Clarion, Edinboro and Slippery Rock University MSN Programs

The Family Nurse Practitioner (FNP) Graduate Program offered jointly by Clarion, Edinboro and Slippery Rock Universities is a forty-five-credit degree program. The Nursing Education (NE) Graduate Program is a thirty-six credit degree program.  The degree requirements must be completed within six years of enrollment and within two semesters of completing Nursing 750 Internship.  Graduates of the MSN program receive a joint degree granted by all three universities.

Courses in both concentrations are offered at Clarion University, Edinboro University and Slippery Rock University, including sites in Oil City, Pittsburgh, Slippery Rock, Wexford, Clarion and Edinboro.  Faculty advisors are available at all universities and students select one university site for advisement.  Students enrolled in the program use the facilities and services of all universities.  Information about program requirements and administrative matters are available at all universities.

Admission to the Graduate Program is competitive.  An applicant meeting all of the program requirements is not guaranteed admission into the program.  Application to the Master of Science in Nursing  Program must be made to:

Office of Graduate Studies
Carrier Building
Clarion University
Clarion, PA 16214

Applications are reviewed upon receipt.

MSN/FNP Concentration

The FNP Concentration is designed to prepare primary care providers to work in ambulatory settings such as community health centers, outpatient clinics, student health and women’s health centers and private practices.  The focus is on preparing nurse practitioners for rural and urban under-served areas.  It is accredited by the National League for Nursing Accrediting Commission (NLNAC) and the curriculum is consistent with the Curriculum Guidelines published by the National Organization of Nurse Practitioner Faculties (NONPF).  The curriculum includes 600 hours of supervised clinical practice in the community.  Each of the clinical courses requires some clinical practice hours, varying according to the objectives of the specific course, and 270 hours of this practice is part of the culminating internship.

Students are required to successfully complete a comprehensive examination and graduates are eligible to apply for legal certification to the Pennsylvania State Board of Nursing and for professional certification to the American Nurses Credentialing Center (ANCC) and to the American Academy of Nurse Practitioners (AANP).  Legal certification by the Pennsylvania State Board of Nursing authorizes the nurse practitioner to use the credentials, CRNP.

MSN/NE Concentration

This master’s program focuses on the preparation of nurse educators.  It is the newest of the master’s level programs offered by the 3-university consortium, having admitted its first students in the fall of 2001.  This concentration is designed to prepare graduates to teach in diploma and associate degree programs as well as to fill clinical education and staff development position in hospitals and other health care institutions.  Built on a strong foundation of science, health policy, health promotion and advanced health assessment, students in this program share many of the foundational courses with students in the nurse practitioner program.

Students in the nursing education concentration are required to complete an internship that is a mentored teaching experience.  They are encouraged to seek this experience in the type of organization in which they expect to be teaching.