alternative, you can also print the recommendation form, give the form to each recommender and ask them to mail their recommendation form directly to the College of Nursing office. The mailing address is listed below.
Submitting a Statement of Purpose
The statement of purpose consists of 300-500 words that address your purpose for undertaking graduate study, your professional plans, career goals related to your chosen area of concentration (AGCNS, FNP, Nurse Executive, or Nursing Education), scholarly interests, and describe plans to alter your professional and personal obligations during the graduate program.
Because you must upload a document in order to submit your application, we suggest that you upload a document stating only the following “Statement of Purpose to follow.” This will help expedite the application process.
Then at a later date attach your completed statement to a separate e-mail addressed to the Graduate Program Secretary for the College of Nursing. As an alternative, you can mail your statement of purpose to the College of Nursing office.
College of Nursing
Purdue University Northwest, Hammond Campus
2200 169th Street
Hammond, Indiana 46323-2094
Submitting a Resume
Because you must upload a resume to submit your application, we suggest that you upload a document stating only the following “Resume to follow.” This will help expedite the application process.
Then, at a later date, attach your completed resume to a separate e-mail addressed to the Graduate Program Secretary for the College of Nursing. As an alternative, you can mail your resume to the College of Nursing office.
Completing the Process
Prior to submitting the application form, you will be asked to pay an application fee. When you are satisfied that the application form is complete, hit the “submit” button.
Transcripts
Transcripts can be uploaded to the online application. If you attended any Purdue campus in the past, you can allow us to access that transcript by checking the appropriate box in the online application. However, you will still need to have all other transcripts from other universities where you took classes uploaded as well.
The uploaded transcript must be from the official version of the document. Because we are a full-disclosure program, transcripts from each university or college ever attended are required even if you did not complete a degree at that college or transferred courses in to another college.
All transcripts and/or academic documents uploaded to the online application system are considered unofficial. However, an unofficial transcript printed from your student account within an institution’s system is not an acceptable document.
For tips about uploading your transcripts into the online application review the Graduate School upload tips. If the documents are not in English, you must upload an English translation certified by the college or university which issued it.
If admitted, you must provide official transcripts and/or academic records at the request of the graduate program. You may choose to submit official transcripts electronically during the application process as well. Those electronic transcripts, once received by our Graduate Studies Office, will be noted as official and uploaded into your application on your behalf.
If you are submitting electronic transcripts as part of your application package, please request that the Registrar of your institution direct the electronic transcripts to the Purdue University Northwest Graduate Studies Office. Electronic transcripts from applicants for degrees/course work earned outside the United States are not currently accepted.
Submitting Proof of U.S. RN Licensure
Submit a copy of your current registered nurse license(s) from to the College of Nursing office or provide us with the state and license number.
Criminal Background Checks
Criminal background checks are not part of the application process but will be required prior to the first practicum course.