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10 Best Nurse Practitioner Programs in Michigan – 2023
Michigan is unique in that its nurse practitioners are not regulated by a nurse practice act but under the auspices of the state’s Public Health Code. NPs in The Wolverine State do not have full practice autonomy, but they can prescribe nonscheduled drugs, make house calls, and go on hospital rounds without consulting a collaborating physician. The BLS projects there will be more than a 16 percent increase in demand for graduates of accredited nurse practitioner schools in Michigan over the next decade. On average, Michigan NPs earn $109,150 a year. Interested in finding out what the best nurse practitioner programs in Michigan for 2023 are? Keep reading.
WHAT ARE THE 10 BEST NURSE PRACTITIONER PROGRAMS IN MICHIGAN (ONLINE & CAMPUS) FOR 2023?
1) Michigan State University - East Lansing
Are you interested in improving health care outcomes at the community level? Then MSU's NP programs, commonly considered as one the best nurse practitioner programs in Michigan should be high on your list. The college of nursing at Michigan State University offers both an MSN and a BSN to DNP track in three separate specialty areas: family practice, adult-gerontology, and psychiatric mental health. The Family Nurse concentration is concerned with children, adolescents, and younger adults while the Adult-Gerontology Primary Care concentration focuses on adults as they age into senior citizenship. The Psychiatric Mental Health concentration trains you to diagnose, assess, and treat patients with psychiatric disorders.
MSN Concentrations: Adult Gerontology Primary Care Nurse Practitioner, Family Nurse Practitioner, and Psychiatric Mental Health Nurse Practitioner
The MSN program blends traditional classroom lectures and discussions with online coursework and experiential learning through clinical simulations and rotations at partner hospitals, clinics, and health departments. Some of the courses are taught entirely online while others require students to come to the East Lansing campus four or five times per year. Students are admitted once a year in the fall. The program can be completed in two years if you are a fulltime student and in three years if you are pursuing coursework part-time.
DNP Concentrations: Family Nurse Practitioner, Adult-Gerontology Primary Care Nurse Practitioner, and Psychiatric-Mental Health Nurse Practitioner
Michigan State University’s DNP program is designed for nurses who want to take leadership roles within institutional health care providers or at colleges, universities, and other institutions of learning. The application process is highly competitive. The DNP program has a core curriculum of 28 credits; in addition to this, students must complete 42 credits in their area of concentration. While some of the required courses are given online, others will take place in classrooms. Students are required to come to the East Lansing campus four or five times a semester. Many of the required courses have clinical components that involve rotations through acute care, primary care, and academic settings.
2) University of Michigan - Ann Arbor
The University of Michigan at Ann Arbor is one of the largest public research universities in the U.S. Its clinical graduate nurse practitioner programs are consistently ranked among the top nurse practitioner programs in Michigan and the nation. You can choose between an MSN option and a BSN to DNP option; both degree paths offer primary as well as acute clinical specialties. Students who choose one of the UM Ann Arbor’s primary care NP tracks will learn how to provide comprehensive, community-based care within the context of a long-term patient relationship. Acute care nurse practitioner tracks, on the other hand, prepare you to work within a hospital setting.
MSN Concentrations: Adult-Gerontology Acute Care Nurse Practitioner, Adult-Gerontology Primary Care Nurse Practitioner, Primary Care Pediatric Nurse Practitioner, Acute Care Pediatric Nurse Practitioner, Primary Care Family Nurse Practitioner, Nurse-Midwifery/Primary Care Family Nurse Practitioner, and Nurse-Midwifery/Primary Care Pediatric Nurse Practitioner
UM, Ann Arbor currently offers seven MSN-Nurse Practitioner programs in Michigan. You can apply to either one of these programs immediately after completing your BSN degree: The University of Michigan will accept your application even if you don’t have work experience. Upon acceptance, you’ll be paired with a faculty mentor who will help you find the types of clinical rotations that are most pertinent to your career goals. In addition to your clinical rotations, you’ll learn and perfect new hands-on skills at the state-of-the-art Clinical Learning Center. Online degree options are available for some of these specialties. You’ll be able to complete your degree in either two years or three years, depending upon whether you choose to enroll full-time or part-time.
BSN to DNP Concentrations: Adult-Gerontology Acute Care Nurse Practitioner, Adult-Gerontology Primary Care Nurse Practitioner, Primary Care Pediatric Nurse Practitioner, Acute Care Pediatric Nurse Practitioner, Primary Care Family Nurse Practitioner, Nurse-Midwifery/Primary Care Family Nurse Practitioner, and Nurse-Midwifery/Primary Care Pediatric Nurse Practitioner
The University of Michigan’s BSN to DNP program will prepare you for a leadership role in patient care, often as a nurse executive in a hospital or a clinic. Students who already have BSNs can choose among seven NP specialties, which can be completed in either three years or four years. Two of these specialties—Nurse-Midwifery/Primary Care Family Nurse Practitioner and Nurse-Midwifery/Primary Care Pediatric Nurse Practitioner—are blended specialties, which make students eligible to sit for two separate certification exams. Much of the coursework can be taken online. Clinical placements will be chosen for you by faculty members on the basis of students' specific interests.
3) Grand Valley State University - Grand Rapids
If you are looking to pursue your DNP-NP education from one of the top nurse practitioner programs in Michigan, you need to know that the DNP degree at Grand Valley State University’s Kirkhof School of Nursing offers two Advanced Nursing Practice specialties: Child/Adolescent and Adult/Older Primary Care. After you graduate, you’ll have the skills and the knowledge you need to assume a leadership role in clinical practice or in nursing administration. This is the only DNP-NP program in western Michigan, and it reflects the nursing school’s commitment to transforming health care through the use of informatics, a dedication to patient-centered care, and the implementation of quality and safety initiatives.
DNP Concentrations: Child/Adolescent or Adult/Older Primary Care Nurse Practitioner
Enrollment in the program is capped so that students will have the opportunity to develop rewarding one-on-one relationships with faculty members. Coursework emphasizes topics like statistics, informatics technologies, the politics of health care delivery in the U.S. and the health issues that beset vulnerable populations in the U.S. Coursework is a combination of online study and classroom interactions at the Cook-DeVos Center for Health Sciences in downtown Grand Rapids. If you’re entering the program with a BSN, you’ll take 75 to 77 classroom credits and spend 1,035 hours doing clinical rotations. If you’re entering the program with an MSN, your studies will be customized to supply you with learning opportunities in areas in which you are deficient.
4) Wayne State University - Detroit
As befits a university located in the heart of Detroit, Wayne State University’s leading MSN and DNP nurse practitioner programs in Michigan focus on imparting the types of skills nurses will need to meet the unique health care challenges facing urban populations. Aspiring nurse practitioners will have the opportunity to log clinical hours at the university’s innovative Campus Health Center, which is entirely managed by nurses. Both the MSN NP and DNP NP programs are ranked by “U.S. News and World Report” as among the best in Michigan and the U.S.
MSN Concentrations: Neonatal Nurse Practitioner (NNP), Pediatric Nurse Practitioner-Acute Care, Pediatric Nurse Practitioner-Primary Care, and Psychiatric-Mental Health Nurse Practitioner
Wayne State offers four NP specialties as part of its MSN degree program. As a Neonatal Nurse Practitioner, you’ll focus on the health care needs of newborns. The acute care and primary care Pediatric NP tracks focus on teaching nurses the skills necessary for disease management in hospital and community settings respectively while the Psychiatric-Mental Health NP track teaches assessment, triage, and crisis intervention skills that benefit patients affected by psychological and neurological issues. Each MSN Nurse Practitioner specialty requires 13 credits of core master’s degree classes as well as coursework specifically pertaining to a student’s chosen specialty. The pertinent coursework may be taken online. Students who opt for distance learning will participate in classes as they take place on the Detroit campus, participating in discussions, giving presentations, taking exams, and collaborating on projects with their campus counterparts. In order to be admitted into Wayne State’s MSN NP program, you must have maintained a grade point average of 2.75 or higher in all your undergraduate upper-division coursework.
DNP Concentrations: Adult-Gerontology Nurse Practitioner-Acute Care, Adult-Gerontology Nurse Practitioner-Primary Care, Family Nurse Practitioner, Neonatal Nurse Practitioner, Pediatric Nurse Practitioner-Acute Care, Pediatric Nurse Practitioner-Primary Care, and Psychiatric-Mental Health Nurse Practitioner
This DNP program is an empowering choice for nurses who wish to transform to delivery of health care in urban environments. The curriculum showcases the nurse practitioner’s role not only as a clinician but also as an educator and a clinical researcher. Nurses who choose Wayne State’s DNP program can choose among seven specialties. Nurses learn diagnostic reasoning as well as advanced assessment techniques. Clinical rotation sites are chosen on the basis of the goals that students identify over the course of their studies and include hospitals, clinics, emergency departments, and other qualified health centers. Upon graduation, students will be eligible to sit for a certification exam administered by the Nursing Board in their particular specialty.
5) University of Detroit Mercy - Detroit
For prospective nurse practitioner students, Detroit Mercy offers two nurse practitioner programs in Michigan, a post-BSN to DNP with MSN and a post-master’s certification option. Both these programs are grounded in the educational traditions of the Jesuit Brothers and the Sisters of Mercy. If you believe inequities within the health care system are preventing vulnerable populations from avoiding disease and premature death, this nursing school will teach you how to help mitigate those inequities. “U.S. News & World Report” counts the school among the best NP schools in the U.S., and the university recently even lowered its tuition fees.
Post-BSN to DNP with MSN Concentrations: Family Nurse Practitioner (FNP)
Detroit Mercy’s Family Nurse Practitioner DNP program with an MSN exit option emphasizes the provision of services to underserved populations. Its practice model emphasizes health promotion and disease prevention across a chronological continuum that spans from childhood to middle age. To earn a master’s degree, you must complete 47 class credits and 720 hours of clinical rotation. To complete the DNP NP option, you’ll be required to complete an additional 25 class credits as well as additional clinical hours. You can complete these requirements by going to school either full-time or part-time. As a graduate of this program, you’ll qualify to sit for the national certification exams administered by both the American Nurses Credentialing Center (ANCC) and the American Academy of Nurse Practitioners Certification Board (AANPCB.)
Post-Master's Certificate Concentrations: Post-Masters Family Nurse Practitioner, and Post-FNP Emergency Nurse Practitioner
Detroit Mercy also offers two post-master’s certificate nurse practitioner programs in Michigan. Applicants who’ve already obtained a Master of Science in Nursing degree in another nursing specialty can earn an FNP graduate certificate by completing 29 coursework credits and 720 clinical hours. Note that this certificate program does not lead to an academic degree although it will qualify you to take the ANCC and AANPCB certification tests.
The post-FNP Emergency Nurse Practitioner certificate program is the only one of its kind in Michigan. Its focus is upon interdisciplinary collaboration within the context of team-based care. Upon completion, family practice NPs will be qualified to provide urgent care emergency life support services to patients. Participating students must complete 15 credits in the course of three consecutive semesters.
6) University of Michigan - Flint
Between its MSN NP tracks, its DNP NP tracks, and its post-graduate certificate NP tracks, the University of Michigan at Flint is one of the busiest nurse practitioner schools in Michigan. A UM-Flint graduate degree prepares nurses to stand on the front lines of community health care.
RN-MSN Concentrations: Family Nurse Practitioner WITH Other Non-Nursing Bachelor Degree, and Family Nurse Practitioner WITHOUT Other Non-Nursing Bachelor Degree
UM-Flint provides registered nurses who hold associate degrees an opportunity to become nurse practitioners by pursuing its RN to MSN program. The program has two pathways: one for nurses who only hold associate degrees and the other for nurses who have bachelor’s degrees in unrelated fields along with associate degrees in nursing. In order to be admitted into either of these programs, nurses must have a GPA of 3.5 or higher for their last 60 post-secondary credits. Before they can be admitted, they must complete a core curriculum of basic nursing classes. These core classes are available online through UM-Flint.
MSN Concentrations: Family Nurse Practitioner
With this MSN nurse practitioner program in Michigan, you’ll complete your coursework online, but you’ll be expected to visit the Flint campus three to six times per academic year. Students have the option of completing their studies in either two years (fulltime) or three years (part-time.) Students will do clinical rotations at health care facilities close to where they live to help them become competent at performing physical examinations, interpreting diagnostic and laboratory tests, and prescribing medications and non-pharmacological therapies for the management of the conditions they’ve learned to diagnose. Students pursuing this track will need to complete practicums that focus on all three of the populations they’ll be working with professionally: children, adolescents, and adults.
RN to DNP (WITH Other Non-Nursing Bachelor’s Degree) Concentrations: Family Nurse Practitioner, Adult Acute Care Nurse Practitioner, Adult Gerontology Nurse Practitioner, and Psychiatric Mental Health Nurse Practitioner
The University of Michigan at Flint allows ADN educated licensed registered nurses who hold a bachelor’s degree in a non-nursing field to enroll in their DNP-NP program so long as they take the essential core nursing prerequisites and meet GPA requirements. Based on their specific interests, students can choose either one of the three nurse practitioner specializations on offer.
BSN to DNP Concentrations: Adult-Gerontology Acute Care Nurse Practitioner, Adult-Gerontology Primary Care Nurse Practitioner, Family Nurse Practitioner, and Psychiatric Mental Health Nurse Practitioner
This BSN to DNP track is designed for nurses who want to take leadership roles in the provision of community-based health care. Nurses can pursue the program either full-time or part-time. Nurses can pursue one of four distinct specializations. Nurses who opt for the Adult-Gerontology Acute Care Nurse Practitioner track must have at least one year of experience in a critical care specialty in order to qualify for admission. Nurses who pursue the Psychiatric Mental Health Nurse Practitioner track must gain experience with pediatric, adolescent, and adult populations during their clinical rotations. As with the MSN NP program, coursework involves a distance-learning format and clinical placements are set up at health care facilities close to where you live.
Post-Master's Certificate Concentrations: Psychiatric Mental Health Nurse Practitioner, and Adult-Gerontology Acute Care Nurse Practitioner
Nurse practitioners who’ve completed a master's program also have the option to specialize further by pursuing post-graduate certification either in the field of psychiatry or in the field of acute adult-gerontology. Admission into the post-graduate psychiatric program can only take place during the winter semester.
7) Madonna University – Livonia
Madonna University is known as one of the Wolverine State’s most affordable, Catholic institutions of higher learning. The university recently overhauled its graduate nursing programs, adding new specialties and certificates, and reducing the number of credit hours students must take in order to earn them. There are now six NP tracks within the MSN option, including both a primary care and acute care adult-gerontology concentration with a hospice specialty. Four NP career specializations are available for nurses who want to go straight for their DNPs after they finish their BSN degrees and for nurses who’ve completed their MSN studies the college offers two NP certification concentrations.
MSN Concentrations: Adult-Gerontology Acute Care Nurse Practitioner, Adult-Gerontology Acute Care Nurse Practitioner with Advanced Practice Hospice and Palliative Care Specialty, AGACNP/FNP Dual Program, Adult-Gerontology Primary Care Nurse Practitioner, Adult-Gerontology Primary Care Nurse Practitioner with Advanced Practice Hospice and Palliative Care Specialty, and Family Nurse Practitioner
MSN classes take place on Madonna University’s campus. For each clinical specialty except the dual FNP/Adult gerontology degree program, 600 hours of supervised practicum time is required. Madonna University partners with all major health care providers in the tri-county area for clinical placements and students will rotate through a variety of acute and primary care settings. Students enrolled in the dual degree FNP/Adult gerontology program must complete 960 clinical hours. The dual degree nurse practitioner program is unique in that nurses who graduate from it will have the knowledge and skills to assess, diagnose, and treat illnesses across the entire human lifespan.
BSN to DNP Concentrations: Adult Gerontology Acute Care Nurse Practitioner, Dual Adult Gerontology Acute Care/FNP, Adult Gerontology Primary Care Nurse Practitioner, and Family Nurse Practitioner
The BSN to DNP delves deeply into the policies, organizations, and economic realities that will shape the delivery of U.S. health care in the 21st century. There is an MSN exit option for students who choose not to complete the course of study. Nurses have the option of pursuing this degree part-time if they wish. The coursework consists of 74 credit hours pursued both online and in campus classrooms. Students must complete 600 hours of direct patient care in a variety of acute care and primary care settings.
Post-Master's Certificate Concentrations: Adult-Gerontology Primary Care Nurse Practitioner, and Family Nurse Practitioner
Post-graduate certificate nurse practitioner programs in Michigan are ways for nurses to gain specialized knowledge in a field of interest. Though they don’t lead to an academic degree, they do allow nurses to take certification exams in niche specialties. Madonna currently offers two graduate certificate nurse practitioner programs in Michigan.
8) Oakland University - Rochester
Oakland University has been designated an R2 Carnegie Doctoral Research University, so it offers plenty of support to nursing students studying to become nurse practitioners in Michigan. The university offers two MSN-Nurse Practitioner programs in Michigan: one in Acute Adult/Gerontological Practice and one in Family Nurse practice; it also offers post-master’s certification options in those two fields. Oakland University is also home to one of Michigan’s seven medical schools, so aspiring nurse practitioners will have opportunities to pursue interdisciplinary projects.
MSN Concentrations: Adult/Gerontological Nurse Practitioner (Adult/GNP), and Family Nurse Practitioner (FNP)
The Adult/Gerontological MSN Nurse Practice curriculum focuses on health care management for middle-aged adults and the elderly, while the Family Practice curriculum focuses on health care management for children and younger adults. If students can pursue the fulltime option, they can graduate in two years. Students also have the option of pursuing coursework and clinicals part-time, in which case they’ll graduate in three years. Admission eligibility is contingent upon one year of work experience as a registered nurse.
Post-Master's Certificate Concentrations: Adult/Gerontological Nurse Practitioner, and Family Nurse Practitioner
Required coursework for Oakland’s two post-masters certificate concentrations will be customized for each student through a GAP analysis-style comparison of the student’s prior MSN coursework and clinical experiences with the specialty’s standard plan of study.
9) Saginaw Valley State University - University Center
Saginaw Valley State University is a public university that offers one of the lowest tuition rates in the Midwest. As one of the leading nurse practitioner schools in Michigan, the school emphasizes the importance of an interdisciplinary approach to health care and the critical role that nurses play as members of a health care team. The college offers currently offers two graduate nurse practitioner programs in Michigan with a primary care family practice specialization. It also offers a post-master’s certificate which you can pursue in either primary care family nurse practice or psychiatric mental health nurse practice. The Primary Care Family Nurse Practitioner program imparts skills nurses will need to work in collaboration with other health care professionals to provide family-focused care. After you complete SCSU’s Psychiatric Mental Health Nurse Practice certificate program, you’ll know how to identify risk factors for psychiatric disorders and assess, diagnose, and treat individuals affected by these disorders.
MSN Concentrations: Primary Care Family Nurse Practitioner
SVSU’s NP program at the MSN level is practical and skills-based, and the university has streamlined it to make it convenient for nurses who can only go to school part-time. Classes combine online and face-to-face learning; campus classes are typically scheduled for no more than once a week and take place in the evenings. SVSU strives for diversity in its master’s level NP program; students are of all ages and come from a range of nursing backgrounds.
BSN to DNP Concentrations: Primary Care Family Nurse Practitioner
The BSN to DNP Primary Care Family Nurse Practice program is designed to be a four-year program. At the end of the third year, students are awarded an MSN and take the certification exam used to qualify them as NPs. Students are given the option to continue with their studies or to defer them and come back at a later point to finish their degree. Students who progress all the way to a DNP are required to take a minimum of 79 classroom credits and 1,000 clinical practice hours.
Post-Master's Certificate Concentrations: Primary Care Family Nurse Practitioner and Psychiatric Mental Health Nurse Practitioner
Saginaw Valley State also offers two post-graduate certificate nurse practitioner programs in Michigan. The Primary Care Family Nurse Practice specialty requires 37 class credits, which can be spread out over two to three years. You can transfer up to 12 equivalent graduate credits from another program. The Psychiatric Mental Health Nurse Practice specialty is a 24-credit program that’s designed to be completed over four semesters. Following the academic portion of the program, students must complete 540 hours of supervised clinical patient care in facilities close to their homes.
10) Eastern Michigan University - Ypsilanti
At both the undergraduate and graduate level, Eastern Michigan University’s nursing programs are designed to meet the demands made on the U.S. health care system by the aging Boomer cohort. If you are exclusively looking out for the best nurse practitioner programs in Michigan that focus on Adult-Gerontology Primary Care, then EMU can be a good choice. The University offers a single NP specialty in Adult-Gerontology Primary Care Nurse Practice and you can pursue this specialty as part of either an MSN curriculum, a BSN to DNP curriculum, or as a post-graduate certificate.
MSN Concentrations: Adult-Gerontology Primary Care Nurse Practitioner
Completing an MSN with an Adult-Gerontology Primary Care Nurse Practice specialty at this nurse practitioner school in Michigan will give you the opportunity to work semi-autonomously in a wide variety of clinical settings. The NP specialty can be pursued as a hybrid program, which means that students will have the opportunity to take both online and campus classes. Requirements include 43 classroom credits and a minimum of 500 clinical hours, which can be completed in two years or six consecutive semesters by taking two courses per semester.
Post-BSN to DNP Concentrations: Adult-Gerontology Primary Care Nurse Practitioner
The BSN to DNP concentration can be pursued as either a campus program or a hybrid program. For students attending the Eastern Michigan University campus, the program will take four years or 12 semesters to complete, and at the end of the first six semesters, students will be awarded an MSN degree. Students who opt for the hybrid format will need to complete 84 post-BSN credits and will be awarded an MSN after 43 credits.
Post-Master’s Certificate Concentrations: Adult-Gerontology Primary Care Nurse Practitioner
The advanced certificate program is designed to help nurses who already have an MSN degree expand their scope of clinical practice. The program consists of 19 credit hours and 370 hours of precepted clinical practice. This certification program typically takes one year or three consecutive semesters to complete. Students will be required to pass a Capstone exit exam at the end of their clinical rotation.
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
What are the Total Number of Accredited NP Programs in Michigan?
The American Association of Nurse Practitioners reports that currently there are Thirty Eight accredited nurse practitioner programs in Michigan.| Program Type | # |
| BSN to MSN | 11 |
| BSN to DNP | 10 |
| MSN to DNP | 8 |
| Post-Master's Certificate | 9 |
| Total | 38 |
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