Washington State University offers 2 Family Nurse Practitioner Tracks:
- BSN-DNP
- Post-Master’s DNP
Program Tracks Overview
| Program | Est. Tuition | Est. Duration | Credit Hours |
|---|---|---|---|
| BSN-DNP | $70.4K / $108.8K | 3 years (9 semesters) or 4 years | 74 |
| Post-Master’s DNP | $72.9K / $112.9K | 3 years (8 semesters) or 4 years | 69 |
Tuition estimates apply WSU’s 2026-27 DNP rate ($1,257.15 resident, $2,056.30 non-resident per credit) to each track’s 3-year sample plan, with 10 to 18-credit fall and spring terms billed at the flat full-time rate.
Washington State University’s 3-year FNP plan bills 74 credits as 56. WSU charges one flat rate for fall and spring terms of 10 to 18 credits, so the heavy early terms of the full-time plan bring the in-state cost to about $70,400, against about $93,000 at the nominal per-credit rate.
Like the University of Washington, WSU arranges every direct-care placement, but its catchment also reaches north Idaho and northern Oregon. The trade-off is pace and presence: the savings shrink on the 4-year plan, live Zoom sessions replace self-paced modules, and a fall lab semester requires about six campus visits.
Quick Facts
| Feature | Details |
|---|---|
| Program Types | BSN-DNP; Post-Master’s DNP (both FNP) |
| Format | Mostly Online: live Zoom classes plus 5 to 7 on-campus lab visits in one semester |
| Clinical Hours | 600 direct-care NP hours; 1,080 total practicum hours |
| Clinical Placement | Arranged by WSU’s Clinical Placement Coordinator |
| Placement Region | Washington, north Idaho, northern Oregon only |
| Population | Family/individual across the lifespan |
| Distinctive Coursework | Diagnostics and procedures lab; Rational Prescribing; three-course DNP project sequence |
| RN License Requirements | Unencumbered RN license in the campus catchment area before the first semester |
| Experience Gate | 936 hours of RN, LPN, or LVN experience at application |
| Start Term | Fall only; about 50 FNP admits from 90 to 100 applicants |
| Tuition | $1,257.15/credit resident; $2,056.30 non-resident; WRGP in-state rate available |
| Accreditation | CCNE (DNP) |
BSN to DNP, Family Nurse Practitioner
The estimated tuition for the Doctor of Nursing Practice, Family Nurse Practitioner track at Washington State University is approximately $70,400 in-state on the 3-year plan (74 credits, billed as 56 under WSU’s flat full-time rate at $1,257.15/credit). The program can generally be completed in about 3 years (9 semesters, including summers) full-time or 4 years part-time.
BSN-DNP Curriculum
Front-loaded clinical foundation. On the 3-year plan, the first fall stacks six courses (16 credits), including advanced health assessment, pharmacology, and a diagnostics and procedures lab. Students start Primary Care Practicum I in the first spring, so direct patient care begins within about five months of enrollment.
Primary care in three blocks. The specialty runs as paired didactic and practicum courses: health promotion and disease detection, then acute conditions, then chronic conditions. Advanced pathophysiology sits in year two rather than year one, which is unusual sequencing for an FNP program.
Leadership and project spine. Two organizational leadership courses and a three-part DNP project carry their own practicum hours. The project runs over the final terms with a low faculty-to-student ratio, and students may base it at their employer if the need sits outside their own unit.
- NURS_ADV 508: Diagnostics and Procedures for Primary Care Practice (in-person lab)
- NURS_ADV 562: Advanced Health Assessment and Differential Diagnoses (in-person lab)
- NURS_ADV 509: Clinical Decision Making: Essential Concepts and Diagnostic Reasoning
- NURS_ADV 573: Rational Prescribing
- NURS_ADV 513, 515, 537: Primary Care I, II, and III
- NURS_ADV 514, 516, 538: Primary Care Practicum I, II, and III
- NURS_ADV 540: NP Clinical Practicum (taken across several terms)
- NURS_ADV 557, 558, 559: DNP Project I, II, and III
More curriculum details are available here.
You Should Know
- The 4-year sample plan publishes the same totals (74 credits, 600 direct-care hours) but reorders courses substantially. WSU labels both plans as samples that may not match your plan at admission.
- The 3-year plan’s first year carries 32 credits, including a 16-credit fall. Full-time work alongside it is difficult.
BSN-DNP Clinical Requirements
- 600 direct-care advanced practice hours: Practicum I, II, and III (120 each) plus NURS_ADV 540 (240 hours across three terms).
- 480 indirect hours: leadership practicum (120), Translating Evidence into Practice (60), and DNP Project I to III (300).
- 1,080 total practicum hours, above the 1,000-hour DNP minimum WSU states.
- WSU’s Clinical Placement Coordinator arranges direct-care sites; students may suggest a preceptor but are not required to find one.
- Students identify their own DNP project site and mentor.
- Hours may be completed at the student’s employer, but not in the same unit or supervisory area, and without pay.
Six hundred direct-care hours sits inside the 600 to 700-hour range common among FNP programs and well above the 500-hour certification floor. Spread over the plan, most clinical terms carry 120 hours, roughly 8 hours a week across a 15-week semester. That load is manageable for working nurses. The real value is the placement model: WSU secures the site, which removes the preceptor search that stalls many online students.
You Should Know
- Clinicals must be completed in the catchment area of your campus of registration: Washington for all campuses, plus north Idaho (Spokane) or northern Oregon (Vancouver).
- WSU states that placements outside its main regions (Spokane, Tri-Cities, Southwest Washington/Portland, greater Seattle, and rural Washington) are rare and not guaranteed. Travel and schedule changes are often required.
- Out-of-state clinical hours are not permitted.
BSN-DNP Admissions
Admission is competitive, fall-only, and gated by prior nursing experience and a recorded virtual interview.
- BSN from a CCNE, ACEN, or CNEA-accredited program at a regionally or nationally accredited institution.
- Minimum 3.0 cumulative GPA across all college coursework.
- 936 hours of nursing experience as an RN, LPN, LVN, or RN resident at application (six months of full-time work).
- Unencumbered RN license in the campus catchment area before the first semester; a multistate compact license including Washington is accepted.
- NursingCAS application with CV, transcripts, and three references.
- Virtual interview through Kira Talent, plus a 500-word essay on the social determinants of health with at least two APA citations.
- Deadlines (annual cycle): applications open August 15, priority deadline November 15, final deadline January 15, for an August start.
You Should Know
- Applicants with a C or NC in any two graduate nursing courses, or a D, F, WD, or WF in any one, will not be considered.
- Vancouver-area applicants are advised to hold both Oregon and Washington licenses; Spokane-area applicants, Idaho and Washington. A second license widens placement options.
- Expect about $100 in application costs (NursingCAS and Kira Talent).
Post-Master’s DNP, Family Nurse Practitioner
The estimated tuition for the Post-Master’s DNP, Family Nurse Practitioner track at Washington State University is approximately $72,900 in-state on the 3-year plan (69 credits, billed as 58 under WSU’s flat full-time rate at $1,257.15/credit). The program can generally be completed in about 3 years (8 semesters, including summers) or 4 years.
Post-Master’s DNP Curriculum
This track is for nurses with a master’s degree in nursing (or a graduate nurse anesthesia or nurse-midwifery degree) who want FNP preparation and the doctorate together. It is not a certificate. It drops two foundation courses from the BSN-DNP (NURS_ADV 503 Scientific Inquiry and 504 Evidence-based Practice, 5 credits) and keeps every FNP specialty course and all 1,080 practicum hours.
The 3-year plan front-loads doctoral core, pathophysiology, pharmacology, and health assessment into year one, including an 18-credit spring. Primary care didactic and practicum courses start in year two.
More curriculum details are available here.
You Should Know
- Transfer credit is reviewed after admission. WSU typically approves one to three courses, requiring syllabi, a B or better, and completion within the 7-year DNP window.
- No standalone post-graduate FNP certificate is offered. Master’s-prepared nurses who want only the FNP credential must complete the full DNP.
Post-Master’s DNP Clinical Requirements
- 600 direct-care hours and 480 leadership and project hours (1,080 total), identical to the BSN-DNP.
- Same WSU-arranged placement model and three-state catchment as the BSN-DNP.
- Direct-care hours begin in the fall of year two on the 3-year plan.
Prior master’s-level clinical hours do not reduce the FNP requirement. A nurse holding another APRN specialty completes the full 600 direct-care hours for the new population focus.
Post-Master’s DNP Admissions
Requirements match the BSN-DNP, including the 936-hour experience gate, interview, and fall-only intake, with a different degree requirement.
- A bachelor’s degree (nursing or another field) and a master’s degree in nursing, or a graduate nurse anesthesia (COA-accredited) or nurse-midwifery (ACME-accredited) degree.
- Applicants from a prior graduate program must submit a letter of good standing from that school.
Tuition
WSU charges FNP students its professional DNP rate of $1,257.15 per credit for residents and $2,056.30 for non-residents in 2026-27. These are derived from the published full-time semester rates ($12,571.50 and $20,563.00), which WSU bills at one-tenth per credit for part-time loads, with a 2-credit minimum. The rate includes building, operating, and services and activities fees.
| 3-Year Plan | Credits | Billed Credits | Resident | WRGP | Non-Resident |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| BSN-DNP | 74 | 56 | $70,400 | $76,794 | $108,760 |
| Post-Master’s DNP | 69 | 58 | $72,915 | $88,898 | $112,872 |
All totals are derived. Fall and spring terms of 10 to 18 credits are billed as 10 credits; summer terms are billed per credit at the resident rate for all students. WRGP figures apply the in-state rate only to fall and spring terms of 9 or more credits.
- DNP tuition: $12,571.50 per full-time semester (resident), $20,563.00 (non-resident).
- College of Nursing program fees: about $5,000 to $6,000 over the degree, tied to specific courses (placements, standardized patients, onboarding).
- Annual campus fees: $859 (Spokane), $977 (Tri-Cities), $632 (Vancouver).
- Books: about $1,300 over the program.
Official rates: WSU System Tuition Rates 2026-27.
Be aware that:
- WSU’s general graduate rate ($726.50 resident) does not apply to the DNP. The DNP carries its own higher rate.
- WSU’s prospective-student guide lists approximate rates of $1,188 (resident) and $1,961 (non-resident) per credit, below the current budget-office schedule.
- The flat-rate saving depends on carrying 10 or more credits in a fall or spring term. The 4-year plan has lighter terms, so its cost can approach the nominal figures: up to about $93,000 (BSN-DNP) or $86,700 (Post-Master’s) for residents.
- WRGP gives residents of 16 western states and territories in-state fall and spring tuition, but only in terms of 9 or more credits. Lighter final-year terms revert to the non-resident rate.
- WRGP affects tuition only. It does not expand where you can complete clinicals.
- Oregon residents in designated border counties may pay resident tuition at Vancouver or Tri-Cities when enrolled in 8 or fewer credits.
- The flat 10 to 18-credit band is based on WSU’s published graduate billing rules. Confirm with the College of Nursing that it applies to the DNP rate for your plan.
For a Washington resident on the 3-year BSN-DNP, the realistic all-in cost is about $78,000 to $79,000 once program fees and three years of campus fees are added. Plan pace drives price more than credit count: the 69-credit Post-Master’s plan costs about $2,500 more than the 74-credit BSN-DNP because fewer of its terms reach the flat-rate band.
Why Choose This FNP Program?
Best suited for nurses already living and working in Washington, north Idaho, or the Portland-Vancouver area who want the doctorate without searching for their own preceptors.
Placement support inside the region. WSU’s coordinator secures direct-care sites, and WSU names its main placement regions, including rural Washington. Nurses with deep roots in those areas gain a structured route to 600 direct-care hours. Nurses elsewhere in the West gain cheaper tuition through WRGP but no local clinicals.
Full-time pace pays. The flat full-time band rewards the 3-year plan, where heavy early terms absorb credits at no extra charge. The 4-year plan suits working nurses but forfeits most of that saving, so pacing should be weighed as a cost decision, not only a workload decision.
Doctorate only, with live sessions. WSU offers no MSN or certificate route to FNP practice, so every student completes the 480-hour leadership and project component. Most courses meet live on Zoom about six times per semester, and the lab semester requires campus travel. Published pass rates were strong in 2024 (100% on both exams) but dipped in 2022 (74.2% AANP).
Accreditation
The Washington State University College of Nursing’s BSN, Master of Nursing, and DNP programs are accredited by the Commission on Collegiate Nursing Education (CCNE). Both FNP tracks sit within the CCNE-accredited DNP.
Washington State University is institutionally accredited by the Northwest Commission on Colleges and Universities (NWCCU). Regional institutional accreditation supports federal financial aid eligibility and credit recognition by other institutions.
WSU’s FNP track prepares graduates for national certification and advanced practice licensure at the state level. Graduates are eligible to sit for the national FNP certification exam (AANP or ANCC).
Compare More Family NP Programs
- Seattle University - Seattle
- University of Washington - Seattle