UTA offers 3 Family Nurse Practitioner Tracks:
- MSN
- RN-MSN Bridge
- Post-Master’s Certificate
Program Tracks Overview
| Program | Est. Tuition | Est. Duration | Credit Hours |
|---|---|---|---|
| MSN | $30.1K | 2.7-3 years (8-9 semesters) | 46 |
| RN-MSN | $38.3K | 3.5 years (10-11 semesters) | 81 |
| Certificate | $15.7-24.2K | 1-2 years (4-6 semesters) | 24-37 |
Tuition estimates use UTA’s published Accelerated Online per-credit rates: $654 for graduate courses and $257 for the RN-MSN’s undergraduate nursing courses.
UTA’s online FNP route is built for associate-degree nurses who want to reach NP practice without a second admissions cycle. ADN and diploma RNs start in the RN-BSN, take two graduate courses before the BSN confers, and move into the MSN on a transition form instead of a graduate application. All three tracks run fully online with local clinicals.
The trade-off is preceptor sourcing. Students find their own preceptors, and UTA steps in only when a student has difficulty. That search runs alongside a final practicum that averages about 28 clinical hours a week.
Quick Facts
| Feature | Details |
|---|---|
| Program Types | MSN; RN-MSN bridge; Post-Master’s Certificate |
| Format | Online (all tracks); campus MSN and certificate offered separately |
| Clinical Hours | 720 across three clinical courses (all tracks) |
| Clinical Placement | Student finds preceptor; department assists students having difficulty |
| Population | Individuals and families across the lifespan in primary care |
| Distinctive Coursework | Separate adult-gerontology and pediatric assessment labs; three 4-credit FNP management courses |
| Concentrations | None |
| RN License Requirements | Active, unencumbered RN license verified through Nursys |
| Tuition | $654/credit graduate; $257/credit undergraduate nursing (RN-MSN); rate lock with continuous enrollment |
| Accreditation | CCNE (baccalaureate, master’s, post-graduate APRN certificate); SACSCOC |
| RN-MSN Progression Gate | 3.3 GPA across three indicator nursing courses before graduate coursework |
| Enrollment Restrictions | Residents of some states are ineligible; check UTA’s state authorization map |
MSN, Family Nurse Practitioner
The estimated tuition for the MSN at UTA is approximately $30,084 (46 credits at $654/credit). The program can generally be completed in about 32 to 36 months, with clinical courses starting in the second year.
UTA delivers the Master of Science in Nursing – Family Nurse Practitioner online in 3- to 13-week courses with multiple start dates each year. The semester count in the overview table is derived from UTA’s three-semester calendar.
MSN Curriculum
Assessment split by population. The 2-credit health assessment course is followed by two separate 1-credit labs, one for adult-gerontology patients and one for pediatric patients. The split gives pediatric exam skills their own graded checkpoint before clinicals.
Management organized by condition clusters. Family I covers pediatric wellness, women’s and men’s health, and geriatrics. Family II covers renal, neurological, infectious disease, cardiac, vascular, ophthalmology, and hematology conditions. Family III covers adult wellness, psychiatric, cardiometabolic, and ENT/respiratory conditions.
Didactic first, clinicals last. Clinical Practice I requires all three Family courses, so the 720 clinical hours fall in the final three courses, back to back. That makes the last stretch the heaviest part of the degree.
- NURS 5315 Advanced Pathophysiology (3 credits)
- NURS 5334 Advanced Pharmacology for Nurse Practitioners (3 credits)
- NURS 5220 Advanced Health Assessment and Diagnostic Reasoning (2 credits)
- NURS 5120 Adult-Gerontology Assessment Lab and NURS 5130 Pediatric Assessment Lab (1 credit each)
- NURS 5432 Family I, NURS 5433 Family II, NURS 5434 Family III (4 credits each)
- NURS 5337 Family Clinical Practice I (3 credits)
- NURS 5338 Family Clinical Practice II (3 credits)
- NURS 5660 Family NP Advanced Practicum (6 credits)
- MSN core: NURS 5363, 5364, and 5365, plus NURS 5350 Role of the Nurse in Advanced Practice (3 credits each)
More curriculum details are available here.
You Should Know
- UTA’s general graduate nursing page says some graduate programs schedule required courses and events on Saturdays and advises asking the program director before applying. The online FNP pages describe no campus or Saturday requirement.
- The course list linked from UTA’s campus MSN page is dated 2020 and still shows retired core courses (NURS 5327, 5366, 5367). The current catalog governs.
MSN Clinical Requirements
- 720 clinical hours: NURS 5337 (180), NURS 5338 (180), NURS 5660 (360), at 60 hours per clinical credit
- Clinical courses require a 3.0 GPA and completion of Family I, II, and III
- Clinicals are completed in the student’s local area
- Students locate preceptors; the Department of Graduate Nursing assists students who have difficulty
- Clinical coordinator or course faculty approve every preceptor and site; an affiliation agreement with the site is required
- Signed Preceptor Agreement due no later than the first day of the clinical course
- Preceptor search should start at admission and no later than Pharmacology; UTA recommends 12 to 16 weeks before the first clinical course
- Clinicals at your employer are allowed, but not in your own department or under your supervisor, and hours cannot be paid
- Clinical clearance compliance required within 60 days of admission; drug screen and background check within 30 days of the first clinical course
At 720 hours, UTA sits above the 500-hour certification floor and slightly above the 600 to 700 hour range common in FNP programs. The load is concentrated: about 16 hours a week in each 11-week clinical course, then about 28 hours a week in the 13-week practicum. UTA separately recommends working no more than 16 to 20 hours a week. Because placement is student-led, a slow preceptor search delays the degree plan rather than the school absorbing it.
You Should Know
- Clearance lapses at any point can trigger a registration hold, a delayed or denied placement, removal from the site, or course failure.
- An encumbered RN license in any state blocks clinical enrollment. Pending board of nursing investigations must be reported to the department chair.
- Vaccine exemptions for reasons of conscience require a notarized Texas DSHS affidavit, including for students living outside Texas. Clinical sites can still refuse the student, which pushes the clinical course to the next semester.
- Students must email NursingSOA@uta.edu before moving or accepting a travel assignment. Enrolled students who relocate to an ineligible state need approval to continue, and approval is not guaranteed.
MSN Admissions
Admission is GPA-based, with no published RN experience minimum.
- BSN from an ACEN- or CCNE-accredited program at a regionally accredited university
- Unconditional admission: 3.0 GPA on the last 60 hours of the bachelor’s degree
- Probationary admission: 2.8 to 2.99 GPA; part-time study only; 3.0 required in the first two semesters
- Applicants below 2.8 may petition a graduate nursing faculty committee
- Active, unencumbered RN license
- Undergraduate statistics with a C or better, completed before applying
- Online application, official transcripts, and $75 application fee ($90 with foreign coursework)
- Up to 9 graduate credits may transfer in
- Online programs are open to U.S. citizens, permanent residents, and H-1B or other U.S. work visa holders
You Should Know
- Residents of some states cannot enroll. UTA’s state authorization map is interactive, and its downloadable state table is dated January 2022. Confirm your state before applying.
- UTA uses the mailing address in MyMav as your location for state authorization purposes.
- Online students do not get campus services such as the recreation center, student health services, or a student ID card.
RN to MSN, Family Nurse Practitioner
The estimated tuition for the RN-MSN at UTA is approximately $38,308 (32 undergraduate nursing credits at $257/credit plus 46 graduate credits at $654/credit). The program can generally be completed in as few as 42 months, depending on how many general education courses transfer in.
The Registered Nurse to Master of Science in Nursing – Family Nurse Practitioner is two degrees in sequence. The BSN confers first, and the MSN follows without a new application.
RN-MSN Curriculum
BSN phase. Students start with Role Transition to Professional Nursing, taken alone, then complete the RN-BSN nursing sequence in 5-week courses. Clinical requirements are met through application-based assignments at work or in the community. UTA applies 29 credits from the ADN or diploma.
Bridge courses. Two graduate courses are taken within the final 12 BSN credits, alongside the capstone. They count toward both degrees, which is where the time and cost savings come from.
MSN phase. After the BSN confers, students complete the remaining 40 credits of the 46-credit MSN, including all 720 clinical hours.
- NURS 3345 Role Transition to Professional Nursing (3 credits)
- NURS 3315 Holistic Health Assessment Across the Lifespan (3 credits)
- NURS 3325 Holistic Care of the Older Adult and NURS 3335 Promoting Healthy Lifestyles (3 credits each)
- NURS 3375 Health Policy, Legal Aspects and Informatics in Nursing (3 credits)
- NURS 4325 Nursing Research (3 credits)
- NURS 4455 Nursing Leadership and Management and NURS 4465 Population and Community Health Nursing (4 credits each)
- NURS 4685 Capstone (6 credits)
- Bridge: NURS 5363 Personal and Professional Leadership Development and NURS 5364 Research, Theory, EBP and QI (3 credits each)
- Remaining MSN sequence as listed in the MSN track
More curriculum details are available here.
You Should Know
- UTA publishes 81 credits, but the published tuition reconstructs to 78 credits (32 undergraduate plus 46 graduate). The 3-credit gap matches the catalog’s upper-division elective, which the total does not price.
- General education courses are not in the $38,308 total. UTA’s RN-BSN page lists 51 general education credits plus 9 upper-division elective credits, while the RN-MSN FAQ cites 54 general education credits.
- The catalog and FAQ still name the bridge courses by retired numbers (NURS 5327 and 5366). The current catalog table uses NURS 5363 and 5364.
RN-MSN Clinical Requirements
- BSN phase: no NP clinical hours; application-based practice assignments in the workplace or community
- MSN phase: the same 720 hours and placement model as the MSN
The clinical burden does not start until the student is a graduate student. That lets ADN nurses keep a normal work schedule through the BSN phase and plan for the heavier practicum years ahead.
RN-MSN Admissions
The RN-MSN has two gates: admission, then a GPA checkpoint before the bridge courses.
- Associate degree in nursing, or a nursing diploma or certificate
- Active, unencumbered RN license
- 3.0 admission GPA across all transferable coursework; applicants below 3.0 are admitted to the RN-BSN instead
- Transition checkpoint: 3.3 GPA across NURS 3345, 3315, and 4325, plus a 3.0 cumulative GPA
- Transition form submitted when 12 BSN credits remain; no graduate application, fee, or essay
- B or better in both bridge courses
- Up to 9 upper-division nursing credits may transfer; NURS 3345 and 4685 must be taken at UTA; 30 credits must be completed at UTA
You Should Know
- Missing any progression standard moves the student to the RN-BSN track.
- Students must start the MSN within one semester of BSN conferral (the catalog excludes summer from that count). Waiting longer requires a full MSN application and two additional graduate courses.
- The $75 undergraduate application fee cannot be waived for online students.
Post-Master’s Certificate, Family Nurse Practitioner
The estimated tuition for the Post-Master’s Certificate at UTA is approximately $15,696 to $24,198 (24 to 37 credits at $654/credit). The program can generally be completed in about 1 to 2 years, a derived estimate that sums UTA’s published course lengths taken one at a time.
The Family Nurse Practitioner Certificate (Post Master’s) is built from a gap analysis of each applicant’s MSN transcript.
Certificate Curriculum
The certificate is the MSN’s specialty half. The catalog fixes a 24-credit block (Family I to III and all three clinical courses) and lets the program director add NP core courses based on the gap analysis. Nurses whose MSN lacked graduate pathophysiology, pharmacology, or health assessment should budget toward the 37-credit end.
- Required: NURS 5432, 5433, 5434 Family I to III (4 credits each)
- Required: NURS 5337 and 5338 Family Clinical Practice I and II (3 credits each)
- Required: NURS 5660 Family NP Advanced Practicum (6 credits)
- Possible by gap analysis: NURS 5315, 5334, 5220, 5120, 5130, and 5350 (up to 13 credits)
More curriculum details are available here.
You Should Know
- The online program page says “as few as five courses,” but the catalog requires six specialty courses totaling 24 credits.
- The online page also lists the MSN core courses (NURS 5363, 5364, 5365). If a gap analysis added those, the certificate would reach 46 credits and $30,084, the same as the full MSN. Get your gap analysis in writing before enrolling.
Certificate Clinical Requirements
- 720 clinical hours in the three required clinical courses
- Same student-led placement model, clearance rules, and preceptor approval process as the MSN
Because the clinical courses sit in the fixed block, the gap analysis does not reduce clinical hours. A nurse who already practices in another NP population still completes all 720 hours.
You Should Know
- State boards set their own rules for recognizing a second APRN population focus. Nurses already licensed as APRNs should confirm their board’s requirements before enrolling.
Certificate Admissions
Admission requires a completed nursing master’s degree and a transcript review.
- MSN from a CCNE- or ACEN-accredited program at a regionally accredited university
- 3.0 GPA or higher
- Active, unencumbered RN license
- Undergraduate statistics with a C or better
- Same state eligibility rules as the MSN
Tuition
UTA charges $654 per credit for graduate FNP courses in its Accelerated Online format. RN-MSN students pay $257 per credit for undergraduate nursing and general education courses. UTA’s online pages publish one rate with no resident or nonresident split. See UTA’s online tuition page for current rates and the tuition guarantee terms.
| Track | Calculation | Est. Tuition |
|---|---|---|
| MSN | 46 × $654 | $30,084 (matches published total) |
| RN-MSN | 32 × $257 + 46 × $654 | $38,308 (matches published total) |
| Certificate (specialty block only) | 24 × $654 | $15,696 (derived) |
| Certificate (with full NP core) | 37 × $654 | $24,198 (derived) |
- Graduate rate: $654 per credit, or $1,962 per 3-credit course
- Undergraduate rate (RN-MSN BSN phase): $257 per credit
- Pay by the course; tuition is due the Friday before each course starts
- Application fee: $75 (graduate or undergraduate)
- Graduation fee: $40 per degree
- Tuition guarantee: the rate at program start holds with continuous enrollment and on-time completion
Be aware that:
- The tuition guarantee excludes prerequisite, core, and leveling courses. UTA does not say whether “core” includes the MSN core courses.
- Skipping a summer term moves you to the rate in effect when you enroll for fall. A leave of absence moves you to the rate in effect when you return.
- Taking courses beyond the designed program length may bring a tuition increase.
- The RN-MSN total excludes general education courses and the 3-credit upper-division elective ($771 at $257/credit if required).
- UTA’s program pages do not state whether mandatory university fees are included in the per-credit rate. UTA’s cost page says only that online tuition and fees vary by program.
- Students pay all clinical clearance costs, including vaccines, titers, TB testing, CPR, background check, and drug screen. Books are extra.
- Online students are not eligible for UTA scholarships and grant funds. Federal aid requires at least 5 graduate credits per term.
- The campus MSN and certificate are priced separately; this page covers the online tracks only.
For most MSN students, the published $30,084 is close to the real tuition bill, because the rate is locked and UTA lists few charges beyond it. The risk sits in enrollment gaps: a skipped summer or a leave resets the rate. RN-MSN students add a BSN for $8,224 in nursing tuition, plus whatever general education they still owe.
Why Choose This FNP Program?
Best suited for ADN-prepared nurses who want one continuous online path to FNP practice and can source their own preceptors.
ADN nurses planning the long route. The RN-MSN removes the usual stop between degrees: no graduate application, no essay, and two graduate courses already done at transition. The 3.3 indicator-course GPA is the real filter, so strong early grades matter.
Working nurses who can self-place. Everything is online, clinicals are local, and employer sites are allowed outside your own unit. In return, you carry the preceptor search. Nurses without local primary care contacts should start networking before the first course.
Nurses who can plan around the final year. The three clinical courses run back to back at the end. The practicum alone averages about 28 hours a week, on top of UTA’s advice to cap work at 16 to 20 hours. Budget time and income for that stretch before you start.
The cost verdict. The MSN’s $30,084 is a locked, published price, and it holds if you enroll continuously and finish on schedule. The RN-MSN is the stronger value case, adding a BSN for about $8,200 more. The certificate’s price is unknowable until the gap analysis is done, so get that in writing first.
Accreditation
The Commission on Collegiate Nursing Education (CCNE) accredits UTA’s baccalaureate, master’s, and Doctor of Nursing Practice programs, plus its post-graduate APRN certificate. That scope covers the MSN, both phases of the RN-MSN, and the certificate.
The University of Texas at Arlington is institutionally accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges (SACSCOC). Institutional accreditation supports federal financial aid eligibility and the transfer of graduate credit.
UTA states that its FNP graduates are prepared for recognition as advanced practice nurses by the Texas Board of Nursing.
Graduates of all three tracks are eligible to sit for the national FNP certification exam (AANP or ANCC).
More FNP Programs in Texas
- Texas A&M University - Bryan
- Texas State University - Round Rock
- Texas Wesleyan University - Fort Worth
- Texas Woman's University - Denton
- University of Texas at Austin - Austin
- UT San Antonio Health Science Center - San Antonio
- UTHealth Houston - Houston