Northern Arizona University offers 2 Family Nurse Practitioner Tracks:
- MSN
- Family Nurse Practitioner Graduate Certificate
Program Tracks Overview
| Program | Est. Tuition | Est. Duration | Credit Hours |
|---|---|---|---|
| MSN | $33.5K + fees | 2 years FT (6 semester) | 48 |
| Certificate | $27.2K + fees | 1.7 years FT (5 semester) | 39 |
All tuition figures above are derived, not published. NAU posts an annual online rate rather than a per-credit price or a program total. Durations are also derived from credit load, since NAU does not publish a program length for either track. See the Tuition section for the full derivation.
Northern Arizona University’s defining advantage is a fully online FNP built around rural and tribal-community primary care, charged at one online rate that does not change with your residency. The trade-off is a program fee billed every semester including summer, which adds more to the real cost than the credit price suggests.
Quick Facts
| Feature | Details |
|---|---|
| Program Types | MSN (FNP emphasis); post-master’s FNP graduate certificate |
| Format | Online, both tracks. No campus visits or live sessions stated. |
| Clinical Hours | 780 total clinical activity hours; minimum 500 under direct supervision |
| Clinical Placement | Not clearly stated. NAU does not publish who secures preceptors. |
| Population | Primary care across the lifespan, with a stated rural and underserved emphasis |
| Distinctive Coursework | Three-course practicum ladder (NUR 661, 663, 665) alternating with specialty didactics |
| RN License Requirements | Arizona RN license, Arizona eligibility, or multistate license meeting AZ Board rules |
| Arizona Clearance | IVP Fingerprint Clearance Card required. This is an Arizona-issued document. |
| Prerequisite Gate | Undergraduate nursing research and public health nursing, both with a B or better |
| Tuition | $698/credit derived from NAU’s published online rate. Single rate, any residency. |
| Program Fee | $3,600/semester (MSN) or $2,700/semester (certificate), all three terms |
| Accreditation | CCNE (nursing); Higher Learning Commission (institutional) |
MS in Nursing – Advanced Practice, Family Nurse Practitioner Emphasis
The estimated tuition for the MS in Nursing – Advanced Practice at Northern Arizona University is approximately $33,504 (48 credits at $698/credit, derived), before the program fee described below. The program can generally be completed in about six semesters at a full-time graduate load, though NAU publishes only an outer limit: all master’s work must finish within six consecutive years of admission.
MSN Curriculum
The degree is built as a 23-credit shared core plus a 25-credit FNP emphasis. The core is common to both of NAU’s advanced practice tracks, which means you sit alongside psychiatric mental health students for foundational work and split off only at the specialty layer. One core slot is track-dependent: FNP students take NUR 550, while PMHNP students take NUR 653 in the same position.
How the specialty sequence is built. The FNP emphasis alternates didactic and clinical courses rather than front-loading theory and back-loading practicum. NUR 661, 663, and 665 are the three clinical courses, and they sit between the didactic courses that precede them. In practice that means you are placing patients under supervision across most of the specialty sequence instead of concentrating all clinical exposure into a final block. For a working nurse this changes the shape of the workload: the demanding semesters are spread out rather than stacked at the end, but there is no light stretch either.
Foundation core (23 credits, shared):
- NUR 510, NUR 520, NUR 530, NUR 540, NUR 560, NUR 650, NUR 675 (20 credits combined)
- NUR 550 (3 credits), the FNP-designated core course
FNP specialty sequence (25 credits):
- NUR 660, covering assessment and management of health promotion, health maintenance, and disease prevention across the lifespan
- NUR 661, the first family primary care practicum
- NUR 662 and NUR 663, the second didactic and practicum pair
- NUR 664, the third didactic course
- NUR 665, Family Primary Health Care Practicum III, which centers crisis intervention, chronic illness, and complex conditions for the family unit across the life span
- NUR 676, the emphasis course that appears in the degree but not in the certificate
NUR 665 also carries the completion and dissemination of your Evidence-Based Practice capstone, so the final practicum is doing two jobs at once. Plan for that semester to be heavier than its credit count implies.
More curriculum details are available here.
You Should Know
- NAU’s plan of study lists course numbers and credit totals but not full course titles, so you cannot verify subject coverage course by course from the catalog alone. Ask the graduate coordinator for syllabi before committing.
- A thesis may be required or offered as an option depending on the emphasis. The catalog does not state which applies to the FNP track specifically.
- At least 24 of the 48 credits must be formal letter-graded coursework, which limits how much of the degree can sit in practicum or project credit.
- The published credit figure appears as a range of 48 to 51. That range reconciles cleanly: 48 is the FNP emphasis and 51 is the PMHNP emphasis. FNP applicants should read 48.
MSN Clinical Requirements
- 780 total clinical activity hours required of every FNP student
- Minimum 500 of those hours must be direct supervision within the FNP population focus
- Remaining 280 hours may include indirect patient care and related activities that broaden the experience
- Three clinical courses carry the hours: NUR 661, NUR 663, and NUR 665 (an average of 260 hours each if evenly divided)
- Hours are completed under preceptors or mentors with the NAU faculty member teaching the clinical course retaining oversight
- Preceptors and mentors are approved by the FNP Program Coordinator against Arizona State Board of Nursing rules
- Shadowing does not count. Students are expected to participate in hands-on care.
- At the start of each clinical course, students write three to five personal learning objectives mapped to NONPF competencies and program outcomes
780 hours is a substantial requirement. The national certification floor is 500 hours, and most FNP programs land in the 600 to 700 range, so NAU sits above that band by roughly 80 to 180 hours. The structure matters as much as the total: because only 500 hours must be direct supervision, the remaining 280 can be met through indirect and adjacent activity, which is more flexible than it first appears. The no-shadowing rule is the more consequential detail. Programs that permit observation hours let students accumulate volume passively; NAU does not, so every logged hour has to be participatory.
You Should Know
- NAU does not publish whether the school arranges clinical placements or whether students secure their own preceptors. This gap matters more than any other unpublished detail here, because it materially changes the difficulty of the degree. Ask directly before applying.
- No faculty site-visit policy, preceptor-to-student ratio, or clinical site network is published.
- The 780-hour figure comes from NAU’s advanced practice clinical practicum guidelines rather than the program marketing page, which does not state clinical hours at all.
- The guidelines documents that carry these figures were published for an earlier academic year. Confirm the current total with the FNP Program Coordinator.
- Arizona is a full practice authority state, but if you intend to practice elsewhere, confirm your target board accepts hours completed under this structure before you begin.
MSN Admissions
NAU layers a prerequisite coursework gate on top of the usual requirements, and two of those prerequisites carry a B-or-better minimum. This is a real filter: nurses whose undergraduate research or public health nursing grade fell to a C will need to retake before applying.
- Minimum 3.0 GPA in all nursing coursework, and a 3.0 undergraduate GPA for graduate admission generally
- BSN from an accredited program, or an accredited ADN plus a bachelor’s degree in another field
- Current RN license in good standing in Arizona, eligibility to obtain an Arizona license, or a multistate license meeting Arizona Board of Nursing rules
- IVP Fingerprint Clearance Card
- Undergraduate nursing research course (didactic) with a B or better
- Undergraduate public health nursing course (didactic and clinical) with a B or better
- Undergraduate statistics with a C or better, or graduate statistics with a B or better, completed before NUR 530
- Responses to program essay questions
- Resume or curriculum vitae
You Should Know
- The IVP Fingerprint Clearance Card is issued by the Arizona Department of Public Safety. Combined with the Arizona licensure requirement, admission is anchored to Arizona regardless of the online delivery.
- The public health nursing prerequisite must include both didactic and clinical components. Some BSN curricula bundle community health without a separate clinical, which can create a gap that is not obvious until you apply.
- No RN work-experience minimum is stated for this track, which is less restrictive than several FNP programs that gate on one to three years of practice.
- No application deadline, intake schedule, cohort size, or interview requirement is published. Contact graduatenursing@nau.edu for the current cycle.
- NAU has not published a state-by-state determination for this program that was retrievable at the time of writing. If you live outside Arizona, confirm both enrollment authorization and your home board’s acceptance of the degree before you apply.
Family Nurse Practitioner Graduate Certificate
The estimated tuition for the Family Nurse Practitioner Graduate Certificate at Northern Arizona University is approximately $27,222 (39 credits at $698/credit, derived), before the program fee. The program can generally be completed in about five semesters at a full-time graduate load, though NAU does not publish a duration for this track.
Certificate Curriculum
The certificate runs 12 courses and covers the same FNP specialty sequence as the degree, including all three practicum courses. It omits three courses that the MSN requires: NUR 510, NUR 530, and NUR 676. Everything else is identical, down to the course numbers.
What that means for an MSN-prepared nurse. At 39 credits, this certificate is about four-fifths the size of the full master’s degree. That is heavy for a post-master’s credential. Many FNP certificates run 20 to 30 credits because they credit prior graduate coursework toward the core, and NAU’s does not appear to do that on a course-by-course basis. Instead it re-requires most of the graduate core, including NUR 520, 540, 550, 560, 650, and 675. If you completed comparable advanced pathophysiology, pharmacology, or assessment content in your first master’s, ask specifically whether any of it can be waived, because the published plan assumes it cannot.
Required courses (39 credits):
- NUR 520, NUR 540, NUR 550, NUR 560, NUR 650, NUR 675 (graduate core)
- NUR 660, NUR 662, NUR 664 (FNP specialty didactics)
- NUR 661, NUR 663, NUR 665 (the three family primary care practicums)
More curriculum details are available here.
You Should Know
- NAU publishes two different credit totals for this certificate. The catalog requirement line says 39 units; the catalog details tab and the degree-search page both say 38. The 39 figure is the internally consistent one, since 48 minus 39 leaves exactly nine credits across the three omitted courses. Budget for 39.
- No more than 25 percent of certificate units may transfer from another university, capping transfer at roughly nine to ten credits.
- A 400-level undergraduate course completed at another university is not eligible for transfer credit at all.
- No more than three credits of C-graded coursework may count toward the certificate, and a 3.0 cumulative GPA is required to receive it.
- Federal financial aid is available for this certificate whether it is pursued standalone or alongside a degree. NAU states this explicitly, which is worth noting because many graduate certificates are aid-ineligible when taken alone.
Certificate Clinical Requirements
- The certificate requires NUR 661, NUR 663, and NUR 665, the same three clinical courses as the degree
- NAU’s advanced practice clinical guidelines set 780 total clinical activity hours for FNP students, with a minimum of 500 under direct supervision in the population focus
- Same preceptor approval process through the FNP Program Coordinator under Arizona Board of Nursing rules
- Same no-shadowing expectation and same personal learning objective requirement at the start of each clinical course
Because the certificate carries the identical practicum sequence, the clinical burden is not reduced relative to the master’s degree. That is the central trade-off of this pathway: you save nine credits of didactic coursework and none of the clinical time. For an APRN already working full time, the clinical hours, not the classroom hours, are usually the binding constraint on how fast you can finish.
You Should Know
- NAU’s clinical guidelines state the 780-hour figure for FNP students generally rather than naming the certificate specifically. The requirement follows from the shared course sequence, but confirm the figure applies to certificate students in your admission year.
- Placement responsibility is unpublished for this track as well.
- Some state boards apply a separate clinical-hour minimum when an APRN adds a second population focus. Check your board’s rule against the 500 direct-supervision floor before enrolling.
Certificate Admissions
Entry requires a completed master’s degree in nursing, not just an APRN credential, which is narrower than certificates that admit any graduate-prepared nurse.
- Completed MS degree in Nursing from an accredited program
- Minimum 3.0 GPA in all nursing coursework
- Current RN license in good standing in Arizona, eligibility to obtain an Arizona license, or a multistate license meeting Arizona Board of Nursing rules
- IVP Fingerprint Clearance Card
- Clinical health requirements
- Recommendations or references
- Responses to program essay questions
You Should Know
- The undergraduate nursing research, public health nursing, and statistics prerequisites listed for the MSN are not listed for the certificate. Confirm whether they are waived by the master’s degree or simply unstated.
- The Arizona licensure requirement and IVP Fingerprint Clearance Card apply here exactly as they do to the degree.
- No application deadline, intake schedule, or interview requirement is published.
Tuition
The cost per credit is approximately $698, derived rather than published. NAU does not post a per-credit graduate rate for online students. It publishes an annual figure: $12,564 in tuition plus $536 in mandatory fees for the online location in 2026–27. Dividing $12,564 by 18 credits, which is a full-time graduate load of nine credits across fall and spring, produces exactly $698.00 per credit. The clean result is what makes this derivation credible, but it remains a derivation and NAU should be asked to confirm it.
One structural point deserves emphasis before the totals. NAU’s online tuition table has no resident and non-resident columns. Campus-based graduate students are quoted $13,582 as Arizona residents and $33,800 as non-residents, a gap of more than $20,000 a year. Online students are quoted a single figure. If you are an out-of-state nurse, that difference is the most financially significant fact on this page.
| Cost Component | MSN (48 cr) | Certificate (39 cr) |
|---|---|---|
| Tuition at $698/cr (derived) | $33,504 | $27,222 |
| Program fee, per semester | $3,600 | $2,700 |
| Program fee, typical span | $21,600 (6 sem) | $13,500 (5 sem) |
| Mandatory fees at $536/yr | $1,072 (2 yr) | $1,072 (2 yr) |
| Derived all-in estimate | $56,176 | $41,794 |
| Effective cost per credit | $1,170 | $1,072 |
Confirmed costs:
- Online graduate tuition of $12,564 per year, published by NAU for 2026–27
- Mandatory fees of $536 per year at the online location
- No residency tiering on the online tuition rate
- MS Nursing – Advanced Practice program fee of $3,600 per semester, charged fall, spring, and summer, for the duration of the program
- FNP Graduate Certificate program fee of $2,700 per semester, charged fall, spring, and summer, for the duration of the program
- Program fees are set by the Arizona Board of Regents and updated each July 1
- Federal financial aid is available for the certificate as a standalone credential
Be aware that:
- The $698 per-credit rate is derived, not published. If NAU’s online annual figure assumes a different credit load, the per-credit rate and every total on this page shift accordingly. At 24 credits per year the rate would be $523.50, which would lower the MSN tuition estimate to $25,128.
- The program fee is charged per semester, not per credit. Slowing down to a part-time pace does not reduce it. A student who takes eight semesters instead of six pays $28,800 in program fees rather than $21,600, a $7,200 penalty for going slower.
- The program fee is charged in summer as well as fall and spring, which is unusual. Most per-semester program fees are billed only in the two main terms.
- On the derived MSN estimate, the program fee accounts for roughly 38 percent of the total cost. It is not a minor line item and it does not appear in NAU’s tuition tables.
- Program fees are subject to change every July 1, so a multi-year program will likely see the fee rise mid-enrollment.
- NAU’s fee page notes that displayed college and program fee amounts represent a median and vary across program enrollment. Confirm the exact figure for your track.
- Neither program total is published by NAU. Both totals here are constructed from published components and a derived per-credit rate.
- The certificate’s credit count is disputed between 38 and 39 in NAU’s own materials, a $698 swing in tuition alone.
- Durations are derived from credit load. NAU publishes no program length for either track, so the program-fee spans above are estimates.
The honest reading is that NAU’s headline rate and NAU’s actual price are two different numbers. A $698 credit at a public university reads as affordable, and on tuition alone it is. Once the program fee is stacked on, the effective cost lands near $1,170 per credit for the MSN, which is a different market position entirely. The nurses who come out ahead here are the ones who finish on schedule and the ones who would otherwise pay non-resident rates, since both of those advantages are worth real money. The nurses who lose ground are the ones who stretch the program out, because the fee clock keeps running regardless of how few credits they take.
NAU’s graduate tuition page and its graduate program fees page carry the underlying figures.
Why Choose This FNP Program?
Best suited for nurses who already hold or can obtain Arizona licensure, who want primary care training aimed at rural and tribal communities, and who can commit to a steady full-time pace rather than a stretched-out part-time one.
The rural and Indigenous health mission is structural, not promotional. NAU’s own curriculum documents describe the FNP track as designed for nurses who want to provide family primary care in rural settings, and the College of Nursing states that it partners with tribal communities to reduce health disparities and supports Native American students through culturally informed education. Both of NAU’s advanced practice tracks list improving access in rural and underserved communities as a program purpose rather than a marketing line. If you intend to practice in northern Arizona, on tribal land, or in a comparable rural setting elsewhere, that orientation shapes what you study and where NAU’s faculty relationships sit.
The clinical volume is above the common range, and the hour structure is demanding. At 780 total hours with a 500-hour direct-supervision floor and no credit for shadowing, this is more clinical time than the 600 to 700 hours most FNP programs require and well above the 500-hour certification minimum. That is an advantage if you want depth before your first NP job and a burden if you are trying to compress the program around full-time work. The unknown that cuts against it is placement support: NAU does not publish whether it finds your preceptors or you do, and in a rural state where clinical sites are geographically scattered, that answer determines how hard the program actually is.
The pricing rewards speed and out-of-state residency. A single online rate with no non-resident premium is genuinely valuable if you live outside Arizona, and the per-credit figure is modest for a public university. But the semester-based program fee inverts the usual math: in most programs, going part-time spreads cost without increasing it, while here it directly raises the total. Anyone weighing this program should build a semester-by-semester plan first and price the fee against that plan, not against the credit rate.
Accreditation
The Maria and Steve Sanghi College of Nursing states that the baccalaureate degree program in nursing, master’s degree program in nursing, Doctor of Nursing Practice program, and post-graduate APRN certificate programs at Northern Arizona University are accredited by the Commission on Collegiate Nursing Education. That scope statement covers both FNP credentials on this page: the MS in Nursing – Advanced Practice falls under the master’s clause and the FNP Graduate Certificate under the post-graduate APRN certificate clause.
CCNE is the accreditor most graduate nursing programs carry, and it is recognized by the U.S. Department of Education. Its accreditation is what state boards and certification bodies look for when they evaluate whether your degree qualifies you for advanced practice licensure.
Institutionally, Northern Arizona University is accredited by the Higher Learning Commission. Institutional accreditation is what governs federal financial aid eligibility, employer tuition assistance, and whether other universities will accept your credits if you later pursue a doctorate.
Graduates of either track are prepared to sit for the national FNP certification exam through AANP or ANCC. NAU states that completion qualifies the graduate to seek both national certification and Arizona state certification as a Family Nurse Practitioner, and the MSN additionally prepares students for Arizona Board of Nursing endorsement and for application for prescribing and dispensing privileges in Arizona.
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