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Oncology registered nurse education requirements

Updated January 8, 2025
4 min read

There are several educational requirements to become an oncology registered nurse. Oncology registered nurses usually study nursing, nursing science, or business. 50% of oncology registered nurses hold a bachelor's degree, and 40% hold an associate degree. We analyzed 3,626 real oncology registered nurse resumes to see exactly what oncology registered nurse education sections show.

The most common colleges for oncology registered nurses are the University of Phoenix and the University of Phoenix.

There are also many online oncology registered nurse courses to help get the education required to be an oncology registered nurse.

There are certain oncology registered nurse certifications that you should consider. These oncology registered nurse certifications include Oncology Certified Nurse (OCN) and Certified Nurse Assistant (CNA).

What education do you need to become an oncology registered nurse?

What degree do you need to be an oncology registered nurse?

The most common degree for oncology registered nurses is bachelor's degree, with 50% of oncology registered nurses earning that degree. The second and third most common degree levels are associate degree degree at 40% and associate degree degree at 5%.
  • Bachelor's, 50%
  • Associate, 40%
  • Master's, 5%
  • Diploma, 4%
  • Other Degrees, 1%

What should I major in to become an oncology registered nurse?

You should major in nursing to become an oncology registered nurse. 85% of oncology registered nurses major in nursing. Other common majors for an oncology registered nurse include nursing science and business.

Most common colleges for oncology registered nurses

Oncology registered nurses often get their degrees at University of Phoenix, Grand Canyon University, and University of Florida. Here are the most common colleges for oncology registered nurses in the US based on their resumes.
Oncology registered nurse common collegePercentages
University of Phoenix9.17%
Grand Canyon University8.75%
University of Florida6.25%
The University of Texas at Arlington6.25%
Walden University5.83%

Best majors for oncology registered nurses

RankMajorPercentages
1Nursing85.1%
2Nursing Science3.7%
3Business1.5%
4Psychology1.5%
5Biology1.2%

Best colleges for oncology registered nurses

The best colleges for oncology registered nurses are University of Rochester, University of Tulsa, and Vanderbilt University.

An oncology registered nurse with advanced education typically earns a higher salary and has access to better jobs. That's why Zippia looked into the best colleges for oncology registered nurses. We based this list on several metrics: admissions rate, retention rate, mean earnings of graduates, the ratio of working vs. non-working students ten years after admission, the average cost of attendance, and median debt for graduates who become oncology registered nurses.

1. Duke University

Durham, NC • Private

In-state tuition

$55,695

Enrollment

6,596

2. University of Pennsylvania

Philadelphia, PA • Private

In-state tuition

$55,584

Enrollment

10,764

3. Yale University

New Haven, CT • Private

In-state tuition

$53,430

Enrollment

5,963

4. University of Michigan - Ann Arbor

Ann Arbor, MI • Private

In-state tuition

$15,262

Enrollment

30,079

5. Georgetown University

Washington, DC • Private

In-state tuition

$54,104

Enrollment

7,089

6. University of California - Los Angeles

Los Angeles, CA • Private

In-state tuition

$13,226

Enrollment

31,568

7. University of Virginia

Charlottesville, VA • Private

In-state tuition

$17,653

Enrollment

16,405

8. University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

Chapel Hill, NC • Private

In-state tuition

$8,987

Enrollment

18,946

9. Columbia University in the City of New York

New York, NY • Private

In-state tuition

$59,430

Enrollment

8,216

10. Chamberlain College of Nursing - Arlington

Arlington, VA • Private

In-state tuition

$19,375

Enrollment

506

20 best online courses for oncology registered nurses

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1. Traditional herbal medicine in supportive cancer care: From alternative to integrative

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Please join us for an exciting and innovative journey, examining one of the most important and often overlooked aspects of the oncology setting: Traditional Herbal Medicine in Supportive Cancer Care. This course is presented with short lectures offering a wide range of issues related to the principles and practice of herbal medicine in cancer care. The course includes interviews with leading world experts from the field of Integrative Oncology, from the U.S. and Canada, as well as Europe, the...

2. Introduction to Integrative Nursing

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This course is designed for nurses who are drawn to practice in a different way – nurses who value whole-person care and know that the essence of nursing practice is truly caring and healing. You will learn about the principles and practices of Integrative Nursing and how you can be a healing presence to all you serve. Then, you will do an integrative assessment and apply the principles of Integrative Nursing to improve symptom management and overall patient outcomes. Finally, you will explore...

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5. Health After Cancer: Cancer Survivorship for Primary Care

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This course presents basic principles of cancer survivorship to primary-care physicians. Developed by a team of experts in caring for cancer survivors, and narrated by a primary-care physician, this course provides practical tips and tools that can be easily integrated into medical practice. You will learn about the complex physical and psychosocial needs and concerns of the growing number of cancer survivors, along with the key role that primary care physicians have in guiding these patients...

6. Understanding Prostate Cancer

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Welcome to Understanding Prostate Cancer. My name is Ken Pienta, Professor of Urology and Oncology at the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine. I have been studying prostate cancer and treating patients with prostate cancer for over 25 years. Over 1,000,000 men worldwide and 230,000 men in the United States are diagnosed with prostate cancer every year. Three hundred thousand men worldwide and 30,000 men in the US are dying from prostate cancer every year. As people live longer, the incidence of...

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8. Value-Based Care: Managing Processes to Improve Outcomes

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9. Prehospital care of acute stroke and patient selection for endovascular treatment using the RACE scale

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Acute stroke is a time-dependent medical emergency. In acute ischemic stroke, the first objective is to restore brain flow using sistemic thrombolytic treatment and, in patients with large vessel occlusion, by endovascular treatment. In hemorrhagic stroke there are also specific treatments that can improve the clinical outcome. The sooner the initiation of all these therapies the higher the clinical benefit. Thus, the organization of Stroke Code systems coordinated between emergency medical...

10. Addiction Treatment: Clinical Skills for Healthcare Providers

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This course is designed with a singular goal: to improve the care you provide to your patients with substance use disorders. By delving into a model case performed by actors, seven Yale instructors from various fields provide techniques to screen your patients for substance use disorder risk, diagnose patients to gauge the severity of their use, directly manage treatment plans, refer out to treatment services, and navigate the various conditions that may limit your patient’s access to treatment...

11. Nursing Informatics Leadership Theory and Practice

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“By the end of this Course, you will be able to…” • Evaluate effective leadership styles for leadership in nursing informatics in clinical or academic contexts to improve leadership success. • Discover core values that support effective nursing informatics leadership in academic and clinical contexts to inform development of a personal leadership mission statement. • Discover competing values and polarities related to knowledge leadership and management to promote successful leadership...

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Now that you've been introduced to the world of Health IT and the important role played by electronic health records (EHRs), we'll focus on other technologies that play a role in maintaining ongoing operations in healthcare. Telemedicine, patient portals, barcode scanners, printers, and medical devices are just some of the technologies that impact providers and patients. As an IT support specialist, you’ll be asked to troubleshoot issues with a wide variety of tools. You'll see a scenario with...

13. Pain Management: Easing Pain in Palliative Care

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In this course, you will be able to develop a systems view for assessing and managing pain in the palliative care setting. By the end of the course, you will be able to: 1) Describe the pain problem in the palliative care setting; 2) Assess a person’s pain, 3) Explain the benefits of integrative therapies and pharmacologic strategies to manage pain...

14. Nursing Informatics Leaders

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In this course, we explore the AMIA Nursing Informatics History Project. By the end of the module, you will understand the resources available that will be used in this course to learn about the first hand experiences, future vision, and lessons learned in becoming a nursing informatics pioneer. Course Objectives: • Explore the history of technology and its relationship to the beginning of nursing informatics to understand historical context and evolution of the specialty • Discover the AMIA...

15. Emergency Care: Pregnancy, Infants, and Children

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Welcome to the final course of lectures in your quest to master EMT basics. In this course, we will cover some of the highest-stress patient populations: pregnant patients and kids, also known as pediatrics. To wrap up your EMT knowledge we will end this course with information about hazmat situations, extricating patients from tight spots and finally how you write a note about your patient care. You will learn to ensure it communicates what your assessment of the patient was, what...

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19. Palliative Care Always Capstone Course

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20. Trauma Emergencies and Care

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Top 10 most affordable universities for oncology registered nurses

The most affordable schools for oncology registered nurses are SUNY Farmingdale, brigham young university, and hunter college of the city university of new york.

If the best universities for oncology registered nurses are out of your price range, check out these affordable schools. After factoring in in-state tuition and fees, the average cost of attendance, admissions rate, average net price, and mean earnings after six years, we found that these are the most affordable schools for oncology registered nurses.

1. SUNY Farmingdale

Farmingdale, NY • Private

In-state tuition

$8,306

Cost of attendance

16,091

2. Brigham Young University

Provo, UT • Private

In-state tuition

$5,620

Cost of attendance

18,136

3. Hunter College of the City University of New York

New York, NY • Private

In-state tuition

$7,182

Cost of attendance

13,998

4. Clayton State University

Morrow, GA • Private

In-state tuition

$5,419

Cost of attendance

17,697

5. Purdue University

West Lafayette, IN • Private

In-state tuition

$9,992

Cost of attendance

22,430

6. Minot State University

Minot, ND • Private

In-state tuition

$7,064

Cost of attendance

15,576

7. Florida International University

Miami, FL • Private

In-state tuition

$6,556

Cost of attendance

19,434

8. University of Puerto Rico - Mayaguez

Mayaguez, PR • Private

In-state tuition

$4,094

Cost of attendance

14,302

9. SUNY Polytechnic Institute

Utica, NY • Private

In-state tuition

$8,238

Cost of attendance

21,567

10. Florida State University

Tallahassee, FL • Private

In-state tuition

$5,656

Cost of attendance

21,623

Top 10 hardest universities to get into for oncology registered nurses

The hardest universities for oncology registered nurses to get into are University of Rochester, University of Tulsa, and Vanderbilt University.

Some great schools for oncology registered nurses are hard to get into, but they also set your career up for greater success. The list below shows the most challenging universities to get into for oncology registered nurses based on an institution's admissions rates, average SAT scores accepted, median ACT scores accepted, and mean earnings of students six years after admission.

1. University of Rochester

Rochester, NY • Private

Admissions rate

29%

SAT average

1,422

2. University of Tulsa

Tulsa, OK • Private

Admissions rate

41%

SAT average

1,321

3. Vanderbilt University

Nashville, TN • Private

Admissions rate

10%

SAT average

1,514

4. SUNY at Binghamton

Vestal, NY • Private

Admissions rate

40%

SAT average

1,376

5. Clemson University

Clemson, SC • Private

Admissions rate

47%

SAT average

1,337

6. Johns Hopkins University

Baltimore, MD • Private

Admissions rate

11%

SAT average

1,513

7. Boston College

Chestnut Hill, MA • Private

Admissions rate

28%

SAT average

1,429

8. Purdue University

West Lafayette, IN • Private

Admissions rate

58%

SAT average

1,309

9. Saint Louis University

Saint Louis, MO • Private

Admissions rate

58%

SAT average

1,304

10. SUNY Stony Brook

Stony Brook, NY • Private

Admissions rate

42%

SAT average

1,326

Top 10 easy-to-apply-to universities for oncology registered nurses

The easiest schools for oncology registered nurses to get into are AdventHealth University, nyack college, and d'youville college.

Some schools are much easier to get into. If you want to start your career as an oncology registered nurse without much hassle, check out the list of schools where you will be accepted in no time. We compiled admissions rates, average SAT scores, average ACT scores, and average salary of students six years after graduation to uncover which were the easiest schools to get into for oncology registered nurses.

1. AdventHealth University

Orlando, FL • Private

Admissions rate

87%

SAT average

1,016

2. Nyack College

New York, NY • Private

Admissions rate

98%

SAT average

999

3. D'Youville College

Buffalo, NY • Private

Admissions rate

100%

SAT average

1,072

4. La Roche College

Pittsburgh, PA • Private

Admissions rate

99%

SAT average

1,008

5. Saint Joseph's College of Maine

Standish, ME • Private

Admissions rate

84%

SAT average

1,069

6. Oklahoma Wesleyan University

Bartlesville, OK • Private

Admissions rate

68%

SAT average

964

7. Gwynedd Mercy University

Gwynedd Valley, PA • Private

Admissions rate

92%

SAT average

1,031

8. Aultman College of Nursing and Health Sciences

Canton, OH • Private

Admissions rate

75%

SAT average

1,085

9. Saint Martin's University

Lacey, WA • Private

Admissions rate

96%

SAT average

1,111

10. Mount Saint Mary's University

Los Angeles, CA • Private

Admissions rate

84%

SAT average

1,031

Average oncology registered nurse salary by education level

According to our data, oncology registered nurses with a Master's degree earn the highest average salary, at $104,516 annually. Oncology registered nurses with a Doctorate degree earn an average annual salary of $92,666.
Oncology registered nurse education levelOncology registered nurse salary
Master's Degree$104,516
Bachelor's Degree$87,745
Doctorate Degree$92,666
Some College/ Associate Degree$69,959

Oncology registered nurse education FAQs

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Updated January 8, 2025

Zippia Research Team
Zippia Team

Editorial Staff

The Zippia Research Team has spent countless hours reviewing resumes, job postings, and government data to determine what goes into getting a job in each phase of life. Professional writers and data scientists comprise the Zippia Research Team.

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