Clayton State University FNP Programs

School of Nursing • Morrow, GA • Mostly Online • $395/credit

Clayton State University offers 2 Family Nurse Practitioner Tracks:

  • MSN
  • Post-Master’s Certificate

Program Tracks Overview

ProgramEst. TuitionEst. DurationCredit Hours
MSN$18,5652 yrs47
Certificate$16,1952 yrs41

Clayton State’s defining feature is its clinical footprint: 585 hours, compared with Mercer’s 780 and Kennesaw State’s 840. The coursework is delivered online with a mix of asynchronous and synchronous sessions, but every clinical hour must be completed inside Georgia.

Quick Facts

FeatureDetails
Program TypesMSN–FNP concentration; Post-Master’s FNP Certificate
FormatOnline coursework in asynchronous/synchronous mix; clinicals in person
Clinical Hours585 for both tracks, plus a 1-credit assessment lab component
Clinical PlacementSchool states a commitment to preceptor and site access; no guarantee published ⚠️
PopulationLifespan primary care: adult, pediatric, and geriatric
Distinctive CourseworkStandalone 3-credit Diagnostic and Clinical Reasoning course
Prerequisite GateBaccalaureate pharmacology course completed with a B or better
RN License RequirementsUnrestricted Georgia RN license, or eligibility for Georgia licensure
Start TermsFall entry only; July 15 final deadline, January 15 priority deadline
Tuition$395/credit online rate, plus $295 per semester online learning fee
AccreditationCCNE (BSN, MSN, post-master’s certificate); SACSCOC institutionally

MSN – Family Nurse Practitioner Concentration

The estimated tuition for the MSN in Family Nurse Practitioner at Clayton State is approximately $18,565 (47 credits at $395/credit).

The program can generally be completed in about two academic years across five semesters full-time, or three academic years part-time.

MSN Curriculum

Structure. The 47 credits split into 23 credits of nursing core and 24 credits of clinical coursework. The clinical block is unusually clean: four 6-credit courses, each pairing didactic content with a clinical rotation, sequenced adults → children → elderly → capstone practicum.

What stands out. Most FNP programs fold diagnostic reasoning into advanced health assessment. Clayton State separates them into two 3-credit courses taken in different semesters — NURS 6620 covers the physical exam and history-taking mechanics, and NURS 6612 covers turning those findings into a differential. For nurses moving from task-driven bedside practice into a diagnostic role, that separation is the harder transition, and giving it its own course is a real curricular choice rather than a marketing one.

Sequencing. The first full-time semester carries no clinical hours at all — pathophysiology, pharmacology, and role coursework only. Clinicals begin in semester two at 135 hours and stay at 135 per term until the final practicum, which steps up to 180. Part-time students go five terms before their first clinical hour, then carry 135–180 hours in each of the last four.

  • NURS 5503 – Advanced Pathophysiology Across the Lifespan (3)
  • NURS 6620 – Advanced Health Assessment for FNPs (3, includes lab)
  • NURS 6612 – Diagnostic and Clinical Reasoning (3)
  • NURS 6640 – Advanced Pharmacology for FNPs (3)
  • NURS 6630 – Health Promotion and Problems of Adults and Families (6)
  • NURS 6650 – Health Promotion of Children and Families (6)
  • NURS 6681 – Health Promotion and Problems of the Elderly and Families (6)
  • NURS 6660 – Population Health and Emerging Disease (2)
  • NURS 5505 – Theory and Research for Graduate Nursing (4)
  • NURS 6691 – Nurse Practitioner Practicum (6)

NOTE: Two catalog housekeeping issues worth knowing about. The capstone is listed as NURS 6690 in the MSN course list but as NURS 6691 in both the published progression plans and the certificate curriculum. Separately, the prerequisite chains for several clinical courses reference NURS 5410, 6611, 6670, and 6680 — course numbers that appear nowhere in the current curriculum. Neither issue changes what you take, but confirm registration details with your assigned advisor.

More curriculum details are available here.

MSN Clinical Requirements

  • 585 total clinical hours, verified against the published progression plan: 135 + 135 + 135 + 180
  • NURS 6620 adds a separate 1-credit assessment lab; the delivery location is not clearly stated
  • All clinical rotations and preceptorships must be completed in the state of Georgia
  • Preceptors must practice under Georgia licensure and site supervision
  • The School of Nursing states a commitment to providing access to appropriate preceptors and clinical sites; no placement guarantee is published
  • Faculty site visit policy is not clearly stated

585 hours clears the 500-hour national certification floor by 85 hours, but sits below the 600–700 band that is common across FNP programs and well below Mercer’s 780 or Kennesaw State’s 840. That has two practical consequences. It lowers the total time you must arrange around a working schedule, which matters most to part-time students who front-load coursework and compress all 585 hours into their final four terms. It also means you graduate with fewer supervised patient encounters than peers from higher-hour programs, so the quality and variety of your placements carry more weight here than they would elsewhere.

The Georgia-only clinical rule compounds this: if you live near a state line or plan to relocate mid-program, the program does not flex.

MSN Admissions

Three items deserve attention before you apply: a single fall intake, a hard undergraduate pharmacology prerequisite that must already be complete, and a Georgia licensure requirement that applies at admission rather than at graduation.

  • Fall entry only. Final application and document deadline is July 15; the priority deadline is January 15
  • BSN from an accredited institution with a minimum 3.0 GPA on a 4.0 scale
  • Current unrestricted Georgia RN license, or eligibility for Georgia RN licensure; proof of licensure in some state is required before the end of the first semester
  • $50 non-refundable application fee, submitted with the electronic application; no waivers or deferrals
  • Baccalaureate-level pharmacology course passed with a B or better; a combined pathophysiology/pharmacology course may be reviewed by syllabus for equivalency
  • Two letters of recommendation on institutional letterhead, sent directly to Graduate Enrollment Services
  • Statement of purpose, no more than two single-spaced pages
  • Official transcripts sent directly from the awarding institution
  • One to two years of clinical nursing experience preferred, not required
  • An on-campus interview may be required
  • Applicants are asked to email the MSN graduate program director after submitting

NOTE: The January 15 priority deadline is described as being for applicants “seeking an early start in summer semester,” but only a fall term is listed in the deadline table. If you want a summer start, confirm whether that pathway is actually open before planning around it.

Clayton State’s pages contradict each other on out-of-state applicants. The MSN program page states the program cannot accept NP applicants from eCompact states; the admissions page states it can accept eCompact-state applicants who have permission to practice in Georgia. Both agree clinicals must occur in Georgia. If you hold a compact license outside Georgia, get a written answer from the program director before paying an application fee.

Post-Master’s FNP Certificate

The estimated tuition for the Post-Master’s FNP Certificate at Clayton State is approximately $16,195 (41 credits at $395/credit), or about $14,220 if the 36-credit figure published on the program page is the operative one.

The program can generally be completed in about two academic years across five semesters full-time, or three academic years part-time — the same published timeline as the full MSN.

Certificate Curriculum

The certificate is the MSN’s FNP content with two courses removed: Theory and Research for Graduate Nursing (4 credits) and Population Health and Emerging Disease (2 credits). That is the entire itemized difference — 41 credits against the MSN’s 47.

NOTE: Three conflicting credit figures. The certificate program page states 36 credit hours. The catalog course list itemizes to 41. And the MSN catalog entry says post-MSN students may receive up to nine hours of credit, which would imply 38. Meanwhile, only Advanced Pathophysiology and Health Care Policy are flagged as potentially waivable in the published certificate plan, totaling six credits.

Four sources, four different answers. Treat 41 as the documented ceiling, expect a transcript evaluation to set your actual number, and get the total in writing before you commit — the spread between 36 and 41 credits is roughly $1,975 in tuition.

  • NURS 5503 – Advanced Pathophysiology Across the Lifespan (3, waiver possible)
  • NURS 5504 – Health Care Policy (3, waiver possible)
  • NURS 6620 – Advanced Health Assessment for FNPs (3)
  • NURS 6640 – Advanced Pharmacology for FNPs (3)
  • NURS 6671 – Advanced Practice Nursing Roles in Society (2)
  • NURS 6612 – Diagnostic and Clinical Reasoning (3)
  • NURS 6630, 6650, 6681 – the three lifespan clinical courses (6 each)
  • NURS 6691 – Nurse Practitioner Practicum (6)

More curriculum details are available here.

Certificate Clinical Requirements

  • 585 clinical hours — identical to the MSN, with no reduction for prior graduate education
  • Same 135 / 135 / 135 / 180 distribution across the final four terms
  • All hours must be completed in Georgia

On the documented 41-credit figure, the certificate saves six credits and roughly $2,370 against the MSN, on the same five-semester full-time calendar and the same clinical load. For a nurse who already holds an MSN that is a reasonable trade, since the clinical hours are an accreditation requirement and cannot be waived. But nurses shopping for a fast post-master’s route should note that this one is not fast — it is the master’s program minus two didactic courses, on an identical timeline.

Certificate Admissions

The certificate requires both an MSN and a BSN, each at a 3.0 minimum — a stricter documentation burden than programs that accept the graduate degree alone.

  • Fall entry only; July 15 final deadline, January 15 priority deadline
  • MSN from an accredited institution, minimum 3.0 GPA
  • BSN from an accredited institution, minimum 3.0 GPA
  • Current unrestricted Georgia RN license, or eligibility for Georgia licensure
  • Two letters of recommendation
  • Statement of purpose, no more than two single-spaced pages
  • One to two years of clinical nursing experience preferred
  • An on-campus interview may be required

Tuition

Clayton State bills its online graduate programs at $395 per credit hour. That yields an estimated $18,565 in tuition for the 47-credit MSN and $14,220 to $16,195 for the certificate, depending on which of the school’s published credit totals applies. Adding the $295 per-semester online learning fee brings a five-semester full-time MSN to roughly $20,040 and the certificate to somewhere between $15,700 and $17,670. Part-time students pay the fee across more terms, so a three-year MSN runs closer to $20,900.

  • The published online graduate schedule lists a single in-state tuition row with no out-of-state tier, which suggests the rate is residency-neutral — confirm with the Bursar before budgeting as an out-of-state applicant
  • $295 per semester online learning fee, charged regardless of credit load
  • No semester in either full-time or part-time plan exceeds 11 credits, so the per-credit rate applies throughout; there is no flat-rate full-time break to capture
  • NOTE: The online graduate and online certificate schedules currently posted cover Fall 2025–Summer 2026, while the general graduate schedule has advanced to Fall 2026–Summer 2027. Rates for the current cycle may be higher
  • Course and lab fees, drug screening, background checks, and immunization costs are not included in the published schedules
  • Rates are set by the University System of Georgia Board of Regents and change annually
  • Clayton State’s financial aid cost-of-attendance page does not publish a tuition figure at all — it redirects to the Bursar’s schedules, so the per-credit rate is the only usable basis for an estimate

The realistic all-in figure is closer to $20,000 for the MSN than to the $18,565 tuition line, and that is before clinical compliance costs, which typically run a few hundred dollars per year.

See the Clayton State Bursar tuition page for current schedules.

Why Choose This FNP Program?

Best suited for Georgia-licensed nurses who want a public-university FNP at a moderate price, with a lighter clinical load than most programs demand and a curriculum that treats diagnostic reasoning as its own subject.

The case for Clayton State rests on three things. The clinical requirement is 585 hours, against Mercer’s 780 and Kennesaw State’s 840 — roughly 200 to 250 fewer hours of arranged, supervised practice to fit around a job. The $395 online rate appears to apply regardless of residency. And the curriculum splits assessment from diagnostic reasoning into two separate 3-credit courses, which addresses the actual hard part of the RN-to-NP transition more directly than programs that compress both into one.

The trade-offs are geographic, structural, and administrative. Every clinical hour happens in Georgia, and Georgia RN licensure is an admission requirement rather than a graduation one, so this is not a program you enroll in from out of state and hope to sort out later. There is one intake a year, in fall, which means a missed July 15 deadline costs you a full year. Placement support is described as a commitment rather than a guarantee, and with fewer total hours, the variety you get from whichever preceptors you land matters more than it would in an 800-hour program.

The published documentation is also inconsistent in ways that should shape how you approach the program. Clayton State’s own pages contradict each other on whether compact-state applicants are eligible at all, publish three different credit totals for the certificate, and carry course numbers in the catalog that no longer match the progression plans. None of this speaks to instructional quality — the program is CCNE-accredited and has been graduating FNP cohorts since 2017 — but it does mean you should confirm your specific requirements in writing with the program director rather than relying on the website.

The certificate deserves a separate warning. On the documented curriculum it runs 41 credits across five full-time semesters — only marginally shorter than the MSN, and on an identical calendar. If you already hold a master’s and are choosing between this and a shorter post-master’s option elsewhere, run the credit comparison before assuming the certificate label means a faster route.

Accreditation

The baccalaureate and master’s degree programs and the post-master’s certificate in nursing at Clayton State University are accredited by the Commission on Collegiate Nursing Education (CCNE), verified from the School of Nursing’s accreditation page. The university is institutionally accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges (SACSCOC). Clayton State states that graduates of the FNP program are eligible to sit for national certification through either the American Nurses Credentialing Center (FNP-BC) or the American Academy of Nurse Practitioners Certification Board (FNP-C) — dual eligibility, confirmed by the school for both tracks.

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