Xavier University FNP Programs

College of Nursing • Cincinnati, OH • Online • $739/credit

Xavier University offers 2 Family Nurse Practitioner Tracks:

  • MSN
  • Post-Master’s Certificate

Program Tracks Overview

ProgramEst. TuitionEst. DurationCredit Hours
MSN$34.0K28 mo46
Certificate$13.3K–$20.0K21 mo18–27

Xavier’s defining advantage is that the same FNP coursework carries a second national credential. The College of Nursing holds an endorsement from the American Holistic Nurses Credentialing Corporation, which makes graduates eligible to sit for the Holistic Nurse Certification exam in addition to FNP boards. Both tracks run fully online with no campus visits stated anywhere in Xavier’s materials.

The offsetting limitation is geographic and it is substantial. Xavier’s own College of Nursing licensure disclosure blocks FNP admission for residents of 26 states and territories, and Xavier states outright that its program does not meet nurse practitioner educational requirements in California, Kansas, New York, or Pennsylvania. Check your state before you invest time in the application.

Quick Facts

FeatureDetails
Program TypesMSN-FNP; Post-Master’s FNP Certificate
FormatOnline, asynchronous, no set meeting times. No campus visits stated.
Clinical Hours600 for both tracks, across four practicum courses of roughly 150 hours each
Clinical PlacementNot clearly stated. Xavier does not describe who secures preceptors or sites.
PopulationFamily across the lifespan: women’s and reproductive, pediatric and adolescent, adult and older adult
Distinctive CourseworkNURS 760 Differential Diagnosis and Medical Decision-Making, a standalone 2-credit course
Enrollment RestrictionsFNP admission open to 30 jurisdictions only. 26 states and territories are blocked.
Experience GateMinimum 1 year RN experience required; 2 years for a competitive application
RN License RequirementsUnencumbered US RN license in the state where practicum hours will be completed
Tuition$739 per credit hour, 2026–2027 rate. Same rate for both tracks.
AccreditationCCNE for both tracks; HLC institutionally; Ohio Board of Nursing approval

Master of Science in Nursing – Family Nurse Practitioner

The estimated tuition for the MSN – Family Nurse Practitioner Track at Xavier University is approximately $33,994 (46 credits at $739/credit, derived). The program can generally be completed in about 28 months of full-time study, with a part-time option available.

MSN Curriculum

Paired didactic and practicum design. The structure worth understanding here is how Xavier links classroom content to clinical hours. Rather than front-loading theory and saving clinicals for the end, Xavier pairs each population-focused didactic course with a matching practicum taken alongside it. Women’s and reproductive health didactic content runs with its own practicum. Pediatric and adolescent content runs with its own. Adult and older adult content runs with its own. A capstone family practicum follows. You are diagnosing the population you are currently studying, not recalling material from three semesters back.

Diagnostic reasoning as its own course. NURS 760, Differential Diagnosis and Medical Decision-Making, is a standalone 2-credit course. Many FNP programs fold diagnostic reasoning into advanced health assessment and never name it separately. Isolating it signals that Xavier treats clinical decision-making as a skill requiring dedicated instruction rather than a by-product of assessment training.

Doctoral credit banking. Xavier permits MSN students to take certain DNP core courses in place of MSN core courses, so the credits count toward both credentials. The catalog describes up to 10 credit hours banked this way. Read the fine print below before you count on that number.

  • NURS 500: Healthcare Ethics for Nursing Leaders (3 credits)
  • NURS 502: Nursing Research (3 credits)
  • NURS 658: Advanced Pharmacology Across the Lifespan (3 credits)
  • NURS 680: Advanced Pathophysiology Across the Lifespan (3 credits)
  • NURS 756: Advanced Physical Health Assessment Across the Lifespan (3 credits)
  • NURS 760: Differential Diagnosis and Medical Decision-Making (2 credits)
  • NURS 770: Role of the Nurse Practitioner (3 credits)
  • NURS 772: Women’s Health and Family Care (3 credits)
  • NURS 774: Pediatric and Adolescent Family Care (3 credits)
  • NURS 776: Management of Health and Illness in the Adult and Older Adult (3 credits)
  • NURS 797: Scholarly Project (2 credits)

Credits divide into 17 hours of nursing core, 23 hours of family care courses, and 6 hours of synthesis and application including practicums and the scholarly project. More curriculum details are available here.

You Should Know
  • Credit total conflicts across Xavier’s own sources. The program page states 46 credits and its three subtotals add to exactly 46. The graduate catalog states 47. At $739 per credit the difference is $739. Ask admissions which figure governs your plan of study.
  • The 10-credit DNP banking figure likely does not apply in full to FNP students. The catalog lists three substitutions, one of which replaces NURS 754. The FNP program page states NURS 754 is not required for this track, which removes that substitution from the table. Two of the three remain available. Xavier does not publish the credit values of the DNP courses, so the actual FNP ceiling cannot be calculated from published material.
  • Xavier’s DNP is in Population Health Leadership, not a clinical FNP doctorate. Banked credits move you toward a leadership doctorate, not an advanced clinical one. If a DNP-FNP is your goal, this pathway does not deliver it.

MSN Clinical Requirements

  • 600 total clinical hours, stated consistently on the program page and in both catalog records
  • Four practicum courses at roughly 150 hours each: NURS 771 (women’s and reproductive), NURS 773 (pediatric and adolescent), NURS 775 (adult-gerontology), NURS 787 (family capstone)
  • ⚠️ Xavier also states a 1:8 ratio of practicum credit to clinical hours. Applied to the four 1-credit practicums this yields 32 hours, not 600. The 600-hour figure is the one Xavier repeats across every source and the one that matches the per-course hour blocks.
  • NURS 770 is a prerequisite or co-requisite for the practicum sequence, which fixes the order in which clinicals can be taken
  • Practicum courses may include one synchronous online session at the end of the semester, at the instructor’s discretion
  • Students must hold an unencumbered RN license in the state where practicum hours are completed
  • Students pay for their own transportation to clinical sites, clinical supplies, and required uniforms

At 600 hours Xavier sits 100 hours above the 500-hour national certification floor and inside the 600 to 700 band most FNP programs occupy. That is a defensible middle position: enough volume to satisfy every state board that specifies a minimum, without the extended timeline that 750-hour and 800-hour programs impose. The more consequential detail is what Xavier does not say. Nothing in the program page, the catalog, or the FAQ describes a placement service, a preceptor network, or faculty site visits. Programs that guarantee placement say so prominently. Treat preceptor sourcing as your responsibility until admissions tells you otherwise in writing.

You Should Know
  • Clinical clearance requirements are extensive and recur annually. Before entering any practicum course you must document MMR, varicella, hepatitis B series, Tdap, annual influenza vaccine, annual tuberculosis screening, annual physical examination, AHA BLS certification, HIPAA and OSHA training, fire safety training, health insurance, an annual federally regulated background check, and an annual federally regulated drug test.
  • Liability insurance is purchased through Xavier, not independently. Coverage of $2,000,000 per occurrence and $4,000,000 aggregate is billed directly to your student account at $18 per practicum semester.
  • Individual clinical sites may add requirements beyond Xavier’s list, and those costs fall to you.

MSN Admissions

Xavier’s application is heavier than most online FNP applications, and the difference is in the writing and the references rather than in test scores.

  • BSN from an accredited nursing program. Applicants without a BSN cannot be admitted to the online MSN.
  • Unencumbered US RN license in the state where practicum experiences will be completed
  • Minimum 1 year of nursing experience; Xavier states strong candidates hold at least 2 years
  • Undergraduate statistics course with a grade of C or better
  • 3.0 GPA for a strong application
  • Three-page goal statement addressing four specified questions, evaluated partly on writing quality
  • Three professional references: at least one from a direct supervisor who evaluates clinical work, and two from people holding a master’s or doctoral degree
  • Current resume or CV listing all professional nursing experience with employers, positions, and dates
  • A personal or phone interview may be required
  • No GRE or other admission test
  • Rolling admission. Published deadlines: Fall 8/3, Spring 12/28, Summer 5/3.
  • Free online application
You Should Know
  • Residency determines eligibility before anything else does. Xavier’s College of Nursing licensure disclosure permits FNP admission from 30 jurisdictions. Arizona, Kansas, Nebraska, Pennsylvania, South Dakota, and Tennessee residents may enroll only in non-APRN programs. Texas residents are limited to DNP and forensic nursing. Nineteen further jurisdictions, including Alabama, California, Delaware, Iowa, Louisiana, Maryland, Massachusetts, Nevada, New Hampshire, New York, North Dakota, Oregon, Utah, Washington, and Wyoming, cannot be admitted to any program at this time.
  • Four states do not recognize the program for licensure. Xavier states its APRN programs do not meet educational requirements in California, Kansas, New York, or Pennsylvania. Students in non-qualifying locations may file an attestation that they intend to seek licensure in a state where Xavier does meet requirements, which is a workaround rather than a fix.
  • Two Xavier pages publish different state lists. The online programs site lists 35 jurisdictions for nursing and includes Arizona, Kansas, Nebraska, Pennsylvania, South Dakota, and Texas while omitting Ohio. The College of Nursing disclosure, dated 5/26/2026 and maintained by a named program contact, lists 30 and includes Ohio. The disclosure is the narrower and more recent document. Confirm your state in writing before applying.
  • Start-term guidance is inconsistent. The admissions text says you may begin in fall or spring, while the deadline table lists fall, spring, and summer. Treat these as the annual cycle and confirm the current dates with admissions.

Post-Master’s Certificate – Family Nurse Practitioner

The estimated tuition for the Post-Master’s Certificate – Family Nurse Practitioner at Xavier University ranges from approximately $13,302 to $19,953 (18 to 27 credits at $739/credit, derived). The program can generally be completed in about 21 months, though your actual length depends on how much of your prior graduate coursework Xavier accepts.

Certificate Curriculum

Your transcript sets the price. This is the single most important thing to understand about Xavier’s certificate. The advertised figure is 18 credits, but the catalog states a range of 19 to 27 semester hours depending on previously completed coursework. Reconstructing the full course list confirms the ceiling: the twelve listed courses total exactly 27 credits. The 18-credit figure is what remains after Xavier waives all three “P” courses through transcript gap analysis. That is the best-case outcome, not the standard one.

The Ohio pharmacology rule is why the catalog floor is 19, not 18. Xavier states that under Ohio law, Advanced Pharmacology must have been completed within the last five years unless you are an actively practicing NP. Remove advanced pathophysiology, advanced health assessment, and differential diagnosis from the 27-credit list and 19 credits remain, which matches the catalog floor precisely. In other words, the most common waiver pattern retains pharmacology. If your MSN pharmacology course is more than five years old, budget for repeating it.

Identical FNP sequence to the MSN. The specialty courses are the same courses the MSN students take, not a condensed version. What the certificate drops is the MSN core: ethics, theory, research, informatics, policy, epidemiology, and the scholarly project.

  • NURS 658: Advanced Pharmacology Across the Lifespan (3 credits)
  • NURS 680: Advanced Pathophysiology Across the Lifespan (3 credits)
  • NURS 756: Advanced Physical Health Assessment Across the Lifespan (3 credits)
  • NURS 760: Differential Diagnosis and Medical Decision-Making (2 credits)
  • NURS 770: Role of the Nurse Practitioner (3 credits)
  • NURS 772: Women’s Health and Family Care (3 credits)
  • NURS 774: Pediatric and Adolescent Family Care (3 credits)
  • NURS 776: Management of Health and Illness in the Adult and Older Adult (3 credits)

Four practicum courses accompany the didactic sequence. More curriculum details are available here.

You Should Know
  • The cost swing is $6,651. Nine credits separate the advertised 18 from the full 27. Request the gap analysis result in writing before you accept an offer, because the advertised price assumes the most favorable transfer outcome available.
  • Xavier publishes three different credit figures. The program page says 18, the catalog says 19 to 27, and the printed course list totals 27. None of these is wrong; they describe different transfer scenarios. But no single Xavier page explains that, which is why the advertised number reads as a fixed price when it is not.

Certificate Clinical Requirements

  • 600 total clinical hours, identical to the MSN track
  • Same four practicum courses at roughly 150 hours each: NURS 771, NURS 773, NURS 775, NURS 787
  • NURS 770 prerequisite and co-requisite rules apply identically, fixing the practicum sequence
  • Same clinical clearance package: immunizations, annual screening, background check, drug test, BLS, HIPAA and OSHA training
  • Liability insurance at $18 per practicum semester, billed through Xavier
  • Unencumbered RN license required in the practicum state

Holding the certificate at the same 600 hours as the MSN is the right call and it explains the duration figures that otherwise look odd. The certificate carries 61% fewer credits than the MSN but finishes only 25% sooner, because four sequential practicums at 150 hours each cannot be compressed regardless of how much didactic coursework transfers in. If you are choosing the certificate expecting a substantially faster route, the clinical sequence, not the credit count, sets your calendar.

Certificate Admissions

Admission requires an MSN and applies the same experience gate and written materials as the degree track, with one added GPA structure that offers more flexibility than the MSN’s stated expectation.

  • MSN from an accredited college or university, with CCNE accreditation specified
  • Unencumbered US RN license in the state where practicum experiences will be completed
  • Minimum 1 year of nursing experience; 2 years for a strong candidate
  • Undergraduate statistics course with a grade of C or better
  • GPA, any one of three routes: 3.0 in the last two years of undergraduate work; 2.7 cumulative undergraduate; or 2.5 in the last two undergraduate years combined with 5 years of nursing or related work experience
  • Three-page goal statement, resume or CV, and three professional references matching the MSN requirements
  • Rolling admission. Published deadlines: Fall 8/3, Spring 12/28, Summer 5/3.
You Should Know
  • The same state restrictions apply. The College of Nursing licensure disclosure governs APRN admission for the certificate exactly as it does for the MSN. Residents of 26 states and territories cannot enter this track.
  • The GPA alternative is a genuine opening. The 2.5-plus-five-years-experience route is an unusual accommodation for experienced nurses whose undergraduate record does not reflect their clinical work. The MSN track’s material does not describe an equivalent alternative.
  • Ohio’s five-year pharmacology recency rule is an admissions variable, not just a curriculum one. It determines both what you pay and how long you study.

Tuition

Xavier charges $739 per credit hour for all College of Nursing MSN and post-master’s certificate coursework, published on the university’s 2026–2027 graduate tuition and fees schedule. Xavier is private, so there is no resident or non-resident distinction, and the schedule states that online classes are charged at the standard rate. The same rate applies to both FNP tracks.

TrackCreditsRateDerived Tuition
MSN-FNP46$739$33,994
Certificate (18 credits)18$739$13,302
Certificate (27 credits)27$739$19,953

All three tuition totals above are derived by multiplying published credit counts by the published per-credit rate. Xavier does not publish program totals for either track.

Confirmed costs:

  • Tuition: $739 per credit hour, 2026–2027 academic year
  • Student ID Fee: $15 per semester
  • Graduate Student Association Fee: $15 per semester full-time, $10 per semester part-time
  • Liability insurance: $18 per semester in which you are enrolled in a practicum

Be aware that:

  • Fee totals depend on how many semesters you enroll, and Xavier’s own semester counts conflict with its month figures. The MSN page states 28 months but also “as few as 10 semesters.” The certificate page states 21 months but “as few as 7 semesters.” At roughly four months per term, 28 months implies 7 terms and 21 months implies about 5. Both stated semester counts run three higher than the month figures support.
  • Using the month-derived term counts, mandatory semester fees add roughly $282 for the MSN and roughly $222 for the certificate. Both figures are derived and both rise if you take longer.
  • The certificate’s tuition is not a fixed number. Nine credits, or $6,651, separate the advertised 18-credit figure from the full 27-credit course list, and your transcript gap analysis decides where you land.
  • The MSN’s credit count is itself disputed between Xavier’s program page (46) and its graduate catalog (47), a $739 difference.
  • Clinical clearance costs are not published. Immunizations, annual physical examination, annual tuberculosis screening, annual background check, and annual drug test are all student-paid and recur each year you are enrolled.
  • Transportation to clinical sites, clinical supplies, and required uniforms are student-paid and unpriced.
  • The published rate is for 2026–2027 only. Xavier does not publish a rate lock, so budget for annual increases across a two-to-three-year program.

The realistic all-in figure for the MSN is close to $34,300 in tuition and mandatory fees, before clinical clearance and travel. For the certificate, the honest range is roughly $13,500 to $20,200 depending on your gap analysis. That spread is wide enough that comparing Xavier’s advertised certificate price against another school’s fixed price is not a like-for-like comparison. Get your gap analysis result first, then compare.

Why Choose This FNP Program?

Best suited for nurses who live in a state Xavier can admit, who want a fully asynchronous program with no campus obligation, and who are willing to write a serious application in exchange for a credential that opens two certification doors instead of one.

A second certification from the same coursework. Xavier’s College of Nursing holds an endorsement from the American Holistic Nurses Credentialing Corporation, which Xavier describes as one of only 17 such endorsements among US online MSN programs. The practical effect is that graduates are eligible to sit for the Holistic Nurse Certification exam in addition to the national FNP certification exam through AANP or ANCC. Whether a second credential matters depends on where you intend to practice. In integrative medicine, palliative care, and wellness-oriented primary care settings it is a differentiator on a resume. In a conventional family practice it may be a line item nobody asks about. Judge it against your actual career target rather than as a general marker of quality.

Full asynchronous delivery with a rigid clinical spine. Xavier states courses have no set meeting times, and no campus visit appears anywhere in the program pages, catalog records, or FAQ. Practicum courses may include a single end-of-semester synchronous session at the instructor’s discretion, which is the only scheduled obligation described. The trade-off sits in the sequence: NURS 770 gates the entire practicum chain, and four practicums must run in order. That structure delivers real schedule freedom week to week while limiting how much you can accelerate overall.

An application that filters, and a certificate that varies. Xavier asks for a three-page goal statement graded partly on writing quality, three references including two from graduate-degree holders and one from a clinical supervisor, a statistics prerequisite, and at least a year of RN experience, with a possible interview on top. That is more front-end work than many online programs require. In return you get small class sizes and a program that has screened your cohort on more than a GPA. The honest counterweight is the certificate’s variable pricing and the state restrictions, both of which can make Xavier the wrong answer through no fault of the program’s quality.

Accreditation

The baccalaureate degree program in nursing, master’s degree program in nursing, post-graduate APRN certificate program, and Doctor of Nursing Practice at Xavier University are accredited by the Commission on Collegiate Nursing Education. That scope statement covers both FNP tracks on this page directly: the MSN-FNP falls under the master’s degree accreditation and the FNP certificate under the post-graduate APRN certificate accreditation. Neither is in candidacy or pending status.

Xavier University is institutionally accredited by the Higher Learning Commission, first accredited in 1925. Institutional accreditation is what makes your credits transferable to other universities and what qualifies you for federal financial aid. Programmatic accreditation from CCNE is what state boards of nursing and certification bodies look for. You need both, and Xavier holds both.

Xavier also states that the program is approved by the Ohio Board of Nursing.

Graduates of both tracks are eligible to sit for the national FNP certification exam through either the American Academy of Nurse Practitioners Certification Board or the American Nurses Credentialing Center. Dual eligibility is standard for CCNE-accredited FNP programs and is worth confirming rather than assuming. Xavier separately notes that its AHNCC endorsement makes graduates eligible for the Holistic Nurse Certification examination.

Compare More Family NP Programs