Most important takeaways…
- Men make up 10.4% of nurses and 11.8% of master's nursing students.
- After reworking application review, UC Davis admitted 19% men, up from 13%.
- Ask whether online students can actually reach men-in-nursing mentors and clubs.
Men make up 10.4% of the nursing profession and just 11.8% of students in master's nursing programs, according to an October 2026 UC Davis news release. For a male RN considering a family nurse practitioner degree, that often means being one of few men in an online cohort.
Many schools say they welcome men. Fewer can show reachable mentors, placement help, or enrollment numbers backing the claim. The ranked online FNP programs, AAMN recognition, and culture and cost checklists here test for that difference.
Admissions review is one lever: UC Davis reports that 19% of admitted students were men, up from 13%, and describes a reworked review process.
Best Fully Online FNP Programs for Men in Nursing: Our Top 10 (100% Online)
Below are ten online MSN-FNP programs, ordered by a composite of program quality and value. Where a program still asks for a short campus visit for skills checkoffs, its card says so. The composite measures quality and value, not men-specific support, so pair this list with the culture checklist later in the article, and check the AAMN recognition section before assuming any school here carries that designation.
Factors considered
- Tuition adjusted for local cost of living
- Average net price after grant aid
- Program-level earnings where reported
- Institution-wide graduation rates
- Fully online coursework and no relocation
- Program-level records maintained in house
- Independent editorial research
- National Center for Education Statistics (IPEDS) — nces.ed.gov
- State cost-of-living adjustment from BEA Regional Price Parities — bea.gov
- Federal College Scorecard outcomes data — collegescorecard.ed.gov
University of the Cumberlands
A private university in southeastern Kentucky whose graduate nursing program is built around working adults, with eight-week bi-terms and textbooks bundled into tuition. The CCNE-accredited MSN-FNP runs 48 credits with 720 clinical hours arranged near home, and the program reports a 91% board exam pass rate. FNP graduates report median earnings of about $97,900 one year after completing, and the university graduates roughly half of its students overall.
- CCNE accredited; 48 credit hours including 720 clinical hours
- Eight-week bi-term courses with small class sizes
- Textbooks included in tuition through the One Price Promise
- Program reports a 91% board exam pass rate
- Prepares students for national FNP certification
Master of Science in Nursing - Family Nurse Practitioner — Online
Wheeling University
A small private university in West Virginia's Northern Panhandle where nursing cohorts stay intentionally tight. The CCNE-accredited MSN-FNP keeps didactic work online and lets students complete clinical hours in their own communities, with 168 supervised hours embedded in each clinical course. The institution's overall graduation rate is about 23%, so ask about cohort completion and certification pass rates directly.
- CCNE accredited MSN with a Family Nurse Practitioner concentration
- All didactic coursework online; clinicals arranged in your home community
- 3.0 GPA and active RN licensure required; no GRE for most applicants
- 168 clinical hours embedded in each clinical course
- Up to six credits of transfer coursework accepted
Master of Science in Nursing - Family Nurse Practitioner — Online
Texas A & M International University
A public university in Laredo with a strong regional and Hispanic-serving mission, drawing many students from along the Texas-Mexico border. Its online MSN-FNP runs 48 credits over about 36 months, with two brief campus visits per course for skills and assessment work. FNP graduates report median earnings around $116,500 one year out and $131,500 four years out, and the university graduates about 46% of its students overall.
- 48 credit hours, completed in about 36 months
- Online coursework with two on-campus visits per course
- Program reports a 100% first-time certification exam pass rate
- Open to Texas-licensed RNs with one year of inpatient experience
- Fall and spring start dates; full-time and part-time options
Master of Science in Nursing - Family Nurse Practitioner — Online
Georgia Southern University
A large public university in southeast Georgia whose FNP pathway sits inside a BSN-to-DNP program; students can opt out with the MSN after 43 credits and sit for certification. Coursework is fully online, with 720 clinical hours and 585 didactic hours, and a seven-year window to finish. FNP graduates report median earnings near $98,300 one year after completion and about $106,400 four years out, while the university graduates roughly 55% of its students overall.
- MSN opt-out track within the BSN-to-DNP program; 43 credits
- 720 clinical hours and 585 didactic hours
- Fully online coursework with practicums under a qualified preceptor
- Seven-year completion limit for working nurses
- CCNE accredited; Georgia RN or multistate license required
- Three professional recommendations required for admission
Master of Science in Nursing - Family Nurse Practitioner — Online
Youngstown State University
A public urban university in northeast Ohio with a part-time-friendly nursing footprint and a reputation for serving place-bound students. The CCNE-accredited MSN-FNP runs 46 credits over as few as 20 months using seven-week courses and multiple start dates, and it is restricted to residents of Ohio, Pennsylvania, West Virginia and Michigan. FNP graduates report median earnings near $146,300 one year out, among the strongest in this group, and the university graduates about half of its students overall.
- 46 credits including a 600-hour clinical practicum and capstone
- Seven-week courses with multiple start dates each year
- Part-time study available for working nurses
- Restricted to residents of Ohio, Pennsylvania, West Virginia and Michigan
- CCNE accredited and approved by the Ohio Board of Nursing
- 3.0 GPA minimum and one year of recent practice required
Master of Science in Nursing - Family Nurse Practitioner — Online
Texas A & M University-Corpus Christi
A public university on the Texas Gulf Coast whose MSN-FNP is offered as a part-time sequence for nurses who intend to keep working. Admission is a single fall intake each year with rolling review, and the catalog lists 49 graduate credits and 630 clinical hours. FNP graduates report median earnings around $108,700 one year after completing and $123,300 four years out, and the university graduates about 40% of its students overall.
- Part-time sequence built for working RNs
- One fall intake per year with rolling review
- Catalog lists 49 graduate credits and 630 clinical hours
- Valid Texas RN license, background check and drug screen required
- CCNE accredited; prepares graduates for FNP certification
Master of Science in Nursing - Family Nurse Practitioner — Online
Texas Woman's University
A public university in Denton whose nursing programs enroll students from across Texas, and the clearest documented welcome for men among these ten: the school states that male students may enroll in its graduate nursing programs and notes that men have been admitted since 1972. The CCNE-accredited MSN-FNP comes in online and hybrid formats, with the hybrid option limited to Texas residents and clinicals completed in the state. FNP graduates report median earnings near $102,500 one year out and $120,700 four years out.
- CCNE accredited MSN-FNP with online and hybrid formats
- Hybrid option limited to Texas residents; clinicals completed in Texas
- Casper Assessment required for the online program
- Male students admitted to graduate nursing programs since 1972
- Fall, spring and summer start terms; full-time or part-time
- 3.0 GPA and a statistics prerequisite required
Master of Science in Nursing - Family Nurse Practitioner — Online
Arkansas State University
A public university in Jonesboro with a compact, accelerated FNP: 41.5 credits over as few as 24 months at $380 per credit. Coursework is fully online, 750 clinical hours are required, and admission asks for a 3.25 GPA plus 1,500 hours of RN practice. The online FNP is limited to residents of Arkansas, Mississippi, Missouri and Tennessee. FNP graduates report median earnings near $117,900 one year out and about $163,500 five years out.
- 41.5 credits, completable in as few as 24 months
- 750 clinical hours with fully online coursework
- $380 per credit, roughly $15,770 for the full program
- 3.25 GPA and 1,500 hours of RN practice required
- Limited to residents of Arkansas, Mississippi, Missouri and Tennessee
- Multiple start dates each year
Master of Science in Nursing - Family Nurse Practitioner — Online
Spring Arbor University
A private Christian university in southern Michigan that structures its MSN-FNP for nurses working full time: one asynchronous course at a time in a 7-1-7 rhythm, with week-long breaks built in. The CCNE-accredited program runs 52 credits and 625 clinical hours with six start dates a year, and classes are capped around 20 to 25 students with a dedicated success coach. FNP graduates report median earnings near $101,700 one year after completing, and the university graduates about 64% of its students overall.
- 52 credits delivered asynchronously, one course at a time
- 7-1-7 format with week-long breaks between courses
- 625 clinical hours and six start dates per year
- Class sizes of 20 to 25 with a dedicated student success coach
- CCNE accredited; no application fee
- Faith-based curriculum; prepares students for ANCC or AANP certification
Master of Science in Nursing - Family Nurse Practitioner — Online
New Mexico Highlands University
A public university in Las Vegas, New Mexico, that focuses its graduate nursing work on rural and frontier care. The online MSN-FNP requires 49 credits plus an optional nine-credit cognate, three practicum courses and a residency, and takes two to three years. There is one admission window a year, in January and February, and no GRE or GMAT is required. The university graduates about 26% of its students overall, so ask about cohort completion before you commit.
- 49 credits, with an optional nine-credit cognate concentration
- Three practicum courses plus a required residency
- Asynchronous online coursework with a rural health focus
- $625 per credit; no GRE or GMAT required
- One admission window per year, January through February
- Up to 58 credits if the cognate concentration is added
Master of Science in Nursing - Family Nurse Practitioner — Online
Why Men Remain Underrepresented in Nursing and NP Roles
For a man weighing an NP program, the numbers are mixed. Nursing as a whole is still close to 90 percent women1, but advanced practice looks a little more open. How much more open depends on which count you trust.
What percentage of nurse practitioners are male?
The most defensible current figure is about 13 percent. That is the share of nurse practitioners nationally who are men, per 2026 reporting summarized by HealthExec.2
Two higher numbers also circulate, each with its own caveat:
- 16 percent: This figure covers all advanced practice registered nurses.2 It includes roles beyond NPs, so it is not an NP-specific share.
- 17 percent: This NP figure appears without a clear year or survey base. Treat it with more caution than the 13 percent figure.
Why the figures don't line up
The American Association of Colleges of Nursing puts men at 10.4 percent of the nursing workforce in 2024, down from 11.2 percent in 2022.1 That 10.4 percent is the same figure UC Davis cited when its nursing school earned a 2026 Best Schools for Men in Nursing award.
A separate 2026 summary says men hold roughly 12 percent of U.S. RN jobs.2 The gap likely comes down to definitions: who is counted (all nursing occupations, RNs only, or NPs only), which year, and how the survey was run.
Set the 13 percent NP figure beside the 10.4 percent workforce figure and men look slightly better represented in NP roles. Read that as a hint, not proof. The two surveys measure different populations.
Are there fewer men in graduate nursing programs?
At the master's level, yes, slightly. AACN's 2025-2026 annual survey found men made up 11.8 percent of master's nursing enrollment.1 That compares with:
- 12.6 percent of baccalaureate students
- 16 percent of DNP students
- 11.5 percent of PhD students
The master's degree is still the most common route into FNP practice. So in most online cohorts, expect roughly nine of every ten classmates to be women. The DNP share is higher, which is worth noting if you're considering a doctoral track.
Where the pipeline narrows
The sources don't point to a single cause, and it would be overreach to claim one. They do highlight three pressure points:
- Recruitment: Whether men see nursing as a realistic career in the first place. UC Davis dean Stephen Cavanagh put it plainly: "When more men see nursing as a real option, patients benefit."
- Admissions review: UC Davis reexamined how it reviewed applications, and its share of admitted men rose.
- Role models: Visible male faculty, preceptors and peers help men picture themselves in the role. That is why mentorship deserves a close look.
How Does Male Representation Change From the Workforce to Graduate Admissions?
Men hold 10.4% of nursing roles nationally and make up 11.8% of master's nursing students, so the graduate pipeline feeding NP roles runs only slightly ahead of the workforce. The two UC Davis bars are one school's admissions data, shown as context rather than as a national outcome: men were 19% of admitted students over the past four years (up from 13%) and 21.3% of 2025 admits to its Master's Entry Program in Nursing. The school credits part of that shift to reexamining how it reviews applications, which suggests admissions practices can move these numbers.
Which Schools Are Recognized for Supporting Men in Nursing
An award badge on a school of nursing's homepage and the FNP track you would actually enroll in are two different things. Knowing which schools the American Association for Men in Nursing has recognized gives you a useful shortlist. Whether that recognition reaches your program, and whether you can complete it online from another state, takes a second step.
What the Award Honors
Each year AAMN names its Best Schools for Men in Nursing. In 2026, 16 schools made the list.1 The honor goes to schools that recruit men into nursing and help them succeed, and applicants have to back that up with numbers: male graduates over the past three years (reported by program where applicable), the percentage of male applicants admitted over the same span, gender-specific graduation rates, and the share of male faculty and staff. Applications also document a completed climate survey, evidence that more men are applying, being admitted, or staying enrolled, NLN or CCNE accreditation, and first-time NCLEX pass rates of at least 80% in each of the past three years.1
Who Made the 2026 List
- UC Davis Betty Irene Moore School of Nursing, Duke, Johns Hopkins, Rush, George Washington, UAB, Pittsburgh, UVA, Vanderbilt, Widener
- East Carolina, Old Dominion, Rutgers School of Nursing and Rutgers School of Nursing in Camden, Nebraska Methodist College, University of Charleston
Vanderbilt notes that 2026 marks its ninth consecutive year on the list, which tells you something about consistency rather than a single good admissions year.
Where the Recognition Stops Short
Recognition is typically granted to the school of nursing as a whole, not to one MSN track, and the published criteria say nothing about online delivery. A school can be a genuinely welcoming place for men in nursing and still run its FNP program on campus, or accept online students from only a handful of states. When a recipient also appears on the fully online list here, confirm modality and state authorization directly with an admissions counselor before you count it as a match.
Absence from the AAMN list is not a mark against a program. Applications take staff time to assemble, and plenty of strong online FNP programs with male-friendly cultures never submit one. Ask instead about the men in nursing group, male faculty in the FNP track, and how clinical placements are handled for students who live far from campus.
What Admissions Practices Do to Male Enrollment: The UC Davis Example
Admissions review is the part of the application process most applicants never see: the rubric a committee scores you against, how many people read your file, and what training those readers get before they open it. It is also the piece of a nursing school a faculty group can actually change, without waiting years for a different pool of applicants to appear.
What UC Davis changed, and what its numbers show
Faculty at the Betty Irene Moore School of Nursing at UC Davis reexamined how the school reviewed applications and built a standardized scoring rubric so that every applicant is judged the same way regardless of who reads the file. The school was named a 2026 Best Schools for Men in Nursing by the American Association for Men in Nursing.2 In a UC Davis Health news release dated Oct. 16, 2026, the school reported that men made up 19 percent of admitted students over the past four years, up from 13 percent, and that 21.3 percent of students admitted to its Master's Entry Program in Nursing in 2025 were men.1
Set that beside the national picture: men were 11.8 percent of master's nursing students in recent years and 10.4 percent of the nursing profession.1
Read those numbers as context, not proof
The release does not publish male applicant counts, male acceptance rates, or total admitted-student counts, and it does not claim the rubric was written to favor male applicants. Treat 19 percent as a benchmark to hold your own target programs against, not as evidence that one review change moved the figure.
Questions worth putting to an admissions office
- Who reads the file? Is there a common rubric, and are readers trained and calibrated before the cycle opens?
- How many readers? Does a second person review your essay and experience before a decision is made?
- Is it tracked? Does the program report applicant and admit demographics by gender each year, including for graduate-entry and nurse anesthesia tracks?
- What counts as experience? Holistic review that credits work outside health care opens a path for career changers, a group that includes many men coming to nursing later.
Ask for the last few admitted cohorts in writing, then compare the answer with what you observe on a visit. The same caution applies at every stage of the pipeline: one encouraging figure is context, not proof.
Related Articles
Mentorship, Clubs and Affinity Resources That Work for Online Students
A men-in-nursing club listed on a program page costs nothing to read about and can cost plenty in false comfort. The real question is whether a student who never sets foot on campus can reach its members, mentors and meetings.
What shows up on paper
- Affinity groups: Duke's DAAMN, UVA's MAN, NYU Rory Meyers' MEN, Goldfarb's GMEN, Adelphi's AUMNA, and multi-campus clubs across CT State.
- AAMN chapters: the University of Arkansas hosts a student chapter, and UAB's Birmingham at-Large Chapter, the association's first at-large chapter, has offered one-on-one virtual mentoring.
- Groups with mentoring attached: Pitt's MINC, founded in 2023, lists mentorship and is open to all students; Rush's Men in Nursing group lists mentorship and welcomes all Rush students; Vanderbilt's AAMN Affinity Group describes itself as open to any nurse or student.
The question the websites leave open
None of those listings confirms that the club, chapter or mentor pool is formally open to a fully online MSN-FNP student, and "open to all students" usually means all students on that campus. Ask the faculty adviser directly whether the group is active this year, how often it meets, whether meetings are hybrid or recorded, and whether a distance student has joined in the past two years. UAB's virtual mentoring is documented for 2021; whether it still runs in 2026 is not confirmed, so verify rather than assume.
National options that follow you, not your campus
AAMN membership is open to any nurse, male or female, including RNs, LPN/LVNs and entry-level nursing students. Student membership is built for entry-level students working toward a first nursing degree, and a separate graduate or online-MSN category is not spelled out, so ask before you pay dues. Members can tap a formal national mentoring program, an online community known as the Man Group, and 2026 scholarship funds that include $1,500 for graduate study. To find a chapter near your clinical sites or home, email [email protected] for a referral.
One practical test: ask for a name and an email address of a current member who has taken courses online. If nobody can supply one, treat the resource as decoration.
Questions to Ask Before You Enroll: A Program Culture Checklist
Recognition lists point you toward strong programs, but direct conversations tell you whether you'll feel supported as a man in an online FNP cohort. Bring these questions to info sessions, admissions calls and virtual open houses.
- Cohort makeupAsk what share of recent FNP cohorts were men and whether the program tracks it. Men have made up about 11.8% of master's nursing students nationally in recent years, which gives you a benchmark. A program that can quote its own number, and explain any changes to how it reviews applications, is paying attention.
- Clinical placementAsk whether the program secures preceptors or expects you to find your own. For working nurses studying online, this is often the biggest stressor. Follow up by asking whether male preceptors or mentors are available in your area, and how staff help if a site hesitates to host a male student for a rotation.
- Men's health in the curriculumAsk how men's health is covered in FNP coursework. Don't assume it's a required course. Find out where topics such as urologic and prostate care appear and whether they're core content or electives.
- Alumni conversationsAsk to speak with male graduates. Ask whether they felt they belonged, how responsive faculty were, and whether support felt real in an online format. If no one is available, factor that into your decision.
In the first class admitted to UC Davis's new Doctor of Nursing Practice, Nurse Anesthesia program, three of the four students are men. The Betty Irene Moore School of Nursing shared that milestone in October 2026, alongside news that the American Association for Men in Nursing named it a 2026 Best School for Men in Nursing.
Weighing Support Against Cost: Tuition, Debt and Earnings at Online FNP Schools
A supportive culture matters, but so does what you will pay and what you can expect to earn afterward. The figures below come from the U.S. Department of Education's IPEDS and College Scorecard data (2024). Earnings and debt reflect graduates of each school's master's-level nursing programs as a group, not the FNP track alone. Schools appear in order of return on investment, and Western Governors University charges the same tuition regardless of residency.
| School (Location) | Annual Tuition, In-State | Annual Tuition, Out-of-State | Median Debt at Graduation | Est. Monthly Loan Payment (10-Year) | Median Earnings, 1 Year After | Median Earnings, 4 Years After | Employed 1 Year After |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Western Governors University (Salt Lake City, UT) | $9,320 | $9,320 | $13,665 | $155 | $100,249 | $111,688 | 98% |
| University of Southern Indiana (Evansville, IN) | $11,667 | $21,948 | $24,415 | $278 | $113,564 | $119,791 | 100% |
| Texas Woman's University (Denton, TX) | $8,520 | $15,900 | $27,782 | $316 | $102,476 | $120,705 | 99% |
Where Male NPs Are Growing Fastest by Specialty, and What They Earn
Specialty distribution means the share of men within each NP certification area, such as family, acute care, psychiatric-mental health or nurse anesthesia. Reliable national numbers on this are thin, so it helps to know which figures hold up.
What the Specialty Data Can and Cannot Show
No official national breakdown of male NPs across family, acute care and psychiatric-mental health certifications is available. The closest official picture describes all new NP graduates, not men specifically. In 2023-2024, 51.3% of new graduates were certified in family practice, 5.5% in adult-gerontology primary care, 2.4% in pediatric primary care and 1.4% in women's health. Non-primary-care certifications, including acute care and psychiatric-mental health, made up 33.6%. None of that tells you how many of those graduates were men, so we cannot say FNP is where men are concentrated or growing fastest.
A 2026 secondary report puts men at roughly 17% of adult-gerontology acute care NPs and about 13% of psychiatric-mental health NPs. It does not name a professional association as its source, so treat those figures as rough indicators only.
Nurse Anesthesia Stands Out
The clearest signal is in nurse anesthesia, where 2026 reporting puts men at about 40% to 42% of CRNAs. Estimates differ slightly by source and year. At UC Davis, three of the four students in the first Doctor of Nursing Practice nurse anesthesia class are men. That is one school's first cohort, useful context but not evidence of a national trend.
Do Male NPs Earn More Than Female NPs?
One 2026 secondary source reports male NPs averaging about $128,000 and female NPs about $121,000, a gap of roughly $7,000, or 6%. It attributes the figures to AANP salary surveys but gives no survey year, sample size, full-time criteria or specialty mix. Other secondary reports cite a much larger gap, so the numbers vary by source. AANP's most recent compensation report (2024) analyzes pay by state, work setting, clinical focus and years of experience, but the available excerpt does not confirm a gender comparison.
So the honest answer is that some surveys show men earning more, the size is uncertain, and none of the figures here explain why. Differences in specialty, setting, hours and experience could all play a role, and the figures do not separate them.
The National Pay Baseline
For overall pay, use federal wage data, which does not break out gender. It covers 323,040 employed nurse practitioners nationally, with these annual wages:
- Median: $132,300
- Mean: $137,300
- 25th percentile: $117,990
- 75th percentile: $156,700
Whatever your gender, your own pay will depend more on state, setting, specialty and experience than on any single survey average.
Questions to Ask Yourself
More Fully Online FNP Programs to Consider
The directory below picks up where the ranked list leaves off, gathering additional online FNP programs worth a closer look. Each entry notes location, delivery format, and the scheduling details that matter most to a working nurse. Use it to build a shortlist, then weigh program culture, mentorship, and cost before you apply.
Other
York College of Pennsylvania York, PA · Online
- Family Nurse Practitioner
University of West Florida Pensacola, FL · Online
- Family Nurse Practitioner, M.S.N.
Western Governors University Salt Lake City, UT · Online
- Master of Science, Nursing - Family Nurse Practitioner
Herzing University-Madison Madison, WI · Online
- MSN in Family Nurse Practitioner
Texas State University San Marcos, TX · Online
- Master of Science in Nursing – Family Nurse Practitioner
Herzing University-Atlanta Atlanta, GA · Online
- MSN in Family Nurse Practitioner
Herzing University-Kenosha Kenosha, WI · Online
- MSN in Family Nurse Practitioner
Purdue University Global West Lafayette, IN · Online
- Master of Science in Nursing (Family Nurse Practitioner, Primary Care)
Herzing University-Birmingham Birmingham, AL · Online
- MSN in Family Nurse Practitioner
Chamberlain University-Illinois Addison, IL · Online
- Master of Science in Nursing (MSN) Family Nurse Practitioner
Governors State University University Park, IL · Online
- Master of Science in Nursing, Family Nurse Practitioner
Morehead State University Morehead, KY · Online
- Master of Science in Nursing-FNP (Primary Care)
Eastern Kentucky University Richmond, KY · Online
- Master of Science in Nursing - Rural Health Family Nurse Practitioner
Upstate Medical University Syracuse, NY · Online or On-Campus
- Master of Science in Nursing (Family Nurse Practitioner)
University of Southern Indiana Evansville, IN · Online
- Master of Science in Nursing - Family Nurse Practitioner
