University of Minnesota offers a BSN-DNP Family Nurse Practitioner track.
Program Tracks Overview
| Program | Est. Tuition | Est. Duration | Credit Hours |
|---|---|---|---|
| BSN-DNP | $83.3K–$97.8K (all residencies) | 3 years (8 semesters); 4-year plan also offered | 81 |
Tuition estimates apply the University of Minnesota’s 2026–27 DNP rate ($1,207 per credit, flat $10,863 at 9 or more credits) to the published 3-year plan and to straight per-credit billing.
The University of Minnesota secures every FNP clinical placement for its students. Faculty and staff arrange all eight practicum courses with vetted preceptors, which removes the preceptor search that consumes many FNP students’ time.
That support comes with a real travel commitment. Beyond a one-week campus session each semester, FNP students return to Minneapolis for 1–2 days every other week starting in year two.
Quick Facts
| Feature | Details |
|---|---|
| Program Types | BSN-DNP (post-baccalaureate DNP, FNP specialty) |
| Format | Hybrid: one-week session each semester, plus 1–2 campus days every other week from year two |
| Clinical Hours | 960 direct patient care hours plus 500 project and course hours (1,460 total) |
| Clinical Placement | Arranged by the School of Nursing with vetted preceptors |
| Population | Family/individual across the lifespan |
| Distinctive Coursework | Separate pediatric, reproductive health, and older adult practica; planetary health; digital health informatics |
| RN License Requirements | RN license by program start; international nurses need Minnesota licensure by end of second semester |
| Tuition | $1,207/credit; flat $10,863 per semester at 9+ credits; same rate for all residencies |
| Accreditation | CCNE (DNP program) |
| Interviews | By invitation only; not granted to all applicants |
BSN to DNP, Family Nurse Practitioner
The estimated tuition for the Doctor of Nursing Practice, Family Nurse Practitioner specialty at the University of Minnesota is approximately $83,283 (81 credits at $1,207/credit, with the flat 9-credit plateau applied to six of eight terms). The program can generally be completed in about 3 years (8 semesters) on the full-time plan, or 4 years on the part-time plan.
BSN-DNP Curriculum
Year one: sciences and doctoral core. The first three terms pair physiology, pathophysiology, pharmacology, and pharmacotherapeutics with DNP core courses in evidence evaluation, scholarly writing, and nursing theory. Summer of year one adds diagnostic reasoning, the holistic assessment course, and well-child care. The assessment course must be finished before any specialty or practicum course, so it gates the whole clinical sequence.
Years two and three: population-specific practica. Instead of one generic “family practicum,” UMN splits clinical training by population. Reproductive health, pediatric care, and older adult care each get a didactic course and a matching practicum. Four general assessment-and-management practica run alongside them. This structure means each lifespan population gets dedicated, protected clinical time rather than whatever a single primary care site happens to see.
The DNP project and systems core. A three-course project sequence (planning, implementation, evaluation) runs from spring of year two through fall of year three. It sits beside courses in quality improvement, healthcare economics, public and planetary health, and leading change. Coursework also emphasizes social determinants of health and health equity.
- NURS 5200 Holistic Health Assessment and Therapeutics for Advanced Practice Nurses
- NURS 6111 Introduction to Diagnostic Reasoning
- NURS 6102 Family Health Theory
- NURS 5115 Nursing Informatics and Digital Health Technologies
- NURS 7515 / 7516 Health Care of Children for the FNP (well-child; acute and chronic)
- NURS 6305 Reproductive Health Care, with NURS 7503 Reproductive Health Care Practicum
- NURS 7518 Health Care of the Older Adult for the FNP, with NURS 7508 practicum
- NURS 7230 Advanced Nursing for Public, Population, and Planetary Health
- NURS 7110 / 7111 / 7112 DNP Project Planning, Implementation, and Evaluation
More curriculum details are available here.
You Should Know
- The catalog lists NURS 7507 and NURS 7509 at 1 credit each, but the April 2026 program plan lists both at 2 credits. Only the plan’s values reach the catalog’s 49-credit specialty minimum and the 81-credit total, so the catalog course entries appear out of date.
- Statistics (3 credits) is taken outside the School of Nursing. The school recommends EPSY 5261, PUBH 6414, or STAT 5021.
- Course sequence details for the 4-year plan are not published on the program page.
BSN-DNP Clinical Requirements
- Direct patient care: 960 hours across eight practicum courses at 120 hours each (60 hours per credit).
- Additional 500 hours for the DNP project and other required activities, including clinical teaching, for 1,460 total.
- Practica run from fall of year two through spring of year three (5 terms).
- Term load: 120 hours in two terms and 240 hours in three terms (about 8 to 16 hours per week over a 15-week term, derived).
- Placement: arranged by School of Nursing faculty and staff with preceptors who meet accreditation and certification requirements.
- Campus: one-week session each semester (core courses, programming, advisor meetings), plus 1–2 days every other week from year two.
At 960 direct care hours, UMN’s FNP clinical volume is nearly twice the 500-hour certification floor and well above the 600–700 hours common in FNP programs. The 240-hour terms, at roughly two clinic days a week, stacked on biweekly campus days, make full-time RN work very difficult in the final three practicum terms. The arranged-placement model offsets that load: students do not spend months cold-calling practices, and each population practicum is matched to a suitable site.
You Should Know
- The program page describes “approximately 1,000 hours” at clinical sites. The published plan totals 960 direct care hours, or 1,460 including project and teaching hours. The 960 figure matches the course-level math.
- Where placements are located, and how far students may need to travel, is not clearly stated. Given the biweekly campus cadence, placements are most practical for students living in the Twin Cities region.
- Whether the one-week campus session also runs in summer terms is not clearly stated.
BSN-DNP Admissions
Interviews are by invitation only, and essays must be written without generative AI tools.
- Entry-level nursing degree (BSN, BAN, post-baccalaureate nursing certificate, or entry-level master’s in nursing)
- Preferred undergraduate GPA of 3.0
- RN license by the start of the program; screenshot of license uploaded with the application
- Application through NursingCAS, with official transcripts from all postsecondary institutions sent to NursingCAS
- Current CV or resume
- Personal statement (up to four pages, double-spaced) on the FNP role, relevant experiences, and leadership potential
- Diversity, equity, and inclusion essay (500 words or less)
- Three references, at least one from someone who evaluated professional or academic performance
- No GRE required
- English proficiency for non-native speakers: TOEFL 79 (reading 19, writing 21) or IELTS 6.5
You Should Know
- Application deadlines were not included in the source material. UMN posts them on its DNP application timelines page.
- International nurses must pass the CGFNS exam and NCLEX and hold a Minnesota RN license by the end of their second semester.
- No DNP-specific professional licensure disclosure was located. Applicants outside Minnesota should confirm with the school that the program meets APRN requirements in their state.
- The St. Cloud State/CentraCare FNP cohort, which placed students at CentraCare sites, is paused. UMN reports its last admissions in Fall 2024. Central Minnesota applicants currently apply to the standard BSN-DNP.
- No post-graduate FNP certificate appears in UMN’s 2026–27 certificate tuition schedule. Nurses who already hold a master’s in an APRN specialty can pursue the separate post-master’s DNP, which does not add FNP certification.
Tuition
The University of Minnesota charges DNP students $1,207 per credit for 2026–27, the same rate for Minnesota residents and nonresidents. Terms of 9 or more credits are billed at a flat $10,863, so heavier semesters cost less per credit.
| Term (3-year plan) | Credits | Tuition |
|---|---|---|
| Year 1 Fall | 12 | $10,863 (flat) |
| Year 1 Spring | 10 | $10,863 (flat) |
| Year 1 Summer | 10 | $10,863 (flat) |
| Year 2 Fall | 13 | $10,863 (flat) |
| Year 2 Spring | 11 | $10,863 (flat) |
| Year 2 Summer | 8 | $9,656 (8 × $1,207) |
| Year 3 Fall | 10 | $10,863 (flat) |
| Year 3 Spring | 7 | $8,449 (7 × $1,207) |
| Total (derived) | 81 | $83,283 |
- 3-year plan tuition: $83,283 (derived), an effective $1,028 per credit
- Straight per-credit billing, 81 × $1,207: $97,767 (derived upper bound for lighter part-time terms)
- Student services fee: $532.50 per semester at 6+ credits
- Capital enhancement fee: $86.25 per semester at 6+ credits
- School of Nursing collegiate fee: $288.50 per semester
- Stadium fee: $6 per fall and spring semester at 6+ credits
- Fall and spring fees above total $913.25 per term, or about $5,480 across six terms (derived)
- School of Nursing clinical fee: $700 for DNP students
Be aware that:
- The general graduate rate ($1,827 resident, $2,894 nonresident) shown on UMN’s tuition page does not apply to the DNP, which has its own School of Nursing rate.
- How often the $700 clinical fee is charged is not clearly stated. At every term it adds $5,600; at each practicum term, $3,500.
- Summer fees are reduced but not fully itemized for graduate students.
- Health insurance ($1,795 per semester) is charged to students with 6+ credits unless waived with other coverage.
- Transportation ($77), athletics facilities ($100), and safety ($9) fees apply to on-campus students at 6+ credits. Whether hybrid DNP students are assessed is not clearly stated.
- The 4-year plan’s term loads are not published. Terms under 9 credits are billed per credit, so the 4-year plan will likely cost more than the 3-year plan.
- Rates are set annually by the Board of Regents and may rise over a three- to four-year program.
With fall and spring fees and the clinical fee, the realistic all-in cost of the 3-year plan is roughly $92,300 to $94,400 (derived). The flat plateau rewards staying on the full-time plan: dropping to lighter terms moves the cost toward the $97,767 per-credit figure. Because nonresidents pay the resident rate, out-of-state nurses face no tuition penalty, only travel costs. See the official tuition and fees pages.
Why Choose This FNP Program?
Best suited for nurses near the Twin Cities who want a clinical doctorate, want the school to handle every placement, and can commit to regular campus days.
Placements are handled for you. All eight practicum courses are arranged by the School of Nursing. For working nurses, the preceptor search is a common source of delay in an FNP program. UMN removes it entirely, and matches separate pediatric, reproductive health, and older adult practica to suitable sites.
A heavy clinical and doctoral load. 960 direct care hours plus 500 project hours gives graduates far more supervised practice than the certification minimum. The DNP core adds quality improvement, healthcare economics, and population health coursework that an MSN would not include. The trade-off is 81 credits and up to 16 practicum hours a week in the final terms.
The geography decides it. Nonresidents pay the same $1,207 rate as Minnesotans, which looks like an open door for out-of-state applicants. In practice, 1–2 campus days every other week from year two turn this into a Minneapolis-commutable program. Nurses within driving distance get arranged placements and a flat-rate doctorate; nurses farther away should weigh a Mostly Online or Online program instead.
Accreditation
The Doctor of Nursing Practice program at the University of Minnesota is accredited by the Commission on Collegiate Nursing Education (CCNE). This accreditation covers the post-baccalaureate DNP, including the FNP specialty.
CCNE accreditation matters beyond the program itself. Many employers, federal loan-repayment programs, and state boards of nursing expect APRN graduates to come from an accredited program.
The University of Minnesota is institutionally accredited by the Higher Learning Commission. Institutional accreditation supports federal financial aid eligibility and the transfer and recognition of credits.
Graduates are eligible to sit for the national FNP certification exam (AANP or ANCC). The school reports that its graduates consistently exceed national averages on FNP certification exams, though specific pass rates are not published in the source material.
Compare More Family NP Programs
- Augsburg University - Minneapolis
- College of Saint Benedict - St. Joseph
- Metropolitan State University - Saint Paul
- Minnesota State University - Edina
- St. Catherine University - St. Paul
- The College of St. Scholastica - Duluth
- Walden University - Minneapolis
- Winona State University - Rochester