Top Online Women’s Health and Gender-Related NP Programs (2025)
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Women’s health nurse practitioners (WHNPs) are specifically prepared to serve women from adolescence through adulthood. WHNPs address the unique needs of women during the childbearing years and beyond.
What type of healthcare do women’s health nurse practitioners provide? According to the American Association of Nurse Practitioners (AANP), a women’s health nurse practitioner’s role includes various services ranging from pregnancy testing and contraceptive care to breast and cervical cancer screening to issues with menopause.
Most women’s health nurse practitioners work directly with patients. According to survey data from the AANP in 2020, WHNP respondents said they work with approximately 19 patients per day. Some included specialty care such as breast health/oncology, infertility, gynecologic oncology, and urogynecology. The same survey reports the top practice settings for WHNPs are offices of private physicians and private group practices.
In 2020, the average annual salary for WHNPs was $110,000 (AANP). In a more recent report, the BLS (2024) lists the annual average salary for nurse practitioners overall as $126,260.
To become a WHNP, a registered nurse must complete a graduate nursing program with a WHNP specialization.
Online master of science in nursing (MSN) WHNP programs typically require the student to complete at least 500 clinical hours over the course of the program to meet practice requirements for NP licensure. Post-Master’s WHNP Certificate programs have similar requirements, but most customize final program requirements based on a gap analysis. Doctor of nursing practice (DNP) WHNP programs typically require over 1,000 clinical hours.
All online WHNP programs listed here include clinical preceptorships in which students complete hours at an approved facility, generally located near where they live and work. Note that some programs may restrict didactic coursework and clinical practicums to a particular geographical area or state. This is referred to as state authorization status, which is regulated by the National Council for State Authorization Reciprocity Agreements, or NC-SARA.
On NPSchools.com, we detail a program’s state restrictions on its full-page school profile.
Online WHNP Program Rankings (2024-2025)
The NPSchools.com team gathered data for all online WHNP programs accepting students for the 2024-2025 academic year and ranked them by cost, admissions flexibility, and program variety. Our database of 1,166 online NP programs includes only programs that require nine or fewer total campus visits.
Nursing schools based in several states offer online WHNP programs, and while some allow students from across the country to enroll, more often than not, there are at least some state residency restrictions. To learn more about a program’s specific requirements and restrictions, please check out its detailed school profile by clicking its name in the list below.
While uncommon, if preceptorships must be completed in a particular state or geographical area, that too will be detailed in the profile, along with application requirements, tuition costs, curriculum, and other program information.
Admission requirements vary depending on the program chosen, and we endeavor to clarify each program’s educational requirements in its name, at least in cases where it may be unclear. MSN programs typically require a BSN degree, and DNP programs typically require an MSN degree. But sometimes there are different requirements as with, for example, a DNP program designed for BSN-prepared nurses, or a Post-Master’s Certificate program designed only for current nurse practitioners. In such cases, and others, we will specify requirements in the program name.
The tuition numbers listed in the table below represent the total estimated tuition for the entire program, not the cost per year or semester.
Women’s Health NP Career and Salary
As a percentage, 2.2 percent of nurse practitioner students choose to focus on women’s health, while 15.5 percent focus on primary care adult health which can overlap with women’s health (AANP 2020). WHNPs typically focus on obstetrics and gynecology (OB/GYN) and work in private group practices, primary care clinics, hospitals, nursing homes, home healthcare facilities, and OB/GYN clinics. As noted above, WHNPs typically work with women, but 24 percent say they work with men (NPWH 2018 Survey).
Aspiring women’s health nurse practitioners must earn a graduate nursing degree before pursuing a national WHNP certification. They may opt to earn a master of science in nursing (MSN), a post-master’s certificate (PMC), or a doctor of nursing practice (DNP). Women’s health NPs often pursue dual NP certification as certified nurse-midwives, family nurse practitioners, or adult-gerontology nurse practitioners.
Nurse practitioners are predicted to be in high demand in the coming decade. The US Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS 2024) projects that job openings for nurse practitioners will swell 46 percent nationally between 2023 and 2033. This is over 10 times faster than the national average for all occupations (4 percent).
Median salary for nurse practitioners in the U.S. stands at $126,260 annually (BLS 2024).
Sara Navratil
WriterSara Navratil is a freelance writer and a Certified Canfield Success Principles Trainer. She’s the owner of Sara Liza Life, a company dedicated to helping people rewrite their lives. She enjoys researching and writing about healthcare-related topics, including information on online NP programs. When not working she likes to read, bake, and spend time with her family.