Marquette University’s College of Nursing offers a learning experience grounded in Ignatian values of excellence, faith, leadership and service. Our nationally renowned faculty shape education and care across the profession through groundbreaking research and informed, student-first pedagogy. 

Marquette University’s College of Nursing offers a learning experience grounded in Ignatian values of excellence, faith, leadership and service. Our nationally-renowned faculty shape education and care across the profession through groundbreaking research.  We offer individualized, evidence-based, high-quality teaching-learning experiences that enable our students to be all they can be and “Be the Difference” for the patients, families, and communities they serve.  

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The Five Qualities of a Marquette Nurse

There are more than 8,500 Marquette Nurses, who distinguish themselves through the following actions: 

• Caring for the whole person
• Leading courageously
• Championing social justice  
• Advocating for the vulnerable 
• Thinking critically

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College Highlights

• Nationally ranked programs
• State-of-the-art simulation center
• Commitment to diversity, equity and inclusion
• High retention and graduation rates
• Opportunities to work with faculty on research
• Guaranteed clinical and preceptor placements
• Faculty consisting of nationally recognized researchers and practitioners

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Explore Academics

• Bachelor of Science in Nursing 
• Direct Entry Masters of Science in Nursing 
• Master of Science in Nursing 
• Doctor of Nursing Practice 

History of the College of Nursing

Marquette University acquired the Trinity Hospital Training School for Nursing and the nurses' residence in 1912. Soon after that acquisition, the nursing school became a division of higher education at Marquette and 18 students graduated in its first class. At that time, Marquette was the only university in Wisconsin to offer a three-year nursing certificate.

The School of Nursing became a constituent college of Marquette University in 1936 with a four-year collegiate program designed by the college's first dean, Dr. Berenice Beck. It operated out of St. Joseph's Hall.

Today, the College of Nursing is housed in Emory T. Clark Hall on the west side of the Marquette campus. The 46,000-square-foot building includes office, classroom and laboratory space, including our Wheaton Franciscan Healthcare Center for Clinical Simulation, which provides a realistic health care environment where our students can strengthen essential competencies, develop sound clinical reasoning and prepare for high-risk situations. Since 2016, Marquette College of Nursing has also operated a satellite facility in Pleasant Prairie, Wisconsin for its Direct Entry Master’s in Nursing program.

In 2024, the college will move into the reimagined David A. Straz Jr. Hall. The new building will be 100,000 square feet, more than twice the size of Clark Hall, and include greatly expanded simulation laboratories and student spaces. This new facility will allow us to better serve future nurses and offer exciting opportunities for engagement with the broader Milwaukee community. Faculty are scheduled to begin occupying the building in summer of 2024, with classes to begin the following fall.