PhD Admission

Requirements for Admission:

• One official transcript from each college or university attended.
• Satisfactory performance on the Graduate Record Exam (GRE) within five years prior to admission. Scores will be individually evaluated in relation to all other admissions requirements.
• Written statement of personal career, educational, and scholarship goals; identification of research interests.
• Three written professional references from individuals with expertise to comment on the applicant's capability for research and scholarship (for example, university professors, employers) - At least one of the references must be from a doctoral prepared nurse.
• A master's degree in nursing from an accredited school*.
• Grade-point average of 3.2 on a 4.0 scale on all graduate work.
• Evidence of current unrestricted RN licensure from North Carolina or a National Council of State Boards of Nursing compact state. International applicants must work with the Commission of Graduate of Foreign Nursing Schools to validate credentials before applying for RN licensure.
• An interview with members of the graduate faculty to include a discussion of congruence between the student's research interests/career goals and the expertise and research of the faculty.
• Satisfactory performance on Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL) scores where English is not the first language. Students on foreign student visas must present evidence of professional standing in their respective countries.
• Computer competency with proficiency in development and use of databases, patient information systems, statistical sets, and use of various statistical packages for data analysis.
• A graduate statistics course which included inferential statistics within the past 5 years.
• A current curriculum vita.
• A representative example of scholarly work done by the applicant.
  
  

Applicants for admission to the BSN to PhD option must meet general admission requirements for the PhD program.

Additional requirements include:

Minimum GPA of 3.3 and no grade below B on all previous coursework.

• BSN from an accredited nursing program.
• Recommendation of the Director for the MSN concentration selected and the PhD Program Director.
• Completion of at least two calendar years of full time employment experience or the equivalent in clinical nursing.
• Practice as a registered nurse prior to entering the doctoral program of study.
• A graduate statistics course which includes inferential statistics prior to enrolling in doctoral courses.