Augsburg University FNP Programs

Department of Nursing • Minneapolis, MN • Hyrbid • $1,090/credit

Augsburg University offers a BSN-DNP Family Nurse Practitioner Track.

Program Tracks Overview

ProgramEst. TuitionEst. DurationCredit Hours
BSN-DNP$87.2K4 years (11 semesters)80

Augsburg’s defining advantage is a curriculum built around transcultural nursing rather than one that mentions it. Six of the 80 credits are practicum credits attached to cultural-immersion coursework, and the required first-semester orientation is a five-day residential experience in South Dakota, which means real travel obligations on top of the Minneapolis campus sessions.

Quick Facts

FeatureDetails
Program TypesPost-BSN DNP only. Nurses holding an MSN enter the same track. No MSN or post-graduate certificate route.
FormatHybrid. Synchronous Zoom plus in-person sessions at Riverside Park Plaza near the Minneapolis campus.
Clinical Hours765 FNP clinical hours plus 270 DNP practicum hours, for 1,035 total.
Clinical PlacementFNP primary care sites arranged by Augsburg’s Clinical Placement Director and FNP faculty.
PopulationFamilies across the lifespan, including pediatrics, women’s health, and older adults.
Distinctive CourseworkTranscultural nursing, nutraceutical therapies, integrative wellness, and a Lakota-focused residential orientation.
ConcentrationsNone. Two optional half-credit skills labs cover women’s health and musculoskeletal assessment.
RN License RequirementsUnencumbered U.S. RN license. A Minnesota RN license is required before the program starts.
Tuition$1,090 per credit for 2026-27. About $87,200 across 80 credits (derived).
Start TermsFall only, cohort model. Applications open September 1 on a rolling basis.
AccreditationCCNE. The DNP-FNP track is separately approved by the Minnesota Board of Nursing.

BSN to DNP, Family Nurse Practitioner

The estimated tuition for the Doctor of Nursing Practice – Family Nurse Practitioner at Augsburg University is approximately $87,200 (80 credits at $1,090/credit). The program can generally be completed in about 4 years of full-time study across 11 semesters, with a part-time option in years one and two that extends the timeline to 13 to 16 semesters.

BSN-DNP Curriculum

A doctoral core shared with Augsburg’s other graduate nursing programs. Years one and two run four 500-level courses that also serve the master’s and the transcultural doctorate: foundations of health equity, nursing research, nursing leadership, and health policy. Each carries a separate 1-credit practicum, and students choose how to earn those hours from a menu that changes by semester. That structure is unusual. Most FNP programs attach practicum hours to clinical courses only; Augsburg attaches them to the theory sequence as well, which is why the DNP portion alone accounts for 270 hours before any primary care clinical begins.

The FNP specialty spine sits in years two and three. Pathophysiology, pharmacology, and health assessment are split into paired courses rather than delivered as single survey classes, and the pharmacology sequence is explicitly framed as pharmaceutical and nutraceutical therapy. Primary care is taught in three parts: adults I and II, and a dedicated children and families course. Year three ends with a clinical preparedness course and a mock simulation day before the first precepted rotation.

The sequence is term-locked. Advanced Pathophysiology I and Integrative Illness Prevention run in summer only. Holistic Health Assessment and the second pharmacology course run the following summer. Because each course is a prerequisite for the next, there is effectively one entry point per year regardless of how flexible the part-time option looks.

  • NUR 700 Practicum: DNP Orientation (required residential immersion, 1 credit)
  • NUR 816 and NUR 833 Advanced Pathophysiology I and II (5 credits combined)
  • NUR 818 and NUR 826 Pharmaceutical and Nutraceutical Therapies I and II (6 credits combined)
  • NUR 819 Holistic Health Assessment for Advanced Practice Nursing
  • NUR 820 Integrative Illness Prevention and Wellness Promotion
  • NUR 824 and NUR 825 Integrative Primary Care of Adults I and II
  • NUR 827 Integrative Primary Care of Children and Families
  • NUR 847 Integrative Clinical Preparedness for Advanced Practice Nursing
  • NUR 861 Multidimensional Influences on Health (genetics and environment)
  • NUR 842 Transition to Advanced Practice Nursing

Three 1-credit doctoral seminars carry the DNP scholarly project from problem identification through evaluation, with a separate implementation practicum between the second and third seminar. The project is presented publicly in the final spring alongside an exit interview and a national board predictor exam.

You Should Know
  • Augsburg publishes two different breakdowns of the same 80 credits. The graduate catalog’s course table sums exactly to 80 as 54 didactic, 3 seminar, 6 practicum, and 17 clinical. The program’s own About page describes the total as 52 didactic, 4 seminar, and 24 practicum. The course table is the version that reconciles against the published course list.
  • The catalog paragraph describing program length adds “two half-credit elective clinical skills labs” to a total it also states as 80, which produces 81. Those labs (NUR 844 and NUR 845) do not appear in the required course table, so they read as electives billed on top of the 80 credits.
  • No MSN-level FNP option and no post-graduate FNP certificate exist at Augsburg. Nurses who already hold an MSN enter the same 80-credit doctorate and petition for transfer credit.
  • Didactic transfer credit is capped at 9 post-baccalaureate graduate credits, and a syllabus is required for each course reviewed.

BSN-DNP Clinical Requirements

  • 765 precepted FNP clinical hours across seven courses: NUR 850 (135), NUR 851 (90), NUR 852 (135), NUR 853 (90), NUR 854 (90), NUR 855 (135), and NUR 856 (90).
  • 270 additional DNP practicum hours from six practicum credits, computed at Augsburg’s published rate of 45 clock hours per semester credit.
  • 1,035 total practicum and clinical hours, per the graduate catalog. ⚠ The program’s About page states 1,080 hours and 24 practicum credits; the course-level arithmetic supports 1,035 and 23 credits.
  • Placement model: FNP primary care sites are arranged by Augsburg, coordinated through a Family Nurse Practitioner Clinical Placement Director and FNP faculty. Students do not source their own primary care preceptors.
  • Rotations span primary care across the lifespan, including pediatric patients and older adults, in a range of settings.
  • DNP practicum hours can be earned locally at the Augsburg Health Commons, a set of nursing-led drop-in centers in downtown Minneapolis, Cedar-Riverside, the Harrison neighborhood, and East St. Paul.
  • An objective structured clinical examination sits inside NUR 852, and mock simulation days precede the year three and year four clinical sequences.
  • Pre-placement requirements include health screenings, immunizations, a background study, CPR certification, and HIPAA training. Drug, alcohol, or HIV testing may also be required by a site.

765 hours sits above the 500-hour national certification floor and above the 600 to 700 hours common among FNP programs. Spread across four terms, the load runs roughly 9 hours per week in the first clinical term and 15 hours per week in the two heaviest terms, which is a meaningful commitment for anyone still working. The placement model is the practical counterweight: because Augsburg arranges the primary care sites rather than asking students to negotiate with clinics, the higher hour total does not come with the preceptor search that makes hour totals unpredictable elsewhere.

You Should Know
  • A third figure appears in Augsburg’s immersion materials, which state that DNP-FNP students must complete “a minimum of 600 clinical practicum hours in primary care settings.” That is 165 hours below the 765 the course sequence actually requires, and it reads as a floor rather than the plan.
  • Transferable prior practice hours are stated three ways: 270 in the catalog’s DNP-FNP practicum section, 225 in the same catalog’s admission checklist, and 600 on the live admissions page, where that figure also appears in the transcultural track’s section. Confirm the number with the program before assuming credit for master’s-level hours.
  • The required NUR 700 orientation is a five-day residential immersion at Custer State Park in South Dakota, held in September of year one and carrying a Center for Global Education and Experience fee that is not published.
  • Optional immersion practica in Oaxaca, Mexico and Guatemala run roughly 10 days each and carry program fees plus airfare. A three-day trauma-focused practicum at a healing center in Inver Grove Heights carries its own fee.
  • Augsburg does not publish a telehealth clinical policy or a cap on telehealth hours.

BSN-DNP Admissions

Two things separate this application from most FNP programs: there is no RN experience requirement, only a recommendation, and every applicant interviews with nursing faculty before an offer is made.

  • BSN or BAN from an accredited institution and a nationally accredited nursing program, with a cumulative GPA of 3.0 or higher. Applicants entering with an MSN or MAN need a 3.2.
  • Current unencumbered RN license in the United States, plus the ability to obtain a Minnesota RN license before the program starts. Additional state licenses may be required for specific rotations.
  • One year of RN experience and current clinical practice are highly recommended, not required.
  • One professional reference, preferably from a supervisor, manager, prior faculty member, or an advanced practice provider.
  • A professional essay responding to a question posted on the application, plus a current resume or CV.
  • Personal interview with Augsburg nursing faculty.
  • Official transcripts from every degree-granting institution, requested through a verified transcript service. Uploaded copies are treated as unofficial.
  • Evidence of a completed undergraduate statistics course before enrolling in NUR 520 and its practicum. This is an admitted-student requirement, not an application gate.
  • Applications open September 1 for the following fall cohort and are reviewed on a rolling basis.
You Should Know
  • The Minnesota RN license requirement is a real filter. Out-of-state applicants need to be able to hold Minnesota licensure by the start of the program, not simply a license somewhere.
  • Augsburg fills the cohort and then opens a waitlist. Applicants still on the waitlist when the program starts are guaranteed a seat in the following year’s cohort, which turns a late application into a deferral rather than a rejection.
  • Augsburg participates in SARA through the Minnesota Office of Higher Education. Every state except California is a SARA member, and Augsburg can serve California students because that state does not regulate out-of-state nonprofit accredited institutions.
  • Under Augsburg’s student location policy, a permanent address change is a program event. The university states that relocating to another state mid-program may affect whether a student can remain enrolled, meet licensure requirements, or keep receiving financial aid. Students in licensure programs must contact the program director before moving.
  • Students who do not register for two consecutive semesters are deactivated and must apply for readmission.

Tuition

Augsburg publishes a single per-credit rate for this program: $1,090 per 1.0 credit for the 2026-27 year, listed on the Student Financial Services graduate tuition schedule as the Doctor of Nursing Practice rate. It is not tiered by residency, since Augsburg is a private university, and it is not a flat full-time rate. Students are charged per credit, so the annual bill tracks the plan of study rather than a fixed figure.

ComponentFigure
Published rate per credit (2026-27)$1,090
Required credits80
Derived program tuition$87,200
Derived tuition per year at the full-time pace (20 credits)$21,800

The $87,200 figure is derived, not published. Augsburg does not post a total program cost for the DNP-FNP; the calculation is 80 required credits multiplied by the published per-credit rate.

Confirmed costs:

  • $1,090 per credit, charged per credit rather than at a flat semester rate.
  • 3 credits counts as half-time and 6 credits as full-time for enrollment status, which matters for federal loan eligibility.
  • Students may charge up to $750 per term to a bookstore account, billed for actual spending only.
  • Graduate course auditing is billed at $1,000 per course.

Be aware that:

  • The Board of Regents reviews and approves costs annually. A four-year program means exposure to three or four rate resets after enrollment, and Augsburg reserves the right to adjust charges.
  • The required NUR 700 orientation carries a Center for Global Education and Experience fee that Augsburg does not publish. Optional immersion practica in Mexico and Guatemala carry program fees plus airfare, and the Soul Trauma for Healing weekend carries a practicum fee.
  • The two optional half-credit skills labs add roughly $1,090 if both are taken.
  • Augsburg’s published graduate cost of attendance lists $18,786 in tuition per academic year, which implies about 17 credits. The FNP plan of study runs closer to 20 credits per year, or about $21,800. Budget from the per-credit rate, not the cost of attendance sheet.
  • The catalog states that specific courses or programs may carry lab or supply fees. No fee schedule for individual FNP courses is published.
  • Online credit card payments carry a service fee of 2.95 percent domestic or 4.25 percent international, minimum $3, on any payment above $20. Augsburg does not accept cards in person or by phone.
  • Unpaid balances accrue finance charges at 8 percent per year, and a returned payment carries a $30 fee. Students dropped for non-attendance can be billed a withdrawal fee of up to $300.

The practical read is that $87,200 is a floor rather than a ceiling. The travel obligations attached to the required orientation and the optional immersions are real money that never appears in a per-credit calculation, and Augsburg publishes neither figure. Anyone comparing this program against another private doctorate should ask the program directly what the orientation fee runs and whether any FNP course carries a lab fee, then add both to the derived total. Full details are on Augsburg’s graduate tuition page.

Why Choose This FNP Program?

Best suited for nurses who want cultural context built into the clinical training itself, who can commit to four unbroken years, and who would rather be placed than go find their own preceptor.

The transcultural framing is structural, and that is the whole point. Plenty of FNP programs offer a cultural competence course. Augsburg attaches practicum credit to its theory sequence and lets students earn those hours in a Lakota-focused residential immersion, at nursing-led drop-in centers serving unhoused and immigrant populations in the Twin Cities, or on 10-day immersions in Oaxaca or Guatemala. The pharmacology sequence covers nutraceuticals alongside pharmaceuticals, and primary care is taught as integrative practice rather than as protocol coverage. If that orientation matches how you want to practice, no amount of comparing credit counts will substitute for it.

Placement is handled for you. Augsburg states that FNP primary care clinical sites are arranged by the program’s Clinical Placement Director and FNP faculty. For a 765-hour requirement, that removes the single most common source of delay in nurse practitioner education. It also means less control over where you land, which matters if you had a specific clinic or a specific population in mind.

The trade-offs are concrete. This is a four-year, fall-entry, single-pathway program with no MSN or certificate shortcut, so there is no way to reach FNP licensure at Augsburg faster or more cheaply. The hybrid format asks for physical presence in Minneapolis once or twice a month from year two onward, which effectively limits the program to people within driving distance. Year one adds a required trip to South Dakota. And at roughly $87,200 in tuition before fees and travel, you are paying doctoral rates for four years to reach the same certification a shorter master’s program reaches. The case for doing it here rests on wanting what the extra time buys, not on the arithmetic.

Accreditation

The baccalaureate, master’s, and Doctor of Nursing Practice programs at Augsburg University are accredited by the Commission on Collegiate Nursing Education, 655 K Street NW, Suite 750, Washington, DC 20001, 202-887-6791. The DNP accreditation covers the Family Nurse Practitioner track, which is the only FNP pathway Augsburg offers.

The DNP-FNP also appears separately in Augsburg’s accreditation listing as a program approved by the Minnesota Board of Nursing. State board approval is a distinct review from national nursing accreditation, and having both named at the track level is worth noting when a program’s specialty scope is otherwise hard to verify.

Augsburg has been continuously accredited by the Higher Learning Commission since 1954. Institutional accreditation is what determines federal financial aid eligibility and whether credits transfer, so it matters independently of the nursing accreditor.

Graduates are eligible to sit for the national FNP certification exam (AANP or ANCC). Augsburg’s descriptions are not consistent on which: the program page and graduate catalog name both certifying bodies, while the program’s About page and the DNP overview page name ANCC only. Both exams are accepted for licensure in every state, so the practical effect is limited, but confirm with the program if you have a preference.

Compare More Family NP Programs