If you’ve always wanted to get into the healthcare industry and use your medical knowledge to save lives, enrolling in an online family nurse practitioner program with no GRE required may be the right choice for you.
The Family Nurse Practitioner job offers competitive pay, and there’s currently an incredibly high demand for family nurse practitioners, which will continue to grow over the next several years, largely due to an aging population that needs increased healthcare.
What are Online Family Nurse Practitioner Programs (No GRE Required)?
An online family nurse practitioner program prepares you with the skills you’ll need to become a family nurse practitioner (FNP). An FNP is a nurse practitioner who has specialized training to treat both adults and children. FNPs typically spend years treating the same families while working in family clinics. They are highly skilled and experienced in carefully monitoring health, offering preventive care, and treating acute illnesses and injuries in people of all ages.
While most people who complete online family nurse practitioner programs become FNPs, they can also transition into related healthcare careers. For example, they might enter another type of nurse practitioner specialty such as acute care, pediatrics, gerontology, or adult mental health.
There are two types of programs you can choose–online family nurse practitioner programs with GRE and online family nurse practitioner programs with no GRE required. Which one you choose to pursue should be one of your main considerations before you begin your studies.
What to Consider When Choosing an Online Family Nurse Practitioner Program
If you already know you’re interested in completing a family nurse practitioner program, think about whether an online or on-campus program better suits your needs. Online family nurse practitioner programs are more common than ever, mainly because they’re more flexible than on-campus programs. Many people looking to earn a degree as an FNP are already working in the medical field and don’t have the time or means to travel to a campus everyday. Online classes give healthcare workers the flexibility and freedom they need to pursue their academic goals while still working. So, if you can’t go to campus every day to train for your new career, you should consider an online family nurse practitioner program that will fit your schedule.
If you choose to do your program online, another consideration to make is whether you want to enroll in a family nurse practitioner program with a GRE requirement or a family nurse practitioner program with no GRE required. The GRE—or Graduate Record Examination—is a test that determines your readiness for graduate school. This computer-based, multiple-choice exam will test your knowledge in vocabulary, problem-solving, data analysis, geometry, algebra, and basic math. Like many major tests, the GRE can be a source of anxiety among students as it requires a lot of time and studying. The good news is that some graduate schools no longer require this test, as they prefer to look at other aspects of the application when deciding which students to admit. If you’re worried about the prospect of taking this test, look for online family nurse practitioner programs with no GRE required.
How Much Does an Online Family Nurse Practitioner Program Cost?
In most cases, when you graduate from an online family nurse practitioner program with no GRE required, you’ll get a degree called a Master of Science in Nursing (MSN). The cost for this program can vary quite a bit depending on a few factors, but according to GetEducated.com, the range is about $15,000 to $98,000 on average.
For instance, at Simmons University, the FNP program costs about $59,000 to complete. The same type of degree costs about $36,000 at United States University, while it’s about $105,000 for the program at Georgetown University. In many cases, these totals don’t include books, medical equipment, or any extra student fees the college charges.
As you budget for school, you’ll need to decide if you’re going to be living on or near campus, or if you’ll try to find online family nurse practitioner programs that are entirely virtual. This can save you a lot of money on gas and public transit since you won’t have to commute. You can live anywhere while you take your classes online, so this is an ideal option if you want to limit your spending. Additionally, when your courses are all online, you won’t have to spend your daytime hours in class, which means you can keep working as you get an education to become an FNP.
If you’re trying to keep your costs down when it comes to online family nurse practitioner programs, note that many schools offer grants and scholarships. Since this degree is typically only offered to people who are already in the nursing field, some employers will offer to pay for some or even all tuition costs if it means their employees will become better educated in this field. So, if you’re working as an RN or another type of medical professional, you should find out if your employer is willing to pay some of the costs associated with online family nurse practitioner programs with no GRE required.
How Much Does a Family Nurse Practitioner Make?
Completing an online family nurse practitioner program with no GRE required and becoming a family nurse practitioner is a good way to secure a salary that’s higher than average. PayScale reports that the median annual salary for an FNP is $102,556 as of October 2023. Salaries range between approximately $85,000 and $127,000, so your salary may be slightly higher or lower than the average.
The salary that you get when you work as an FNP depends on a few factors. One is your location, as some major cities—such as New York City, Houston, and Chicago—feature higher than average salaries for FNPs. Another factor is experience. As PayScale’s report shows, someone with one year of experience in this job might start out making $92,000 per year, but that could increase to almost $103,000 after five to nine years of experience. So while even the entry-level pay for this job is higher than average, sticking with it for several years will result in even better pay, making it worth your time to look at online family nurse practitioner programs with no GRE required.
What Is the Job Outlook for Family Nurse Practitioners?
The future of FNPs is very bright, so you should have no trouble finding a job when you complete an online family nurse practitioner program. The Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) reports that the expected job growth between 2022 and 2032 is a whopping 38%, which is much faster than average.
In fact, more than 123,000 FNP jobs will be added during that time, so you should start looking into online family nurse practitioner programs with no GRE required if you want a good chance of getting a job in this field. The main reason for this high demand of FNPs is the increased focus on preventive care, as well as the increased healthcare needs of an aging population.
Typical Family Nurse Practitioner Jobs
Family nurse practitioner is a broad title that encompasses many things. According to Johnson & Johnson, the main role of this type of nurse is to provide individualized care and insight to patients of all ages, so they are knowledgeable and skilled in a wide variety of health-related concerns and preventative care techniques.
For this reason, family nurse practitioners are highly sought after in many roles including to work as school nurses, private or center-based nurses for the elderly and those with disabilities, health educators at community centers, and a liaison between patients and doctors at family clinics and hospitals. Newer health sectors like telemedicine, which is where health professionals provide health evaluations, advice and guidance remotely via digital platforms, is also a growing field where family nurse practitioners are in demand.
Therefore, once you’ve completed your online family nurse practitioner program with no GRE required, you will be able to find fulfilling work no matter where your nursing interest or strength lies.
The best place to look for career opportunities, and to get an idea of what types of positions are out there, are online job boards and websites like Payscale and LinkedIn. Since a FNP degree is very broad and allows you to treat patients of all ages and health conditions, there are a variety of settings where jobs will be available to you.
According to FamilyNursePractitioners.org, top health settings hiring FNPs include:
- Hospitals
- Nursing homes and rehab centers
- School clinics (K-12 and colleges)
- Physician offices and specialty medical centers
- Municipal and community health centers
Also, note that as of 2023, over half the states and the District of Columbia allow FNPs full-practice authority. This means that in these states, you can operate independently. So starting your own private practice is also an exciting career path to consider after you’ve completed a family nursing practitioner with no GRE required program. Consult the American Association of Nurse Practitioner‘s website to see if this option is available in your state.
Courses in Online Family Nurse Practitioner Programs
While you look into online family nurse practitioner programs with no GRE required, you might be wondering what kinds of courses you’ll have to pass. In general, since students in online family nurse practitioner programs have already passed nursing school and typically have a bachelor’s degree, you won’t have to take the science and basic healthcare classes you likely already took as an undergraduate.
Instead, you’ll have a chance to deepen your understanding of how to give the best care to patients from infancy to old age. Though the exact class names and descriptions vary depending on the school, most online family nurse practitioner programs with no GRE require courses that include the following:
- Pathophysiology across the lifespan
- Advanced assessment and diagnostic reasoning
- Project management in healthcare
- Common illnesses across the lifespan
- Advanced pharmacology
- Nursing leadership
Why Should You Complete an Online Family Nurse Practitioner Program?
While you look for online family nurse practitioner programs with no GRE required, you may be thinking about whether this degree is right for you. In general, if you’re interested in helping patients of all ages—typically caring for all the members of the family for years in a clinic setting—you’ll want to look into online family nurse practitioner programs.
After all, this career has a bright outlook and a great median salary. The fact that you can choose online family nurse practitioner programs that are entirely virtual means you can take the courses from anywhere at any time.
Before you sign up for an online family practitioner program, you should have an idea of what’s expected before and after you complete it. Firstly, to get into this type of program, you typically need to have an undergraduate nursing degree, such as a Bachelor of Science in Nursing (BSN). You’ll also have to have a registered nurse (RN) license. Most people who apply for family nurse practitioner programs with no GRE required are already working as RNs, and they want a chance to expand their job duties while increasing their salaries. So this isn’t the program for someone who is just starting out in healthcare.
Also, once you graduate from an online family nurse practitioner program with no GRE required, you’ll need to take a few additional steps before you can start working in this role. For example, you’ll need to pass a nursing competency test from either the American Association of Nurse Practitioners (AANP) or the American Nurses Credentialing Center (ANCC).
Once you pass the test of your choice, you can seek licensure in your state so you can start working as an FNP.
Why Should You Look at Family Nurse Practitioner Programs with No GRE Required?
As you look at online family nurse practitioner programs available to you, you might notice the mention of the Graduate Record Examination (GRE). The GRE is a test that many graduate schools require applicants to pass. This standardized exam tests students on three skills: analytical writing, quantitive reasoning, and verbal reasoning. If you want to impress top schools that offer online family nurse practitioner programs, you’ll need a great score on the GRE.
However, not everyone is a good test taker, nor does every student have time to study for a big test like the GRE and this may cause a lot of stress for some. This is why it’s good to know that many schools no longer need to see GRE scores. So if you haven’t taken the GRE yet, or just haven’t been able to produce a good score on this test, look for family nurse practitioner programs with no GRE required.
It turns out schools can evaluate students on several factors other than test scores. For instance, they might instead look closely at your undergraduate grades. So, a good GPA from college will work in your favor when you apply to online family nurse practitioner programs with no GRE required. They’ll also look at letters of recommendation and any leadership experience you have in the healthcare field. Highlight these types of experiences if you have them to improve your chances of being selected.
Finally, online family nurse practitioner programs with no GRE required tend to value work experience highly. After all, applicants have to have a nursing degree, and most have been working as RNs for years by the time they apply for an FNP program. So, if you’ve been working successfully and consistently as a registered nurse for a while, make sure the program you’re interested in knows this. You should also make them aware of any awards, promotions, and special certifications you’ve earned during your time as a nurse. Anything that helps you stand out from other applicants will improve your odds of getting into the FNP program you want to pursue.
Conclusion
In conclusion, enrolling in an online family nurse practitioner program with no GRE required is a worthwhile endeavor if you’re looking to further your nursing career and open yourself up to more career opportunities. Online family nurse practitioner program courses can easily fit into your busy professional and home life schedule, you will greatly expand your medical knowledge and skills, and make deep, long-lasting connections with patients.
For a list of accredited universities and colleges that offer online family nurse practitioner programs with no GRE required, refer to the chart at the bottom of this page.
FAQs about Online Family Nurse Practitioner Programs
What jobs require you to complete a family nurse practitioner program?
In order to be a family nurse practitioner, you have to complete an FNP program from an accredited school. If you want the flexibility to work and study at the same time, consider an online family practitioner program with no GRE required. Once you have this degree, you don’t necessarily have to be a family nurse practitioner. You can choose to specialize in other areas besides family care. Some examples include pediatric nurse practitioner, geriatric nurse practitioner, psychiatric nurse practitioner, and nurse educator. You may need to earn a certificate beyond your MSN degree if you plan to specialize.
Does a family nurse practitioner have good job prospects?
The job market is incredibly good for people who get an MSN and plan to work as an FNP, and it’s expected to stay that way for at least a decade. In fact, the BLS reports that healthcare jobs are increasing faster than average, with approximately 1.8 million jobs being added annually from 2022 to 2032. More specifically, the job growth for nurse practitioners is 38% from 2022 to 2032.
What are the different fields of online family nurse practitioner programs?
Online family nurse practitioner programs, available both with and without a GRE requirement, result in a degree called Master of Science in Nursing, or MSN. When you have this degree, you can become a family nurse practitioner, as long as you pass an exam and apply for a license in your state. But you can also slightly adjust your career goals if you’d like, as you can specialize in taking care of children, senior citizens, or people who need psychiatric help.
How long does it take to complete online family nurse practitioner programs?
In general, most online family nurse practitioner programs take about two years to complete. But some programs let you take fewer courses at a time so you can work full time as you improve your nursing education, meaning it might take you three or four years to complete the classes. On the other hand, if you take classes during breaks, such as the summer, you may be able to get through an FNP program in less time, such as 18 months.
What does an online family nurse practitioner program curriculum typically include?
When you enroll in an FNP program, you’ll be taking mostly advanced healthcare courses that build on the general nursing knowledge you already got from your undergraduate years. This means the curriculum for most online family nurse practitioner programs includes classes like primary healthcare for patients of all ages, pathophysiology, pharmacology, behavioral health, and more.
Summary Information
Program options
- Online family nurse practitioner programs with no GRE required are available for those who haven’t or do not want to take the Graduate Record Examination
- Online family nurse practitioner programs take approximately 24 months to complete but may differ from school to school
- Taking courses during summer break can shorten the program length to 18 months
- Programs that are entirely virtual give you the flexibility to keep working in healthcare while you attend school
Benefits
- An MSN degree gives you access to jobs in healthcare that pay higher than average
- Job growth for FNPs is very fast
- This degree opens doors to a variety of jobs in healthcare
Costs
- FNP programs can cost as little as $15,000
- Some healthcare employers are willing to help with tuition for current RNs to become FNPs
- Scholarships and grants are available to help pay for FNP programs