Do I have to pay the application fee to be admitted?

Yes. You may talk to an Enrollment Counselor without paying the $65 application fee, but the fee must be paid before you can be admitted. The application fee helps defray our costs associated with admissions, transcript collection, enrolling students, etc. Note: It is against federal regulations to use financial aid for an application fee.

What is the deadline for transcript submission?

Transcripts must be received by the 1st of the month before your intended start date. WGU requires that ALL official transcripts of previous academic work completed at other colleges and universities be submitted for evaluation.

How does WGU keep its tuition so low?

As a nonprofit university, WGU doesn’t need to benefit shareholders. Our students are our only focus. We also try to keep our operating costs low. And since we’re an exclusively online university, we don’t need to maintain expensive classroom buildings, a campus, or other nonacademic programs.

Should I consider financial aid?

Using financial aid is a personal decision. When making this decision, you should know that a degree is a great investment in yourself that will pay for itself many times over. Individuals with a bachelor’s degree earn on average almost a million dollars more over the course their careers compared to those without one. A master’s degree typically has a similar impact on your wallet. You should definitely consider federal financial aid if it means the difference between getting your degree or not. Speak to an Enrollment Counselor to learn more.

Can a graduate of this program get into a nurse practitioner or other post-graduate nursing program?

Admissions requirements vary widely from program to program and from school to school. Nurse practitioner programs—including Master of Science in Nursing (MSN), Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP), and post-MSN NP certificate programs—can be among the most competitive. One factor commonly considered for enrollment in post-graduate nursing programs is grade-point average (GPA) from previous college work. The nature of WGU’s competency-based model means WGU graduates do not have a GPA when they earn their degree. However, other factors beyond GPA are considered by many programs across the country. WGU provides opportunities for students to students to demonstrate excellence beyond a GPA, including participation in nationally recognized honors programs, real-world projects that you complete as part of your program that you can showcase in your post-graduate applications, and letters of recommendation from WGU faculty or leadership. For any aspiring graduate student, it is important to maximize your own qualities as well as do the research to understand the schools that offer the programs you seek to join. You can start your research by reviewing this list of post-graduate programs that have admitted WGU alumni in the past. Look on LinkedIn for WGU nursing alumni who have gone on to become nurse practitioners, and check their profiles to see which schools they attended for the MSN or DNP program. Contact the school to ask whether they enroll students from competency-based programs like WGU’s. And talk to your WGU Enrollment Counselor. WGU can provide alumni with a letter they can share with graduate schools, explaining our competency-based model. This letter has helped WGU alumni be accepted into a variety of graduate programs in a number of fields and disciplines.

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Health & Nursing Degrees
Nursing – Leadership and Management (BSN-to-MSN Program) – M.S.

Master of Science Master of Science Nursing Leadership and Management (BSN-to-MSN Program)

Nursing leaders balance the science of nursing with the art of care—and an MSN could help you take that next step in your career. Upgrade to MSN and move into management.

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The bachelor's and master's nursing degree programs at WGU are accredited by the Commission on Collegiate Nursing Education (655 K Street, NW, Suite 750, Washington, DC 20001, 202-887-6791).

Becoming a nurse leader is within your reach—a master's degree can help you impact patient lives and influence your community.

As a motivated registered nurse (RN) with a BSN degree, you have already established your career in caring. Now you're ready to take on new managerial challenges in nurse leadership and beyond. If your vision of your professional future includes a role in nursing administration and management, a CCNE-accredited MSN is a must.

Bring your passion to be an effective transformational leader in healthcare; we’ll empower you with the knowledge and skills to make it happen. Our online, competency-based model is specifically designed to enable working adults like you to earn a nursing degree that employers respect while making the most efficient use of your time and money—so you know you can be successful as a student on your way to a career in nursing leadership.

In this online degree program we want to give you as much real-world, hands-on experience as possible. We want to set nursing leaders up for career success through our program. That's why we offer a top industry certification as part of this program. When you pursue this degree you'll get clinical practice experiences such as real-time simulation using immersive virtual reality training. Additionally, you'll have the opportunity to earn the NAHQ (National Association for Healthcare Quality) HQ Principles certificate along with your degree. Most importantly, you'll earn an important industry certification, the CPHQ (NAHQ Certified Professional in Healthcare Quality). This will help you boost your résumé before you even graduate.

Need to earn your BSN first? No problem! Check out the RN-to-MSN version of this program.

82% of graduates finish within

24 months

WGU lets you move more quickly through material you already know and advance as soon as you're ready. The result: You may finish faster.
See how it works

Tuition per 6-month term is

$4,240

Tuition charged per term—rather than per credit—helps you control the ultimate cost of your degree.. Finish faster, pay less!
See how time is money

Transfer credit is accepted*

47%

of your coursework (up to 17 competency units) taken at the graduate (master's) level at a nationally or regionally accredited institution can be transferred to this WGU program.
Get started

Tuition as of August 1, 2021. *Effective for students starting Feb. 1, 2021. Courses must have been completed within the past five years with an earned grade of "B" or higher.
Your team needs a compassionate nurse leader: Master the skills of nursing leadership.

Nurse managers with a master's degree combine their technical nursing know-how with strong people skills, organizational prowess, and business knowledge to lead healthcare teams to success—success that transforms lives. As a nurse leader, you may increase your earning power. But beyond that, your daily work will improve the quality of life not only for patients, but for the nurses you lead. As a qualified and compassionate nurse leader, your expertise and human touch can make your healthcare facility a place of positivity and healing. You'll be prepared to work in management or administration in settings such as:
Hospitals.

Long-term care facilities.

Community service agencies.

Governmental agencies and facilities.

Corporations.
Learn more
A highly relevant curriculum for nurse leaders: a nursing management degree developed by healthcare industry experts.

The WGU MSN – Leadership and Management curriculum is evidence-based. It's designed to make you an effective nurse leader and manager. Competencies you will master as you earn this online nursing degree are consistent with the American Nurses Association (ANA) standards for nurse administrators.

Download Program Guide

The MSN portion addresses the complexities of healthcare, access, quality, and costs for diverse populations. In the leadership and management specialization, you'll gain new knowledge in topics like leadership theories, strategic planning, financial and HR management, and more.
MSN Core

Nursing courses that are core to your MSN degree work include:

Professional Presence and Influence

Translational Research for Practice and Populations

Organizational Leadership and Interprofessional Team Development

Pathopharmacological Foundations for Advanced Nursing Practice

Contemporary Pharmacotherapeutics

Comprehensive Health Assessment for Patients and Populations

Essentials of Advanced Nursing Practice Field Experience

Policy, Politics, and Global Health Trends

See all courses
Nursing Science and Specialization

Courses specific to nursing science and your nurse education specialty include:

Advanced Information Management and the Application of Technology

Principles of Organizational Performance Management

Principles of Healthcare Business and Financial Management

Strategic Leadership and Future Delivery Models

Nursing Leadership and Management Field Experience

Nursing Leadership and Management Capstone

See all courses
Why WGU?

Learn why nurse leaders choose WGU:

Flexible. You can continue working at your full-time job or maintaining your family or personal responsibilities while pursing your BSN to MSN degree. You don't have to log-in to classes and there aren't due dates. You are in charge of your nurse leadership degree.

Valued by employers. Top accreditations mean that your BSN to MSN degree is respected by employers and peers. You will get a quality education that is valuable among other nurse leaders.

Strong alumni network. When you enroll in the nursing education program at WGU, you join an impressive network of healthcare professionals. Over 14,000 students earned healthcare degrees from WGU in 2019 alone, and are hard at work, changing the lives of patients and impacting communities.

See how we do it
A supported, personalized experience.

WGU is different from other online universities—in the best possible ways! Take a look at what we mean:

Faculty Learning Assessment Field Experience Alumni Support

Faculty

SUPPORTING YOU: Faculty focused on students.

An entire team of faculty members has one goal in mind: your success. Your Program Mentor is your individually assigned faculty member, providing regular program guidance and instruction from the day you start, to the day you graduate. In addition, Course Instructors provide regular, subject-matter instruction and support, typically one-on-one, throughout each course you take.

Learning

YOUR ROADMAP: A personalized learning plan.

Your program is made up of a series of courses, each a personalized journey toward subject mastery. A preassessment provides insight into what you already know. You’ll then learn what you still need to learn, using online learning resources—available 24/7—along with one-on-one or cohort-based faculty instruction.

Assessment

PROVE IT: Show you know your stuff.

WGU measures learning, not time, so each course in your program culminates in an assessment—a test, paper, project, or presentation that allows you to prove what you know. As soon as you’re ready, you take the assessment. Take proctored exams from the comfort of your own home—via webcam, any time of day!

Field Experience

REAL-WORLD: Time in the field.

Most of your program will be completed online but all nursing programs include some learning that occurs in a healthcare facility. Sometimes that will be where you work; other times, it will require placement in a facility near you. We will help you make all the arrangements.

Alumni Support

ALWAYS a Night Owl: WGU for life.

Continued support after you graduate includes many opportunities for professional development and enrichment, career support, and networking. WGU Night Owls may be independent learners, but they also become highly engaged in our active alumni community through apps, groups, and events.

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The accreditation you need, plus respect and recognition.

Healthcare and nursing employers want employees with the credentials that prove they can help improve patient care while streamlining facilities and strengthening their reputations. An important measure of a health degree’s value is whether it comes from an accredited university with programs that have been recognized for excellence by leading healthcare organizations.

Accredited

In addition to WGU's regional accreditation through the Northwest Commission on Colleges and Universities, the bachelor’s and master’s nursing degree programs at WGU are accredited by the Commission on Collegiate Nursing Education (655 K Street, NW, Suite 750, Washington, DC 20001, 202-887-6791).

Respected

“What we need are people who are truly versatile, able to learn efficiently and effectively. ... Those are the kind of people [who] represent graduates of Western Governors University.”
John Steele
Senior Vice President of Human Relations
HCA Healthcare

Recognized

Value is a combination of low cost and high quality. University Research & Review has named WGU a Best Value School several years running—a strong measure of return on investment!

Accredited

Respected

Recognized

Our programs check all the boxes. If this degree is your goal, get started toward becoming a student today—programs start the first of each month.

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When we say affordable, we mean it.

$4,240

Tuition per 6-month term

+

+$145

Flat fee for e-books and learning resources, saving you hundreds per term

=

=$4,385

TOTAL PER TERM

+$65

One-time application fee

Apply FREE this week

Tuition rate effective August 1, 2021. This program also requires a Health Professions Fee of $350.
Control the cost of your program: Our tuition links cost to time.

By charging per term rather than per credit—and empowering students to accelerate through material they know well or learn and master quickly—WGU helps students control the ultimate cost of their degrees.
Flat-rate tuition of $4,385 per term links cost to time.

By charging per 6-month term rather than per credit hour—and empowering students to accelerate through material they know well or can learn quickly—WGU helps students control the ultimate cost of their degrees.

Adjust the time and see your costs change

Your time

2 yrs

Your cost

1 yr

1.5 yrs

2 yrs

2.5 yrs

3 yrs

1 yr

1.5 yrs

2 yrs

2.5 yrs

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There's help if you need it.

Financial aid is available.

WGU is approved for federal financial aid and U.S. veterans benefits.

View more about financial aid.

WGU students borrow less than half the national average.*

Our goal: You graduate with little or no debt.

The average student loan debt of WGU graduates in 2019 (among those who borrowed) was less than half the national average. WGU’s three-pronged approach to keeping your debt low and your return on investment quick: One, provide useful information and advice on responsible borrowing before enrollment. Two, keep tuition low while you're enrolled. And three, offer degree programs that lead to better-paying jobs after graduation.

Read about our Responsible Borrowing Initiative.

*WGU data: 2019 Annual Report. National data: The Institute for College Access & Success and Student Loan Hero.

Degree Cost Comparison

Online For-Profit University

Other Online Nonprofit University

WGU

Earn your MSN for about half what you’d pay elsewhere.

Low tuition and the ability to accelerate make WGU a more affordable option for your master's degree than most other schools. When you compare us with other programs, WGU’s BSN-to-MSN – Leadership and Management program offers rigorous curriculum with competitive post-graduation results, but at as little as half the cost—or even less!

*WGU average annual bachelor’s tuition rates are 57% the national average, compared to national rates reported by IPEDS. WGU average rate does not include rates for WGU B.S. Nursing Prelicensure program. Learn more about WGU's tuition and how it compares.

Transparent fees and no hidden costs.

The cost of attending college often includes much more than tuition and fees. WGU is designed to be different, and that translates to cost savings everywhere from books to babysitting.

Other universities bury you in unexpected costs. Not WGU.

Click to explore the extra costs:

Tuition Books

Parking Gas

Library / resource fees Babysitter every week for
nighttime classes

WGU

Other online college

Traditional
4 year school

This demonstration shows how various costs—including official fees and incidental costs of attending school—can add up in different learning environments. It's meant as an illustration only.

Scholarships make our already low tuition even more affordable.

Many scholarship opportunities are available. Here are just a few you may be eligible to apply for:

$2,500

Master Your Future Scholarship

$5,000

Linda Knodel Nursing Leadership and Management MSN Scholarship

$2,500

Back to School Scholarship

The affordable, flexible programs offered at WGU put high-quality education within your reach. Start working toward your future.

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An online MSN curriculum that ensures you master the skills employers seek in nursing leadership.

Program consists of:
15 Courses
An unofficial estimated 0 courses are fulfilled by your associate degree leaving 15 courses.
I have an associate degree Download Program Guide

At WGU, we design our online nursing program to be timely, relevant, and practical—all to ensure your nursing degree is proof you really know your stuff.

Every course focuses on a set of clearly defined competencies that you must prove you’ve learned—through tests, papers, projects, or other assessments. Demonstrating mastery is how you pass a course, so helping you master what it takes to be outstanding in your career in nursing administration is at the heart of WGU’s curriculum.

That means what you learn is often directly applicable the next day at work—and it means what you’re doing at work frequently informs the work you’re doing in your degree program. It’s all about real-world applicability so every moment spent studying is time well spent.

Courses in this program.

You will typically complete one course at a time as you make your way through your program, working with your Program Mentor each term to build your personalized Degree Plan. You’ll work through each course as quickly as you can study and learn the material. As soon as you’re ready, you’ll pass the assessment, complete the course, and move on. This means you can finish as many courses as you're able in a term at no additional cost.

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MSN Core

Professional Presence and Influence

Professional Presence and Influence is a masters-level course designed to guide students towards an enhanced state of presence, where therapeutic relationships are built between nurse and patient. Students will learn techniques for self-care practices that result in enhanced mental and physical wellbeing and that ensure ethically-generated patient care. Presence is an intrapersonal and interpersonal quality that allows the nurse to relate to others and to be aware of the world around them. The characteristics of presence, which include holism, intimacy, sensitivity and adaptability, create a heightened sense of awareness that fosters therapeutic relationships between the nurse and patient. Developing a mindful, authentic presence is central to health and spiritual practices in several cultures and a major element of leadership. Students will intentionally develop a focused mindfulness practice that will influence patient outcomes and lead to conditions that create joy in the workplace.

Essentials of Advanced Nursing Roles and Interprofessional Practice

Essentials of Advanced Nursing Roles and Interprofessional Practice explores essential characteristics of the advanced professional nurse in the role of leader, educator, practitioner, or informatics specialist. In this course, students will apply evidence-based strategies to facilitate interprofessional collaboration on teams. Students will explore the role of nurses in advocating for change at the bedside, as well as leading teams to advocate for health policy reform. Students will gather and analyze data to identify patients and populations at risk and recommend policy change to improve health outcomes in the community.

Quality Outcomes in a Culture of Value-Based Nursing Care

Quality Outcomes in a Culture of Value-Based Nursing Care incorporates current standards of quality and safety within the context of value-based care. In a value-based healthcare system, the benefits are derived from measuring health outcomes against the cost of delivering the outcomes. These benefits are then extended to patients, providers, payers, suppliers, and society as a whole. This course introduces new healthcare delivery models, which stress a team-oriented approach to patient care and sharing of patient data so that care is coordinated, and outcomes can be measured easily. Emphasis is placed on performance and quality improvement methods that underlie value-based nursing care. The nurse in advanced practice today must exemplify the standards of quality and safety and be prepared to lead the delivery of value-based patient-centered care.

Informatics for Transforming Nursing Care

Informatics for Transforming Nursing Care integrates nursing science with multiple information and analytical sciences to identify, define, manage, and communicate data, information, knowledge, and wisdom in nursing practice. Students will acquire knowledge and skills to apply informatics concepts, communications, and data that are critical to facilitating interprofessional data-driven decision-making. It is designed to build competence in the use of patient- and population-based applications that inform and support the transformation of nursing care delivery toward a future of value-based quality nursing care that improves health outcomes. This course aligns theoretical concepts with practical applications of informatics and is consistent with the functional areas and responsibilities of informatics nurses as defined by American Nurses Association Scope and Standards for nursing informatics.

Leadership and Management in Complex Healthcare Systems

Leadership and Management in Complex Healthcare Systems prepares graduate nurses to be thoughtful strategists and informed decision makers who serve as strong leaders in high performing healthcare systems. Students develop competencies for managing diverse teams in complex systems, monitoring and measuring organizational performance, allocating financial and human resources, and leading change towards a transformed healthcare system. Additionally, students acquire the knowledge and skills to become full partners with other healthcare professionals by demonstrating nurse contributions toward high-quality care to patients and populations, while working collaboratively with interprofessional teams.

Advancing Evidence-Based Innovation in Nursing Practice

Advancing Evidence-Based Innovation in Nursing Practice introduces students to the dynamic union of healthcare innovation and evidence. Core competencies and behaviors required to be a nurse innovator are discussed. Strategies for measuring innovation at various system levels are presented, as well as techniques for synthesizing and disseminating evidence to advance innovation in healthcare. The skills needed to appraise the quality of diverse sources of evidence are presented within the framework of evidence-based practice. This course focuses on identifying new and emerging sources of evidence that can inform, translate, and scale the complexity of leading innovation in healthcare organizations. Students will experience building communities of practice for collaboratively developing innovative practices and policies designed to improve the health of populations and enhance the patient experience of care.

Advanced Pathopharmacological Foundations

Advanced Pathopharmacological Foundations provides advanced practice nurses foundational knowledge in the many pathologies encountered in practice today. Advancing from the cellular to the body system level, this course examines the pathologies of common conditions seen in healthcare today. Consideration is also given to the human affective response to alterations in health. There are no prerequisites for this course.

Advanced Health Assessment for Patients and Populations

Advanced Health Assessment of Patients and Populations builds on prior physical health assessment knowledge and skills acquired during undergraduate studies by focusing on the advanced assessment of biopsychosocial and sociocultural contexts in patients and populations across the life span. This course emphasizes the use of a comprehensive health promotion, disease prevention, and health restoration model to address health concerns in patients and communities. Students will acquire advanced assessment knowledge and skills for clinical interviewing, focused history taking, critical diagnostic reasoning, and clinical decision-making using a problem-focused framework that integrates authentic experiences with practical knowledge of health patterns in patients and communities.

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Leadership and Management Specialty

Leading with Personal Mastery

Leading with Personal Mastery prepares the advanced professional nurse to demonstrate self-awareness, self-management, executive function, and social awareness skills while leading and managing in diverse healthcare settings. In this course, students will learn how to incorporate these skills when developing personal relationships and building teams. Developing both social and emotional intelligence as a nurse leader will ensure that students have the ability develop strong relationships and make wise decisions when interacting with others. Increasing personal mastery will provide students with a set of tools and strategies to improve healthcare by producing high-quality results. Understanding their strengths and weaknesses, as a leader in healthcare will help students create a vision for success that includes making choices that will help balance their work life more effectively.

Business Case Analysis for Healthcare Improvement

Business Case Analysis for Healthcare Improvement provides learning experiences that help students develop essential skills for proposing changes that improve and enhance healthcare outcomes. In this course, students will develop a business case during the early stages of a project by assessing the need for the project and the feasibility of initiating a project. Understanding the techniques used to develop a business case will provide students with the skills to obtain buy-in from key stakeholders and determine the best value strategy. Writing a strong business case presents the benefits, challenges, costs, and risks of moving forward with the project or maintaining status quo. It compares the current situation to a future vision so key stakeholders can make data-driven decisions to move forward with the project. During the development of a business case in this course, students will collaborate with internal and external stakeholders to initiate a healthcare improvement project (HIP) that is grounded in project management principles and influenced by stakeholder perspectives.

Strategically Planning the Execution of a Healthcare Improvement Project

Strategically Planning the Execution of a Healthcare Improvement Project will help students develop the skills for systems thinking, problem-solving, and data-driven decision-making. In this course, students will plan the implementation of a healthcare improvement project by identifying people, processes, and procedures that need to be in place for implementation. In addition, sociodemographic data on the population that may be affected by the healthcare improvement project will be analyzed to determine risks and opportunities. During this phase, students will perform an assessment of the forces for and against implementing the project. They will also identify short-term objectives and create action plans to align to the vision, mission, and values of the organization where the project will be implemented. Students will also examine the evolution of existing policies, procedures, and processes at the systems level for the purpose of advocating change that will support a healthcare improvement project. During this course, students will plan the implementation of their healthcare improvement project through the use of sociodemographic and health data, strategic planning, and a comprehensive integration of quality and safety concepts.

Nursing Leadership and Management Field Experience

The Nursing Leadership and Management Field Experience course provides an opportunity for students to apply the knowledge and skills they developed in previous courses toward the successful implementation of their healthcare improvement project (HIP). This phase puts into action all the components of project management that were planned and developed while working collaboratively with key stakeholders to establish the need and feasibility of the HIP, analyzing the organizational readiness for change, and planning the implementation and evaluation phases. In this phase, students will develop and implement a training plan for staff, managers, and leaders. They will also implement the communication plan they developed in a previous course. They will also manage the implementation process by applying organizational standards and practices. Students will demonstrate strong leadership skills when meeting with stakeholders to report the status of the implementation phase and collaboratively problem-solve risks. Completion of the specialty courses is a pre-requisite for this course.

Managing Resources in an Era of Disruption

Managing Human and Financial Resources in an Era of Disruption examines the main premise of people and fiscal leadership. This includes the promotion of healthy work environments through the development of programs in support of mitigating behavior problems for the betterment of work-life balance. Students will analyze business model budgets, revenue streams, and human and financial resource allocation, develop training programs to evaluate compliance and regulatory requirement, and create team building experiences to promote high performing teams by improving engagement, establishing trust, and achieving common goals. Students will assess an organization’s mission, vision, and values to establish alignment between healthcare improvement and an organization’s principles for management. Changes in healthcare are inevitable, as the business success strategies used in the past are not sufficient for surviving in an era of persistent disruption. This course will help students develop the skills nurse leaders need to become partners in recommending innovative strategies that promote value-based healthcare for the future.

Evidence-Based Measures for Evaluating Healthcare Improvements

Evidence-based measures for evaluating healthcare improvements is an essential component of the planning phase of the healthcare improvement project. In this course, students will determine key performance indicators and metrics used to determine the success of a healthcare improvement project (HIP). The student will develop collaborative partnerships and build consensus with stakeholders to determine how specific data will be collected, managed, and analyzed. This is also an opportunity to discuss data issues and technologies needed for the project. To accomplish this phase, students will also determine the parameters, procedures, and technologies needed for data collection, management, analysis, and reporting.

Nursing Leadership and Management Capstone

The Nursing Leadership and Management Capstone provides students with an opportunity to evaluate and close their capstone project. This is the final course in the MSN Leadership and Management program. Students will evaluate the success of their healthcare improvement project (HIP) by analyzing results, using the key performance indicators and metrics that were identified while planning the evaluation phase. Students will present the results of the improvement project in a final report and presentation with a focus on lessons learned throughout each of the phases: initiation, planning, implementation, and evaluation. Reflective and analytic thinking are essential aspects of a capstone project, as students reflect and report on the successes and challenges encountered in each phase. In this course, students will also have an opportunity to earn the Certified Professional in Healthcare Quality certification by completing and passing the National Association for Healthcare Quality (NAHQ) CPHQ Certification test. Nursing Leadership and Management Field Experience is a prerequisite for this course.

Plan to work hard: Program requirements and expectations.

The M.S. Nursing – Leadership and Management (BSN to MSN) program is a mostly online program that you will complete by studying and working independently with support and instruction from WGU faculty. You will be expected to complete at least 8 competency units (WGU's equivalent of the credit hour) each 6-month term. (Each course is typically 3 or 4 units).

The first person you speak with at WGU will be your Enrollment Counselor, who can explain requirements and expectations in more detail. You can also read more about each course in the Program Guide.

Request info from an Enrollment Counselor

Download the complete Program Guide

Special Requirements for this program:

While most of your coursework will be completed online, your nursing program includes some requirements—including field experiences—that must be completed in a facility near you, which the university will help you find.

We offer degrees for in-demand careers that provide the knowledge and skills you need to succeed. Give your résumé the boost it needs!

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Quality you can trust: Curriculum developed with guidance from healthcare employers and experts.

Program councils—teams of industry and academic experts—drive the development of our programs, providing input on the competencies a successful graduate needs to have mastered.
An online nursing leadership and management degree program built for a busy nurse’s schedule.

Competency-based education puts working nurses in the driver’s seat of their education. As a busy nurse, you need a degree program that's more than simply online—you need a nursing program that truly reflects the realities of your work life and experience. At WGU, your progress is driven by your ability to prove what you’ve learned. How—and how quickly—are largely up to you. Once you’ve mastered the defined competencies (knowledge and skills), you prove what you know through tests, papers, projects, or other assessments. Demonstrating mastery is how you pass a course, so learning what it takes to be outstanding in your career as an effective nurse leader is at the heart of WGU’s MSN – Leadership and Management curriculum. Other universities' online M.S. programs may give you the convenience of distance learning; WGU's competency-based online programs take that flexibility further—many steps further!

“I learned a lot about doing research, which has helped me tremendously in my new position. You learn so much with this degree.” Jennifer Granger Brown
M.S. Nursing

Designed for working nurses.

Day shift, night shift, or on-call; flu season or the onslaught of summertime injuries; 5-minute coffee breaks where you’re still on your feet… A nurse’s schedule is never predictable—and not very forgiving. That’s why our programs focus on making the best use of your time and experience and why we maximize the real-world impact of the competencies you master—so your years as a nurse can help you graduate faster, and the hours of study time you squeeze in actually pay off at work.

Competency-Based Education (CBE)

How it helps you

Efficient

Save time and money by focusing efforts where they matter the most.

No two students are alike—especially working adult students with nursing experience. Students come to school knowing different things, they learn at different speeds, and they have different amounts of time to spend studying. Competency-based education lets you prioritize where to spend your valuable time.

Flexible

Learn on your own terms.

Nurses' schedules are unpredictable. Online degree programs all offer some degree of flexibility, but not like WGU does! Whatever your week looks like, competency-based learning allows you to study and complete competencies when it fits your life—even if that means taking a proctored test online at 3 a.m. While you will be required to maintain a base level of consistent progress through your program, WGU is designed to empower you to maximize your personal schedule by allowing you to build a study plan that fits into your life—not one that requires you to rearrange it.

Results

Know you’re learning real-world skills.

You earn a nursing degree for results—not simply to accrue credits. Competency-based education centers on competencies—the clearly defined knowledge and skills that leading healthcare employers are looking for. How do we know what they’re looking for? They tell us—and their input drives our curriculum.

Finish courses by proving what you know, when you’re ready.

With competency-based education at WGU, success is measured by actual learning, not class time. You advance by demonstrating that you've mastered the course subject matter—whether you learned it through your study at WGU or picked up that knowledge through years of work experience.

Your progress through a course is driven by you.

How quickly you learn

+

The time you devote to studying

+

How much previous knowledge you bring

Your experience pays at WGU.

Why start from square one when you could already be well on your way to a degree?

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A master’s in nursing management and leadership degree prepares you to lead healthcare teams.

Once you have completed this online M.S. Nursing – Leadership and Management degree program, you will have the knowledge and skills to be an outstanding nurse manager, leader, or administrator. You'll be in demand, because you'll be prepared to translate your extensive nursing knowledge into strong, effective leadership, guidance, mentorship, and management that will change your team—and your facility—for the better.

BLS projections indicate that employment of medical and health services managers will grow 32% by 2029, much faster than the average for all occupations.
—U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
WGU's MSN – Leadership and Management grads have highly rewarding careers.

Our 3,300-plus MSN – Leadership and Management alumni have great jobs and satisfying careers:
Top Jobs

Director of nursing

Chief nursing officer

Quality director

Clinical nurse leader

Project manager
Diverse Industries

Hospitals

Health systems

Cancer centers

Hospice providers

Local, state, or federal government
Major Employers

Anthem

Ascension Health

Cedars-Sinai Medical Center

U.S. Army

UCLA Health System
Explore a career in nursing leadership.

Get info about a nurse manager's salary, job outlook, work environment, and more.

More career info
WGU is a university committed to producing successful grads.

The ultimate test of your degree's value is whether it helps you become an outstanding employee and advance your career. Our happy grads—and their happy employers—confirm that WGU is the path to that kind of degree.
Happy employers

Happy grads

They're Prepared.

Employers said that WGU graduates were prepared for their jobs.

They Perform.

Employers rated WGU graduates' job performance as very good or excellent.

They Wow.

Employers said their WGU graduates have exceeded their expectations.

They're Confident.

Graduates said the majority of their coursework was related to their jobs.

They're Working.

Graduates are working full-time.

They're Satisfied.

Graduates said their degrees were worth the cost of their education.

Source: 2018 Harris Poll survey of 300 employers; 2018 Harris Poll Online survey of 1,374 new college graduates nationwide compared with survey of 1,147 WGU graduates; Gallup-Purdue Index 2018
“Our partnership with WGU enables our employees to advance their education affordably without interrupting their careers.” John Steele, Senior Vice President of Human Resources,
HCA Healthcare

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Your master's degree in nursing leadership is attainable—start by enrolling today.

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Start dates are the 1st of every month. Meet requirements by the 15th to start next month. Discuss steps and deadlines with your Enrollment Counselor.
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WGU accepts transfer credits. And, there's no work requirement.
Now's the time to advance your healthcare career with a master's degree:

Transfer up to 17 competency units (47%) of your MSN courses taken at the graduate (master's) level at an accredited institution to this WGU degree program. Courses must have been completed at an accredited MSN program within the past five years with an earned grade of "B" or higher.

There is no RN work requirement. This means you don't need to be currently working as an RN in order to be eligible for admission into our MSN programs.

For more information, please read the transfer guidelines for this program.

Your Enrollment Counselor is there to help you make an informed decision.

The first step toward change can be the hardest—we get it. Your "welcoming committee" at WGU is made up of Enrollment Counselors, Admissions Specialists, and faculty members. Your initial interactions at WGU will be guided by an Enrollment Counselor who specializes in the programs you're interested in.

Your Enrollment Counselor is ready with as much help as you may need:

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Admission requirements unique to our M.S. Nursing (BSN to MSN) degree programs.
To be considered for this program, you must:

Possess a bachelor of science in nursing degree (BSN).

Possess an active, unencumbered RN license (though you are not required to be working as an RN at the time of enrollment):

1. In your state of residence, or
2. In your state of employment.

Submit to a criminal background check through American Databank. California residents are also required to provide proof of current immunizations. Additional fees apply.

View general admissions requirements
Making an informed admission decision.

WGU seeks to admit individuals who have the capacity and determination to complete a rigorous WGU degree program…and graduate. The admission process is designed to help you and the university reach an informed decision about your likelihood of success.

At WGU we want you to graduate, not just enroll. Consequently, not every applicant is admitted because not every individual has the capacity and determination to complete a rigorous WGU degree program.
Commonly Asked Questions About BSN to MSN Leadership and Management at WGU:
Can a graduate of this program get into a nurse practitioner or other post-graduate nursing program?

Admissions requirements vary widely from program to program and from school to school. Nurse practitioner programs—including Master of Science in Nursing (MSN), Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP), and post-MSN NP certificate programs—can be among the most competitive. One factor commonly considered for enrollment in post-graduate nursing programs is grade-point average (GPA) from previous college work. The nature of WGU’s competency-based model means WGU graduates do not have a GPA when they earn their degree.

However, other factors beyond GPA are considered by many programs across the country. WGU provides opportunities for students to students to demonstrate excellence beyond a GPA, including participation in nationally recognized honors programs, real-world projects that you complete as part of your program that you can showcase in your post-graduate applications, and letters of recommendation from WGU faculty or leadership.

For any aspiring graduate student, it is important to maximize your own qualities as well as do the research to understand the schools that offer the programs you seek to join.

You can start your research by reviewing this list of post-graduate programs that have admitted WGU alumni in the past. Look on LinkedIn for WGU nursing alumni who have gone on to become nurse practitioners, and check their profiles to see which schools they attended for the MSN or DNP program. Contact the school to ask whether they enroll students from competency-based programs like WGU’s. And talk to your WGU Enrollment Counselor. WGU can provide alumni with a letter they can share with graduate schools, explaining our competency-based model. This letter has helped WGU alumni be accepted into a variety of graduate programs in a number of fields and disciplines.

What is leadership and management in nursing?

Quality leadership and management in nursing is critical to the success and well-being of patients and nurses. Nurse leaders direct and train other nurses, ensuring patients receive the best care. They also monitor and improve processes to help the organization run efficiently.

Why is leadership and management important in nursing?

Nursing is a demanding career. Hospitals and doctor’s offices serve dozens of patients each day. Having a leader who manages schedules reduces stress on nurses, freeing them up to focus on serving patients with their full energy. A good manager keeps processes running smoothly, serving nurses and ultimately improving patient outcomes.
What are the 5 leadership styles in nursing?

The 5 leadership styles in nursing are:

Transformational leadership. It aims to transform nurses into independent and autonomous workers, empowering them to reach goals without needing to be micromanaged.

Democratic leadership. This style of leadership takes the input of each nurse into account when making decisions. A democratic leader maintains open communication with each nurse under their supervision.

Laissez-fair leadership. A laissez-fair leader is also known as an inexperienced one. While they let nurses govern themselves, they often provide very little feedback and don’t establish clear processes or expectations.

Autocratic leadership. Unlike laissez-fair, this type of leadership is very hands-on. These types of leaders often struggle to tolerate mistakes and they make decisions without consulting their team.

Servant leadership. A servant leader serves each team member and works tirelessly to ensure they have the tools and structure they need to be successful. Servant leaders care deeply about each nurse they lead, building a strong relationship with each.
What is the difference between a nurse manager and a nurse leader?

Typically, the difference between nurse managers and leaders is that nurse managers work more on high-level operations and behind the scenes aspects, while nurse leaders work closely with nurses and patients in a hands-on capacity.
Programs begin the 1st of any month.

New students can begin their first term at the beginning of any month. So you can start when you’re ready, rather than rushing (or waiting) for fall or spring enrollment. There's no need to wait!

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“Enrollment was perfectly easy for me. I was able to submit online and somebody called me within a day to start the whole process. Within two or three weeks I was ready to go for my first term.” Bryon Denton
M.S. Nursing – Education

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