Frequently Asked Questions about the Nurse-Midwifery Program

We suggest you start by exploring the American College of Nurse-Midwives’ web site. If there are certified nurse-midwives (CNMs) in your area, we recommend you contact them and seek an opportunity to observe (“shadow”) them in practice. Nurse-midwives have the satisfaction of caring for women throughout the lifespan and are considered specialists in women’s healthcare and normal birth. Midwifery often requires long, irregular hours of work, but it can be a very fulfilling career. Becoming a nurse-midwife requires academic ability in both the sciences and "people-oriented" subjects. It takes determination to complete the rigorous program of study.

If you wish to meet the nurse-midwifery faculty to discuss the profession further, they generally hold an open house in the afternoon of the first Monday in December. If you wish to be invited, you will need to send an email to Dr. Karen Robinson, CNM. Remember to include all your contact information.

Application information is available on the Marquette University Graduate School website.

Everyone entering the nurse-midwifery program must be a B.S.N. or M.S.N. prepared nurse. If you are not a nurse, please explore the exciting Direct Entry M.S.N. option available at Marquette. Following a brief application, qualified graduates of this program are eligible for admission to the Nurse-Midwifery Option.

If you are in your last year of nursing school, have recently graduated, or are in a Direct Entry program, you may apply now. It is possible to be admitted to the program contingent on passing the NCLEX-RN licensing examination, for which you will need to provide proper documentation of your success before actually beginning the NMP courses. A Wisconsin nursing license is required to attend the NMP. If you wish to explore options for clinical in Illinois, you would also need an Illinois nursing license. 

If you have not completed all your prerequisites, you will have to be admitted on a contingent basis until you have successfully completed the needed course and submitted the official transcript. It may even be possible to take one of these courses during your first semester at Marquette.

Yes. The actual number of classes you take will depend on what courses were included in your master's program. Plan to discuss this with the Nurse-Midwifery Program Director, Lisa Hanson, Ph.D., CNM, FACNM, around the time of your admission interview, bringing your transcript(s) and course descriptions. Your program plan will be individualized including planning for transfer or waiving of select credits upon review. Upon program competition you will receive a post-master's certificate in nurse-midwifery.

Yes. Beyond Wisconsin licensure, there are other requirements. For more information, please refer to Marquette University’s Graduate Bulletin website on the topic.

It is not required nursing experience to enter the Nurse-Midwifery Program (NMP). We do however recommend that you obtain nursing experience during the program. Labor and delivery nursing experience is especially helpful in preparing NMP students to manage labor and birth during the final year of the program. When we admit program candidates who do not have this experience, we encourage them to seek employment as RNs in labor and delivery settings as soon as possible. This allows them to gain essential experience while they are students in our program.

If students do not obtain employment in labor and delivery, they will be required to take a clinically summer course, NURS 6751: Advanced Concepts in Labor Support, for up to two credits that provides basic intrapartum knowledge and nursing related skill development. These two credits are in addition to the one-credit theory portion of this course (Advanced Concepts in Labor Support) that all midwifery students take. 

It may not be to your advantage to take many courses before being admitted. Taking courses as a non-degree student does not guarantee admission. You need to go through the whole admission process to become eligible for the specialty classes and clinical work. The University also discourages earning many credits non-degree because it does not guarantee you can apply them to a degree program later. In fact, options for transferring in credits to the program are limited, as described in the Graduate Bulletin transfer of credit policy.

We have many students who commute to our program from Wisconsin and Northern Illinois. We attempt to place student near their homes for clinical when possible. Generally some commuting for clinicals should be expected because we want students to experience a variety of clinical settings during the Nurse-Midwifery Program (NMP).

The NMP is hybrid-online. This means that each of the midwifery specialty courses includes both in-class and asynchronous internet-based interactions among faculty and students. The midwifery courses are scheduled on campus up to eight times a semester, depending on the course. There are also many clinical hours that occur in the mixed didactic and practicum courses in the NMP. Generally, the nurse-midwifery specialty coursework is completed online on a weekly basis, with required readings. Marquette's e-Learning application is Desire2Learn (D2L), a web-based tool which facilitates and supports online education. Online learning software allows you to remain at home, access course materials, and interact with your classmates and professors via web-based classroom discussions in an easy-to-use format.

The Nurse-Midwifery Program also includes eight core and foundational M.S.N. courses and six nurse-midwifery specialty courses. Some of the core and foundational courses are also hybrid online. Each course at Marquette has its own D2L course site with facilities for interactive communication, secure submission of student assignments to faculty. Easy reference to all their course materials is a common positive expressed by students when working online.

Students need to plan to come to the Marquette campus several days per week and also be available for significant clinical time that increases progressively throughout the clinical portion of the program. We attempt to cluster days that student nurse-midwives need to be on campus when possible.

Marquette faculty arrange the clinicals for the students in our program. Nurse-midwifery students generally do clinical work at various nurse-midwifery practices throughout Wisconsin (and sometimes Northern Illinois). While some student nurse-midwives (SNMs) do part of their clinical training in the Milwaukee area or near their homes, all students should plan on traveling to gain clinical experiences during the course of the program. Participating in clinical in a variety of settings enables our students to gain exposure to rich learning experiences. Our wide geographic network of clinical settings and our online coursework offerings make distance learning possible for students.

We schedule clinical practica with consideration of SNMs’ competencies, class requirements, the unique characteristics of each nurse-midwifery service, and preceptor faculty time availability. Travel to clinical sites is at the student’s expense, but it is possible to work with the program director (email lisa.hanson@marquette.edu) to attempt to schedule some clinical time near family or friends when possible.

The Nurse-Midwifery Program (NMP) includes 49 total credits. Marquette defines full time attendance as a minimum of seven graduate credits per semester. See Nurse-Midwifery Program courses. For applicants who hold a B.S.N., we offer two- and three-year programs of study. For post-M.S.N. applicants, the program is two years. Longer, part-time programs of study are available and individualized.

The nurse-midwifery clinical courses occur in a set sequence for two years of the program with a fall start. You may spread the pre-clinical courses over two or even more years, or finish the program in two years if you include summer study. However, during the final program year, you would need to attend full-time to complete your studies, due to significant clinical time required. Therefore, it is important for you to consider all aspects of your life, including work and family, when making the decision to attend the program. Similarly, know that your admission offer guarantees you a place in the clinical sequence for a particular class cohort and that the CNM (Certified Nurse-Midwife) faculty monitor this closely.

No. Marquette University's Nurse-Midwifery Program faculty finds your clinicals for you! We do this in conjunction with you to give you a variety of clinical experiences in our program.

Class size is limited by clinical placement spaces available. Therefore, once you are admitted to the Nurse-Midwifery Program, a space will be saved for you in a particular fall start clinical sequence. Altering your program plan may result in you moving to a different class cohort for the clinical course sequence. If one clinical class is full, we will work with you to see if you can be admitted into the clinical sequence beginning the next year.

However, there is no way to predict future class sizes and it is possible that changing your plan and clinical sequence could necessitate that you need to delay until there is an opening for you in the clinical sequence of courses. Therefore, plan carefully about when you wish to begin and finish the program to stay on track. Always discuss any possible alterations in your official program plan with the program director (email lisa.hanson@marquette.edu) because you can encounter progression difficulties. 

Graduate school is an important investment in your future career. The university sets and publishes in the Graduate Bulletin the tuition, fees, and relevant refunds. The College of Nursing Graduate Student Handbook has additional health requirements, including a background check.

Given the costs, it is important to consider how you will finance your degree program. Financial aid is available to eligible students. The Graduate Bulletin explains the options for assistance. The graduate nursing student financial assistance options are noted in the College of Nursing Graduate Student Handbook. In addition, the midwifery professional organization, the American College of Nurse-Midwives (ACNM) also has suggestions on financing your education.