University of St. Francis FNP Programs

Leach College of Nursing • Joliet, IL • Online • $810–$830/credit

University of St. Francis offers 2 Family Nurse Practitioner Tracks:

  • MSN
  • Post-Master’s Certificate

Program Tracks Overview

ProgramEst. TuitionEst. DurationCredit Hours
MSN$38.2K–$46.5K2–3 years (6–9 semesters)46–56
Certificate$23.5K–$33.2KAbout 2.3 years (7 semesters, derived)29–41

University of St. Francis’s defining feature is a strictly sequential curriculum. Advanced pathophysiology gates pharmacology, pharmacology gates health assessment, and each clinical management course gates the next, so your finish date depends on staying enrolled continuously rather than on how many courses you carry at once.

Both tracks are fully online with no campus attendance stated anywhere in USF’s materials. One caveat carries more weight than the format: USF’s own licensure review concludes that its FNP programs meet licensure requirements in seven states only.

Quick Facts

FeatureDetails
Program TypesMSN FNP concentration; FNP Post-Master’s Certificate
FormatOnline; no campus attendance stated for either FNP track
Clinical HoursNot clearly stated; no total published on program pages or in the catalog
Clinical PlacementNot clearly stated; students told to review rotation guidance nine months before practica
PopulationPrimary care across the lifespan
Distinctive CourseworkStandalone diagnostics course; informatics and nursing leadership in the MSN core
Enrollment RestrictionsLicensure requirements met in seven states: IL, IN, MI, MO, NM, OH, WI
Comprehensive ExamMSN students must pass a comprehensive examination to graduate
Start TermsEight-week modules; multiple entry points per year
RN License RequirementsCurrent RN licensure required for both tracks
Tuition$830/credit (MSN) and $810/credit (certificate), 2026-27 rates
AccreditationCCNE for nursing programs; Higher Learning Commission institutionally

MSN – Family Nurse Practitioner Concentration

The estimated tuition for the Master of Science in Nursing, Family Nurse Practitioner concentration at University of St. Francis is approximately $38,180 (46 graduate credits at $830 per credit, derived). The program can generally be completed in about 2 to 3 years, which is USF’s own published range for the MSN.

MSN Curriculum

A leadership-weighted core. USF’s graduate core runs 18 credits and includes nursing informatics, strategic management in nursing leadership, and healthcare policy alongside statistics, research, and epidemiology. That is more administrative and systems content than many FNP master’s programs carry. The reason is structural: this core is shared with USF’s other MSN concentrations, so an FNP student takes the same foundation as a nursing administration student. If you want a clinically dense degree with minimal management coursework, this is a real trade-off. If you expect to move into a clinic leadership role later, it is an advantage you would otherwise pay for separately.

The three Ps run in series, not parallel. Advanced pathophysiology requires the three core courses before it. Advanced pharmacology requires pathophysiology. Advanced health assessment requires pharmacology. Most FNP programs let students take the three Ps concurrently or in overlapping terms. USF does not. The practical effect is that the first half of the program has a fixed minimum length no matter how much time you have available.

A separate diagnostics course. Clinical Reasoning & Diagnostics is a standalone 2-credit course covering laboratory and imaging interpretation and differential diagnosis. Most FNP curricula fold this material into health assessment or the first primary care course. Giving it its own course means the material gets graded on its own terms, which matters because diagnostic interpretation is where new NPs most often feel underprepared.

Population coverage in the practicum sequence. The four practica map onto populations in order: health promotion and episodic problems, then adult and geriatric management, then women’s health and pediatrics combined in a single course, then the residency. Compressing women’s health and pediatrics into one 4-credit course is worth noting. Programs that give pediatrics a dedicated sequence spend more time there, and pediatric clinical hours are frequently the hardest for FNP students to secure.

  • NURS 605 – Healthcare Perspectives & Policies (3)
  • NURS 617 – Nursing Informatics & Healthcare Outcomes (3)
  • NURS 619 – Strategic Management in Nursing Leadership (3)
  • NURS 623 – Advanced Pathophysiology (3)
  • NURS 624 – Advanced Pharmacology (3)
  • NURS 625 – Advanced Health Assessment (3)
  • NURS 626 – Clinical Reasoning & Diagnostics (2)
  • NURS 627 – Role Transition to Advanced Practice Nursing (1)
  • NURS 675, 676, 677 – Theoretical Principles and Clinical Management I, II, III (4 each)
  • NURS 678 – FNP Clinical Residency & Comprehensive Review (4)

More curriculum details are available here.

You Should Know
  • The catalog heading states 47–56 credit hours, but the graduate courses in the same course list sum to 46. The 63-credit “Total Hours” figure in the catalog includes 17 credits of undergraduate prerequisites, not graduate coursework. Confirm your actual graduate credit count in writing before estimating cost.
  • The 63-credit total includes five undergraduate prerequisite courses: statistics, physical assessment, nursing research, community health nursing, and leadership and management. Most BSN graduates will already hold these. If you do not, they are additional coursework at an undergraduate rate USF does not specify.
  • MSN students must pass a comprehensive examination covering professional role development, nursing research, clinical management, and lifespan considerations. USF states the exam is delivered inside the residency coursework. Students who do not pass may retake it only after consultation with and recommendation of the graduate faculty, which is a narrower retake policy than a standard second attempt.
  • USF’s catalog places the FNP comprehensive exam in NURS 698, but NURS 698 does not appear in the MSN curriculum; it belongs to the certificate sequence. The MSN residency is NURS 678. This looks like a stale course number in the graduation requirements text rather than a real requirement, but it is worth confirming.
  • The catalog’s restriction lines on several FNP courses read that graduate students may not enroll. These are graduate-only courses, so this is a catalog data error rather than a real restriction.
  • USF publishes 2025 first-time pass rates for its FNP graduates: 82% on the ANCC exam and 80% on the AANP exam. Publishing these at all is more transparency than many programs offer, and both figures sit below the national first-time pass rates those bodies typically report.

MSN Clinical Requirements

  • Total clinical hours: Not clearly stated. USF publishes no clinical hour figure on the MSN program page, the catalog program page, or in any FNP course description.
  • Four practicum courses carry the clinical component: NURS 675, 676, 677, and 678, totaling 16 credits.
  • Course descriptions reference laboratory and clinical settings for each practicum but attach no hour allocation to any of them.
  • Students are directed to review USF’s Graduate Clinical Rotation Guidance document nine months before beginning practicum courses.
  • Preceptor qualifications, placement responsibility, and faculty site visit policy: Not clearly stated in public materials.

The nine-month lead time is the most useful number USF publishes about clinicals, and it tells you something the marketing pages do not. A program that arranges placements for you does not generally ask students to start preparing three quarters of a year in advance. Read that instruction as a signal that securing your own preceptors will be part of the work, and start those conversations early. USF operates a preceptor application process, which suggests a maintained preceptor pool, but the division of labor between student and college is not spelled out.

You Should Know
  • The absence of a published clinical hour total is the most consequential gap in USF’s public materials. National FNP certification requires a minimum of 500 supervised clinical hours, and 600 to 700 is the common range. Ask for the FNP-specific total in writing before you apply, and ask how those hours distribute across the four practica.
  • Four practicum courses at 4 credits each is a conventional structure for a program in the 600 to 700 hour band, but that is an inference from credit weight, not a figure USF publishes.
  • Pediatric and women’s health hours share a single course. If your region has limited pediatric preceptor availability, ask early how USF handles a student who cannot secure that rotation on schedule.
  • No statement addresses whether clinical hours may be completed outside Illinois. Given the seven-state licensure list, confirm this before assuming you can do rotations where you live.

MSN Admissions

USF’s MSN admissions are unusual in one respect: several requirements are not just admission criteria but course-level prerequisites that gate specific graduate courses, so a transcript gap can delay your sequence rather than simply weaken your application.

  • Undergraduate GPA of 3.0 or above on a 4.0 scale. Applicants between 2.75 and 3.0 may be considered case by case and are asked to address the GPA in the personal statement.
  • Current licensure as a registered nurse.
  • Baccalaureate-level Physical Assessment and Nursing Research completed with a minimum grade of C. These are prerequisites to Advanced Health Assessment and Applied Statistics for Healthcare.
  • A 3-credit undergraduate introductory statistics course, required as a prerequisite to Applied Statistics for Healthcare.
  • Personal statement, two professional references, and a current resume.
  • Official transcripts documenting the undergraduate degree and prerequisites. Unofficial transcripts are accepted for the application; official transcripts are required before registration.
  • Applications for most graduate programs are due one week before the start of each eight-week module.
You Should Know
  • USF’s FNP MSN meets licensure requirements in Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Missouri, New Mexico, Ohio, and Wisconsin. For any state not on that list, USF states that it either does not meet the requirements or has not made a determination. This is published in a licensure disclosure PDF linked from the state authorizations page, not on the program pages.
  • That disclosure carries a July 2024 revision date. Given the age, confirm your state’s current status directly with USF rather than relying on the document.
  • USF separately notes that most states require APRN students to hold licensure in the state where they complete clinical practice.
  • USF’s core graduate admission requirements list an application fee, while the graduate admission checklist states there is no application fee. Ask which applies.
  • The number of annual start points is stated inconsistently. The graduate admissions page describes six eight-week modules per year; the MSN program page describes five enrollment opportunities per year.
  • FAFSA dates published on USF’s admissions pages refer to the prior aid cycle. Treat the October opening and March 1 priority deadline as the annual pattern and confirm current-year dates.

Family Nurse Practitioner Post-Master’s Certificate

The estimated tuition for the Family Nurse Practitioner Post-Master’s Certificate at University of St. Francis is approximately $23,490 (29 credits at $810 per credit, derived). USF publishes no completion time for this certificate; a derived estimate places it at about 2.3 years.

Certificate Curriculum

This is not a trimmed-down version of the MSN. The certificate runs on an entirely separate set of course numbers with heavier credit weights. Its advanced pathophysiology, pharmacology, and health assessment courses carry 4 credits each against the MSN’s 3. Its three clinical management courses carry 5 credits each against the MSN’s 4. Add it up and the certificate’s 29 credits of FNP-specific coursework exceed the 25 credits of FNP-specific coursework inside the MSN. A post-master’s student at USF does more advanced practice coursework than a master’s student does, not less.

What that buys and what it costs. The upside is depth: you are not getting an abbreviated pass through the specialty content. The downside is that the certificate cannot borrow the MSN’s pacing. Its seven courses form a strict chain with no concurrency available at any point, because each course is a prerequisite for the next.

Different population structure. The certificate’s three clinical management courses are organized by problem type rather than by population: health promotion and prevention, then common acute problems, then acute and chronic complex problems across the lifespan. The MSN splits its equivalent sequence by population and gives women’s health and pediatrics a named course. Neither is better on its face, but they are not the same curriculum, and a nurse comparing the two tracks should not assume the content maps across.

  • NURS 620 – Advanced Pathophysiology (4)
  • NURS 621 – Advanced Pharmacology (4)
  • NURS 622 – Advanced Health Assessment (4)
  • NURS 670 – FNP Theoretical Principles and Clinical Management I (5)
  • NURS 671 – FNP Theoretical Principles and Clinical Management II (5)
  • NURS 672 – FNP Theoretical Principles and Clinical Management III (5)
  • NURS 698 – Clinical Residency (2)
  • Optional support courses: NURS 643, 644, 645 in nursing education (4 each)

More curriculum details are available here.

You Should Know
  • The catalog lists every certificate course as having prerequisites that include four graduate courses not part of the certificate: Advanced Practice Nursing Roles and Issues, Biostatistics and Research, Population Health, and Evidence-Based Health Care. Presumably these are satisfied by your existing master’s degree, but USF does not publish a waiver or equivalency policy. Get confirmation that your prior coursework clears them before you enroll, because 16 additional credits would change both the price and the timeline substantially.
  • The residency course is listed at 2 credits in the certificate plan, but the course catalog defines it as a variable 2 to 4 credit course. At 4 credits the certificate would be 31 credits and roughly $25,110.
  • The residency description states that students complete a critical literature review poster and present it at Scholarship Day. Whether that presentation is in person at Joliet or delivered remotely is not stated. If you are choosing this program specifically to avoid travel, confirm this.
  • The 29 to 41 credit range in the catalog heading reflects the three optional nursing education courses. Those are electives, not FNP requirements, and adding them extends the program.
  • The certificate is unusually thin on published detail compared with the MSN. There is no clinical hour figure, no duration, no placement policy, and no plan of study.

Certificate Clinical Requirements

  • Total clinical hours: Not clearly stated. No figure appears on the program page, the catalog page, or any course description.
  • Clinical work is carried by four courses: the three FNP clinical management courses and the residency, totaling 17 credits.
  • As with the MSN, students are directed to review the Graduate Clinical Rotation Guidance document nine months before beginning practica.
  • Preceptor requirements and placement responsibility: Not clearly stated.

The certificate carries one more credit of clinical coursework than the MSN does, which suggests its clinical hour requirement is at least equal to the MSN’s. That is the expected outcome, since national certification applies the same 500-hour floor regardless of which credential got you there. What you cannot do from USF’s published materials is confirm the actual number for either track.

You Should Know
  • Certification bodies do not accept a lower clinical hour count from certificate holders. If the total lands near the 500-hour floor rather than the 600 to 700 range, that affects your competitiveness as a new graduate more than it affects your eligibility.
  • Some state boards apply their own clinical hour requirements to a second population focus beyond the national certification minimum. If you already hold an APRN credential in another population, check your board’s rule before enrolling.

Certificate Admissions

Certificate admissions are lighter than the MSN’s, with no undergraduate course prerequisites listed and a graduate GPA replacing the undergraduate one.

  • A master’s degree in nursing.
  • Graduate GPA of 3.0 or above on a 4.0 scale. Applicants at 2.75 or above may be considered case by case.
  • Current licensure as a registered nurse.
  • Personal statement, two professional references, and a resume.
  • A formal Application for Certificate must be filed by the graduation application deadline for the certificate to be awarded.
You Should Know
  • The certificate carries the same seven-state licensure footprint as the MSN: Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Missouri, New Mexico, Ohio, and Wisconsin.
  • Students earning only a certificate are not eligible to participate in commencement. Certificates are mailed roughly six weeks after the term ends.
  • The Application for Certificate is a separate filing from your course registration. Missing that deadline delays the credential itself, not just the ceremony.
  • USF’s admission requirements for the certificate do not mention the graduate course prerequisites its catalog attaches to the certificate courses. Raise this directly with an admissions counselor.

Tuition

University of St. Francis charges by the credit hour, and the two FNP tracks are billed at different rates. For 2026-27, the MSN rate is $830 per credit hour and the post-master’s certificate rate is $810 per credit hour. Both figures are published on USF’s tuition and fees page. The MSN rate rose from $810 the prior year, an increase of about 2.5%. The post-master’s certificate rate did not change.

One reading trap on that page is worth flagging. The rate table carries a separate line for “Nursing Graduate Certificates” that shows no 2026-27 rate. That line covers USF’s other graduate nursing certificates. The FNP certificate is billed under “Nursing Post-Master’s Certificates,” which does carry a current rate.

TrackCreditsRateTuition (derived)
MSN (course list)46$830$38,180
MSN (catalog range)47–56$830$39,010–$46,480
Certificate29$810$23,490
Certificate with electives41$810$33,210

All tuition totals above are derived by multiplying credits by the published per-credit rate. USF does not publish program totals.

Confirmed costs and fees:

  • MSN tuition: $830 per credit hour for 2026-27.
  • Post-master’s certificate tuition: $810 per credit hour for 2026-27.
  • Technology fee: $125 per semester for graduate and doctoral students. Across a two-year MSN this adds about $750; across three years, about $1,125.
  • MSN digital remote proctoring service: $49.
  • Graduation application fee: $150 per degree earned, charged whether or not you attend the ceremony.
  • Tutorial fee for graduate coursework: $125.
  • Transcript request: $5.50 per copy. Tuition deposit: $100.
  • Alumni discount: 20% off master’s, doctoral, and post-master’s certificate tuition for qualified USF alumni. On a 46-credit MSN that reduces tuition to roughly $30,544.
  • Corporate partner discounts are available to employees of USF’s partner organizations.

Be aware that:

  • The advertised per-credit rate is tuition only. USF’s fee schedule is published separately, so the real all-in figure for a 46-credit MSN is closer to $39,100 once the technology fee, proctoring fee, and graduation fee are added. At the top of the catalog’s credit range and a three-year pace, the same math reaches roughly $47,800.
  • The $49 proctoring fee has no stated basis. Whether it is charged once, per term, or per proctored exam is not published, and the difference across a two-year program is material.
  • If you lack any of the five undergraduate prerequisite courses, that is 17 additional credits at an undergraduate rate. USF does not state which rate applies to a graduate student taking prerequisite coursework. Its 2026-27 part-time undergraduate rate is $960 per credit and its adult undergraduate nursing completion rate is $435 per credit, a difference of roughly $8,900 across those 17 credits.
  • The graduation application fee is described as per degree earned. Whether it applies to a certificate, which is not a degree, is not stated.
  • USF lists a student health insurance fee of $1,607 for full-time students and athletes. Whether a full-time online graduate student is assessed this is not addressed. Ask before you build your budget.
  • First Day course material fees are applied automatically to your student account when a course uses the program. Amounts vary by course and are not published in advance.
  • The MSN rate increased year over year. Nothing on the tuition page indicates a rate lock, so plan for further increases across a two- to three-year program.
  • Payment plan and late payment fees apply at $40 and $120 respectively for graduate students.

The practical read on cost: USF sits in familiar territory for an Illinois private university, and the certificate is the better value per credit of specialty content given that it carries more FNP-specific coursework at a lower rate. The two figures most likely to move your real number are the unresolved credit count on the MSN and whether you already hold the undergraduate prerequisites. Settle both before comparing USF against another school’s published total.

Why Choose This FNP Program?

Best suited for nurses who live in one of USF’s seven cleared states, want coursework they can complete entirely online without campus travel, and can realistically commit to steady enrollment for two to three years without a break.

Eight-week modules make a heavy curriculum manageable. USF runs courses in eight-week cycles with multiple entry points across the year. Paired with the sequential prerequisite structure, this produces a program you take mostly one course at a time. For a nurse working full time, carrying a single graduate course for eight weeks is a very different proposition from carrying three across a sixteen-week semester. The structure is well suited to people who need predictable, bounded workloads rather than flexibility to accelerate.

The certificate is a serious credential, not a shortcut. Most schools build their post-master’s certificate by subtracting core courses from the MSN. USF built a parallel sequence that carries more advanced practice credit than the master’s does. If you already hold an MSN and want full-depth FNP preparation rather than an abbreviated bridge, that architecture is a genuine reason to look here. It also costs less per credit than the MSN.

Two gaps deserve a direct answer before you apply. USF publishes no clinical hour total for either FNP track, on any page. It also publishes no placement policy, while telling students to begin preparing nine months ahead. Those two facts together suggest students carry meaningful responsibility for securing preceptors, but the program should tell you that plainly rather than leaving you to infer it. Neither gap is disqualifying. Both are questions to put in writing to an admissions counselor.

The decision comes down to continuity. Because every course gates the next, USF rewards uninterrupted enrollment and penalizes interruption more than a program with parallel course options would. A single dropped or failed course does not cost you one course, it pushes everything downstream, and there is no way to catch up by doubling your load. Before enrolling, look honestly at the next two to three years. If your work schedule, family obligations, and finances are stable enough to go straight through, this structure will carry you efficiently. If a pause is likely, ask specifically how often each course in the chain is offered, because that answer determines what an interruption actually costs you.

Accreditation

The baccalaureate, master’s, Doctor of Nursing Practice, and post-graduate APRN certificate programs at the University of St. Francis are accredited by the Commission on Collegiate Nursing Education. USF has held CCNE accreditation since 2005. Both FNP tracks fall inside that scope: the MSN concentration under the master’s accreditation and the FNP certificate under the post-graduate APRN certificate accreditation.

That full scope is confirmed independently in the CHEA accreditation directory, which lists the post-graduate APRN certificate as separately CCNE-accredited. This matters for certificate applicants specifically, because some schools hold CCNE accreditation for degree programs while their certificates sit outside the accredited scope. USF’s does not.

Institutionally, the University of St. Francis is accredited by the Higher Learning Commission and authorized by the Illinois Board of Higher Education. Institutional accreditation is what makes your credits transferable and your enrollment eligible for federal financial aid, so it is the accreditation that matters if you later pursue a DNP elsewhere.

Graduates of both FNP tracks are eligible to sit for the national FNP certification exam through either the American Academy of Nurse Practitioners or the American Nurses Credentialing Center. USF publishes its recent first-time pass rates for both exams, and program availability and licensure eligibility vary by state, so review USF’s accreditation and state authorization materials for your own state before applying.

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