Wilkes University’s School of Nursing offers CCNE-accredited online degrees and certificate programs. They’re designed to support working health care professionals. Courses are instructed by experienced, respected faculty dedicated to mentoring and personalized support for every student.
Wilkes University’s nursing degrees offer the cutting-edge professional knowledge and skills needed in today’s dynamic, evolving health care industry.
About Wilkes University
Wilkes University is located in Wilkes-Barre, PA. It has been around since 1933 when it started as Bucknell University Junior College. It wasn’t called “Wilkes” until years later in 1990. Today, it has maintained the same student-focus it was founded with. Rather than being large, anonymous, and research-focused, Wilkes takes pride in its small, personal, and supportive atmosphere. Today, they offer 41 majors in six schools, each of which adhere to the values that make Wilkes University what it is.
- Small Classes: Wilkes is committed to student success. With a student-teacher ratio of 15-1, you could get the personal attention you deserve from your professor.
- Economic Value: According to The Economist, Wilkes University ranks 25th in the nation for its value. This is based on a comparison of the tuition and what students earn after they graduate.
- Online Classes: Wilkes online offers 16 online master's degrees and 10 online certificate/letter of endorsement programs!
- Lots of Opportunity: Wilkes offers 42 bachelors programs, and 25 masters and terminal degree programs. And that’s not even considering things like concentrations or minors!
- Hands-on Experience: Wilkes is committed to helping students gain valuable experiences in and out of the classroom. Programs may incorporate hands-on experience in simulation labs that mimic what it might be like in the field. Or you could pursue experience in the real world, in internship and externship programs. Wilkes could even offer career placement support services.
- Fun Outside The Classroom: Wilkes is seriously dedicated to success in and out of the classroom, but that doesn’t mean they don’t want to help you make the most of your time outside of it! Wilkes is an NCAA III school, so you could get involved in any of 20 different sports. Or you could participate in one of their more than 70 non-athletic organizations.
Wilkes University Online
While Wilkes may be best known for its nursing programs, it does offer a number of other online specialty programs.
- Online Education Programs: Wilkes offers several online education to current and aspiring teachers at several levels. This ranges from initial teacher certification to endorsements, masters, and even doctorates. Studying education online at Wilkes could offer educators a unique perspective. In addition to the convenience and portability, students get to see first-hand what it’s like to learn through technology and innovation. If your program includes required field experience, those programs would be completed in a location convenient to you.
- Online Creative Writing Programs: Wilkes offers two creative writing masters programs online. Students could pursue either an MA or MFA. A primary difference between these is that the MA looks toward a potential doctorate, whereas the MFA is personal. In addition to the convenience of studying online and in a convenient low-residency format, you could hone your craft in a program with a record of success. In fact, one Wilkes MFA graduate recently won a Booker Prize for his novel!
- Online Certifications: Wilkes also offers several other programs, including an online accelerated bachelor of business administration, and a sustainability management certificate. Each of these brings rigorous, professionally-focused education to the online space, potentially enabling passionate professionals to advance their skills and knowledge without compromising their work schedule.
WU Online Nursing Programs
Wilkes University holds their online programs to the same standards as the ones they offer on campus. The difference is that, by offering degree programs online, they open the door to professionals who are just as motivated, but they need a little more flexibility in their schedules. Wilkes online nursing programs don’t tie their students to a rigid daily schedule.
In a career with as hectic a schedule as nursing, when you might work a variety of shifts, Wilkes University online courses could be a crucial element for having a chance at success.
About Wilkes University Nursing
Wilkes University’s nursing programs are practitioner-based. They aim to help you study real-world solutions you can immediately apply to your current job. The reliable Wilkes online learning system allows you to complete coursework with the flexibility to fit your busy schedule. Wilkes University’s cohort-based approach helps you learn and collaborate along with fellow students, fully online. Regardless of your program of choice, all students benefit from the Wilkes Nursing Advantage:
- Convenient – Our online approach means you can study when and where it’s most convenient
- Personal – Learn from respected, experienced faculty dedicated to your success
- Professional – Enhance your knowledge and skills with our cutting-edge curriculum
- Rigorous – All Wilkes Nursing programs offer the advanced knowledge, skills, and professional development to help you advance as a health care leader, delivered with the advantages of an online education.
Wilkes University Nursing Programs
Wilkes University offers its nursing education through the Passan School of Nursing. They offer a variety of undergraduate and graduate programs, appropriate to current and aspiring nurses at a variety of levels of experience. Whether online or on campus, Wilkes aims to provide the rigorous, well-rounded academics and clinical practice nurses might need to thrive in the workplace. Wilkes graduates have served in a variety of nursing roles, including bedside care, education, administration, and advanced practice nursing, just to name a few.
In fact, Wilkes graduates have had a 100% job placement rate.
Undergraduate Nursing Programs at Wilkes University
The Passan School of Nursing at Wilkes University offers a variety of undergraduate nursing programs. Each one may be aimed at students from different backgrounds. Whether you’re just entering college—and nursing—for the first time, or have experience working in the field, Wilkes might have the program for you.
Wilkes programs aim to be both thorough and hands-on, in both campus and online programs. As such, they emphasize clinical experience, with three years of clinical experience over the course of the undergraduate program.
Wilkes undergraduate nursing programs include the following:
- Traditional/Pre-License: This four year program is aimed at traditional students with no background in nursing. In other words, it’s a four year bachelor’s in nursing program primarily catering to brand new aspiring nurses.
- RN to BSN: Already work as a Registered Nurse? If so, this program aims to leverage that experience and help you earn BSN status (that’s Bachelor of Science in Nursing) efficiently.
- LPN to BSN: Similar to RN to BSN, this program builds on the experience students might have gotten working in the field in LPN roles.
- Accelerated Baccalaureate: This program is designed primarily for adult students who may have already earned a bachelor’s degree in another field, who want to move into nursing.
Wilkes University Graduate Nursing Programs
Wilkes Nursing graduate programs are made for experienced nurses who want to advance their expertise or even move into new areas. Programs might be available for nurses at a variety of levels of education, whether they’re starting with an associate’s, bachelor’s, or even a master’s degree. These programs are also designed to be flexible to accommodate the hectic schedule of a professional nurse.
Wilkes Nursing graduate programs include the following.
- RN to MSN: This program could be aimed at associate’s or bachelor’s degree nurses, and includes components to prepare new students for what it’s like to attend graduate courses. Students in this program would choose from several MSN degree concentration areas.
- Adult Gerontology Primary Care Nurse Practitioner
- Family Nurse Practitioner
- Nurse Executive
- Nursing Education
- Nursing Informatics
- Psychiatric/Mental Health Nurse Practitioner
- Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP): This fully online doctoral program focuses on applying research findings and developing clinical practice. It focuses on topics like advanced nursing research, nursing and healthcare policy, and technology.
Wilkes University Nursing Program Faculty
Wilkes University nursing faculty are all instructional. That means their top priority at the university is your education, not their own research. They’re also experienced nursing professionals, with practical experience.
That real-world knowledge could help ensure that what is covered in the classroom might be applicable in the field, whether that’s in clinical or on the job.
Wilkes University Nursing Program: Clinical Experience
Wilkes University emphasizes clinical experience in their programs—even in the classroom! In fact, if you choose to study on campus, you could have access to their Clinical Nursing Simulation Center, which aims to recreate a real clinical setting in a classroom environment. This could allow students to demo the practical skills they’ll need on the job, before they get there.
Wilkes also maintains relationships with the health systems local to their Northeastern PA campus, facilitating smooth placement in clinical, internship and externship roles. Clinical requirements in online programs may vary, as might how they’re organized.
Wilkes University By The Numbers
Want to know a little more about what Wilkes University is like? Here are some statistics that could help you get a good idea.
- Wilkes has a relatively even male to female ratio, with 52% of undergraduate students identifying as male.i
- While the majority of undergraduate students attend on campus, 67% of graduate students at Wilkes are enrolled in fully online programs.
- 93% of undergraduate students attend full time. It’s the opposite at the graduate level: 83% of graduate students attend part time.
- Wilkes University’s undergraduate retention rate is 77%.
- The undergraduate graduation rate is 59%.
- The Wilkes University acceptance rate is approximately 82%.
How to Apply to Wilkes University
Wilkes University aims to make it as straightforward as possible to apply.
At the undergraduate level, all you have to do is review the undergraduate admission requirements, and submit the online application and fee, if applicable.
Don’t want to wait? Prospective undergrads might be eligible for an instant decision. Instant decisions require an on-campus appointment with an admissions counselor, on a weekday. You’d get a tour of campus, have your questions answered, and your application materials reviewed on the spot!
At the graduate level, admissions requirements may vary widely, depending on the type of program, and the level of the degree.
For more information, visit Wilkes.edu or contact the admissions office.
Wilkes University Financial Aid
Wilkes University knows how important it is to make your education affordable. They prioritize working with their students to help keep their degree financially feasible. A variety of options may be open to you, depending on your enrollment status, whether you’re an undergrad or graduate student, age, financial situation, academics, and other factors.
Most undergraduate students at Wilkes University receive some kind of financial aid, whether that’s federal, institutional, or another avenue entirely. Wilkes even offers merit-based scholarships, and a monthly payment plan.
For more information about the options available to you, or for guidance in the financial aid process, visit the reach out to one of the financial aid administrators.
Wilkes University Accreditation
Wilkes University is an accredited member of the Middle States Association of Colleges and Schools. Additionally, its degree and professional programs have been approved by the Department of Education of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.
Individual academic programs additionally hold discipline-specific accreditation. The baccalaureate nursing program has been approved by the Pennsylvania State Board of Nurse Examiners. The undergraduate and graduate nursing programs also hold accreditation from the Commission on Collegiate Nursing Education.
Apply to Wilkes University
If you want to learn more about Wilkes University, Wilkes University Online, the Passan School of Nursing, or any of Wilkes’s other programs, don’t wait any longer. Visit their website, or fill out the form here to get in touch.
[i] nces.ed.gov/collegenavigator/?q=wilkes&s=all&id=216931
