Without this program I certainly would not have had the qualifications to be promoted to department chair. So, it is a launching point for me to continue to expand my nursing leadership skills in the academic arena.
Goshen College and EMU Consortium
Doctor of Nursing Practice
Online
Lead at the highest level of nursing practice
The terminal degree for nurses ready to change how care is delivered.
The Goshen College-Easter Mennonite University Doctor of Nursing Practice is a post-master’s practice doctorate offered in partnership between Goshen College and Eastern Mennonite University. It is a primarily online program of 33 credit hours across 10 courses, completed in 9 semesters or an accelerated 6-semester, 22-month option that culminates in an evidence-based practice project rather than a dissertation. It’s built for working nurses: coursework is primarily asynchronous, with a required residency held within a few weeks of the start.
You finish with 1,000 hours of post-baccalaureate supervised practice — supervised hours from your MSN count toward the total — and you enroll at either Goshen or EMU, with your diploma reflecting that choice.
Built for working nurse leaders
The DNP is designed for the master’s-prepared registered nurse who is ready to lead. It’s the terminal practice degree, and it’s what certified registered nurse anesthetists and many nurse leaders now pursue. To qualify for the program, you’ll need an MSN or a qualifying master’s in a business or health-related field plus a BSN and current work in healthcare, along with an unencumbered RN license in the state where you’ll complete your DNP project.
Because it’s a consortium, you enroll at either Goshen College or Eastern Mennonite University, take courses from faculty at both, and receive your degree from the institution where you enrolled. Rooted in the Anabaptist-Mennonite tradition of service, peacemaking and stewardship, the program prepares you to lead within a dynamic healthcare system.
What makes the program distinct
- A Practice Doctorate: You complete an evidence-based practice project in your area of interest, not a research dissertation, and use it to improve care.
- Choose Your Campus: You get to choose whether to enroll at Goshen or EMU, take courses from faculty at both, and earn your degree from the institution you choose.
- Flexible Online: Work primarily in your own timeframe with asynchronous coursework and one required residency.
Jewel Yoder '20
Chair of nursing and public health at Goshen College
Paying for Goshen
Tuition is $889 per credit hour for 2026-27, across the 33-credit-hour, 10-course program. Because you enroll at either Goshen College or Eastern Mennonite University, your billing follows the institution you choose.
Students are billed by semester and can plan their investment with a financial aid counselor. See the financial aid page and explore scholarships to understand your options for graduate study.
How to apply
To apply, you’ll need a Master of Science in Nursing from a program accredited by CCNE or ACEN (formerly NLNAC), or a qualifying master’s in a business or health-related field, with a cumulative GPA of 3.3 or higher. You’ll also need a current, unencumbered RN license in the state where you’ll complete your DNP project, and that state must participate in SARA.
The program requires a completed reference form (not required for Goshen College graduates) and an interview with the program co-directors by video conference. If your master’s degree is not in nursing, the co-directors review your background for the MSN Essentials and the program may run longer.
Not sure whether you qualify? Request information and we’ll walk you through it.
Common questions about the DNP
A Master of Science in Nursing from a program accredited by CCNE or ACEN (formerly NLNAC), with a cumulative GPA of 3.3 or higher. A master’s in a business or health-related field (MPH, MBA, MHA) from a regionally accredited school can also qualify.
If your bachelor’s degree isn’t in nursing, your master’s must be. If your master’s isn’t in nursing, you need a bachelor’s in nursing and you need to be working in nursing or healthcare, directly or indirectly. Co-directors review your transcripts and experience for the MSN Essentials, and the program may run longer than 33 credits.
Documentation of your post-baccalaureate supervised practice hours. If you have fewer than 400, we’ll tailor the program to get you to the required 1,000.
A current, unencumbered RN license in the state where you’ll complete your DNP project. That state must participate in SARA.
Transcripts from all previous academic work, a current resume or CV, and evidence of currency in nursing practice.
An interview with the program co-directors by video conference.
Goshen College and Eastern Mennonite University are partners in offering the DNP. You enroll at either Goshen or EMU, take courses from faculty at both institutions, and your degree is granted by the institution where you enrolled. It’s one program, taught across two Mennonite-affiliated nursing faculties.
The DNP is primarily asynchronous and online, so you work largely in your own timeframe, with some scheduled videoconference sessions for direct interaction with classmates and faculty. A required residency is held within a few weeks of the start of the program, and over the course of your studies you reach a total of 1,000 hours of post-baccalaureate supervised practice.
Instead of a research dissertation, DNP students complete an evidence-based practice project. You examine an evidence-based question in your own area of interest, focused on the care of individuals, groups, systems, or organizations, and use what you find to improve the safety, effectiveness, and efficiency of patient care.
- It qualifies you to teach. Some nursing programs, Goshen and Eastern Mennonite University included, let DNP holders teach in their programs.
- It prepares you to be a change agent in your clinical setting.
- It lets you advance without leaving patient care behind.
- It opens administrative and system leadership roles.
- Nurse anesthetists entering the profession must now hold a doctorate — either a DNP or a Doctor of Nurse Anesthesia Practice.
- Any master’s-prepared nurse who wants to lead across disciplines needs it.
- It is a terminal degree which is the top of the practice ladder.
The Nursing Student Handbook has the full requirements, policies, and progression details of this program: 2026-27 Nursing Student Handbook
Your future in health care starts here.
One application opens the door to nursing and public health at Goshen.
Jewel Yoder
Professor of Nursing
Department ChairSister Veronica Adeduro
Associate Professor of Nursing
Hilary Arroyo
Assistant Professor of Nursing
Amanda Borden
Assisant Professor of Public Health
Deena Brissett
Assistant Professor of Nursing
Cheryl Caffee
Associate Professor of Nursing
Andrew Clouse
Assistant Professor of Nursing
Brianna Conery
Assistant Professor of Nursing
Beth Miller
Professor of Nursing
Katie Schramm
Assistant Professor of Nursing
Susan Setiawan
Professor of Nursing
Jennifer Van Fleet
Assistant Professor of Nursing
Randi Warren
Nursing Simulation Coordinator
