Visit the Degree Options page to see all of the nursing options and their eligibility requirements.

You will receive a M.S. degree, but not a B.S.N. since the School of Health Sciences is co-educational and the undergraduate college is all female and thus, the College cannot award bachelor degrees to males.

The path you take toward a nursing degree depends a great deal on what kind of prior preparation you have, what type of nurse you would like to be and your flexibility in study options.

The School of Health Sciences offers a Direct Entry program for non-nurses with a B.A./B.S. in another field. This is a three-year, full-time program in which you will be prepared to take the R.N. exam after the second fall semester. Students may wish to transition to a slower part-time track after R.N. licensure. At the end of the program, you will be eligible to take the nurse practitioner exam. With this option, you would complete a master's degree in three years of full-time study (or one and a half years of full-time study and three or four years of part-time study) instead of taking several years to obtain a second bachelor's and then another two or three to obtain a master's.

The Direct Entry option is best for:

• Students who wish to pursue advanced practice nursing, not just R.N. certification and;
• those who are willing and able to commit the needed time and effort at the outset to a full-time accelerated program with a correspondingly greater payoff.

Obtaining a second bachelor's degree, one in nursing, is best if:

• you would like to have R.N. certification
• you cannot attend a full-time program

Depending on your background, you may be able to transfer some prior coursework toward the second bachelor's program. Please speak with the Dix Scholar's Program, Simmons's continuing education department for women over 23. If this is applicable for you, they can provide information about second bachelor's degree options and the length of time the program will take to complete. They can be reached at 617-521-2051 or at dix@simmons.edu.

A nurse practitioner is an expanded nursing role. As an advanced practice nurse, nurse practitioners have greater autonomy than a staff nurse. All NPs have a RN license with additional NP certification and a M.S. degree. NPs assume many roles but most are involved in providing primary care including diagnosis and treatment management from a holistic perspective.

You have two options at Simmons--the RN-B.S.N. program through the Dix Scholar's (adult continuing education for women) Program or the RN-M.S. in Nursing program through the School of Health Sciences (coed graduate education). If you are a female over 24 years of age, the Dorothea Dix Scholar's program offers bachelor's degrees in nursing. The RN-M.S. in nursing program is open to those without a B.A. or B.S (unlike all other programs in the School of Health Sciences) and allows you to complete a master's degree in three years on a full-time basis or four years on a part-time basis. To view a sample curriculum click here.

Also unlike most nursing programs, the RN-M.S. in nursing program allows you to transfer a certain amount of credits towards your Simmons degree. For more information on this option, please contact the Nursing Department at 617-521-2141.

Each January, the nursing program offers an intensive one-week Health Assessment course. Contact the Nursing Department for further information at 617-521-2141.

No, we have no specialty medical tracks, only nursing concentrations for special populations (children, workers, women, older adults, etc.).

 Please see SHS at a Glance for deadlines for all SHS programs.

The program begins in May for students needing to complete prerequisite science courses. Though the first summer session includes an intensive science cluster for those students who are missing prerequisites or need a refresher, an introductory nursing course begins in late June. All students must complete the initial nursing course.

You must complete the standard application. Those interested in Direct Entry nursing must complete the standard application but do not need an undergraduate degree in nursing nor evidence of R.N. licensure.

For candidates who have a nursing degree, statistics and health assessment are required. However, the timing of when to take these prerequisite courses will depend on your chosen curriculum. Please refer to the sample program curriculum. Students may also take the School of Health Sciences WebStats online course. For details call 617-521-2518.

Health Assessment —A graduate health assessment course is required prior to entering Primary Health Care Nursing I (NUR 560 or NUR 580). Students in the adult concentrations should take an adult assessment course. Students in the parent-child concentrations should take a pediatric assessment course.

The course should include the following:

1. Knowledge and skill in health history interviewing and in the use of the four basic physical examination modalities; and
2. Successful performance of a complete health history interview and physical examination

Statistics can be a graduate or an undergraduate course but must cover the following:

1. Descriptive statistics: mean, median, mode, percent, distribution, normal curve, confidence levels, variance, standard deviation
2. Correlation: chi square, pearson r
3. Inference: t-test, ANOVA
4. Levels of significance
5. Probability
6. Parametric vs. non-parametric tests
7. Hypothesis testing
8. Types of error

If an applicant's statistics course was taken more than ten years ago,the applicant should take the Simmons College Self-study Assessment Test (available from the Nursing Department) to assess competency. If the assessment result is not satisfactory, the student should retake Statistics prior to taking SHS 410.

Inorganic & organic chemistry with labs (two semesters), microbiology with lab (one semester), developmental psychology (one semester, spanning birth to death), human anatomy and physiology with labs (2 semesters), statistics (one semester). Courses must be semester long courses taken within the past 10 years at an accredited U.S. or overseas institution of higher education recognized by the Ministry of Education in the home country. These courses must be graded and may not be taken on a pass/fail basis or audited. See the prerequisites page.

Students with nursing degrees must complete statistics prior to taking SHS 410 and Health Assessment prior to taking Primary Health Care Nursing I.

Direct Entry candidates may complete the science prerequisites during the summer session at Simmons. However, this is an intensive science cluster; thus we strongly encourage applicants to complete as many of the prerequisites in advance as possible. The fewer prerequisites you need to complete, the more successful you will be. Additionally, since the Direct Entry program is very much in demand, applicants who have not completed all or most of the prerequisites will not be considered as competetive in the admission review process as students who have completed such courses. The School of Health Sciences also offers statistics and developmental psychology(birth to death lifespan) online. Contact the Office of Admission of the School of Health Sciences about these courses at
617-521-2605.

You can take these prerequisites at Simmons or at any accredited college, community college or university as a special or non-degree student. Before registering for one of these courses elsewhere, review the prerequisite description for the Simmons courses to see how your prospective courses compare, or you can fax the Office of Admission a copy of the syllabus (not course description) to be certain that it fulfills our requirements at 617-521-3137. Please allow at least two business days for a reply. If you are interested in taking Direct Entry prerequisites through Simmons, you can take them through the Dix Scholar's Office either before applying or, if you apply and are accepted, during the first summer semester.

If you have already taken the course, the nursing faculty will evaluate the syllabus to determine this. Please fax it to 617-521-3137. Please be aware that you may be required to retake the course. If you have not yet taken the course, then you must take a course that includes a lab.

If you are applying to the Direct Entry program, GRE scores from the past five years must be submitted. Student copies are not acceptable. If you have a nursing degree, you may waive the GREs by taking NUR 404: Normal and Abnormal Human Physiology which is only offered in the fall (September) semester. You must register for the class as a non-degree student. If you receive a B or better in the course, you may waive the GREs when applying. The course must be either completed or in process when the application is submitted; therefore, when you take the course in the fall (September), you may then apply for regular admission in the spring (January).

GRE scores cannot be waived for Direct Entry candidates. Students with nursing backgrounds can waive the GREs. International students with a student visa can take classes as a special students only if they are enrolled elsewhere as a full-time student.

NUR 404 is only offered in the Fall (September) semester. To register as a non-degree student, complete a registration form (62K PDF). For information about course offerings, titles, and numbers, please see SOAR (Simmons Online Academic and Administrative Resources). Be sure to check the line that indicates you are registering as a Health Studies Special Student. Fax this form to the School of Health Sciences at 617-521-3137 to the attention of the Office of Admission. We will process your form and send it to the Registrar's Office. When you register you will be billed at a later date for the one course. NUR 404 is a four credit course. Tuition and fees can be found in Tuition and Fees page. The registration bulletin will also contain the schedule for the course.

If you would like to apply to the Nursing program and you have registered as a special student for NUR 404, submit your application for admission at the midpoint of the course but before the application deadline. Indicate that you are completing NUR 404 and intend to use this to waive your GRE requirement. If accepted, it will be pending receipt of a B or better in NUR 404. If you do not receive a satisfactory grade, your candidacy will be reevaluated and you will be required to submit your GRE score.

If your GRE scores are older than 5 years, you will need to retake them, since ETS only stores scores for that amount of time and then destroys them due to limited storage capacity.

There is no minimum required GRE score.

Most nursing programs require 44 credits. The single-track occupational health program incorporates 50 credits. The dual degree programs with Harvard require more credits. The Direct Entry program is 94 credits in length if all prerequisites have been completed. You can find the current cost per credit hour on our tuition and financial aid page.

There are a limited number of merit scholarships and assistantships available each year. These do not cover the full cost of tuition. All applicants are automatically considered for scholarships at the time of application review. Students do not need to submit a special application for scholarships. Accepted students will be notified of such scholarships in the letter of admission or shortly thereafter. Graduate assistantships are awarded to students who have been enrolled for a period of time and demonstrate outstanding academic achievement. There is no formal application process for graduate assistantships. Students will be notified if they have been selected. All offers of scholarships and assistantships are officially made by the Office of Admission for the School of Health Sciences. No other verbal or written notifications are considered binding.

Applicants who apply for January 2006 entry will be informed of their status on a rolling notification basis. That is, as soon as the application becomes complete, it will be sent to the Admission Committee for review and a decision will be mailed as soon as possible. Accepted students will be required to submit a non-refundable enrollment deposit of $250 by the date indicated in the letter offering admission. For applicants applying to all other programs which begin May 2006 forward, all admission decisions will be mailed as a group after the application deadline date for each program. Accepted students will be required to submit a non-refundable enrollment deposit of $500 by the date indicated in the letter offering admission. No extensions to the enrollment deposit due date will be granted. Deposits will be applied to the first semester bill.

It is possible to do all nursing programs except the Direct Entry and the Dual Degree programs on a part-time basis. Most Simmons electives and supporting courses are offered in the evening. Primary care classes are held on one day. Due to U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services regulations, international students must be enrolled full-time in any of the nursing programs.

No, you do not have to pick your nursing concentration area until the start of the spring semester in the second year.

You must be accepted concurrently by both Harvard and Simmons for the dual degree programs, which involves a very intensive two years of full-time study (split between the two institutions). Since Direct Entry is already an accelerated program, the time needed in training for nursing basics precludes the level of requisite commitment to both institutions. At the discretion of the Department Chair/Associate Dean of Nursing, certain outstanding Direct Entry students may be allowed to apply to the Dual Degree program after receiving their RN certification at the end of the second fall.

No. You must submit separate applications to both schools and be accepted by both institutions to be eligible for the program. Each institution has its own specific application deadline.

You would begin clinical immediately upon entrance into the program during the first summer of study.

You would take for the R.N. exam after the second fall semester.

Simmons students' pass rate on the NCLEX is 97-100% (100% for Direct Entry students). The NP exam pass rate is also 100% for first time takers.