PhD in Nursing/DNP

In just five years, you’ll become a dual-doctorate graduate from Case Western Reserve, one of the top research universities in the U.S. In our program, you’ll complete coursework in a side-by-side fashion, taking courses in both the DNP and PhD programs concurrently.

Your PhD in Nursing is a research doctorate—you’ll learn from the nation’s top nurse scientists as you conduct interdisciplinary research alongside them and prepare your dissertation. You’ll also complete a DNP project, with the potential for it to serve as a pilot study for your dissertation.  

You’ll have the opportunity to complete course requirements for both the DNP and PhD in nursing degrees (55 credits), after which you’ll complete your proposal development, candidacy exam, proposal defense, DNP project and final PhD dissertation defense.

Prospective students must be admitted to both the PhD and DNP programs, indicating interest in the dual doctorate within the online application. When filling out the first program of choice, please indicate the dual doctorate interest and we can forward the application to the other degree program. Admission to the DNP program is determined by the Frances Payne Bolton School of Nursing, whereas admission to the PhD program is determined by the Case Western Reserve University School of Graduate Studies.

Application requirements include:

• Online application, including a statement of purpose
• Application fees for each application
• Uploading an essay to the DNP questions and also an essay for the PhD questions
• Bachelor's degree (BSN) from an accredited institution
• Unofficial transcripts can be uploaded to the application, but the DNP programs requires official transcripts for application review
• Current resume/CV
• Academic references
• International applicants: a 90 on TEOFL or 7.0 for IELTS