UCF offers 2 Family Nurse Practitioner Tracks:
- BSN-to-DNP
- Post-Master’s Certificate
Program Tracks Overview
| Program | Est. Tuition | Est. Duration | Credit Hours |
|---|---|---|---|
| BSN-to-DNP | ~$27K | 3 yrs FT / 4 yrs PT | 73 |
| Certificate | ~$8.1K | 5 sems (PT) | 22 |
UCF’s defining advantage is clinical depth on a doctoral track: the BSN-to-DNP requires 1,140 practicum hours — more than double the 500-hour certification floor — with every clinical site and preceptor assigned by the school, at roughly $27,000 in-state for the entire doctorate. The hard limit is geography: this is a Hybrid program with biweekly on-campus classes, and both coursework and clinicals must be completed inside UCF’s Central Florida service area.
Quick Facts
| Feature | Details |
|---|---|
| Program Types | BSN-to-DNP (FNP track); Post-Master’s Certificate (FNP) |
| Format | Hybrid — biweekly on-campus classes; DNP adds two-day intensives each fall and spring |
| Clinical Hours | DNP: 1,140. Certificate: 660 (course-verified; one page says 720 — see flag) |
| Clinical Placement | School-arranged — coordinator assigns all sites and preceptors |
| Service-Area Restriction | Program and clinicals cannot be completed outside greater Central Florida (9-county region) |
| Population | Primary care across the lifespan, children through adults |
| Distinctive Coursework | Healthcare for Susceptible Populations; Advanced Skills for Management of Illness and Injuries; 3-course DNP Project sequence |
| License Requirements | Florida RN (DNP); Florida APRN + national board certification (certificate) |
| Intakes | One per year each: DNP fall (apply by Feb. 1); certificate spring (apply by Sept. 1) |
| Tuition | $369.65/credit in-state; $1,194.05/credit out-of-state; plus lab/equipment/proctoring fees |
| Certification Pass Rate | 100% of recent UCF NP students passed the national exam |
| Accreditation | CCNE (DNP and post-master’s certificate) |
BSN-to-DNP — Family Nurse Practitioner
The estimated tuition for the Family Nurse Practitioner DNP at UCF is approximately $26,984 for Florida residents (73 credits at $369.65/credit) or $87,166 for non-residents. The program can generally be completed in about three years full-time (9 semesters) or four years part-time (12 semesters), in a fall-start cohort.
UCF does not offer an MSN FNP. Nurses with a BSN enter the doctorate directly — a structural choice worth understanding before applying. You graduate with the terminal practice degree and never face a second application cycle later, but there is no shorter master’s off-ramp if you only want NP licensure.
BSN-to-DNP Curriculum
The 73 credits split into three blocks: a 36-credit DNP core shared across tracks (leadership, epidemiology, health policy, informatics, and the three-course DNP Project sequence), a 15-credit advanced practice core (the 3 Ps plus a hands-on skills lab and a susceptible-populations course), and 22 credits of FNP specialty courses. Clinical components begin in year two, embedded in nine of the remaining courses rather than saved for the end — so patient-contact hours accumulate steadily across the back half of the program instead of piling into a final practicum.
Specialty and signature courses include:
- Adult I Primary Care + Adult I Clinical for APNs
- Pediatric Primary Care + Pediatric Primary Care Clinical
- Gerontologic Care for APNs + Gerontologic Care Clinical
- Women’s Health for APNs + Women’s Health Clinical
- FNP/Adult-Gero NP Practice Practicum
- Healthcare for Susceptible Populations
- Advanced Skills for the Management of Illness and Injuries (live lab)
- Doctoral Project I–III (evidence-based practice-change project with public presentation)
More curriculum details are available here.
BSN-to-DNP Clinical Requirements
- 1,140 total practicum hours — UCF’s formula is 60 patient-contact hours per clinical credit
- 660 hours come from the five FNP specialty clinical courses (180 + 120 + 120 + 60 + 180); the remainder accrues through DNP practicum and project coursework starting in year two
- All sites and preceptors are assigned by the Graduate Program Clinical Placement Coordinator — students never hunt for their own
- All clinical hours must occur within UCF’s Central Florida service area (Orange, Seminole, Volusia, Lake, Brevard, Osceola, Flagler, northern Indian River, and Marion counties)
- Clinical courses add a one- or two-day on-campus simulation workshop each semester
At 1,140 hours, UCF sits well above the 500-hour certification floor and the 600–700 hours typical of MSN-level FNP programs — expected for a DNP, but still high even by doctoral standards, and the 660 direct primary-care hours alone match what many full MSN programs require. The trade for guaranteed placement is zero control over site location within the nine-county region, and UCF explicitly advises full-time students to cut work to part-time once clinicals begin.
BSN-to-DNP Admissions
Admission runs on a single annual cycle — apply by Feb. 1 for the fall cohort — and a faculty interview may be required.
- BSN from a regionally accredited institution with CCNE or ACEN program accreditation
- Completed undergraduate statistics course
- Florida RN license by program start
- Official transcripts, CV, and three professional recommendations
- 500-word essay covering goals, doctoral readiness, and a proposed quality-improvement project area
- RNs with a non-nursing bachelor’s may apply but add 9 prerequisite credits (Dimensions of Professional Practice, Public Health Nursing, Nursing Research)
Post-Master’s Certificate — Family Nurse Practitioner
The estimated tuition for the FNP Graduate Certificate at UCF is approximately $8,132 for Florida residents (22 credits at $369.65/credit) or $26,269 for non-residents. The program runs five semesters part-time in a spring-start cohort, or roughly 20 months.
This track is narrower than most post-master’s certificates: it is open only to currently board-certified APRNs — nurse practitioners, midwives, nurse anesthetists, and clinical nurse specialists — adding the FNP population to an existing specialty. MSN-prepared nurses who are not certified APRNs are directed to the BSN-to-DNP instead.
Certificate Curriculum
The 22 credits mirror the DNP’s FNP specialty block exactly — the same nine courses, so certificate students train alongside the same clinical sequence rather than a condensed version.
Up to 12 additional prerequisite credits (advanced health assessment with live lab, pathophysiology, pharmacology, health promotion) apply if not already covered; at UCF’s rates that adds up to roughly $4,436 in-state.
- Adult I Primary Care + Adult I Clinical for APNs
- Pediatric Primary Care + Pediatric Primary Care Clinical
- Gerontologic Care for APNs + Gerontologic Care Clinical
- Women’s Health for APNs + Women’s Health Clinical
- FNP/Adult-Gero NP Practice Practicum
More curriculum details are available here.
Certificate Clinical Requirements
- 660 clinical hours, verified against per-course totals: Adult I (180) + Gerontologic (120) + Pediatric (120) + Women’s Health (60) + Practicum (180)
- The program webpage states 720 clinical hours, but both the graduate catalog (“up to 660”) and the itemized course hours sum to 660 — confirm the current figure with UCF advising
- Sites and preceptors assigned by the Clinical Placement Director
- All clinicals within UCF’s Central Florida service area; live lab attendance on campus roughly every other week
- One- or two-day on-campus simulation workshop per semester in clinical courses
Even at 660 hours, this certificate demands more clinical time than many stand-alone MSN FNP programs — unusual for a post-master’s credential, where 500–600 hours is common. UCF does not advertise a gap analysis that reduces hours based on prior APRN clinical experience, so plan for the full load and the work-hour reduction UCF recommends once clinicals begin.
Certificate Admissions
Admission is spring-start only (apply by Sept. 1), on a space-available basis, with no GRE required.
- BSN and MSN from regionally accredited institutions
- Current national board certification as an NP, CNM, CRNA, or CNS
- Florida APRN license — out-of-state applicants must be Florida-eligible and licensed before clinical courses begin
- Completed undergraduate statistics course
- Prerequisite advanced practice coursework (up to 12 credits if not previously completed)
Tuition
UCF charges $369.65 per credit hour for Florida residents and $1,194.05 per credit for non-residents across its graduate nursing programs. That produces an estimated $26,984 in-state ($87,166 out-of-state) for the 73-credit BSN-to-DNP and $8,132 in-state ($26,269 out-of-state) for the 22-credit certificate — both derived estimates, not published totals.
- Graduate students may incur additional charges: Material and Supply Fee, Equipment Fee, and Online Course Proctoring Fee (amounts not published on the program pages)
- Non-nursing bachelor’s entrants to the DNP add 9 prerequisite credits (~$3,327 in-state)
- Certificate students without the advanced practice prerequisites add up to 12 credits (~$4,436 in-state)
- Out-of-state rates are largely theoretical: a Florida license, Central Florida clinicals, and biweekly campus attendance mean nearly all students pay resident rates — unless they hold non-resident status while living locally
The practical takeaway: for a Florida resident, roughly $27,000 buys the entire doctorate — about what many Florida MSN programs charge for a master’s — but budget for fees, prerequisites where applicable, and reduced work income during clinical semesters.
Why Choose This FNP Program?
UCF fits Central Florida nurses who have already decided on the doctorate and want the deepest clinical preparation available at a public-university price.
The value case is hard to argue with. Compared to the University of South Florida, where roughly $25.9K in-state buys an MSN with 750 clinical hours, UCF’s ~$27K buys a full DNP with 1,140 hours — a terminal degree and about 50% more clinical time for essentially the same money. Like USF and Florida Southern, UCF assigns every clinical site and preceptor, so none of the big Central Florida options make you cold-call practices for placements; UCF simply attaches that service to a doctorate rather than a master’s.
The trade-offs are time and geography. There is no MSN option, so licensure takes about three years full-time instead of two, and UCF advises cutting work hours substantially once clinicals start — three years of reduced income is part of the real cost. More restrictive still, the program cannot be completed outside UCF’s nine-county service area, campus attendance runs biweekly, and each track admits one cohort per year. Nurses outside greater Orlando, or those who want a faster or fully online route to FNP practice, should look at USF’s monthly-campus MSN or a distance program instead.
Accreditation
The baccalaureate, master’s, DNP, and advanced practice post-master’s certificate programs at the UCF College of Nursing are accredited by the Commission on Collegiate Nursing Education (CCNE), and the University of Central Florida is institutionally accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges (SACSCOC).
UCF explicitly states dual certification eligibility: graduates of the FNP DNP and post-master’s certificate may sit for either the AANPCB (FNP-C) or ANCC (FNP-BC) exam, and 100% of recent UCF NP students passed the national certification exam. UCF is an NC-SARA member; students planning to practice outside Florida should verify their state’s requirements.
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