Steps to Apply
Review Admissions Criteria
Collect the Required Items below
Complete the New Student Application Form
Required Items
- Essay #1: Goal Statement Essay: Prepare a well-crafted essay (300-500 words) that communicates to the Admissions Committee your goals as a DNP prepared nurse-midwife or nurse practitioner. Use one or more of the AACN Domains for Nursing at the Advanced-level to help articulate your goals: https://www.aacnnursing.org/Portals/0/PDFs/Publications/Essentials-2021.pdf
- Essay #2: Graduate education is rigorous. From the experience of Frontier doctoral students, full-time study requires a commitment of 25-30 hours a week. This will require adjustments to your current work and family life. It is important that you take time to consider how you will integrate graduate school into your current situation. Please write a well-crafted statement (200-300 words) about how you plan to fit the rigors and time commitment of graduate education into your life situation of work and family.
- Resume: Please prepare a resume that follows the example found here: Example Resume
Two (2) Health Professional References
Arrange for two health professional references who can speak on your ability/potential to serve as an advanced practice nurse (NP or CNM). You will submit an electronic request to your references as part of the application. Please send a copy of this PDF form to your two references and have them return the form to FNUadmissions@frontier.edu. The required Reference Form cannot be substituted with a letter of recommendation. For the two references, one must be a supervisory reference. Some examples of supervisory are nursing supervisors, faculty from the applicant’s nursing school, an MD, CNM, NP, or PA who work with the applicant. One can be a professional peer.
Transcripts
Frontier Nursing University requires final and official transcripts (letters of program completion are not acceptable in lieu of final and official transcripts) from all previous attempted/completed nursing courses and nursing degrees. Transcripts from unrelated degrees and/or courses are not required.
For a more rapid receipt of your transcript, we encourage official transcripts to be submitted electronically from the degree/course granting institution to admissions@frontier.edu or through Parchment or the National Student Clearinghouse.
If submitting transcripts electronically is not an option, transcripts should be mailed to the address listed below. In the event the transcripts are mailed to you, they should be forwarded to the FNU Admission Office. PLEASE do not open the envelopes—doing so will result in your transcripts becoming unofficial which will delay your application process.
NOTE: Official transcripts must reflect the following and be received in Admissions by the published deadline date:
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- Degree name
- Degree conferral/awarded date
- GPA of ≥ 3.0
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Frontier Nursing University
ATTN: Admissions Office
2050 Lexington Road
Versailles, KY 40383
* All online applications and required packet materials must be received in the admission office by the close of business, 5:00 PM (EST), on the published deadline date.
* Frontier does not acknowledge application materials by the postmark date.
License and Certification
Copies of a current RN License (with no encumbrances), a current state ARNP Licensure (with no encumbrances), and Certification. NOTE: Some states, like Utah, considers the APRN to supersede the RN license. If you no longer hold an RN you must reinstate your RN to be an eligible applicant.
Helpful Hint: Always use your legal name as it appears on your Social Security Card to align with federal guidelines and verify that your legal name appears on each document submitted (resume, references, etc.).
Required Items
Click the arrows below to view each section.
Goal Statement Essay: Prepare a well-crafted essay (300-500 words) that communicates to the Admissions Committee your goals as a DNP prepared nurse-midwife or nurse practitioner. Use one or more of the AACN Domains for Nursing at the Advanced-level to help articulate your goals: https://www.aacnnursing.org/Portals/0/PDFs/Publications/Essentials-2021.pdf
Graduate education is rigorous. From the experience of Frontier doctoral students, full-time study requires a commitment of 25-30 hours a week. This will require adjustments to your current work and family life. It is important that you take time to consider how you will integrate graduate school into your current situation. Please write a well-crafted statement (200-300 words) about how you plan to fit the rigors and time commitment of graduate education into your life situation of work and family.
Please prepare a resume that follows the example found here: Example Resume
Arrange for two health professional references who can speak on your ability/potential to serve as an advanced practice nurse (NP or CNM). You will submit an electronic request to your references as part of the application. Please send a copy of this PDF form to your two references and have them return the form to FNUadmissions@frontier.edu. The required Reference Form cannot be substituted with a letter of recommendation. For the two references, one must be a supervisory reference. Some examples of supervisory are nursing supervisors, faculty from the applicant’s nursing school, an MD, CNM, NP, or PA who work with the applicant. One can be a professional peer.
We know our applicants are busy and that’s why an Admissions Counselor will, *when permitted, request all applicable transcripts on your behalf. This saves you money, time, and stress. The only thing you need to do is provide us with the institutional names and sign a transcript release form. *Please note, there are circumstances that prevent FNU from ordering transcripts on your behalf (e.g., an institution may not accept third-party requests).
Frontier Nursing University requires final and official transcripts (letters of program completion are not acceptable in lieu of final and official transcripts) from all previous attempted/completed nursing courses and nursing degrees. Transcripts for non-nursing degrees or courses are not required with the exception of applicants applying via the portfolio option. An applicant applying via the portfolio option must also provide an official baccalaureate transcript.
- Portfolio Instructions for Non-BSNs If your baccalaureate degree is in a discipline other than nursing you must submit a portfolio detailing your employment and academic experiences. Click here to download the portfolio instructions. MSN Completion If you’re a graduate of FNU’s Community-based Nurse-midwifery Education Program (CNEP) and completed your studies prior to 2004 before FNU became a master’s-granting institution, click here for the Online MSN Completion Application.
Please pay close attention to the following:
- You must be a registered nurse with a current, active license in the United States with no encumbrances.
- Use the name as it appears on your Social Security Card on ALL correspondence. This requirement aligns with federal regulations.
Copies of a current RN License (with no encumbrances), a current state ARNP Licensure (with no encumbrances), and Certification. NOTE: Some states, like Utah, considers the APRN to supersede the RN license. If you no longer hold an RN you must reinstate your RN to be an eligible applicant.
Helpful Hint: Always use your legal name as it appears on your Social Security Card to align with federal guidelines and verify that your legal name appears on each document submitted (resume, references, etc.).
Carrie Belin is an experienced board-certified Family Nurse Practitioner and a graduate of the Johns Hopkins DNP program, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Georgetown University School of Nursing, and Johns Hopkins School of Nursing. She has also completed fellowships at Georgetown and the University of California Irvine.
Angie has been a full-scope midwife since 2009. She has experience in various birth settings including home, hospital, and birth centers. She is committed to integrating the midwifery model of care in the US. She completed her master’s degree in nurse-midwifery at Frontier Nursing University (FNU) and her Doctorate at Johns Hopkins University. She currently serves as the midwifery clinical faculty at FNU. Angie is motivated by the desire to improve the quality of healthcare and has led quality improvement projects on skin-to-skin implementation, labor induction, and improving transfer of care practices between hospital and community midwives. In 2017, she created a short film on skin-to-skin called 
Justin C. Daily, BSN, RN, has ten years of experience in nursing. At the start of his nursing career, Justin worked as a floor nurse on the oncology floor at St. Francis. He then spent two years as the Director of Nursing in a small rural Kansas hospital before returning to St. Francis and the oncology unit. He has been in his current position as the Chemo Nurse Educator for the past four years. He earned an Associate in Nurse from Hutchinson Community College and a Bachelor of Science in Nursing from Bethel College.
Brandy Jackson serves as the Director of Undergraduate Nursing Programs and Assistant Educator at Wichita State University and Co-Director of Access in Nursing. Brandy is a seasoned educator with over 15 years of experience. Before entering academia, Brandy served in Hospital-based leadership and Critical Care Staff nurse roles. Brandy is passionate about equity in nursing education with a focus on individuals with disabilities. Her current research interests include accommodations of nursing students with disabilities in clinical learning environments and breaking down barriers for historically unrepresented individuals to enter the nursing profession. Brandy is also actively engaged in Interprofessional Education development, creating IPE opportunities for faculty and students at Wichita State. Brandy is an active member of Wichita Women for Good and Soroptimist, with the goal to empower women and girls. Brandy is a TeamSTEPPS master trainer. She received the DASIY Award for Extraordinary Nursing Faculty in 2019 at Wichita State University. 
Dr. Sabrina Ali Jamal-Eddine is an Arab-disabled queer woman of color with a PhD in Nursing and an interdisciplinary certificate in Disability Ethics from the University of Illinois Chicago (UIC). Dr. Jamal-Eddine’s doctoral research explored spoken word poetry as a form of critical narrative pedagogy to educate nursing students about disability, ableism, and disability justice. Dr. Jamal-Eddine now serves as a Postdoctoral Research Associate in UIC’s Department of Disability and Human Development and serves on the Board of Directors of the National Organization of Nurses with Disabilities (NOND). During her doctoral program, Sabrina served as a Summer Fellow at a residential National Endowment of the Humanities (NEH) Summer Institute at Arizona State University (2023), a summer fellow at Andrew W. Mellon’s National Humanities Without Walls program at University of Michigan (2022), a Summer Research Fellow at UC Berkeley’s Othering & Belonging Institute (2021), and an Illinois Leadership Education in Neurodevelopmental and related Disabilities (LEND) trainee (2019-2020).
Vanessa Cameron works for Vanderbilt University Medical Center in Nursing Education & Professional Development. She is also attending George Washington University and progressing towards a PhD in Nursing with an emphasis on ableism in nursing. After becoming disabled in April 2021, Vanessa’s worldview and perspective changed, and a recognition of the ableism present within healthcare and within the culture of nursing was apparent. She has been working since that time to provide educational foundations for nurses about disability and ableism, provide support for fellow disabled nursing colleagues, and advocate for the disabled community within healthcare settings to reduce disparities.
Dr. Lucinda Canty is a certified nurse-midwife, Associate Professor of Nursing, and Director of the Seedworks Health Equity in Nursing Program at the University of Massachusetts Amherst. She earned a bachelor’s degree in nursing from Columbia University, a master’s degree from Yale University, specializing in nurse-midwifery, and a PhD from the University of Connecticut. Dr. Canty has provided reproductive health care for over 29 years. Her research interests include the prevention of maternal mortality and severe maternal morbidity, reducing racial and ethnic health disparities in reproductive health, promoting diversity in nursing, and eliminating racism in nursing and midwifery.
Dr. Lisa Meeks is a distinguished scholar and leader whose unwavering commitment to inclusivity and excellence has significantly influenced the landscape of health professions education and accessibility. She is the founder and executive director of the DocsWithDisabilities Initiative and holds appointments as an Associate Professor in the Departments of Learning Health Sciences and Family Medicine at the University of Michigan.
Dr. Nikia Grayson, DNP, MSN, MPH, MA, CNM, FNP-C, FACNM (she/her) is a trailblazing force in reproductive justice, blending her expertise as a public health activist, anthropologist, and family nurse-midwife to champion the rights and health of underserved communities. Graduating with distinction from Howard University, Nikia holds a bachelor’s degree in communications and a master’s degree in public health. Her academic journey also led her to the University of Memphis, where she earned a master’s in medical anthropology, and the University of Tennessee, where she achieved both a master’s in nursing and a doctorate in nursing practice. Complementing her extensive education, she completed a post-master’s certificate in midwifery at Frontier Nursing University.
Dr. Tia Brown McNair is the Vice President in the Office of Diversity, Equity, and Student Success and Executive Director for the Truth, Racial Healing, and Transformation (TRHT) Campus Centers at the American Association of Colleges and Universities (AAC&U) in Washington, DC. She oversees both funded projects and AAC&U’s continuing programs on equity, inclusive excellence, high-impact practices, and student success. McNair directs AAC&U’s Summer Institutes on High-Impact Practices and Student Success, and TRHT Campus Centers and serves as the project director for several AAC&U initiatives, including the development of a TRHT-focused campus climate toolkit. She is the lead author of From Equity Talk to Equity Walk: Expanding Practitioner Knowledge for Racial Justice in Higher Education (January 2020) and Becoming a Student-Ready College: A New Culture of Leadership for Student Success (July 2016 and August 2022 Second edition).