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RN to MSN Programs in Iowa

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Last updated on May 13th, 2025

Online RN to MSN Programs in Iowa

The only Iowa school in our listings to offer an online RN to MSN program is Graceland University. Here’s a short summary of the state’s lone RN-MSN option:

  • Graceland University: Graceland’s RN to BSN to MSN is not 100% online—it includes at least one on-campus focus session in Independence, MO (2-3 days). This is held in conjunction with the MSN’s Advanced Practice Competencies Lab course. On the other hand, clinical practicum experiences can be completed in the student’s local community. Be sure to read the state authorization language on the School of Nursing homepage before you apply. Graceland cannot accept students from certain states.

Cheapest RN to MSN Programs in Iowa

This ranking of the most affordable Iowa RN to MSN programs is based on per credit graduate tuition rates. But with only one option available in Iowa, your choice is Graceland University or an online RN to MSN from a neighboring state. Review Graceland’s tuition rates to determine if it fits your budget.

Iowa’s Healthcare Landscape

In some ways, Iowa has it good. According to the Commonwealth Fund’s Scorecard on State Health System Performance, it does well in factors such as Prevention & Treatment and Access & Affordability. It agreed to Medicaid expansion. It hasn’t been hit as hard as most states by the opioid epidemic. And it often receives highly respectable grades in the U.S. Rural Health Report Card.

But there are 3 areas where healthcare experts are seeking to improve the state’s metrics:

Lifestyle: America’s Health Rankings often identifies excessive drinking and a high prevalence of obesity in Iowa (e.g. top 10 in the nation) as major matters of concern. Hypertension, cancer, heart disease, and diabetes are some of the state’s leading causes of death. This is where you’ll find groups such as Iowa Healthiest State Initiative and the Department of Health’s Healthy Iowans trying to make a difference.

Mental Health: A low rate of mental health providers and the closure of state mental health institutes has put a strain on Iowa ERs and prisons. Iowa passed a 2018 law that mandated the creation of new access centers designed to provide short-term care (e.g. detox, crisis observation, and crisis stabilization), but more work will be needed. The Iowa Hospital Association (IHA) and the National Alliance on Mental Illness – Iowa (NAMI Iowa) have been very vocal about this issue—see IHA Mental Health and NAMI Advocacy for updates on their latest efforts.

Maternal Health: Between 2016-2018, maternal mortality in Iowa increased by 16%. This may be due to a lack of care. Scores of hospitals in Iowa have closed their labor and delivery units in the past 20 years. Due to low volume, rural & small hospitals are finding it hard to justify the cost of obstetrics services. In a 2017 workforce analysis from the American Congress of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, Iowa was ranked #50 for the number of OB-GYN physicians per capita. UI Health Care is working to reverse the trend with a 5-year, $10 million grant.

In other words, aspiring APRNs in Iowa should find plenty of opportunities to make Iowa better. Iowa CNMs might want to apply themselves to improving rural access (e.g. telehealth and travel nursing); PMHNPs could advocate for more resources and nurse-run practices; and FNPs and public health experts can start to turn the boat around on diet & exercise, especially for youth.

Jobs for Iowa RN to MSN Graduates

Career Outlook for RN to MSN Graduates

The Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS)’s pages on Nurse Practitioners and Nursing Instructors & Teachers, Postsecondary will give you a broad sense of the job territory for Iowa APRNs. Hover over an area on the job & wage maps to view the data points for each Iowa region.

As any Iowa RN will already know, Des Moines, Iowa City, Cedar Rapids are the three major urban centers for NPs (Iowa City has a particularly high concentration). Having said that, Iowa has a large rural population (e.g. 40%+), so NPs are fairly evenly distributed across the state.

  • Looking for a hospital job? You can use the IHA Membership Directory to find hospitals and clinics in your chosen area. You may want to cross-check your choices with the U.S. News & World Report’s rankings of the Best Hospitals in Iowa and the ANCC’s list of Magnet Facilities in Iowa. UIHC in Iowa City and UnityPoint Health-St. Luke’s Hospital in Cedar Rapids usually appear in both.
  • Interested in education? Iowa nursing instructors tend to be paid more than their peers in Missouri or Illinois. UI has a giant College of Nursing, but don’t forget the many private universities and community colleges that are around. We also want to point out that nurse educators who want to teach full-time at eligible Iowa institutions are eligible for the Health Care Loan Repayment Program.
  • Planning on running your own practice? NPs in Iowa have full independent practice & prescriptive authority and are recognized as primary care providers. The Iowa Board of Nursing has full details on rules & regulations in its section on Advanced Registered Nurse Practitioner – Role & Scope (the ARNP designation in Iowa includes CNSs, CNMs, NPs, and CRNAs). ARNPs may have a collaborative agreement with a physician if their practice so warrants, but this agreement is not a requirement.
  • Hoping to serve in rural areas? The Primary Care Provider Loan Repayment Plan offers two-year grants to primary care medical, dental, and mental health practitioners who agree to work in HPSAs. Primary care NPs, CNMs & PMHNPs are eligible to apply. You can choose your area by examining the Iowa Department of Public Health’s HPSA maps.

Career Resources for Future APRNs

Iowa Nursing Job Boards

Iowa APRN Salary & Wage Data

Iowa Nursing Organizations

State Board of Nursing

Iowa Nursing Associations & Coalitions

Iowa Nursing Specialty Organizations

Iowa RN to MSN School Listings

1 Schools Found

Graceland University-Lamoni

School of Nursing

Lamoni, Iowa

RN to BSN to MSN - Family Nurse Practitioner

Offered Online

Curriculum InfoCost InfoHow To Apply

Nursing School Overview

Graceland is a private liberal arts university with campuses in Lamoni, Iowa, and Independence, Missouri. The School of Nursing is fairly well-known in Iowa and its NP programs are strong enough to achieve a top 130 spot in U.S. News & World Report's rankings of Best Online Graduate Nursing Programs. According to those data, the NP programs have a strong 4-year graduation rate (e.g. 98%), lots of faculty (e.g. 22 full-time & 23 part-time), and small class sizes (e.g. 11 students). But they also had high debt rates, so be sure to chat with your employer about tuition reimbursement. Because Graceland's MSN is such a popular program, you'll find heaps of independent reviews and opinions about it on nursing message boards. Most of the reviews about the FNP are complimentary, with high praise for the professors and online resources, but folks did point out that preceptors can be hard to find. You can also check on certification pass rates in the university's annual Fact Book. For example, between 2014-2017, the FNP pass rate ranged from 86%-96% (2016 was 86% and 2017 was 88%). AGACNP figures aren't always available, so we'd recommend you talk to recent alumni about the pros & cons of the specialty and ask the program coordinator for exam data.

RN to MSN Admissions & Curriculum

Graceland's online RN to BSN to MSN program is open to RNs with an associate degree in nursing (ADN) or a diploma from an NLNAC-, ACEN-, or CCNE-accredited program. All candidates should have a current license to practice as an RN in the U.S and a GPA of 3.0 or above in the last 60 hours of undergraduate coursework. The application will also need to include 3 references and a professional goals statement. Students in the RN to BSN to MSN track complete almost all of the same undergraduate courses as RN to BSN students (i.e. 28 semester hours of core courses and 25 semester hours of support courses), with the exception of 2 BSN courses that are covered at the MSN level. Transfer credits are also allowed. Once you've completed requirements for the BSN, you have the option to "step out" with a bachelor's degree. Or you can proceed straight into the MSN without reapplying. All MSN NP concentrations are 47 semester hours. Most of the coursework is online, but there's at least one focus session on the Independence, MO campus (2-3 days) that's held in conjunction with the Advanced Practice Competencies Lab course. Clinical practicums can be tackled in your home community. On a full-time schedule, the MSN might take 8 trimesters (i.e. ~2.5 years) to complete. On a part-time schedule, it could take 12 trimesters (i.e. 4 years).

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