Saint Anthony College of Nursing FNP Programs

College of Nursing • Rockford, IL • Hybrid • $1,014/credit

Saint Anthony College of Nursing offers 4 Family Nurse Practitioner Tracks:

  • MSN
  • Post-Master’s Certificate
  • BSN-to-DNP
  • Post-Master’s DNP

Program Tracks Overview

ProgramEst. TuitionEst. DurationCredit Hours
MSN$1,014/cr4 years (8 semesters, derived)Not published
Certificate$1,014/crAbout 2 years (5 terms, derived)Not published
BSN-DNP$1,014/crAbout 6 years (derived)Not published
PM-DNP$1,014/crAbout 4 years (derived)Not published

Saint Anthony’s defining feature is that its FNP program is a scheduled campus program, not an online one. Graduate courses meet on weeknight evenings in assigned classrooms at the Rockford campus, and the college publishes no credit total, course sequence, or FNP-specific clinical hour figure for any of its four FNP tracks.

That combination is unusual. Most schools that publish this little are small online programs; Saint Anthony is a small in-person one, with graduate sections that sometimes run with one or two students enrolled. The published record is strong on price and on college-wide clinical minimums, and nearly silent on everything a normal program comparison depends on.

Quick Facts

FeatureDetails
Program TypesMSN, post-master’s certificate, BSN-to-DNP, post-master’s DNP
FormatHybrid. Weeknight graduate classes in Rockford classrooms, some sections synchronous online
Clinical Hours750 minimum for MSN and certificate; 1,000 minimum for both DNP tracks
Clinical PlacementNot clearly stated. Clinical facilities are typically within about 20 miles of campus
PopulationFamily across the lifespan, from newborns through older adults
Distinctive CourseworkCatholic healthcare ethics and social justice; differential diagnosis; prescriptive authority
ConcentrationsNone published
RN License RequirementsCurrent unencumbered RN or APN license required at application
Tuition$1,014 per graduate credit. No program totals published for any FNP track
AccreditationCCNE for the MSN, DNP, and post-graduate APRN certificate; HLC institutional
Cohort SizeVery small. Fall 2026 graduate NP sections show seat caps as low as one or two
Published Program SpecsNo credit totals, course sequences, or plans of study published for any FNP track

MSN – Family Nurse Practitioner

Saint Anthony does not publish a credit total or a per-track total cost for the MSN Family Nurse Practitioner track, so the only firm tuition figure is the graduate rate of $1,014 per credit. The college states the program typically takes four years to complete, which works out to eight fall and spring semesters at the part-time pace its graduate students almost universally follow.

MSN Curriculum

There is no published FNP plan of study. What follows is drawn from the college’s live course schedule and course catalog rather than from a program page, so treat it as an observed snapshot of the graduate advanced-practice core, not a confirmed sequence.

What the schedule shows. Graduate courses run once a week in late afternoon and evening blocks, most commonly 4:00 to 8:00 p.m., in named classrooms on the Rockford campus. A few carry an online designation but still list a fixed weekly meeting time, which means synchronous attendance rather than asynchronous coursework.

A curriculum in transition. Two numbering systems are running side by side. Legacy graduate courses use the N500 and N600 series, while newly numbered NURS 500-series courses have appeared with much larger enrollments. Advanced Pathophysiology now carries the NURS 555 number at four credits, and a four-credit NURS 530 Ethics and Social Justice course has replaced older ethics content. That pattern points to a graduate curriculum being rebuilt, which is worth asking about directly, since it affects what you will actually take.

Graduate courses observed on the current schedule:

  • NURS 555 Advanced Pathophysiology (4 credits)
  • NURS 530 Ethics and Social Justice (4 credits)
  • N559 Differential Diagnosis (3 credits)
  • N642 Clinical Decision-Making (4 credits)
  • N550 Prescriptive Authority for Advanced Practice Nurses (1 credit)
  • N514 Principles of Nursing Research (3 credits)
  • PH556 Epidemiology in Health Prevention (3 credits)
  • PR670, PR671, PR672 Master’s Project sequence (1 credit each)

Two of those deserve comment. NURS 530 is not a generic ethics course: it applies Catholic moral and social teaching to clinical, organizational, and policy decisions, with an explicit focus on structurally vulnerable populations. And the Master’s Project sequence appears to be required, because the college describes its Nurse Educator track as the one with no required project. Confirm both before you build a schedule around them.

More curriculum details are available in the college catalog.

You Should Know
  • No FNP course list, credit total, or plan of study is published on any Saint Anthony page or in the public catalog sections.
  • The course list above is observed from a single term’s schedule. It is not a substitute for a plan of study from the graduate dean.
  • No FNP-designated specialty course appears on the Fall 2026 graduate schedule, though other nurse practitioner specialty courses do. Ask which terms FNP specialty courses run.
  • Graduate clinical courses must be added before the first day of the semester and depend on space and preceptor availability, so a full section can delay you a term.

MSN Clinical Requirements

  • Minimum 750 practicum hours, set as a college-wide floor for all APRN programs rather than an FNP-specific figure.
  • Graduate clinical credit converts at 100 clock hours per credit, so 750 hours represents at least 7.5 clinical credits.
  • Simulation activities do not count toward clinical practice hours.
  • Clinical facilities are typically located within a 20-mile radius of campus, though students may be assigned farther away.
  • Students are responsible for their own transportation to clinical sites.
  • Objective Structured Clinical Evaluations are billed per experience per semester, which confirms on-campus skills evaluation is part of the program.
  • Graduate students must maintain CPR certification, renewed every two years.

At 750 hours, this sits well above the 500-hour national certification floor and above the 600 to 700 range most FNP programs occupy. That is a real advantage in a first job search, but it is also roughly 100 to 150 additional unpaid clinical hours compared with a program at the top of that range, or about six to nine extra weeks at a two-day-a-week clinical pace. The 20-mile guidance matters just as much: if you live outside the Rockford area, you should confirm in writing whether clinical placement near your home is possible before you apply.

You Should Know
  • 750 is a stated minimum, not a published FNP total. The actual FNP requirement may be higher and is not disclosed anywhere.
  • Who secures the preceptor is not clearly stated. The catalog says experiences are tailored to preceptor availability, but it does not say whether faculty arrange placements or students do.
  • Clinical sites may bill fees directly to the student. The college does not publish typical amounts.
  • A clinical make-up fee of $20 per clock hour applies to a second absence in a course, rising to $40 per hour beyond two absences.

MSN Admissions

The GPA bar is lower than most graduate nursing programs set, and there is no stated RN experience requirement, but the application asks for more written material than a typical FNP application.

  • Minimum cumulative GPA of 2.8 on a 4.0 scale.
  • Completed application and non-refundable $75 application fee, waived for OSF Mission Partners.
  • Current resume.
  • Copy of current unencumbered RN or APN license.
  • Typed statement of professional, educational, and career goals, 250 to 500 words, addressing how the program fits your goals.
  • Three letters submitted electronically by evaluators you name in the application.
  • Criminal background check, drug screening, health history, and immunization records through ViewPoint Screening.
  • $200 non-refundable deposit within 14 days of acceptance, applied against tuition.

See the full MSN admissions requirements for current details.

You Should Know
  • Application deadlines and start terms are not published. Ask when applications close and how many times a year the FNP cohort starts.
  • Graduate students must earn a B or better in every course. A C requires repeating the course and triggers academic probation.
  • The MSN must be completed within six years of initial enrollment.
  • Saint Anthony participates in NC-SARA but publishes no list of states it cannot enroll from. If you live outside Illinois, confirm your state’s status and your board’s licensure requirements in writing.

Family Nurse Practitioner Post-Master’s Certificate

Saint Anthony publishes no tuition total for the post-master’s FNP certificate, and it cannot, because the credit count is set individually. Coursework is determined by a gap analysis of your final transcripts, then priced at the standard $1,014 graduate rate.

Certificate Curriculum

There is no fixed certificate curriculum. The college builds an individualized program plan from your prior graduate coursework, following national APRN and ANCC guidelines. In practice that means a master’s-prepared nurse who already holds advanced pathophysiology, pharmacology, and health assessment credit will carry fewer didactic courses and mostly clinical ones, while someone whose master’s was in education or administration should expect the full advanced-practice core.

This is a reasonable design and it is common at small colleges. The trade-off is that you cannot price or schedule the certificate before you apply, transcript in hand. Anyone comparing this against a fixed-credit certificate elsewhere is comparing a known quantity against an unknown one.

You Should Know
  • Credit count, cost, duration, and course list are all determined after admission. None are published.
  • Separate certificate admissions requirements are not published. The MSN requirements are the closest published reference point, but confirm this.
  • The gap analysis is performed on final transcripts, so the plan is not fixed until your prior degree is verified.
  • Confirm that your state board recognizes a post-graduate certificate for adding the FNP population focus. Boards set their own rules for a second APRN population focus.

Certificate Clinical Requirements

  • Minimum 750 practicum hours, the same APRN floor that applies to the MSN.
  • At 100 clock hours per clinical credit, that is at least 7.5 clinical credits regardless of how much didactic work the gap analysis waives.
  • Simulation does not count toward the requirement.
  • The 20-mile clinical radius guidance and per-experience OSCE fees apply here as they do to the MSN.

The clinical floor is the part of the certificate that does not shrink. Transfer credit and prior coursework reduce the didactic load, not the 750 hours, which is why the certificate takes roughly two years even for a well-prepared applicant. Working backward from that floor at a part-time clinical pace of about 1.5 to 2 clinical credits per term gives four to five terms of clinical work, and Saint Anthony runs fall, spring, and an eight-week summer term. The two-year estimate in the table above is derived on that basis, with a realistic range of 1.5 to 3 years depending on how much didactic work the gap analysis adds.

BSN-to-DNP – Family Nurse Practitioner

Tuition for the post-baccalaureate DNP Family Nurse Practitioner track is billed at the same $1,014 per graduate credit, with no published credit total. Saint Anthony states that the DNP takes four to six years depending on which entry option you choose, and the six-year end of that range is the reading that fits a bachelor’s-level entry.

BSN-to-DNP Curriculum

Two FNP-specific immersions. This is the one place where Saint Anthony publishes real FNP detail. N727, the first FNP DNP Immersion, is a three-credit course carrying 200 clinical clock hours in lifespan primary and preventive care, taken after the FNP practicum core. N729, the second, adds another 200 hours and emphasizes independent clinical decision-making, interdisciplinary collaboration, and referral. Placement for both is based on your own clinical interest.

A doctoral project aimed at underserved populations. The DNP project sequence is written specifically around rural or underserved populations, healthcare systems, and communities, and it requires a manuscript submitted for publication rather than only a defense. EBP777 through EBP780 move from planning to implementation to dissemination, ending with a poster presentation and a completed manuscript.

Representative doctoral coursework:

  • N727 Family Nurse Practitioner DNP Immersion I (3 credits, 200 clinical hours)
  • N729 Family Nurse Practitioner DNP Immersion II (3 credits, 200 clinical hours)
  • N732 Evidence-Based Nursing Practice and Translational Research in Healthcare (2 credits)
  • EBP777, EBP778, EBP779, EBP780 DNP project sequence, planning through dissemination
  • B724 Healthcare Economics and Finance (3 credits)
  • B682 Quality and Safety with Information Technology (3 credits)
  • S710 Healthcare Policy, Legislation and Advocacy (3 credits)
  • S684 Social Justice and Cultural Competence for Vulnerable Populations (2 credits)
You Should Know
  • The immersion credit-to-hour ratio does not match the college’s own conversion. The catalog states 100 clock hours per graduate clinical credit, which would make a three-credit immersion 300 hours, but both immersions are described as 200 hours. Ask which figure governs.
  • No total credit count is published for either DNP track.
  • The project requires submitting a manuscript for publication, a heavier deliverable than many DNP programs require.

BSN-to-DNP Clinical Requirements

  • Minimum 1,000 practicum hours, the college-wide floor for all DNP programs.
  • 400 of those hours are accounted for by the two FNP immersions at 200 hours each.
  • The remaining 600 hours come from the FNP practicum core that precedes the immersions.
  • Immersion placement is based on your stated clinical interest.
  • Simulation does not count toward practicum hours.

A 1,000-hour requirement is double the 500-hour certification floor and well above the 600 to 700 hours a master’s-level FNP program typically requires. The structure is also worth noting: because the immersions come after the practicum core, your final 400 hours are spent practicing the role rather than learning it, which is closer to a residency model than a standard practicum.

BSN-to-DNP Admissions

The published DNP requirements match the MSN requirements, including the same 2.8 GPA minimum, which is unusually low for a doctoral program.

  • Minimum cumulative GPA of 2.8 on a 4.0 scale.
  • Completed application and non-refundable $75 application fee.
  • Current resume.
  • Copy of current unencumbered RN or APN license.
  • Typed statement of professional, educational, and career goals, 250 to 500 words.
  • Three letters submitted electronically by named evaluators.
  • Background check, drug screening, health history, and immunization compliance.

See the full DNP admissions requirements for current details.

You Should Know
  • The BSN-to-DNP must be completed within eight years of initial enrollment.
  • Saint Anthony does not publish separate admissions criteria for the post-baccalaureate and post-master’s DNP options, though the entry credentials clearly differ.
  • Application deadlines and start terms are not published for either DNP option.

Post-Master’s DNP – Family Nurse Practitioner

The post-master’s DNP is billed at the same $1,014 per graduate credit, with no published credit total. Saint Anthony’s four to six year range covers both DNP entry points, and the four-year end is the reading that fits a master’s-level entry.

Post-Master’s DNP Curriculum

The registrar lists this as a distinct program from the post-baccalaureate DNP, but Saint Anthony publishes no separate curriculum for it. The doctoral core, the FNP immersions, and the project sequence are shared with the post-baccalaureate track. What differs is what you skip: a master’s-prepared applicant who already holds FNP certification would not repeat the practicum core, while one whose master’s was in another specialty would need the FNP coursework before reaching the immersions.

That distinction changes the length of the program substantially, and it is exactly the distinction Saint Anthony does not spell out. If you are already an FNP seeking a doctorate, your plan looks nothing like that of an MSN-prepared nurse educator seeking to become an FNP, yet both enroll in the same listed program.

You Should Know
  • No separate curriculum, credit total, or duration is published for this option.
  • Whether the FNP immersions and 1,000-hour floor apply in full to an already-certified FNP is not stated.
  • Post-master’s DNP coursework must be completed within seven years of initial enrollment, a year less than the post-baccalaureate window.

Post-Master’s DNP Clinical Requirements

  • Minimum 1,000 practicum hours, the same DNP floor that applies to the post-baccalaureate track.
  • N727 and N729 contribute 400 of those hours between them.
  • Whether previously completed master’s-level practicum hours count toward the 1,000 is not clearly stated.

That last point is the one to settle before you enroll. For an already-certified FNP with 600 or more master’s-level hours behind them, whether those hours count is the difference between roughly 400 additional hours and a full 1,000, which is well over a year of clinical scheduling.

Tuition

Graduate tuition at Saint Anthony College of Nursing is $1,014 per credit hour for the 2025-26 academic year, published in the college catalog. That single rate applies to every graduate program and every FNP track, with no residency distinction and no separate online rate. It is the only firm cost figure the college publishes for any FNP pathway.

Because no FNP track has a published credit requirement, no program total can be stated. The table below shows what the published rate produces at several credit loads. These are illustrations of the rate, not program totals, and Saint Anthony has not confirmed any of these credit counts for its FNP tracks.

CreditsTuition at $1,014/credit
40$40,560
45$45,630
50$50,700
70$70,980
75$76,050

Confirmed graduate costs and fees:

  • Graduate tuition: $1,014 per credit hour.
  • Application fee: $75, non-refundable, waived for OSF Mission Partners.
  • Enrollment deposit: $200, non-refundable, due within 14 days of acceptance and applied against tuition.
  • Computer and technology fee: $150 each semester. Across eight semesters that is $1,200; across twelve it is $1,800.
  • Typhon clinical documentation system: $100 one-time, covering the full program.
  • OSCE fee: $100 for a full-day evaluation, $75 per half day, per experience per semester.
  • Poster presentation fee: $150, charged during or near the final semester.
  • Graduation fee: $175, charged during or near the final semester.
  • ViewPoint Screening: up to $108 one-time for background check, drug screening, and health portal.
  • Non-tuition one-time costs excluding the deposit total roughly $608, plus the per-semester technology fee.

Be aware that:

  • Saint Anthony’s live tuition page loads its rate tables dynamically and returned no figures on direct retrieval. The $1,014 rate comes from the 2025-26 catalog and should be reconfirmed for your entry year.
  • The catalog states outright that tuition and fees are subject to change at any time, with no cohort rate lock published.
  • OSCE fees are charged per experience per semester, so the total depends on how many evaluations your track requires. That number is not published.
  • Clinical sites may charge fees directly to the student. No typical range is disclosed.
  • Clinical make-up fees run $20 per clock hour for a second absence in a course and $40 per hour beyond two absences. On a full clinical day that is a meaningful charge.
  • Unpaid balances accrue 1 percent monthly interest, plus a $10 late payment fee. Registration is withheld until balances clear.
  • The undergraduate BSN rate of $824 per credit and the RN-to-BSN rate of $544 per credit do not apply to any FNP track.

The practical read: at $1,014 per credit this is priced as a private program, and without a published credit count you cannot compare it against another school on total cost. You can compare it on rate, and you can bound your own estimate once the graduate dean gives you a credit number. Ask for that number in writing before you apply, along with the OSCE count, because those two figures determine most of what you will actually pay. Full details appear on the tuition and fees page.

Why Choose This FNP Program?

Best suited for nurses living in or near Rockford who want a small, in-person graduate program with heavy clinical volume, and who are willing to do their own information-gathering before committing.

The clinical volume is the strongest argument. A 750-hour minimum for the MSN and certificate, and 1,000 for the DNP, puts every Saint Anthony FNP track above the range most programs occupy. For the DNP tracks that volume is also structured well, with 400 hours of role immersion sitting after the practicum core rather than mixed into it. If your concern is arriving at your first NP job under-practiced, this program answers it.

The teaching model is genuinely small-scale. Graduate sections at Saint Anthony run with a handful of students, sometimes one or two, in an assigned classroom with a named instructor. The college reports a 7:1 student-to-faculty ratio institution-wide. That is close to tutorial-level attention, and it is difficult to find in FNP education, where large online cohorts are the norm. The same fact carries an obvious risk: small sections are the ones most likely not to run, and a graduate clinical course that fills or fails to fill can cost you a semester.

The information gap is the honest trade-off. Saint Anthony does not publish what most nurses use to choose a program. There is no credit total, no plan of study, no FNP-specific clinical hour figure, no application deadline, no start-term calendar, and no delivery-format statement on any FNP page. The live registrar shows a graduate curriculum mid-revision, with newly numbered courses running alongside legacy ones. None of that means the program is weak. It does mean you will be doing by phone what other schools let you do on a webpage, and that you should not treat any figure on this page as a substitute for a written plan of study from the graduate dean.

Accreditation

The baccalaureate, master’s, and Doctor of Nursing Practice programs at Saint Anthony College of Nursing, along with its post-graduate APRN certificate programs, are accredited by the Commission on Collegiate Nursing Education. That scope covers all four FNP tracks on this page, including the certificate, which matters because certificate accreditation is inconsistent across schools and is often the pathway left uncovered.

The college itself is accredited by the Higher Learning Commission, an institutional accreditor recognized by the U.S. Department of Education. Institutional accreditation is what makes a school eligible to award federal financial aid and is what a receiving institution checks if you later transfer credit or apply to a doctoral program elsewhere.

Saint Anthony participates in the National Council for State Authorization Reciprocity Agreements. State authorization and your own board’s licensure requirements are separate questions from accreditation, and both are addressed in the admissions sections above.

Graduates of the FNP tracks are eligible to sit for the national FNP certification exam through either the American Academy of Nurse Practitioners or the American Nurses Credentialing Center. Passing that exam is the prerequisite for applying for APRN licensure in your state.

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