Admissions, Application, Information Sessions

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  What is the deadline for admission?

  We will be accepting applications for Fall 2025 enrollment beginning March 2024. All documents will be submitted online.
  

  • Please read through all instructions on this page carefully before you apply.

  Early decision is for applicants who have all admissions requirements completed (including pre-requisite coursework).

  • Around March 1 yearly- application becomes available.
  • June 30- Deadline to submit application and upload all required documentation.
  • Mid-September- applicants are offered interview, or notified that a decision on their application will be deferred (their application will be considered along with those application we receive before October 31).
  • Early October- interviews. Applicants notified shortly thereafter if they will be offered enrollment.
    • We do not intend to "lock out" October applicants, so we will fill only half of our available enrollment with early decision applicants.
    • If interviewed and not offered enrollment, a decision on their application will be made after January interviews, and they will be notified.

  Regular admission

  • Around March 1 yearly- application becomes available. It is suggested if you are still working on some of the admissions requirements, that you wait and apply after July 1.
  • October 31- Deadline to submit application and upload all required documentation.
  • Mid-December - applicants are offered interview, or notified that an interview will not be scheduled.
  • January- interviews. Applicants notified shortly thereafter either way if they will be offered enrollment.
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  What are the admission requirements?

  The DNP-Nurse Anesthesia program is targeted to outstanding Registered Nurses with critical care experience who possess a baccalaureate degree. Requirements include:

  1. Graduation from an accredited (ACEN or CCNE) nursing program.
  2. Baccalaureate or Master’s entry degree in Nursing with a minimum cumulative grade point average of 3.0 or above.
  3. Minimum of one year recent experience (within the last 5 years) as a professional registered nurse in a critical care area in the United States, in which the applicant has had the opportunity to develop as an independent decision maker, demonstrate psychomotor skills and the ability to use and interpret advanced monitoring techniques. Direct patient contact is required.
     • The requirement for critical care is that you have experience as a Registered Nurse in a critical care area, with emphasis placed on invasive hemodynamic monitoring, ventilatory care and pharmacologic management. The preferred areas are: SICU (Surgical Intensive Care), MICU (Medical Intensive Care), CICU (Cardiac Intensive Care), PICU/NICU (Pediatric or Neonatal Intensive Care). Applicants have also been accepted whose experience is primarily in a Level I or II Emergency Department, provided they can demonstrate familiarity with invasive monitoring, ventilators and critical care pharmacology.
  4. Professional/academic competency attested by three letters of recommendation submitted directly to us by the recommender from their institutional email address.
     • Have the online recommendations filled out by an academic reference (e.g. a professor in your BSN program), your current immediate supervisor (charge nurse or nurse manager) in critical care, and a colleague who is a CRNA, physician or RN, and is familiar with your critical care skills.
     • For Nurse Managers and Colleague recommendations: We are interested in an assessment of the applicant's critical care nursing skills, personal characteristics (maturity and readiness for a difficult program of study), and degree of professional development as a Registered Nurse.
     • For Nursing School Academic references: We are interested in whether the applicant is recommended for further study as a graduate student. This reference must come from the nursing school dean's office or directly from a nursing faculty member. 
  5. Undergraduate coursework: Transcripts should reflect one undergraduate course taken within the ten years prior to the application deadline, with a grade of B or above, in each of the following: Chemistry (ie Detroit Mercy CHM 1040 General Chemistry for the Health Sciences), & Anatomy and Physiology.
  6. Submission of a professional autobiography delineating personal goals of graduate study.
  7. Advanced Cardiac Life Support (ACLS) certification.
  8. Pediatric Advanced Life Support (PALS).
  9. Current unencumbered licensure as a professional registered nurse in Michigan, or ability to obtain the same.
  10. Applicants must demonstrate they can meet the technical standards published in our handbook, and complete the application process as directed here.

  Note:

  • See below for more information about pre-requisite courses.
  • We accept ACLS certification courses approved by America Heart Association. 
  • We do not require the Graduate Record Exam (GRE).
  • We expect that applicants will shadow a CRNA during the application process (prior to interview) to learn more about the specialty and help them determine if nurse anesthesia suits them.
  • Once accepted, enrollment is contingent on successfully passing a health and drug screening as well as a criminal background check, and remaining in critical care until enrollment. Policy and forms for criminal background check and drug screening are on the web site.
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  How do I apply?

  Please follow the instructions below to apply for Fall 2025.

  1. Fill out the online application, which is available as of (approximately) March 1, 2024. Start by clicking “APPLY NOW”. Be sure to:
     • • BEFORE you Submit
         • List all colleges and universities attended since high school on the online application (that way, we will know what transcripts to expect).
         • List your three recommenders (Be sure to choose NUR/CRNA as recommendation type). Use institutional email addresses only.
       • Choose Graduate, Fall term 2025 as the admission term, and "Nursing (Graduate) - DNP Nurse Anesthesia" as the major field of study.
       • We do not require GRE or any other test scores to be submitted.
       • If you have them ready, you may upload your curriculum vitae (which contains your work experience – see directions below), and your personal essay, while you are filling out the application. If the essay and CV are not ready as you fill out the application, you will be able to upload it later, as you visit the admissions portal.
  2. Recommendations: Three online forms are required (1 academic, 2 clinical).
     
     • Be sure to choose “NUR/CRNA” as recommendation type for all three.
     • List all three recommenders complete information before you submit. Use institutional email addresses only, not personal email addresses.
     • As you add each recommender, please scroll down and respond to the privacy statement by waiving your rights to see the recommender’s responses.
     • The academic reference should come from a faculty member from your BSN nursing program. One of the two clinical references should come from your current ICU nurse manager. The other should come from an RN colleague, but could also come from a CRNA or physician who is familiar with your critical care skills.
     • If your recommenders are having trouble receiving the email with the recommendation form, please contact Karin LaRose-Neil at laroseka@udmercy.edu or 313-578-0358.
     • Your recommenders must fill out the online form. A separate letter is not necessary. However, if the recommender wishes to send a letter in addition to the required online form, they may upload it along with the form they fill out.
     • If you were previously enrolled in a Nurse Anesthesia program, your former program director must also provide a reference directly to us. You must also upload a statement detailing the circumstances which caused you to leave the prior program.
  3. Application Certification- Be sure to agree to all three statements. If you need to provide additional detail, you may upload documents by visiting the personal admission portal.
  4. Once you submit your application, you receive an email with a link to enter your admission portal. Please take note of the login and password for the portal. There you may:
     • Upload supplemental application materials
     • Verify that all your materials have been received
  5. You will upload the following to your admission portal:
     • Copy of current, unencumbered Registered Nurse license. Ordinarily this is a Michigan RN license. If you are licensed in another state, please upload that state RN license. A Michigan RN license must be in your file before enrollment.
     • Please request official transcripts from all educational institutions you have attended after high school. These must be original transcripts sent directly from the institution. Faxed, scanned, sealed and mailed from you, or sealed and hand-delivered are not accepted. So please plan ahead – even local institutions can take weeks to process transcript requests. You will be able to see the transcripts we expect, and the dates we received them in the portal.
       
       • If you attended UDM, we will pull your transcript (you need not order it sent to us). But, please let us know that we need to upload it for you (the system doesn't automatically alert us that this needs to be done). Please email Karin LaRose-Neil at laroseka@udmercy.edu or 313-578-0358 and ask that she pull your UDM transcript.
       • Electronic transcript submission is preferred. Please send to anesthesia@udmercy.edu with "Nurse Anesthesia" in the subject line. Depending upon the transcript issuer, you may need to select "education organization" to enter the email address, anesthesia@udmercy.edu
       • Have paper transcripts sent to: Nurse Anesthesia, University of Detroit Mercy, 4001 W McNichols Road, Detroit MI 48221-3038
       • If you are re-applying, only submit transcripts that are changed. If you do not see your transcripts in the portal, please contact us.
     • A professional autobiography in essay form delineating personal goals of graduate study. Please address the following in not more than 2 pages (single-spaced, 12-point, Times New Roman font with 1 inch margins): Briefly describe your critical care nursing experience during the past five years. Mention briefly your roles and responsibilities, what types of patients you care for, and the size and location of your ICU. How do you perceive the role of the nurse anesthetist? Why did you select nurse anesthesiology as a career choice? Why did you select the University of Detroit Mercy program? What do you feel you have to offer the profession of nurse anesthesiology?
     • Your curriculum vitae. Include your complete education and employment history (after high school). Guides and links for preparing your CV may be found at: Preparing a Curriculum Vitae. We are particularly interested in a good chronologic history of your critical care experience. For each, be sure to include:
       
       • Name of Hospital, Location (Street, City, State)
       • Type of ICU (what surgical or medical services place patients there)
       • Date started/ended (month and year)
       • Full time or Part time (hrs/week)
       • Manager's name
     • Copy of Advanced Cardiac Life Support (ACLS) certification.
       • We accept only ACLS certification courses approved by American Heart Association.
     • Copy of Pediatric Advanced Life Support (PALS). This is not required by the admissions deadline, but we must have it before enrollment. Please consider scheduling this course early. It is not offered as frequently as ACLS.
     • If you have ever enrolled in a Nurse Anesthesia program in the past, your former program director must provide a letter, sent directly to us.
     • Note: If you have applied before, or if any of your documents such as transcripts have a different name on them, it is very helpful if you indicate this on an uploaded cover letter.

  Occasionally, the Admissions Committee has questions or needs clarification regarding your clinical experience, or your transcripts. They may contact your references (or the institutions of higher education you have attended) directly for clarification.

  When applying, keep in mind:

  1. CRNA School Search is the only up to date, authoritative source for obtaining (or comparing) information about all US nurse anesthesia programs. It is compiled by COA (the accreditor for all US programs).
  2. Please keep us informed of your current email address throughout the process. We use email as a primary means of communicating with you. We do not follow all email communications with a letter or phone call. So please be sure you choose a reliable email provider.
  3. Attend an information session for clarification of any questions.
  4. Apply at least 2-3 months before the October 31 deadline. This allows time for transcripts and recommendations to arrive. We will consider all complete applications received before (with all supporting documents received by) the deadline. During November and December, we determine if an interview should be scheduled. It is not possible to make a decision to interview an applicant whose documents are missing, incomplete, or not in accord with the instructions to applicants (e.g., missing transcripts or letters of recommendation, or pre-requisite coursework not completed by deadline).
  5. Ensure that supporting documentation is sent/uploaded before the deadline.
  6. We review all applications received in November. We contact all applicants by December 24 (approximately), indicating whether we will be granting an interview or not.
  7. The top candidates meeting or exceeding admission requirements will be granted an interview (normally held in late January, but this may vary from year to year). The Admissions Committee goal is to notify all applicants of their decision within two weeks after the interviews. Applicants are either accepted, accepted as alternates, or their application is denied.
  8. After they receive notice from the Admissions Committee, accepted applicants confirm their intention to enroll in writing, and by submitting a deposit ($1,000, which is non-refundable and applied to the first term tuition).

  Please call with any questions or concerns you may have.
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  Admissions: Frequently asked questions

  See Frequently-Asked Questions - Admissions for further information.

  Contact us by mail, email, phone, or fax today.

  If you are re-applying...

  If you are re-applying, please re-submit your online application for the term of enrollment, and re-submit everything except unchanged transcripts. Make sure you see your previous transcripts as received in the portal. If not, contact Ms. LaRose-Neil at laroseka@udmercy.edu or 313-578-0358..

  What is the postal address?

  Electronic transcripts are preferred to anesthesia@udmercy.edu Please be sure to put Attention: Nurse Anesthesia in the Subject line. Please send paper transcripts to:

  Nurse Anesthesia
  University of Detroit Mercy
  4001 West McNichols Road
  Detroit MI 48221-3038

  Who should I contact if I have questions?

  If you have any questions, email Greg Bozimowski DNP, CRNA at bozimogm@udmercy.edu. Please note: you can determine easily for yourself what we have received. There is a personal admission portal where you can check on the progress of your application. Login, and you will see which transcripts, recommendations, and other documents have been received.

  If you have questions about how the admissions requirements apply to your circumstances, you should read this page and site carefully. Then you should plan on attending an information session (maps and schedules).
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  Pre-requisite courses

  Please note that all pre-requisite course work must be completed by the October 31 deadline. If you are completing your BSN, this must also be completed by the October 31 deadline.

  The following courses are pre-requisites:

  1. You should have one course in the area of Anatomy and Physiology, taken within the ten years prior to the application deadline, and with a course grade of B or better. If you went to Detroit Mercy, this would be BIO 2300 or BIO 2320. If you went elsewhere, or need to retake the course for age or grades, look at the equivalency table.
  2. You should have at least one course in Chemistry (e.g. Gen Chem for nursing/health science majors), taken within the ten years prior to the application deadline, and with a course grade of B or better. If you went to Detroit Mercy, this would be CHM 1040 General Chemistry for the Health Sciences, (or equivalent).
     • Note: We want to see actual course work completed (advanced placements, CLEP courses, or otherwise placing out is not sufficient). If you went elsewhere, or need to retake the course for age or grades, look at the equivalency table. 

  It is common for people to repeat pre-requisite coursework for age or grades. You may retake courses where you wish.

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  Is pre-admission testing required?

  We do not require the Graduate Record Examination (GRE). We use past academic performance (cumulative undergraduate grade point average) as our primary means of predicting success in graduate school.
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  Is nurse anesthesia education something I can afford?

  The cost for the entire program (tuition and fees) is approximately $107,154 for 2023-24. See estimated costs. These costs are payable in equal installments for each of the 9 terms in the DNP.
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  Financial assistance

  We strongly discourage working while in graduate school, as the time commitment for the program is 60-65 hours per week.

  Our students are fortunate in that financial aid is readily available. For a full-time student, the September-April average annual award is as follows: Michigan tuition grant $2000, Stafford unsubsidized loan $10,000, and private alternative loan $3,000. There are additional awards for summer term. Financial Aid is available from the Federal government for all graduate students (e.g. Stafford Loans), and Nurse Anesthetist Traineeships, which are grants for senior students in nurse anesthesia programs. Federal grants are renewed each year by Congress, so the availability and amount varies from year to year.

  Accepted applicants should begin the process by contacting the University Financial Aid Office (313-993-3350) as soon as they are notified of acceptance. One of the first steps is to begin filling out the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA). It is optimum to have financial aid forms completed by April 1 of the year in which you will enroll.

  Student Health Insurance

  Please note that health insurance for students is available for purchase. Information regarding a basic injury and illness insurance plan is available at the Student Health Insurance web page, including description of coverage and costs, which are quite affordable.

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  International students

  Visa status:

  • If you reside in the U.S., and are a permanent resident or U.S. citizen, you may apply online. 
  • If you reside outside the U.S., but currently hold a TN visa allowing you to work in the U.S. as a registered nurse, you may also apply online. 
  • You do not need to submit financial documentation. A work visa waives this need. 
  • After you complete the application form, refer to the section on this page (above), entitled "How do I apply?" to determine what materials to submit with your application.

  Transcripts:

  • The program requires that you have all non-US transcripts evaluated by a recognized educational credential evaluation service. Please arrange for transcript reports to be sent directly from the evaluation service to the Detroit Mercy Nurse Anesthesia Program. 
  • We require a certified course-by-course evaluation of all required academic transcripts and diplomas performed by a recognized educational credential evaluation service such as World Education Services (WES: http://www.wes.org/) or Educational Credential Evaluators (ECE: http://www.ece.org/). 
  • Contact the foreign transcript evaluation service as early as possible. The service may take several weeks to process your foreign transcript once it is received. In order to be considered for admission, the foreign transcript evaluations will need to be received by the nurse anesthesia program by the Oct. 31 application deadline.

  English Language Requirements:

  If English is not your first language, or if you have not successfully completed a four-year degree program from an accredited U.S. school, you are required to take Detroit Mercy's own academic English language proficiency test upon arrival at the University. Go to the International Student Office for more information. Demonstration of spoken English proficiency may also be required.

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  Learn more about the program

  • Accreditation- we are an accredited program.
  • Curriculum- Course descriptions may be found in the current Graduate Catalog.
  • Time Commitment
  • Costs
  • Faculty 
  • History- our program started in 1941.
  • Our Philosophy, Beliefs, and Values
  • Maps and websites for all our 20+ clinical rotations
  • Policy Handbook
  • About Detroit - I like living in Detroit. There is a lot more going on here than you might think!
  • For Alumni 
  • Senior Seminar - we welcome a crowd of 200 alumni and friends to a 5 hour continuing education seminar in November each year. Many applicants find it valuable to attend. They get a chance to meet current students, faculty, and alumni. It's a great chance for applicants to get a window into our world.