School of Nursing, College of Nursing and Health Sciences • Albany, NY • Online • $618–$755/Credit
Excelsior University offers 2 Nursing Informatics programs:
- MSN
- RN-to-MSN
Program Overview
| Program | Est. Tuition | Est. Duration | Credits |
|---|---|---|---|
| MS in Nursing Informatics | $27.2K | 2 years full time; 4 years part time | 36 |
| RN to MS in Nursing Informatics | $39.5K+ | Varies with transfer credit | 144 |
Excelsior runs the master’s one 8-week course at a time, with a new start every 8 weeks and no cohort to wait for. The trade-off is a 135-hour mentored capstone, which falls short of ANCC’s 200-hour graduate-program pathway.
Quick Facts
| Feature | Details |
|---|---|
| Program Types | MS in Nursing Informatics; RN to MS dual degree (BSN + MS) |
| Format | Online, asynchronous; 8-week courses plus a 15-week capstone |
| Practicum Hours | 135 practice experience hours in the 6-credit capstone |
| Practicum Placement | Completed with an approved mentor; who arranges the site is not clearly stated |
| RN License Required | Yes, active and unencumbered U.S. RN license |
| Who It’s For | Working RNs who want rolling starts and one course at a time |
| Distinctive Coursework | Database design, systems development life cycle, fiscal and operational management |
| Certification Pathway | ANCC NI-BC via work-hours pathway; capstone below 200-hour graduate pathway |
| Tuition | $755/credit graduate, all-inclusive; course materials extra |
| Accreditation | ACEN (both programs); MSCHE institutional |
| Enrollment Restrictions | Not accepting residents of California, Tennessee, or Guam |
Master of Science in Nursing Informatics
The estimated tuition for the Master of Science in Nursing Informatics at Excelsior University is approximately $27,180 (36 credits at $755/credit).
The program can generally be completed in about 2 years full time or 4 years part time.
MSN Curriculum
The 36 credits split into three phases: a 14-credit graduate nursing core, 16 credits of informatics and management, and a 6-credit capstone. The informatics block leans toward systems and operations rather than programming. Students design databases and write queries in NUR 521, work through the full systems development life cycle in NUR 651, and build budgets and variance analyses in NUR 625.
- NUR 502 Theoretical Foundations of Nursing Practice (3)
- NUR 503 Transformational Nursing: Innovation, Inquiry and Scholarship (3)
- NUR 508 Research and Evidence-Based Practice (4)
- NUR 533 Policy, Ethics and Population Health (4)
- NUR 515 Management Information for Decision Support (3)
- NUR 521 Data, Information and Knowledge (3)
- PBH 604 Epidemiology (3)
- NUR 625 Management of Fiscal and Operational Systems (3)
- NUR 651 Systems Development in Healthcare (4)
- NUR 686 The Nursing Informatics Capstone (6)
More curriculum details are available here.
You Should Know
- All 36 credits must be completed at Excelsior. Prior graduate credit does not shorten the major core.
- Catalog course descriptions set a minimum of 18 hours of course engagement per week for 8-week courses. Taking two courses at once roughly doubles that load.
- A grade of C or higher is required in every course, with a 3.0 overall GPA to graduate.
MSN Practicum and Capstone
- NUR 686 is the only course with practice hours: 135 hours inside a 6-credit capstone.
- Hours must be completed with an approved mentor. The catalog does not say whether Excelsior or the student finds the mentor, or whether the student’s employer can serve as the site.
- The capstone is the last course. All major core courses must be finished first; only one elective may run alongside it.
- It runs only in 15-week Spring, Summer, and Fall terms, not on the 8-week start cycle.
- Components: project experience, discussion, assignments, and a project presentation.
Spread over 15 weeks, 135 hours works out to about 9 hours a week (derived), a manageable load beside full-time work. The cost is certification: ANCC’s graduate-program route for NI-BC requires 200 faculty-supervised practicum hours, 65 more than this capstone provides. South Alabama’s 240-hour practicum clears that bar; Excelsior’s does not. Graduates will instead qualify through post-degree informatics work hours (see Accreditation).
You Should Know
- An older indexed copy of the NUR 686 catalog entry listed 247.5 practice hours. The live catalog page, updated April 2026 and matching the program pathway, lists 135. This profile uses 135.
- Students cannot exceed 135 hours for credit. Extra hours logged at a site will not appear on the transcript.
MSN Admissions
Admission is document-based: no GRE, no essay, no experience minimum, and no application fee.
- Active, unencumbered U.S. RN license (or equivalent)
- BSN from a regionally accredited school approved by ACEN, CCNE, or CNEA at the time of attendance
- Official transcript showing an undergraduate statistics course
- No minimum years of RN experience stated; the program page says it assumes working RNs
- IT experience helpful but not required
- Courses start every 8 weeks; next start listed as October 26
- Six-year maximum to complete
- Not accepting residents of California, Tennessee, or Guam
RN to Master of Science in Nursing Informatics
The estimated tuition for the RN to Master of Science in Nursing Informatics at Excelsior University is approximately $39,458 or more (55 credits at $618–$755/credit, assuming all other credits transfer).
The program can generally be completed in about 2 to 2.5 years after transfer credit is applied (derived from the published pathway).
RN-to-MSN Curriculum
This is a dual degree: the BSN is awarded after general education and the bachelor’s component, which includes five graduate courses. Students then continue into the remaining graduate courses without reapplying. Versus the direct MS, the bridge adds NUR 507 Advanced Physical Assessment (45 hours of virtual simulation) and four undergraduate nursing courses.
- NUR 356 Leadership and Management in Nursing (4, undergraduate)
- NUR 448 Community Health Nursing (4, undergraduate; 45 practice hours)
- HSC 320 Health Care Issues in Culturally Diverse Populations (3, undergraduate)
- NUR 462 Nursing Capstone (4, undergraduate; 45 practice hours)
- NUR 507 Advanced Physical Assessment (3, graduate)
- Graduate core shared with the MS: NUR 502, 503, 508, 533
- Informatics block and capstone shared with the MS: NUR 515, 521, 651, 625, PBH 604, NUR 686
More curriculum details are available here.
You Should Know
- The program page lists 144 total credits; its own FAQ says 142. The 144 figure matches the itemized breakdown (30 general education, 53 major, 1 university, 42 prerequisites, 18 electives) and is used here.
- Time to completion depends on how much associate degree, general education, and license credit transfers in. The published pathway assumes no transfer and runs four years.
RN-to-MSN Practicum and Capstone
- Undergraduate phase: 45 practice hours each in NUR 448 and NUR 462, plus 45 simulation hours in NUR 507
- Graduate phase: the same 135-hour mentored NUR 686 capstone as the MS
Only the 135 informatics capstone hours are informatics practicum. The undergraduate and simulation hours do not count toward ANCC’s 200-hour informatics practicum threshold, so the certification route is the same as for the direct MS.
RN-to-MSN Admissions
The bridge is built for associate degree and diploma RNs; a BSN is not required.
- Active, unencumbered U.S. RN license
- Admission follows Excelsior’s RN to BS application requirements
- No application fee
- Courses start every 8 weeks
- Not accepting residents of California, Tennessee, or Guam
Tuition
Graduate nursing courses cost $755 per credit, an all-inclusive rate covering student services, technology, and degree conferral. Undergraduate nursing courses in the RN-to-MS cost $550 per credit plus $68 per credit in fees, or $618 per credit all-in (derived).
| Item | MS | RN to MS (minimum at Excelsior) |
|---|---|---|
| Graduate credits at $755 | 36 = $27,180 | 39 = $29,445 |
| Undergraduate credits at $618 ($550 + $40 academic services + $28 technology) | None | 16 = $9,888 |
| Graduation fee (undergraduate) | Included | $125 |
| Estimated total | $27,180 | $39,458 |
Confirmed costs:
- Graduate nursing tuition: $755/credit
- Undergraduate nursing tuition: $550/credit, plus $40/credit academic services fee and $28/credit technology fee
- Undergraduate graduation fee: $125
- Post-admission credit evaluation: $300, only if transfer credit is submitted more than 30 days after admission
- Card payments: 2.85% service fee
Be aware that:
- Course materials are not included in tuition. Some courses, such as NUR 515 and PBH 604, are marked zero textbook cost; others are not.
- The RN-to-MS figure is a floor. Every general education, prerequisite, or elective credit that does not transfer adds $618.
- Excelsior does not say whether the five graduate courses taken in the bachelor’s phase bill at the graduate or undergraduate rate. This estimate uses $755, the higher figure.
- The $410/credit RN-to-BS rate applies to the standalone RN-to-BS program only, not this dual degree.
At $755 per credit, the MS costs more per credit than South Alabama’s flat $609 rate, but its 36-credit total keeps the all-in figure near $27K plus books. Employer partner discounts and monthly payment plans are available. See the graduate tuition page and undergraduate tuition page.
Why Choose This Nursing Informatics Program?
Built for RNs whose schedules cannot absorb more than one course at a time.
The weekly load is predictable. The pathway places one 8-week course per term, six terms a year, at a catalog minimum of about 18 hours a week. That pace finishes the MS in two years. A student who needs a break can skip a term without losing a cohort seat, since starts recur every 8 weeks.
The capstone is light, and that cuts both ways. At roughly 9 hours a week, the 135-hour capstone fits around a full-time job. It does not deliver ANCC certification at graduation. Nurses who need NI-BC right away, without logging work hours first, should weigh a program with 200 or more practicum hours.
The coursework favors systems management over coding. Database design, the systems development life cycle, decision support selection, and health care finance prepare graduates for analyst, project, and informatics leadership roles. Nurses aiming for data science or programming-heavy roles will find little of that here.
Accreditation
Both the MS in Nursing Informatics and the RN to MS in Nursing Informatics are accredited by the Accreditation Commission for Education in Nursing (ACEN), which granted continuing accreditation. Excelsior’s programs are registered with the New York State Education Department.
Excelsior University is institutionally accredited by the Middle States Commission on Higher Education, which reaffirmed accreditation on June 23, 2022. Excelsior participates in SARA but is not accepting graduate nursing applicants from California, Tennessee, or Guam.
For ANCC Informatics Nursing certification (NI-BC), the 135-hour capstone does not meet the 200-hour graduate-program pathway. Graduates can still qualify through 2,000 informatics practice hours in three years, or 1,000 hours plus 12 semester credits of graduate informatics coursework. NUR 515, 521, 651, and 686 total 16 credits, though ANCC makes the final call on which courses count. All routes also require two years of full-time RN practice and 30 informatics CE hours.
Other Nursing Informatics Schools
Compare Excelsior with the programs in the Nursing Informatics Schools directory, or start with the nursing informatics degree overview.