Master of Science Overview
Our Master of Science program offers a flexible learning environment to prepare nurses for leadership roles.
The School of Nursing has paused admissions to the MS Nursing degree program for the 2025-2026 academic year. We are evaluating the future of this program and exploring options which include reimagining the opportunities contained within an advanced nursing practice pathway. We commend you for your desire to pursue further education and are appreciative of your trust in considering us as your educational partner.
Our nationally ranked KU Master of Science degree program will prepare you for leadership roles in various health care organizations and settings. Fully accredited by the Commission on Collegiate Nursing Education (CCNE), the program offers courses in an online format, using web conferencing and other teaching strategies to discuss and present class content.
Each specialty area also includes practicum experiences to provide students the opportunity to apply academic theory and acquired skills in one or more health care settings. Degree completion requires 37 to 39 credit hours, depending on the focus area. Master's students can finish the program in two years of full-time study, or three to four years of part-time study.
Curriculum Components:
Common Core: Nursing courses that provide the core knowledge and skills essential to the nurse practicing in any advanced area of nursing.
Leadership Core: Nursing courses that provide the theoretical basis for the leadership specialty areas.
Research Project in Nursing: All students complete a two-credit hour, semester-long research project. The project is supervised by a graduate faculty member.
Functional Specialty Core: Courses provide the information necessary for practice in an advanced area of nursing. Specializations are available in the following focus areas:
Nursing Licensure
The Master of Science program leads to an academic credential and is not a licensure preparation program. Students interested in advanced nursing practice certification enroll in one of our advanced practice DNP specialty programs.
As of July 1, 2020, the U.S. Department of Education implemented Regulation 34 CFR 668.43 (a) (5) (v) that requires professional nursing programs to provide information on how their curriculum meets education requirements for professional licensing in each state. You may review KU School of Nursing's information on licensure by state.
- Objective 1: Evaluates and integrates theory and evidence from nursing, biopsychosocial fields, genetics, public health, quality improvement, and organizational sciences for the continual improvement of nursing practice across diverse settings.
- Objective 2: Integrates organizational and systems skills that emphasize ethical and critical decision making, effective working relationships, and a systems perspective.
- Objective 3: Articulates methods, tools, performance measures, and standards related to quality and applies quality principles within an organization.
- Objective 4: Applies research outcomes within the practice setting, resolves practice problems, works as a change agent, and disseminates results.
- Objective 5: Recommends healthcare technologies to deliver and enhance care and uses communication technologies to integrate and coordinate care.
- Objective 6: Intervenes at the system level through the policy development process and employs advocacy strategies to influence health and healthcare.
- Objective 7: Communicates, collaborates and consults with nurses and other health professionals to manage and coordinate care.
- Objective 8: Synthesizes broad organizational, client-centered, and culturally appropriate concepts in the planning, delivery, management, and evaluation of evidence-based population care.
- Objective 9: Demonstrates an advanced level of understanding of nursing and relevant sciences and integrates this knowledge into practice interventions that include both direct and indirect care components.