DePaul University FNP Programs

School of Nursing • Chicago,IL • Online • $852/Quarter Hour/credit

DePaul University offers four Family Nurse Practitioner Tracks:

  • MSN
  • BSN-DNP
  • Post-Master’s FNP Certificate
  • Dual FNP/PMHNP Track

Program Tracks Overview

ProgramEst. TuitionEst. DurationCredit Hours
MSN$57.9K2-3 yrs68 QH
BSN-DNP$85.2K3-4 yrs100 QH
Certificate$37.5K~60 weeks44 QH
Dual FNP/PMHNP$90.3KNot stated106 QH

All figures above are derived, not published. Credits are quarter hours, not semester hours. Tuition is credits multiplied by the 2026-27 College of Science and Health rate of $852 per quarter hour, and excludes mandatory fees.

DePaul’s defining feature is its academic calendar. The School of Nursing runs on quarters rather than semesters, which produces four start terms a year instead of one or two, and prices coursework in quarter hours worth two-thirds of a semester hour. Every track is fully online with no published campus requirement.

Quick Facts

FeatureDetails
Program TypesMSN, BSN-DNP, post-master’s certificate, dual FNP/PMHNP
FormatOnline. DNP coursework is asynchronous; clinicals are completed locally.
Clinical Hours500 for the MSN. DNP and certificate totals not clearly stated.
Clinical PlacementStudent-secured. Students find their own preceptors and initiate affiliation agreements.
PopulationIndividuals and families across the lifespan
Distinctive CourseworkThree-quarter population-based practicum sequence; population health quality and safety (DNP)
Start TermsFour per year: fall, winter, spring, summer, reviewed on a rolling basis
RN License RequirementsUnencumbered RN license in the state where the practicum will be completed
Enrollment RestrictionsClosed to students completing practicums in nine states (see Admissions)
Tuition$852 per quarter hour (2026-27), plus a comprehensive fee of $100-$150 per term
AccreditationCCNE (MSN and DNP). Certificate scope is not confirmed.

MSN, Family Nurse Practitioner Track

The estimated tuition for the MSN FNP track at DePaul is approximately $57,936 (68 quarter hours at $852 per quarter hour, derived). The program can generally be completed in about two to three years for a BSN-prepared nurse, and up to four years for an associate-degree nurse entering through the bridge sequence.

The track sits inside DePaul’s RN to MS in Nursing program, which accepts three entry profiles: a BSN-prepared RN, an ADN-prepared RN with a non-nursing bachelor’s degree, and an ADN-prepared RN with no bachelor’s degree at all. The last group is the notable one. Rather than completing a separate BSN first, those students take three undergraduate bridge courses (NSG 330, NSG 376, NSG 377) and then move into the graduate sequence.

MSN Curriculum

The catalog organizes the track into three blocks: a 26-quarter-hour block of courses that count toward both the BSN and MSN, a 12-quarter-hour graduate core, and 30 quarter hours of FNP track requirements. Ten of these are advanced practice nursing courses.

What stands out: the clinical sequence is built as three consecutive practicums rather than one long capstone. Students move through NSG 483, NSG 487, and NSG 490 across three quarters, each layered on top of a different content course. This produces more frequent handoffs than a two-semester model, and it means a delayed placement in any single quarter can stall the sequence.

  • NSG 428 – Pathophysiology for Advanced Practice (4 QH)
  • NSG 464 – Health Assessment for Advanced Practice (6 QH)
  • NSG 484 – Pharmacology for Advanced Practice (4 QH)
  • NSG 474 – Primary Care of the Adult and Older Adult (4 QH)
  • NSG 476 – Women’s Health, Maternal Child and Adolescents (6 QH)
  • NSG 478 – Clinical Management of Acute and Chronic Illnesses in Primary Care (4 QH)
  • NSG 483 / 487 / 490 – Practicum in Population-Based Nursing Practice I, II, III (4 QH each)
  • NSG 488 – Professional Issues and Research in Population-Based Advanced Practice Nursing (4 QH)

More curriculum details are available here.

You Should Know
  • The catalog publishes a total range of 28 to 68 quarter hours for the MSN Specialty program as a whole, not a single FNP figure. Summing the FNP track’s own three published blocks gives 68, which is why that number is used here.
  • Whether a BSN-prepared applicant is charged for all 26 quarter hours in the shared BSN/MSN block is not clearly stated. If part of that block is waived, the floor is 42 quarter hours, a swing of roughly $22,000.
  • A statistics course with a grade of C or better is required before starting. Non-ADN applicants must complete it before applying.

MSN Clinical Requirements

  • 500 clinical hours, published by the catalog as the degree’s culminating total.
  • Delivered through three practicum courses totaling 12 quarter hours, which works out to roughly 42 clock hours per quarter hour.
  • Students find their own preceptors, licensed in the state where the practicum occurs.
  • Preceptors must have at least two years of experience in the track specialty and be a licensed NP, MD, or PA.
  • If DePaul has no affiliation agreement with the site, the student initiates one, along with a preceptor agreement, CV, and licensure verification.
  • Clinical compliance records are tracked through Exxat Approve and must be approved before the first day of the clinical quarter.

500 hours is exactly the national certification floor for both AANP and ANCC. It leaves no margin: a single dropped or shortened rotation puts a student below the eligibility threshold rather than merely behind schedule. Most FNP programs build in a buffer by requiring 600 to 700 hours, so DePaul’s MSN sits roughly 100 to 200 hours below the common range. That is a defensible design if the goal is a faster, cheaper master’s, but it raises the cost of any clinical disruption. Combined with a student-secured placement model, the practical burden falls on the applicant to line up preceptors well before each practicum quarter opens.

You Should Know
  • DePaul does not guarantee or assign clinical placements. The handbook states that students are expected to find preceptors and mentors themselves.
  • Non-compliance with clinical documentation for more than five business days after the quarter starts can result in administrative withdrawal from the course.
  • A ten-panel drug screen may be required depending on the clinical affiliate.

MSN Admissions

The GPA floor is 2.75, which is lower than the 3.00 required for DePaul’s own DNP tracks. Applications are reviewed on a rolling basis with four annual deadlines.

  • BSN from an ACEN-, CNEA-, or CCNE-accredited program, or an ADN plus a bachelor’s degree in another field.
  • Current unencumbered RN license in the practicum state.
  • Minimum 2.75 GPA.
  • Statistics prerequisite with a grade of C or better.
  • Applied through NursingCAS with two letters of recommendation, one from a direct supervisor.
  • Personal statement of two to three pages, plus a CV or resume.
You Should Know
  • The program is closed to students who plan to complete a clinical practicum in Arizona, California, Colorado, Louisiana, Minnesota, Nevada, New York, Tennessee, or Washington. DePaul asks any applicant living outside Illinois to contact the college before applying.
  • Licensure outside Illinois is the applicant’s responsibility to verify. DePaul urges contacting the destination state’s board before enrolling.
  • Deadlines run annually: July 15 for fall, February 1 for spring, April 15 for summer. The winter deadline is published as November 1 on the program page and November 15 on the admission page.

BSN-DNP, Family Nurse Practitioner Track

The estimated tuition for the DNP FNP track at DePaul is approximately $85,200 (100 quarter hours at $852 per quarter hour, derived). The program can generally be completed in about three to four years, with the shorter end assuming year-round enrollment across all four quarters.

The Family Nurse Practitioner Track is the doctoral route, open to both BSN- and MSN-prepared nurses. MSN holders may receive up to 12 quarter hours of transfer credit for work completed within the last five years, subject to transcript review, which would reduce the derived total to about $74,976.

DNP Curriculum

The DNP is built in three layers: a 40-quarter-hour doctoral core, a 52-quarter-hour advanced practice core, and an 8-quarter-hour doctoral specialty. The arithmetic is clean at 100 quarter hours, which is about 67 semester-hour equivalents.

Where the doctoral weight sits: the 40-credit core is heavily oriented toward health system economics and leadership, with separate courses in finance and costing, healthcare economics, program evaluation, and organizational behavior. That is a different emphasis from DNP programs that load the core with research methods alone.

Clinical layer above the master’s level: the DNP repeats the same three population-based practicums as the MSN, then adds NSG 700 and NSG 701, two advanced practicum courses for nurse practitioners worth 8 quarter hours combined.

  • NSG 522 – Finance and Costing in Health Care (4 QH)
  • NSG 550 – Healthcare Economics (4 QH)
  • NSG 552 – Program Evaluation (4 QH)
  • NSG 553 – Population Health Quality and Safety (4 QH)
  • NSG 580 – Biostatistics and Research Methods for Advanced Practice (4 QH)
  • NSG 600 / 601 / 602 – Evidence-Based Practice Research I, II, and DNP Project Practicum (4 QH each)
  • NSG 700 / 701 – Advanced Practicum for Nurse Practitioners I and II (4 QH each)

More curriculum details are available here.

You Should Know
  • NSG 603, DNP Project Candidacy Continuation, carries zero credit. Students who need more time on the project register for it without adding credit hours, though registration may carry the per-term comprehensive fee.
  • A grade of B- or better is required in every course. A single F results in dismissal, and two consecutive quarters below a 3.0 GPA also results in dismissal.

DNP Clinical Requirements

  • Total clinical hours are not clearly stated for the DNP FNP track.
  • The track carries the same three population-based practicums as the MSN (12 quarter hours) plus NSG 700 and NSG 701 (8 quarter hours), for 20 quarter hours of practicum.
  • The DNP Project runs through NSG 600, NSG 601, and NSG 602 and is separate from the FNP practicum sequence.
  • Placement is student-secured under the same preceptor rules as the MSN.

Applying the MSN’s published ratio of roughly 42 clock hours per practicum quarter hour would put the DNP well above the 500-hour floor, but DePaul does not publish that figure and it should not be assumed. The gap matters because AACN’s doctoral standard of 1,000 post-baccalaureate practice hours is a degree-level requirement, not an FNP-specific one, and the two are frequently confused. Anyone choosing between DePaul’s MSN and DNP on clinical volume should ask the School of Nursing for the FNP-specific total in writing.

You Should Know
  • DNP Completion applicants must document 600 or more precepted hours from their prior NP program. That threshold is published for applicants, not as the DNP FNP track’s own output, and the two should not be conflated.

DNP Admissions

The doctoral GPA floor is 3.00, higher than the master’s 2.75, and DePaul reserves the right to waive admission requirements at the School of Nursing’s discretion.

  • BSN or MSN from an ACEN-, CNEA-, or CCNE-accredited nursing program.
  • Current unencumbered RN license in the practicum state.
  • Minimum 3.00 GPA in the RN program.
  • NursingCAS application with two letters of recommendation, one from a direct supervisor.
  • Personal statement of two to three pages addressing fit with the school’s mission.
  • CV or resume covering education, clinical experience, and scholarly work.
You Should Know
  • The same nine-state practicum exclusion applies: Arizona, California, Colorado, Louisiana, Minnesota, Nevada, New York, Tennessee, and Washington. The list is subject to change.
  • Students requiring an F-1 visa are not eligible for the online certificate program, and international applicants face additional steps across all tracks.
  • DePaul recommends applying two to three weeks ahead of each deadline to allow NursingCAS verification time.

Post-Master’s FNP Certificate

The estimated tuition for the FNP certificate at DePaul is approximately $37,488 (44 quarter hours at $852 per quarter hour, derived). The program is expected to be completed within 60 weeks of coursework, which DePaul describes as the equivalent of two academic years and works out to about six quarters.

The Family Nurse Practitioner Certificate Online is aimed at nurses who already hold a graduate nursing degree and want NP preparation without committing to a doctorate. DePaul states the pathway grew out of alumni who wanted practitioner training before pursuing a terminal degree.

Certificate Curriculum

The certificate is 44 quarter hours across ten courses, and every one of those ten also appears in the MSN FNP track. The 24 quarter hours that separate the two credentials are entirely non-clinical: nursing theory, research, ethics, informatics, biostatistics, and a graduate research synthesis.

Why that matters: a post-master’s student completes the identical advanced practice and practicum sequence as an MSN student. The certificate is not a compressed or reduced version of the clinical preparation. It removes the academic wrapper that a prior master’s degree already covered.

  • NSG 428 – Pathophysiology for Advanced Practice (4 QH)
  • NSG 464 – Health Assessment for Advanced Practice (6 QH)
  • NSG 484 – Pharmacology for Advanced Practice (4 QH)
  • NSG 474 – Primary Care of the Adult and Older Adult (4 QH)
  • NSG 476 – Women’s Health, Maternal Child and Adolescents (6 QH)
  • NSG 478 – Clinical Management of Acute and Chronic Illnesses in Primary Care (4 QH)
  • NSG 483 / 487 / 490 – Practicum in Population-Based Nursing Practice I, II, III (4 QH each)
  • NSG 488 – Professional Issues and Research in Population-Based Advanced Practice Nursing (4 QH)

More curriculum details are available here.

You Should Know
  • The certificate is approved as a Gainful Employment Program by the U.S. Department of Education and is eligible for federal student aid, which is not true of every post-master’s certificate.
  • Certificate students follow the DNP program’s academic standing, probation, and dismissal rules, including the B- minimum grade requirement.

Certificate Clinical Requirements

  • A clinical hour total is not published for the certificate.
  • The certificate carries the same three practicum courses as the MSN, NSG 483, NSG 487, and NSG 490, totaling 12 quarter hours.
  • Clinicals must be completed in person and are student-secured under the same preceptor rules as the degree tracks.

Because the practicum sequence is identical to the MSN’s, the certificate most likely delivers the same 500 hours, but DePaul does not state this and the figure is not asserted here. If you are using the certificate to sit for certification, confirm the total in writing before you enroll, since 500 is the exact minimum both certifying bodies accept.

Certificate Admissions

Entry requires a master’s degree in nursing, and the published state exclusion list for this track differs from the one published for the degree programs.

  • Master’s degree in nursing from a regionally accredited institution.
  • Online application through DePaul or NursingCAS.
  • Official transcripts documenting the master’s degree and all prior institutions.
  • Personal statement of two to three pages, two letters of recommendation, and a CV or resume.
  • Proof of unencumbered RN licensure in the practicum state.
You Should Know
  • The certificate admission page lists eight excluded practicum states: Arizona, California, Louisiana, Minnesota, Nevada, New York, Tennessee, and Washington. Colorado appears on the DNP and RN-to-MS lists but not on this one. Confirm your state directly with the college.
  • Students requiring an F-1 visa are not eligible for this program.
  • The admissions materials describe the master’s degree requirement two different ways: one page says a master’s degree in nursing from a regionally accredited university, another says an MSN from an ACEN-, CNEA-, or CCNE-accredited program.

Dual FNP/PMHNP Track

The estimated tuition for the dual DNP track at DePaul is approximately $90,312 (106 quarter hours at $852 per quarter hour, derived from an incomplete published course list). A completion timeline is not clearly stated.

The Dual FNP/PMHNP track prepares graduates for two separate national certifications rather than one certification with a specialty add-on. DePaul offers it at the DNP, MSN, and certificate levels. This is the single most distinctive credential in DePaul’s nursing catalog, and it is also the least documented.

Dual Track Curriculum

The catalog publishes two course blocks: 26 quarter hours of FNP requirements and 40 quarter hours of PMHNP requirements. The psychiatric side is substantial, covering neurobiology and psychopharmacology, adult and pediatric psychiatric assessment, substance use disorders, psychopathology across the lifespan, and principles of psychotherapy, plus its own three-course practicum sequence.

  • NSG 624 – Neurobiology and Psychopharmacology (4 QH)
  • NSG 625 – Clinical Psychiatric Assessment, Diagnostics and Management of Adults (4 QH)
  • NSG 626 – Clinical Psychiatric Assessment, Diagnostics and Management of Children (4 QH)
  • NSG 663 – Substance Abuse and Addictive Disorders in Behavioral Health (4 QH)
  • NSG 688 – Principles of Psychotherapy and Behavioral Change (4 QH)
  • NSG 683 / 687 / 690 – PMHNP Practicum in Population-Based Nursing Practice I, II, III (4 QH each)
  • NSG 474 / 476 / 478 – FNP primary care sequence (14 QH combined)
  • NSG 483 / 487 / 490 – FNP Practicum in Population-Based Nursing Practice I, II, III (4 QH each) ⚠

NOTE: The published course list omits advanced pathophysiology, advanced pharmacology, and advanced health assessment, which no NP program can leave out. Adding them back pushes the total past the catalog’s own stated 112-quarter-hour maximum, so the two published figures cannot both be correct.

Dual Track Clinical Requirements

  • Clinical hour totals are not clearly stated for either population focus.
  • The track carries six practicum courses, three FNP and three PMHNP, totaling 24 quarter hours.
  • Preceptors must hold at least two years of experience in the relevant track specialty, which means separate preceptors for the primary care and psychiatric rotations.

Two population foci means two sets of certification-eligible hours, and certifying bodies count them separately rather than allowing overlap. Securing primary care and psychiatric preceptors under a student-secured placement model is materially harder than securing one, and it is the practical constraint most likely to extend this track’s timeline.

You Should Know
  • The published credit total, course list, clinical hours, and duration are all either incomplete or absent. Every figure on this track should be confirmed with the School of Nursing before you apply.
  • DePaul markets a dual track at the MSN and certificate levels as well, but publishes no separate credit or cost figures for either.

Tuition

DePaul charges graduate nursing coursework at the College of Science and Health rate of $852 per quarter hour for 2026-27, published on the university’s graduate tuition and fees page. The 2025-26 rate was $836, a year-over-year increase of 1.91%.

The unit matters more than the number. A quarter hour represents two-thirds of a semester hour, so comparing DePaul’s $852 against a semester school’s per-credit rate understates the cost. On a like-for-like basis, $852 per quarter hour is equivalent to roughly $1,278 per semester hour. DePaul does not publish this conversion; it is derived by dividing the published rate by two-thirds.

TrackQuarter HoursSemester-Hour EquivalentDerived Tuition
Certificate44~29$37,488
MSN68~45$57,936
BSN-DNP100~67$85,200
Dual FNP/PMHNP106~71$90,312

Confirmed costs:

  • $852 per quarter hour for all College of Science and Health graduate coursework, 2026-27.
  • Comprehensive fee of $100 per term for part-time graduate students and $150 per term for full-time graduate students. This is mandatory and financial aid eligible.
  • Annual comprehensive fee totals of $300 without summer or $400 with summer for part-time students, and $450 or $550 for full-time students.
  • Across a six-quarter certificate, the comprehensive fee adds about $600 part-time or $900 full-time. Across a thirteen-quarter DNP, about $1,300 or $1,950.

Be aware that:

  • All four track totals above are derived by multiplying credits by the per-credit rate. DePaul publishes no program-level tuition total for any FNP track.
  • DePaul states that all rates are subject to Board review and that tuition varies by program, credit hours, and admittance year. The rate rose 1.91% in one year, so a four-year DNP will not complete at a single rate.
  • The MSN figure assumes the full 26-quarter-hour shared BSN/MSN block is charged. If some of it is waived for a BSN-prepared applicant, the total falls toward roughly $35,784.
  • The dual FNP/PMHNP figure rests on a course list the catalog itself leaves incomplete.
  • Nursing coursework is not listed separately on DePaul’s rate table. The College of Science and Health rate covers a broad set of programs, and no nursing-specific differential is published. Confirm that no program fee applies.
  • Costs for clinical compliance, background checks, drug screening, immunization tracking through Exxat Approve, malpractice coverage, and certification exam fees are not published and sit outside these figures.

The all-in picture for a part-time certificate student is roughly $38,100 and for a part-time DNP student roughly $86,500, before books and clinical compliance costs. DePaul’s fee structure is unusually simple by graduate nursing standards: one per-credit rate and one modest per-term fee, with no technology fee, program fee, or specialized services fee stacked on top. That simplicity is worth something when comparing offers, because it means the published rate is close to the real rate.

Why Choose This FNP Program?

Best suited for nurses who want to start soon rather than wait for an annual cohort, who can travel nowhere for coursework, and who are prepared to secure their own clinical placements.

Four doors a year instead of one. DePaul reviews applications on a rolling basis across all four quarters, with deadlines in July, November, February, and April. A nurse who decides in September can start in January. That is a meaningful advantage over programs with a single fall intake, where a missed deadline costs a full year. The quarter calendar also breaks coursework into shorter ten-week blocks, which suits nurses balancing rotating shifts better than a fifteen-week semester does.

Genuinely no campus requirement. DePaul describes DNP coursework as 100% online and asynchronous, and the MSN as fully online apart from clinical hours. There are no published intensives, immersions, or on-campus skills weekends. Information sessions are held over Zoom. For a nurse outside the Chicago area, this removes travel and lodging costs that other programs bury in the fine print. The trade-off is real: no campus contact also means no faculty-supervised skills lab before you meet patients.

Four credentials from one curriculum. The MSN, DNP, certificate, and dual track draw on a shared course inventory, so the choice is genuinely about how much wrapper you need rather than four different educations. A nurse with a prior master’s takes the certificate’s ten clinical courses; a BSN-prepared nurse takes those same courses plus theory, research, and informatics; a DNP student adds leadership, health economics, and a project. The honest counterweight is the clinical floor. At 500 published hours, the MSN sits at the exact certification minimum with no buffer, and the DNP and certificate totals are not published at all. If clinical volume is your deciding factor, this is not the program’s strength.

Accreditation

The Doctor of Nursing Practice program at DePaul University is accredited by the Commission on Collegiate Nursing Education, 655 K Street NW, Suite 750, Washington, DC 20001. DePaul’s university accreditation page lists CCNE scope as covering the BSN, the Master’s Entry to Nursing Practice program, the Master of Science in Nursing, and the Doctor of Nursing Practice. Both the MSN FNP track and the DNP FNP track fall inside that scope.

DePaul University is institutionally accredited by the Higher Learning Commission, based in Chicago. Institutional accreditation is what makes a school eligible to disburse federal financial aid and what makes credits transferable, so it operates independently of the nursing accreditor and both matter.

Graduates of the FNP 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 gives graduates a choice of certifying body rather than locking them into one.

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