Applying to the College of Nursing

We appreciate your interest in the Rush University College of Nursing. You will apply to Rush University’s nursing programs via NursingCAS, the centralized application service for nursing. NursingCAS collects and processes your application documents and verifies your transcripts. We receive this information from NursingCAS and use it to make our admission decisions.

Choosing a Program Designation

When you apply in NursingCAS, you will need to choose a specific program and term of entry. You may apply to only one Rush program and one admission cohort. Applying to more than one Rush program or cohort will delay processing your application.

Program options for non-nurses:

• If you have a bachelor’s degree in an area other than nursing and do not have a registered nursing license, choose the Direct Entry Master’s (MSN) for Non-Nurses: Generalist Entry Master’s (GEM) option.
• If you have a master’s degree in a health-related field and want to become a clinical researcher, choose the PhD option.

Program options for nurses:

• If you have a bachelor’s degree in nursing (BSN) and no graduate nursing degree, you can choose one of two options:
  • MSN for RNs: Clinical Nurse Leader.
  • BSN-DNP in your desired specialty.
• If you have a BSN and a master’s degree in another field, choose the BSN-DNP option.
• If you have a master’s degree in nursing (MSN), choose the MSN-DNP option in your desired specialty.
• If you are an advanced practice registered nurse (APRN), you can choose one of the following options:
  • MSN-DNP designation in a second specialty (not the advanced practice area in which you are already certified).
  • MSN-DNP designation in transformative leadership: systems.
  • MSN-DNP designation in transformative leadership: population health.
• If you want to become a clinical researcher and have a BSN or MSN, choose the PhD option.

Submitting Transcripts

We recommend that you order all official transcripts from a collegiate level or higher and have them sent directly to NursingCAS as early in the application process as you can. It can take up to 10 business days for NursingCAS to process transcripts from the time they are received. NursingCAS provides detailed information on the transcript process for all applicants.  Rush University requires course-by-course evaluations for transcripts from foreign institutions and we accept evaluations from World Education Services, Inc. and Educational Credential Evaluators, Inc.

We do not require that you submit high school transcripts to NursingCAS.

Starting Your Application

We recommend that you complete the required NursingCAS fields and submit your application well before the deadline. It can take several weeks for NursingCAS to verify your transcripts and calculate GPAs after you submit the application and transcripts have been received.

Please review the required fields in the sections below that you need to complete before you can submit an application.

• Personal information
• Academic history
• Supporting information
• Program materials

You must complete required fields and submit your application by the posted deadline. Otherwise, we will not consider your application for admission. As programs are competitive, we strongly advise that you also submit all required documents to NursingCAS prior to the application deadline.

You should check your personal application page on the NursingCAS application portal to monitor that your transcripts and recommendations were successfully transmitted. Our admissions staff will also be working with you to ensure that your application is complete.

Completing Your Application

To apply to any of our programs, complete all of the following steps:

1. Submit a completed application to NursingCAS.
2. Pay the non-refundable fee to NursingCAS. This fee is $60 to apply to the generalist entry master’s program, and $80 for all other programs.
3. Complete the brief Rush supplemental application, which you will receive after submitting your application to NursingCAS. The fee for the supplemental application is $40.  

If you do not submit accurate or all required information, we will not consider your application for admission.