Best DNP Programs In Wisconsin 2026

• CCNE-accredited
• Public
• Doctorate (professional)

Madison solves the problem that stalls more doctorates than coursework does. It runs a Clinical Placement Unit whose job is to secure placements in your population area and make sure the hours needed for certification and graduation are actually obtained, because staff and faculty find the practicum so you do not have to. In a market where preceptors are scarce, that is worth more than any figure on this card, and it is the opposite of schools that leave students to source their own. The scholarly project is organized around the population you intend to serve, whether pediatric primary care, psychiatric-mental health or adult-gerontology acute care. Graduates are prepared for hospitals, intensive care, emergency departments, urgent care, surgical suites and specialty settings. It also caps waivable credits at 18, which sets a floor on how much coursework an MSN-prepared applicant still has to take.

In-State Tuition

$10,006

Out-Of-State

$40,506

DNP Awards

36

UG Completion

90%

• CCNE-accredited
• Public
• Doctorate (professional)

Oshkosh publishes seven named routes rather than two entries with concentrations bolted on afterwards, and the distinctions between them are real. From a bachelor’s you can go to family practice, nurse anesthesia or psychiatric mental health. From a master’s you can go to family practice, psychiatric mental health, or an executive emphasis aimed at leadership work. There is also a separate route for advanced practice registered nurses moving into psychiatric mental health, which is a different starting point from a general master’s and is treated as one. Naming the routes this precisely means you can tell before applying which sequence you would actually be in, rather than finding out at advising. Nurse anesthesia from a bachelor’s is the heaviest of the seven.

In-State Tuition

$7,061

Out-Of-State

$14,975

DNP Awards

48

UG Completion

46%

• CCNE-accredited
• Public
• Doctorate (professional)

Eau Claire requires a Wisconsin registered nurse license, and it puts a date on it. Post-master’s students need it at least two weeks before the program starts. Bachelor’s-entry students need it by 1 July immediately following admission. Licensure by endorsement takes time, so if you are out of state, start that process when you apply rather than when you are accepted. Both routes want a 3.00 grade point average and degrees from programs accredited by the Commission on Collegiate Nursing Education, the National League for Nursing or the Accreditation Commission for Education in Nursing, plus a statistics course passed at C or better. After admission come health records, a criminal background check and current CPR certification.

In-State Tuition

$7,931

Out-Of-State

$17,517

DNP Awards

17

UG Completion

64%

• CCNE-accredited
• Public
• Doctorate (professional)

Milwaukee runs a clinical nurse specialist track in adult-gerontology and calls itself the state’s hub for that role, which matters because the clinical nurse specialist is the advanced practice route most schools have quietly dropped. If you want systems-level clinical work rather than a practitioner license, this is one of the few places still building for it. The college holds more than 160 clinical partnerships, and that number is what determines whether a placement exists near you. Skills are trained in a dedicated simulation center before students reach patients. The Commission on Collegiate Nursing Education accredits the bachelor’s, the master’s, the doctorate and the post-graduate advanced practice certificate.

In-State Tuition

$8,772

Out-Of-State

$20,772

DNP Awards

35

UG Completion

49%

• CCNE-accredited
• Private nonprofit
• Doctorate (professional)

2 DNP tracks at this institution, Family nurse practitioner, Nursing practice (general). Ranked once, on the largest.

Viterbo is specific about who may write your references, and it rules out the easy option. One has to come from your current clinical supervisor, and that person must either practice in the role you are seeking or work alongside people who do. The second must come from a physician, physician assistant or advanced practice nurse. A reference from a manager who has never done the job will not satisfy it. Everyone who clears that stage gets a personal interview. Bachelor’s entry is a year-round curriculum of three to three and a half years including summers, mostly online with roughly one day a week on campus, and practicums can usually be done where you already live. Full-time places are limited and part-time admission depends on space.

In-State Tuition

$33,500

Out-Of-State

$33,500

DNP Awards

14

UG Completion

68%

• CCNE-accredited
• Private nonprofit
• Doctorate (professional)

Marquette takes master’s holders from three different backgrounds rather than only clinical ones: an advanced practice role, nursing administration and leadership, or health care policy. A policy master’s named explicitly as an entry route is unusual, and worth knowing if your work has moved away from the bedside. The curriculum spans translational research, epidemiology, informatics, statistics, advanced clinical practice and health policy. The deadlines are firm and worth marking: 15 November for spring entry and 15 February for fall, with late fall applications considered on a space-available basis if complete by 1 June. There is no summer admission at all, so the calendar has two doors rather than three.

In-State Tuition

$50,070

Out-Of-State

$50,070

DNP Awards

23

UG Completion

83%

• CCNE-accredited
• Private nonprofit
• Doctorate (professional)

Edgewood runs two doctorates with different accreditors and different purposes. The nurse anesthesia program is new, launched in 2025, accredited by the Council on Accreditation of Nurse Anesthesia Educational Programs, and it leads to eligibility for the national certification examination and licensure as a certified registered nurse anesthetist. The executive leadership doctorate is the older one, accredited by the Commission on Collegiate Nursing Education and approved by the Wisconsin Board of Nursing. It needs a minimum of 30 credits over two years full-time, and the practicum is sized to you, between 500 and 1,000 hours depending on what your master’s already covered. Its coursework runs to epidemiology, biostatistics, healthcare finance, informatics and quality management, so it is a management degree in substance as well as in name.

In-State Tuition

$35,860

Out-Of-State

$35,860

DNP Awards

8

UG Completion

60%

• CCNE-accredited
• Private nonprofit
• Doctorate (professional)

Bellin decides your credit load with a gap analysis rather than a fixed number. The floor is 27 credits and more can be added depending on what that analysis finds, so two students admitted in the same term can owe different amounts. Certified advanced practice nurses can usually carry at least 500 hours across from their master’s. Delivery splits by route: bachelor’s entry is hybrid, master’s entry is online, and anyone taking the post-graduate certificate option to add the advanced practice component has to attend classes in person. That last condition is the one that decides whether this fits around a job. Bellin is a nursing college of under a thousand students, so the cohort is small and everyone in it is doing the same thing.

In-State Tuition

$29,367

Out-Of-State

$29,367

DNP Awards

2

UG Completion

63%

• CCNE-accredited
• Private nonprofit
• Doctorate (professional)
• Offered online

2 DNP tracks at this institution, Family nurse practitioner, Nursing practice (general). Ranked once, on the largest.

Concordia publishes both totals for both routes, which makes them easy to weigh against each other. Bachelor’s entry is 70 credit hours and 1,008 clinical and practicum hours over three to four years, online with a mandatory four-day on-campus residency. The psychiatric mental health route from a master’s runs eight semesters, about three years, and requires 1,000 post-baccalaureate residency hours of which 500 must be psychiatric hours completed inside the program. That 500-hour floor is the number to check against what you already hold. Two eligibility limits come first: the online program is not open to international students or anyone needing an F1 visa, and state approval for online licensure varies, so check yours against the school’s disclosure list before you apply.

In-State Tuition

$34,950

Out-Of-State

$34,950

DNP Awards

3

UG Completion

68%

• CCNE-accredited
• Private nonprofit
• Doctorate (professional)

Alverno runs 33 to 40 credits depending on the track you choose and how much clinical work you owe, and a full-time student can finish in 18 months. The hour count is set against your master’s practicum rather than fixed, so it varies from student to student. The distinctive part is funding. Students in the educational leadership track may be eligible for $40,000 through the Wisconsin Nurse Educator Program, a state scheme aimed at the shortage of nursing faculty. That is a large share of the cost of a doctorate this length, and it attaches to a track rather than to merit, so the track you pick changes what you pay. Alverno is a small college in Milwaukee and the doctoral cohort is small.

In-State Tuition

$33,216

Out-Of-State

$33,216

DNP Awards

4

UG Completion

49%