Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP) Program

At the Tan Chingfen Graduate School of Nursing, our DNP program delivers a robust curriculum that empowers nurses to excel in innovative leadership roles such as nurse practitioners, nurse executives, and mentors. It prepares them to drive advancements in health policy, quality improvement, and research, collaborate effectively with multidisciplinary teams and healthcare organizations, lead organizational systems and financial operations, and excel in advanced clinical practice. By integrating advanced clinical training with a strong foundation in evidence-based practice, the DNP program equips graduates with the skills needed to improve patient outcomes and drive innovation in health care.

We encourage all registered nurses, whether new graduates or those with extensive professional experience, to apply and take the next step in their nursing careers through one of the offered pathways:

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Fall 2025: BSN to DNP

• Priority Admission Deadline for Scholarship Consideration: 2/2/25
• Application Deadline: 4/6/25

Priority Admission Deadline for Scholarship Consideration: Applicants who submit a completed application by this deadline will be considered for our limited Chancellor and Nightingale Scholarships.

Application Deadline: Applications completed after the Priority deadline will be considered based on seat availability, up until this final admission deadline.* For consideration after the Application Deadline, please contact our Admissions Counselor

Applicants must submit a completed application to NursingCAS by the deadline date to be considered for admission. Application status emails will be sent to the email provided on the application via NursingCAS. 

Meet the students of the DNP Program
UMass Chan DNP student focuses on health care for the homeless	Grandmother’s close call inspires DNP student to become a nurse
Learn more about Cynthia	Learn more about Raj

What makes our DNP one of the best in Massachusetts?

• Top-ranked Doctor of Nursing Practice Program in Massachusetts by Nursing Schools Almanac.
• Part of the commonwealth’s first and only public academic health sciences center and consists of 3 schools with the UMass Memorial Hospital located on campus.
• Access to a world class medical school that includes a state-of-the-art simulation center and interprofessional learning environment. Take a tour of the Interprofessional Center for Experiential Learning and Simulation (iCELS)
• Clinically active, experienced, committed practicing faculty as APRNs and nurse leaders.
• A small faculty-to-student ratio ideal for graduate-level education.

What can you do with a DNP?

After this program, graduates can:

• Innovate in nurse leadership roles as nurse practitioners, nurse executives, nurse leaders or nurse mentors;
• Fill health policy, quality improvement science and research roles;
• Collaborate with multidisciplinary team and stakeholder health care providers and health care organizations;
• Lead organizational systems and health care business and financial operations; and
• Work in advanced clinical practice.

At the completion of this program, graduates will be able to:

1. Assess, intervene, and evaluate the responses of patients to health/illness states by applying the population competencies of advanced practice (NP Tracks).
2. Critically appraise and communicate the best evidence for nursing practice to promote safe, timely, effective, efficient, ethical, equitable patient/family centered care.
3. Design and plan care delivery approaches grounded in the ethical principles of the nursing discipline to support and improve patient care and healthcare systems through organizational and systems leadership.
4. Lead and participate in interprofessional teams to collaborate and create healthcare solutions to improve population health outcomes.
5. Synthesize biopsychosocial data to create, provide and evaluate patient centered interventions to optimize health (individual, family, and group).
6. Interpret scientific data to create new strategies to address determinants of health that supports population health initiatives.