Saint Joseph’s University FNP Programs

School of Nursing and Allied Health • Lancaster, PA • Mostly Online • $1,052/credit

Saint Joseph’s University offers 2 Family Nurse Practitioner Tracks:

  • MSN
  • Post-Master’s Certificate

Program Tracks Overview

ProgramEst. TuitionEst. DurationCredit Hours
MSN$54.7K–$57.8K2 or 3 yrs46–49
Post-Master’s Cert.$28.4K–$45.2K1–2 yrs21–37

Saint Joseph’s gates this program on bedside experience twice over: applicants need two years of nursing practice and 3,000 RN clinical hours, and if you are admitted short of that total, you must finish those hours before your first practicum begins. Once enrolled, every program course requires 84% to pass.

Coursework is delivered virtually and clinicals are completed in person, but Saint Joseph’s own program listing labels the modality “Hybrid” without explaining what that means — confirm campus expectations in writing before you enroll.

Quick Facts

FeatureDetails
Program TypesMSN; Post-Master’s Certificate (separate plans for certified NPs and non-NPs)
FormatVirtual classes with in-person clinicals; school labels it “Hybrid”
Clinical Hours720 (MSN and non-NP certificate); 540 (certified-NP certificate)
Clinical PlacementShared: faculty review and approve, but students apply to agencies themselves
Population FocusFamily/Individual Across the Lifespan
Distinctive CourseworkBusiness-school leadership course, health administration policy course, integrated-care health promotion
RN Experience Required2 years plus 3,000 RN clinical hours before practicum begins
RN License RequiredUnencumbered Pennsylvania RN license or unencumbered multistate compact license
Grade Standard84% minimum in every program course; no rounding below 83.5%
Start TermsFall (August) and Spring (January); rolling review
Tuition$1,052 per credit (2026–27), plus $2,100 per practicum course
AccreditationCCNE (master’s and post-graduate APRN certificate); MSCHE institutionally

MSN — Nurse Practitioner, Family/Individual Across the Lifespan

The estimated tuition for the Master of Science in Nursing — Nurse Practitioner at Saint Joseph’s University is approximately $54,692 to $57,848 all-in (46–49 credits at $1,052 per credit, plus $6,300 in practicum course fees).

The program can generally be completed in about two or three years, with published plans of study for both paces.

MSN Curriculum

The MSN is a single degree with two population tracks — Family/Individual Across the Lifespan and Adult/Gerontology Acute Care. You choose one at entry. The shared core is what stands out first.

Core Courses

Two of the nine core courses come from outside the nursing department: MGT 550 Leadership and Ethics is a management-school course, and HAD 559 Health Policy comes from health administration. For a nurse who expects to move into practice ownership, panel management, or a system leadership role, that cross-disciplinary framing is useful. For a nurse who wants maximum clinical density per tuition dollar, it means six of the 46–49 credits sit outside nursing entirely.

FNP Specialty Sequence

The specialty is built as three matched pairs. NUR 720, 722, and 724 are the didactic courses; NUR 721, 723, and 725 are their paired practicums, taken in the same semester. Each practicum carries exactly 240 clinical hours. That one-to-one pairing means theory and clinical practice advance in lockstep rather than stacking clinical hours at the end.

Pacing

The two-year and three-year plans differ only in how the core is spread out. In both versions, the clinical year is identical: three consecutive semesters of a didactic course plus a 240-hour practicum. Choosing the three-year plan buys you a lighter first two years, not a lighter clinical year.

  • NUR 500 — NP Role Development (1 credit)
  • MGT 550 — Leadership and Ethics
  • HAD 559 — Health Policy
  • NUR 643 — Health Promotion in Integrated Care
  • NUR 700 — Epidemiology and Population Health
  • NUR 511 — Graduate Research
  • NUR 720 / 722 / 724 — Family NP Across the Lifespan I, II, III
  • NUR 721 / 723 / 725 — Family NP Practicum I, II, III

NOTE: Credit totals conflict across Saint Joseph’s own sources. The catalog course list and both plans of study total 46–49 credits, and the program snapshot says 49. But a narrative paragraph in the same catalog states the Family/Individual track requires 53 total credits. At $1,052 per credit, that gap is worth up to $7,364. Ask admissions for the credit total in writing.

More curriculum details are available here.

MSN Clinical Requirements

  • 720 total clinical hours — three practicum courses at 240 hours each (240 × 3 = 720, confirmed against the catalog)
  • Practicum courses carry 3–4 credits each, so each clinical credit represents 60–80 contact hours
  • Placement is shared: you complete a Saint Joseph’s clinical application, faculty review it and advise on placement, then you apply to the agency yourself before its deadline
  • Faculty complete the Site and Preceptor Approval form once the agency confirms
  • Clinical contracts can take anywhere from six weeks to one year to secure
  • Site applications are generally due by midterm of the semester before the clinical
  • Compliance must be confirmed in EXXAT by July 1 (fall), December 1 (spring), or April 1 (summer)
  • Required clearances: PATCH, Pennsylvania Child Abuse History, FBI fingerprinting, plus out-of-state FBI check if you lived outside Pennsylvania in the past two years
  • Drug screen, entry physical, full immunization series including COVID-19, two-step TB test, and current AHA BLS certification
  • A current RN license for the clinical site’s state is required if it differs from your state of residence

At 720 hours, this program sits 44% above the 500-hour national certification floor and above the 600–700 band most FNP programs land in. More supervised hours generally translate to more confidence at first hire, so the volume is a genuine benefit — but understand the shape of it. Three semesters at 240 hours each works out to roughly 16 clinical hours per week across a 15-week term, and closer to 20 hours per week in a 12-week summer. That is on top of a four-credit didactic course. Nurses planning to stay employed full-time through the clinical year should map that math against their actual schedule before committing.

The placement model deserves equal attention. Saint Joseph’s markets clinical support and provides real structure — faculty review, an approval workflow, EXXAT compliance tracking — but the published process makes clear that securing the site is a shared responsibility, with the student submitting the agency application. ⚠ This contradicts a separate Saint Joseph’s nursing page that advertises guaranteed clinical placements. Get the FNP-specific answer, not the school-wide marketing line.

MSN Admissions

The unusual requirement here is the experience gate, and it functions as a scheduling requirement as much as an admissions one: applicants short of 3,000 RN clinical hours may still be admitted, but must complete those hours before starting the 720-hour practicum sequence.

  • Unencumbered Pennsylvania RN license, or an unencumbered multistate compact license
  • BSN from a regionally accredited institution
  • 3.0 minimum GPA
  • Health Assessment and Statistics coursework completed with a C or higher
  • Two years of nursing experience and 3,000 clinical hours as a nurse
  • Written statement of career goals and current resume
  • Two letters of recommendation — one from an NP, MD, DO, or graduate-prepared nurse who can speak to clinical knowledge, and one from a nursing leader holding an MSN or doctorate
  • Official transcripts from all colleges attended
  • Rolling review; fall (August) and spring (January) starts

Post-Master’s Certificate — Family/Individual Across the Lifespan

The estimated tuition for the Post-Master’s Certificate in Family/Individual Across the Lifespan at Saint Joseph’s University is approximately $28,392 to $31,548 for certified NPs and $42,068 to $45,224 for non-NPs, all-in (21–37 credits at $1,052 per credit, plus $6,300 in practicum course fees).

The program can generally be completed in about one year by nurse practitioners already certified in another population focus, or about two years by MSN-prepared nurses who are not NPs.

Certificate Curriculum

This is one certificate with two published plans of study, and a gap analysis at admission determines which courses you actually take. That means the credit and cost figures above are endpoints, not quotes.

Certified NP Pathway (21–24 credits)

Certified NPs take only the FNP specialty spine — the three didactic courses and three paired practicums — over three consecutive semesters. Advanced pathophysiology, pharmacology, and health assessment are assumed complete from the prior NP program.

Non-NP Pathway (34–37 credits)

MSN-prepared nurses who have never held an NP credential add the full APRN core first: Advanced Pathophysiology, Advanced Pharmacology, Advanced Health Assessment and Clinical Reasoning, Health Promotion in Integrated Care, and NP Role Development. That front-loaded year is the entire difference between the two pathways in both time and cost.

  • NUR 640 — Advanced Pathophysiology (non-NP pathway)
  • NUR 641 — Advanced Pharmacology (non-NP pathway)
  • NUR 642 — Advanced Health Assessment and Clinical Reasoning (non-NP pathway)
  • NUR 643 — Health Promotion in Integrated Care (non-NP pathway)
  • NUR 500 — NP Role Development (non-NP pathway)
  • NUR 720 / 722 / 724 — Family NP Across the Lifespan I, II, III
  • NUR 721 / 723 / 725 — Family NP Practicum I, II, III

The certificate marketing page says non-NPs take eight online classes; the catalog plan of study lists eleven. It also says certified NPs need “a minimum of 500 hours of clinical,” while the catalog states 540. Treat the catalog figures as the stronger source and verify both.

More curriculum details are available here.

Certificate Clinical Requirements

  • Non-NP pathway: 720 minimum clinical hours, three practicums at 240 hours each (240 × 3 = 720)
  • Certified NP pathway: 540 minimum clinical hours, three practicums at 180 hours each (180 × 3 = 540)
  • Same shared placement process, contract lead time, and EXXAT compliance deadlines as the MSN
  • Same clearance package: PATCH, child abuse history, FBI fingerprinting, drug screen, immunizations, TB testing, BLS
  • Certified NP applicants must hold an unencumbered NP license in addition to the RN license
  • Gap analysis at admission may waive didactic or practicum requirements based on prior coursework

The 540-hour figure for certified NPs is the more interesting number. It exceeds the 500-hour certification floor by a modest margin, which is appropriate for a nurse who already carries an APRN credential and documented clinical hours from a prior population focus. But because the gap analysis can waive practicum requirements, your actual total may land lower. That is a reasonable design, and it is also the reason no one should budget time or money for this certificate until the gap analysis is complete.

Certificate Admissions

The certificate requirements are shorter than the MSN’s, and notably do not restate the 3,000-hour experience requirement ⚠ — whether it carries over is not clearly stated.

  • Unencumbered Pennsylvania RN license or unencumbered multistate compact license
  • Applicants who are already NPs must also hold an unencumbered NP license
  • MSN from a regionally accredited institution
  • 3.0 minimum GPA
  • Written statement, resume, and two letters of recommendation on the same terms as the MSN
  • Rolling review; fall (August) and spring (January) starts

Tuition

Saint Joseph’s charges $1,052 per credit for MSN-level nursing coursework in the 2026–27 academic year, per the university’s graduate tuition and fees page. On top of that, three practicum courses each carry a $2,100 program fee — NUR 721, NUR 723, and NUR 725 for the Family/Individual track — adding $6,300 that the per-credit rate does not capture.

Estimated all-in totals, derived by multiplying published credit ranges by the published rate and adding the practicum fees:

  • MSN: $48,392–$51,548 tuition (46–49 credits) + $6,300 fees = $54,692–$57,848
  • Certificate, certified NP: $22,092–$25,248 tuition (21–24 credits) + $6,300 fees = $28,392–$31,548
  • Certificate, non-NP: $35,768–$38,924 tuition (34–37 credits) + $6,300 fees = $42,068–$45,224

Caveats that change the real number:

  • NOTE: The MSN program page still advertises $1,002 per credit for 2025–26. The university tuition page lists $1,052 for 2026–27 — a $50 increase, roughly 5%. Budget from the newer figure and expect further annual increases across a two- or three-year program.
  • The $2,100 practicum fee is published on the MSN page only. Certificate students take the same NUR 721, 723, and 725 courses, so the fee almost certainly applies, but the certificate tuition section never mentions it. Without the fees, certificate estimates drop to $22,092–$25,248 (certified NP) and $35,768–$38,924 (non-NP).
  • If the catalog’s 53-credit figure for the Family/Individual track is correct rather than the 46–49 in the course list, the MSN all-in total rises to roughly $62,056.
  • A $35 application fee applies. Clinical clearances, drug screening, background checks, immunizations, and BLS certification are student-paid and not included above.
  • Pennsylvania residency does not change the rate — Saint Joseph’s is private and charges one price.

The practical takeaway: the sticker rate understates the MSN by about 12% once practicum fees are counted, and by more than 25% on the certified-NP certificate, where those same $6,300 in fees sit on a much smaller credit base. Anyone comparing per-credit rates across schools should add the fees back before drawing a conclusion.

Current figures are on the graduate tuition and fees page.

Why Choose This FNP Program?

Best suited for experienced nurses who already have several years at the bedside, want a heavy clinical volume, and can complete three consecutive semesters of intensive practicum in southeastern or central Pennsylvania.

The clearest argument for Saint Joseph’s is that it selects for and then builds on experience. The 3,000-hour and two-year requirements screen out nurses who would arrive at practicum still forming clinical judgment, and the 720-hour requirement gives those who qualify meaningful supervised volume — well above the certification floor. The 84% minimum grade standard reinforces the same posture. If you want a program that treats the FNP credential as a step for seasoned nurses rather than a fast track, the structure here is coherent and consistent.

The trade-offs are real. Placement is a shared responsibility, not a guarantee, and the school’s own disclosure that clinical contracts can take up to a year is unusually candid — useful information, but a warning to anyone without existing relationships at a Pennsylvania health system. The clinical year is lockstep and cannot be spread thin. Practicum fees add $6,300 that the advertised per-credit rate hides. And multiple figures conflict across Saint Joseph’s own pages, including the MSN credit total and the certificate’s clinical hours, which means you should verify your specific numbers rather than rely on published ranges.

The certificate is the stronger value proposition of the two tracks for the right candidate. A nurse practitioner already certified in another population focus can add family practice in three semesters for roughly $28,000 to $32,000, and the gap analysis may reduce that further. For MSN-prepared nurses who have never held an NP credential, the non-NP pathway costs roughly three-quarters of the MSN while producing the same certification eligibility — worth modeling carefully against whether you want the master’s credential itself.

The verdict — work backward from the calendar. This program’s real constraint is not admission, it is sequencing. Clinical contracts take six weeks to a year. Site applications are due by midterm of the prior semester. EXXAT compliance closes July 1, December 1, or April 1. Clearances expire after twelve months and must be redone. If you are applying without 3,000 RN hours in hand, add that time too. A nurse targeting a fall practicum start should be identifying preceptor sites the previous fall and starting clearances the previous spring. Build that timeline before you apply, and this program is a strong fit. Skip it, and the sequencing will set your graduation date for you.

Accreditation

The master’s degree program in nursing and the post-graduate APRN certificate programs at Saint Joseph’s University are accredited by the Commission on Collegiate Nursing Education (CCNE), the accreditor that covers most FNP programs nationally. Institutionally, Saint Joseph’s University is accredited by the Middle States Commission on Higher Education, verified from the school’s accreditation information. The School of Nursing and Allied Health operates from the Lancaster campus, which joined Saint Joseph’s through its 2024 merger with Pennsylvania College of Health Sciences.

Saint Joseph’s states that graduates of the Family/Individual Across the Lifespan track are eligible to sit for both the American Nurses Credentialing Center (ANCC) and American Association of Nurse Practitioners (AANP) family nurse practitioner certification exams — dual eligibility, which most FNP graduates hold.

The university advertises a 100% pass rate on the FNP certification exam but does not publish the reporting year or cohort size, so the figure cannot be interpreted without asking.

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