Immaculata University FNP Programs

Division of Nursing • Immaculata, PA • Hybrid • $750/credit

Immaculata University offers 2 Family Nurse Practitioner Tracks:

  • MSN
  • Post-Master’s Certificate

Program Tracks Overview

ProgramEst. TuitionEst. DurationCredit Hours
MSN$33K2.5 yrs (part-time)44
Post-MSN Cert.$8K–$25.6K 1 yr+ (varies)11–35

Immaculata’s defining feature is clinical volume that the catalog documents course by course: 825 supervised hours, 65% above the 500-hour national certification floor, split 225/225/225/150 across four practicum courses. The two tracks do not share accreditation status — the MSN is CCNE-accredited, while Immaculata states it is still seeking accreditation for its post-master’s APRN certificates.

Quick Facts

FeatureDetails
Program TypesMSN; Post-Master’s Certificate
FormatHybrid — online coursework plus late-afternoon face-to-face instruction; 14-week terms
Clinical Hours825 across four practicum courses (225/225/225/150)
Clinical PlacementNot clearly stated; school cites regional clinical sites and simulation labs
PopulationFamily / Individual Across the Lifespan
Distinctive CourseworkPopulation Health and Epidemiology (MSN only); Integrated Care across the Lifespan capstone practicum
RN License RequirementsCurrent RN license required at application
Non-Nursing Bachelor’s EntryRN-to-MSN bridge available; adds a 3-credit Professional Portfolio prerequisite
Certificate Credit Range11–35 credits, set by a post-admission gap analysis
Tuition$750/credit (MSN); $730/credit published for the certificate
AccreditationCCNE (master’s degree); certificate accreditation being sought

MSN — Family Nurse Practitioner

The estimated tuition for the Family Nurse Practitioner, M.S.N. at Immaculata University is approximately $33,000 (44 credits at $750/credit). The program can generally be completed in about 2.5 years of part-time study, with courses running on 14-week terms.

MSN Curriculum

The 44 credits divide into three clean blocks, and the proportions tell you where Immaculata puts its weight. Nine credits go to role and policy foundations, twelve to the advanced practice core, and twenty-three — more than half the degree — to four specialty courses that carry all of the clinical hours.

Core (9 credits). Role Development for the Nurse Practitioner, Healthcare Policy and Politics, and a research course taken as either Nursing Research or Interprofessional Health Care Research. That last choice is worth noting: the interprofessional option is a shared graduate course rather than a nursing-only one, which suits students who want exposure outside the discipline.

NP Foundational Advanced Practice Core (12 credits). Advanced Health Assessment and Diagnostic Reasoning, Advanced Pathophysiology, and Advanced Pharmacology sit here alongside a fourth course — Population Health and Epidemiology — that many FNP programs treat as optional or fold into another course. Immaculata makes it a required standalone. It is also one of the three courses the post-master’s certificate drops, so MSN students receive epidemiology training that certificate students at the same school do not.

Specialty Sequence (23 credits). Four courses run the clinical year, and each is a combined didactic-plus-practicum course rather than a lecture course with a separate clinical shell. The sequence moves adult primary care first, then women and children, then adult primary care again at a higher level, closing with an integrative course spanning the full lifespan.

  • NURS 622 Role Development for the Nurse Practitioner (3)
  • NURS 625 Healthcare Policy and Politics (3)
  • NURS 655 Nursing Research or GEN 506 Interprofessional Health Care Research (3)
  • NURS 646 Advanced Health Assessment and Diagnostic Reasoning (3)
  • NURS 647 Advanced Pathophysiology (3)
  • NURS 648 Advanced Pharmacology (3)
  • NURS 649 Population Health and Epidemiology (3)
  • NURS 696 Primary Care across the Adult Lifespan I (6 credits, 225 clinical hours)
  • NURS 697 Primary Care of Women and Children (6 credits, 225 clinical hours)
  • NURS 698 Primary Care across the Adult Lifespan II (6 credits, 225 clinical hours)
  • NURS 699 Integrated Care across the Lifespan (5 credits, 150 clinical hours)

⚠ The program marketing page lists NURS 696 as “Primary Care Across the Adult Lifespan II,” duplicating the title of NURS 698. The graduate catalog lists it as “Primary Care across the Adult Lifespan I.” The catalog titles are used above. The marketing page also names NURS 699 “Integrative Practicum Across the Lifespan” against the catalog’s “Integrated Care across the Lifespan.”

More curriculum details are available here.

MSN Clinical Requirements

  • 825 total supervised clinical hours across four practicum courses
  • Published per-course breakdown: 225 + 225 + 225 + 150 = 825
  • Clinical hours are embedded in the specialty courses, not billed as separate practicum shells
  • Health and background clearance required before any practicum course begins
  • Practicum prerequisites must be passed and a 3.0 GPA maintained before progressing to practicum courses
  • Training uses campus simulation labs plus clinical sites across the region
  • NOTE: Placement model not clearly stated — whether the university secures sites or the student does is unpublished
    • Preceptor qualification rules and faculty site-visit policy not published

At 825 hours, this is a heavy clinical requirement. The certification floor is 500 hours and most FNP programs land in the 600–700 range, so Immaculata sits well above the common band.

What matters more than the total is the density. Three of the four courses carry 225 hours each inside a 14-week term, which works out to roughly 16 hours per week of clinical time — effectively two full days a week — while you are also completing the didactic half of that same course. The fourth course drops to about 11 hours weekly.

For a nurse working full time, the clinical year is the constraint that determines whether this program is workable, not the coursework. The unpublished placement model is the corresponding open question: 825 hours is a real asset if the school helps you secure sites, and a real burden if it does not.

MSN Admissions

Admissions are unusually accessible for an NP program — no GRE, no stated RN work-experience minimum, and a GPA threshold that is preferred rather than required. A separate bridge exists for RNs whose bachelor’s degree is in another field.

  • Baccalaureate degree in nursing from a CCNE- or NLNAC-accredited school, or the equivalent
  • RNs holding a bachelor’s degree in a non-nursing field may also be eligible via the RN-to-MSN bridge
  • Current RN license
  • Current résumé
  • Minimum 3.0 GPA preferred
  • One-page essay on professional goals
  • Two recommendations
  • No GRE required
  • The bridge adds a 3-credit Professional Portfolio prerequisite for non-nursing bachelor’s admits — about $2,250 and 47 total credits
  • Only one start date is published (late August). Whether spring or summer entry exists is not stated

Post-Master’s Certificate — Family Nurse Practitioner

The estimated tuition for the Post-Master’s Family Nurse Practitioner Certificate at Immaculata University is approximately $8,030 to $25,550 (11 to 35 credits at $730/credit). The program can be completed in as little as one year, though the actual length is not fixed until after admission.

Certificate Curriculum

This certificate has no fixed program of study. The FNP program director reviews your transcript and performs a gap analysis, and the resulting individualized plan can run anywhere from 11 to 35 credits. That is a 24-credit spread — roughly $17,520 in tuition — and you will not know which end you land on until the review is complete.

The catalog publishes the 35-credit maximum, and comparing it against the MSN shows exactly what the certificate removes. It drops three courses: Healthcare Policy and Politics, the research course, and Population Health and Epidemiology. Everything clinical stays. All four specialty courses and all 825 clinical hours remain in the full-length plan, which is why a maximum-length certificate costs nearly as much as the degree it omits.

  • NURS 622 Role Development for the Nurse Practitioner (3)
  • NURS 646 Advanced Health Assessment and Diagnostic Reasoning (3)
  • NURS 647 Advanced Pathophysiology (3)
  • NURS 648 Advanced Pharmacology (3)
  • NURS 696 Primary Care across the Adult Lifespan I (6)
  • NURS 697 Primary Care of Women and Children (6)
  • NURS 698 Primary Care across the Adult Lifespan II (6)
  • NURS 699 Integrated Care across the Lifespan (5)

More curriculum details are available here.

Certificate Clinical Requirements

  • The full 35-credit plan carries the same four practicum courses as the MSN, totaling 825 hours
  • Health and background clearance required before any practicum course begins
  • Clinical hours for shortened plans are not published — a student who places out of didactic courses may still owe the full 825 hours
  • Placement model, preceptor rules, and faculty oversight not published for this track

The practical question for certificate applicants is whether the gap analysis can reduce clinical hours at all. National certification requires a minimum of 500 supervised hours regardless of credential, so prior graduate clinical hours from a different population focus generally do not transfer toward FNP hours. Read the 11-credit floor as a reduction in didactic coursework, not in clinical time, unless the program director tells you otherwise in writing.

Certificate Admissions

Entry is gated on holding a completed master’s degree, and a mandatory advising session with the MSN program director is part of the process rather than optional.

  • Completed MSN from an accredited institution
  • Minimum 3.0 GPA
  • Official advising session with the MSN program director or a faculty member
  • Transcript review and gap analysis determine the individualized plan of study
  • Audience is stated as registered nurses holding master’s or doctoral degrees
  • Admission requirements are described briefly; whether references, an essay, or an RN license copy are required is not stated on the certificate page

Tuition

Immaculata charges by the credit. Nursing graduate courses are listed at $750 per credit for 2026–2027, and the certificate page publishes $730 per credit for that track.

  • MSN: 44 credits × $750 = $33,000 estimated tuition
  • Certificate at the published 35-credit maximum: 35 × $730 = $25,550 estimated tuition
  • Certificate at the published 11-credit minimum: 11 × $730 = $8,030 estimated tuition
  • Master’s application fee: $50
  • Nursing practicum fee: $110
  • MSN program fee: $750 or $950
  • Master’s comprehensive examination fee: $150
  • Graduation fee: $150

Be aware that:

  • The $730 certificate rate and the $750 nursing rate conflict. The certificate page hyperlinks its own $730 figure to the university tuition schedule, which lists Nursing at $750 with no separate certificate line. At 35 credits the difference is $700. Ask which rate the bursar will actually bill.
  • The MSN program fee is published as “$750/$950” with no explanation of which tier applies or whether it is charged per term or once. The university’s fee table states its charges are levied “per term or per course as appropriate.” Across a 2.5-year part-time schedule this fee could plausibly total anywhere from roughly $5,250 to $7,600, which is a meaningful share of the sticker price.
  • The $110 nursing practicum fee is not defined as per-course or per-term. If it is charged for each of the four practicum courses, that is $440.
  • Applying the wider fee assumptions, a realistic all-in MSN estimate lands between roughly $38,900 and $41,200 rather than the $33,000 tuition figure.
  • Non-nursing bachelor’s admits add a 3-credit Professional Portfolio prerequisite, raising the MSN to 47 credits and about $35,250 in tuition.
  • Rates shown are the 2026–2027 schedule. Immaculata states it reserves the right to revise charges, and no multi-year rate lock is published.
  • Certificate cost cannot be determined before admission, since the gap analysis sets the credit count. The published range spans $17,520 in tuition.

Why Choose This FNP Program?

Best suited for nurses within commuting distance of Chester County who want in-person faculty contact and a documented, heavy clinical requirement — and who are entering at the BSN level rather than the post-master’s level.

The clinical training is the substantive reason to look here. Immaculata publishes 825 hours and breaks them out course by course in the catalog, which is more transparency than many programs offer, and the total sits well above both the 500-hour certification floor and the 600–700 range that is common in the field. Those hours are also concentrated: three courses of 225 hours each inside 14-week terms. Nurses who want volume and want it structured rather than accumulated piecemeal will find the design serious. The trade-off is scheduling. Roughly 16 clinical hours a week alongside didactic work is a substantial commitment for anyone holding a full-time job, and it lasts through the entire specialty sequence.

The format is the second filter, and it works in both directions. This is a genuine hybrid, not an online program with an occasional visit. Coursework blends online material with face-to-face instruction deliberately scheduled in late afternoon to fit working nurses, and clinical training uses campus simulation labs. For a nurse who learns better with a room and a faculty member in it, that is a real advantage over the fully online Pennsylvania alternatives. For a nurse two hours away, it is disqualifying. Immaculata does not publish how frequently in-person sessions meet, which is the first thing to ask.

The accreditation split is the third filter and the most consequential one. Immaculata’s master’s degree program in nursing carries CCNE accreditation, so MSN graduates are on solid ground. The post-master’s certificate is a different situation: the university states plainly that it is currently seeking accreditation for its post-master’s APRN certificates. National certification bodies and state boards generally require graduation from an accredited program, so a certificate applicant is making a bet on a timeline the university has not published. The certificate is also relatively new, having launched in late 2023, so there is limited graduate-outcome history to weigh against that risk.

Rule Immaculata out if you cannot reach the Immaculata campus on a recurring late-afternoon schedule, if you cannot commit two clinical days a week for three consecutive terms, or if you are a post-master’s applicant who needs accreditation certainty at the point of enrollment. If none of those apply and you are a BSN-prepared nurse in the Philadelphia western suburbs, the MSN offers small classes, in-person faculty access, and a clinical requirement documented in more detail than most programs bother to provide. Post-master’s applicants who want this specific curriculum have a legitimate alternative worth raising with the program director: ask whether admission to the CCNE-accredited MSN, rather than the certificate, is available to you.

Accreditation

The master’s degree program in nursing at Immaculata University is accredited by the Commission on Collegiate Nursing Education, 655 K Street NW, Suite 750, Washington, DC 20001, 202-887-6791. Verified from Immaculata’s own program page, the CCNE scope covers the baccalaureate and master’s degree programs and does not extend to the post-master’s APRN certificate. Immaculata states directly that it is currently seeking accreditation for its post-master’s APRN certificates. In plain terms, that certificate is not accredited today.

CCNE has reviewed post-graduate APRN certificate programs for accreditation since 2014, and the APRN Consensus Model expects all APRN education programs — degree and certificate alike — to be accredited by a recognized nursing accreditor. Certificate applicants should request in writing the university’s expected accreditation timeline, and confirmation of how graduates completing before accreditation is granted will be treated for national certification and Pennsylvania CRNP licensure. Immaculata states that certificate graduates are eligible to apply for national certification through the American Nurses Credentialing Center or the American Association of Nurse Practitioners, meaning dual eligibility for the FNP-BC and FNP-C credentials. Institutionally, Immaculata University is accredited by the Middle States Commission on Higher Education.

Compare More Family NP Programs

Compare all online Family NP programs in Pennsylvania