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Nurse Anesthesia Admission Requirements

The Nurse Anesthesia Program (NAP) at the University of Mississippi Medical Center School of Nursing (SON) is pending accreditation by the Council on Accreditation of Nurse Anesthesia Educational Programs (COA). No students may be enrolled in the program until initial accreditation is received. The anticipated start date is August 2026, pending COA accreditation approval.

Admissions to the Post Baccalaureate DNP track are accepted for the fall semester only. Admission deadline will be announced at a later time.

Individuals seeking admission to the Post Baccalaureate DNP, Nurse Anesthesia track must meet the following requirements:

• Completed application for admission to the Office of Enrollment Management (OEM);

• Official transcripts from all schools attended;

• Cumulative GPA (undergraduate and graduate) of 3.2 on a 4.0 scale; If the overall GPA is less than 3.2, the nursing GPA may be considered.

• Previous degree: a Bachelor of Science in Nursing (BSN) or higher is required.

• Evidence of an unrestricted/unencumbered nursing license as a registered nurse in the United States or one of its territories, and be eligible for licensure in Mississippi. Once admitted, students must be licensed/privileged as an RN in Mississippi and must maintain a current and unrestricted RN license.

• Applicants must be employed full-time as a licensed registered nurse (RN) in an area of intensive care nursing for at least one year at the time of application.

• Completion of at least one research course and one statistics course at the undergraduate or graduate level;

• Certification as a critical care registered nurse (CCRN).

• A minimum of 20 hours of anesthesia shadowing experience.

• Informal personal statement submitted with application.

• Three letters of reference – academic or professional reference letter, or a combination of both, submitted with application.

• For applicants who earned coursework/degrees from institutions outside the United States:

• Completion of the Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL) for graduates of foreign schools whose academic language was not English. The minimum required score is:
  • TOEFL-Internet Based Test (IBT): 79 or higher
  • TOEFL-Paper Based Test (PBT): 550 or higher
    • Other documents required by UMMC and local, state, and federal authorities;
    • Transcripts must be evaluated in a course-by-course report from World Education Services (WES) or the Commission on Graduates of Foreign Nursing Schools (CGFNS).

• An interview will be required as part of the admissions process. Additional information will be provided to applicants when they are invited to interview. 

• If an applicant has been dismissed from any nursing program, one year must pass from the date of dismissal to the date of eligibility to apply for any UMMC School of Nursing program.

For more information or inquiries in regard to the Nurse Anesthesia Program, email SON-NAP@umc.edu.

Additional academic policies and regulations (including those pertaining to admission compliance, orientation, registration and examinations)

Technical Standards for Admission, Progression and Graduation (Technical Standards) are an integral component of the School of Nursing (SON) at the University of Mississippi Medical Center academic requirements that identify core professional nursing competencies in eight specific domains - critical thinking/cognitive competencies, professional relationships, communication, mobility, motor skills, hearing and visual skills, observation and tactile senses. Nursing students must meet all the requirements of the Technical Standards, with or without reasonable accommodations, in order to successfully progress through and graduate from their respective curricula.