University of North Florida FNP Programs

School of Nursing, Brooks College of Health • Jacksonville, FL • Campus • $493.53/credit

The University of North Florida offers a BSN-to-DNP Family Nurse Practitioner track.

Program Tracks Overview

ProgramEst. TuitionEst. DurationCredit Hours
BSN-DNP$41K in-state 8 sems (~2.7 yrs)83

UNF’s defining advantage is a Jacksonville public-university doctorate where program administrators arrange every clinical and residency placement — students never recruit their own preceptors, and recent UNF BSN graduates can cut the per-credit rate by roughly 28% through the university’s alumni tuition rate. Know the format up front: this is an in-person campus program with clinical sites confined to northeast Florida, not a distance option.

Quick Facts

FeatureDetails
Program TypesBSN-to-DNP (FNP). MSN-holders seeking FNP certification apply to this same track.
FormatCampus — standard in-person delivery at the Jacksonville campus
Clinical HoursNot clearly stated; UNF describes “extensive clinical training”
Clinical PlacementSchool-arranged; track administrators secure all preceptors and sites
Clinical GeographyNortheast Florida only, per university site contracts
PopulationIndividuals and families across the lifespan (primary care)
Distinctive CourseworkGlobal Health Care and Culture; Practice Management; Advanced Bioscience; two-course pharmacology sequence
ConcentrationsNone
RN License RequirementsActive FL RN license; 1 year RN clinical experience; no GRE
Admission CycleFall only; October 1 deadline; rolling review
EnrollmentFull-time or part-time (program assigns offer at admission)
Tuition$493.53/credit in-state; $1,126.88 out-of-state (tuition + fees)
AccreditationCCNE (DNP program); SACSCOC (university)

BSN-to-DNP — Family Nurse Practitioner

The estimated tuition for the BSN-to-DNP Family Nurse Practitioner at the University of North Florida is approximately $40,963 for Florida residents (83 credits at $493.53/credit, tuition and fees included).

The program can generally be completed in about 8 semesters of continuous full-time enrollment — roughly 2 years and 8 months from a fall start, with a part-time plan available on a longer, unstated timeline.

One structural note: UNF discontinued its post-master’s FNP Certificate. MSN-prepared nurses who want FNP certification now apply directly to this BSN-to-DNP track. UNF’s separate online post-MSN DNP is a generic doctoral completion program and does not confer FNP exam eligibility.

BSN-to-DNP Curriculum

Clinical management core. The diagnostic sequence is built around three unusually large combined lecture/clinical courses rather than a string of 3-credit classes: acute conditions (5 credits, spring), health promotion of children, men, and women (6 credits, summer), and chronic condition management (6 credits, fall). This concentrates the FNP skill-building into three intensive semesters in the middle of the program.

Doubled pharmacology. Students take Pharmacotherapeutics in semester one and Advanced Pharmacologic Management in semester four — a second prescribing course positioned after clinical management begins, which most FNP curricula don’t include.

Doctoral layer. The final four semesters ramp up the residency (1, 1, 3, then 3 credits) alongside a 6-credit Doctoral Project, with informatics, health policy, epidemiology, global health, and practice management filling out the doctoral competencies. Practice Management in the final fall is a practical inclusion for graduates eyeing Florida’s autonomous-practice pathway.

  • NGR5003C Health Assessment/Diagnostics (4 credits, includes clinical lab)
  • NGR5601C Diagnosis and Management of Acute Conditions (5 credits)
  • NGR6602C Health Promotion of Children, Men, and Women (6 credits)
  • NGR6603C Diagnosis and Management of Chronic Conditions (6 credits)
  • NGR7179 Advanced Pharmacologic Management (3 credits)
  • NGR7154 Advanced Bioscience (3 credits)
  • NGR6894 Global Health Care and Culture (3 credits)
  • NGR7767 Practice Management (3 credits)
  • NGR7946 Residency in Advanced Nursing Practice (8 credits across 4 semesters)
  • NGR7974 Doctoral Project (6 credits across 2 semesters)

More curriculum details are available here.

BSN-to-DNP Clinical Requirements

  • Total clinical hours: not clearly stated. UNF describes “extensive clinical training” but publishes no hour count for this track. ⚠️ Confirm the total with Nursing Admissions before enrolling; 500 hours is the national certification floor and 600–700+ is typical for FNP programs.
  • Clinical practice is embedded in the C-designated management courses (semesters 1–4) plus 8 credits of Residency in Advanced Nursing Practice spread over the final four semesters.
  • Placement is fully school-arranged: track administrators secure preceptors and sites for all clinical and residency courses. Students do not find their own.
  • All clinical sites are in northeast Florida due to university site contracts — there is no option to complete clinicals elsewhere.
  • DNP project presentations for on-campus tracks, including this one, must be delivered in person at the Jacksonville campus.

The placement model is the standout here. Preceptor-hunting is the single most common failure point in NP education, and UNF removes it entirely — a guarantee many programs charge placement fees for. The trade-off is geographic: school-arranged sites only work if you can drive to them, and UNF’s are all in the Jacksonville region. The missing hour total is the one number to nail down before committing; a sibling UNF NP track publishes its clinical hours, so the FNP figure should be available on request.

BSN-to-DNP Admissions

Admissions run on one fall cycle per year with an experience gate — miss the October 1 deadline or fall short of the RN-experience requirement and you wait until next fall.

  • BSN from an accredited institution with a nursing curriculum based on AACN’s Essentials of Baccalaureate Education
  • Minimum 3.0 GPA in the undergraduate nursing major
  • One year of RN experience in a clinical setting at the time of application
  • Clear, active Florida RN license (out-of-state applicants must obtain FL licensure upon admission); copy of the actual license required
  • Resume of professional RN work only, maximum 2 pages, noting full-time/part-time status and estimated hours per position
  • No GRE; no prerequisite courses; $30 application fee
  • Applications reviewed on a rolling basis through the October 1 deadline; incomplete or late applications are canceled without reversal
  • If admitted: CPR certification, full immunization/titer panel, TB screening, fingerprint background check, and 12-panel drug screen due by orientation

Tuition

Total estimated tuition is $40,963 for Florida residents and $93,531 for non-residents. That derives from UNF’s published graduate rate of $493.53 per credit in-state and $1,126.88 out-of-state (2026–27, tuition plus all mandatory per-credit fees) across 83 credits.

The out-of-state figure is largely theoretical: applicants must hold or obtain Florida RN licensure and complete northeast Florida clinicals, and Florida residency reclassification after year one would lower later-year costs.

  • UNF’s exclusive alumni rate ($353.78/credit total in-state) applies to UNF graduates who enroll within five years of their baccalaureate with continuous enrollment — an eligible UNF BSN graduate would pay roughly $29,364 for the full doctorate.
  • Lab/material fees of $5–$70 apply to some courses; a $30/credit distance learning fee applies only to any online-delivered courses.
  • One-time and incidental fees: $30 application, $10 annual ID card, $100 late registration or late payment.
  • Rates are set annually; multi-year totals will drift upward if the Board of Governors approves increases.

The practical read: for a Florida resident, this is doctoral education at roughly the cost many private schools charge for a master’s — and for a recent UNF BSN graduate, it is one of the least expensive routes to a DNP anywhere.

Official rates are on the UNF graduate tuition page.

Why Choose This FNP Program?

This program makes the most sense for nurses in the Jacksonville area who want the doctorate from the start, want their clinical placements handled for them, and can attend campus in person.

Two features do the heavy lifting. First, placement: administrators arrange every preceptor and site for all clinical and residency courses, eliminating the search that derails students elsewhere. Second, economics: an in-state public rate puts the full 83-credit doctorate near $41,000, and recent UNF BSN alumni can bring it under $30,000. Among Florida’s doctorate-only FNP entries, UNF is the campus-based counterpart to UCF’s hybrid model and FSU’s mostly-online one — more face time with faculty, less scheduling flexibility.

The honest limits: this is an in-person Jacksonville program with clinicals locked to northeast Florida, a single fall intake, a one-year RN experience gate, and a Florida RN license requirement that makes it impractical for out-of-state distance learners. And with the FNP Certificate discontinued, an MSN-prepared nurse who only wants the FNP credential must commit to the full doctoral program here — nurses in that position who don’t want a DNP should look at certificate-granting schools instead. Verify the clinical hour total with the program before applying; it is the one comparison-critical number UNF doesn’t publish.

Accreditation

The Doctor of Nursing Practice program at the University of North Florida is accredited by the Commission on Collegiate Nursing Education (CCNE), which also accredits UNF’s baccalaureate, master’s, and post-graduate APRN certificate programs. The university holds institutional accreditation from the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges (SACSCOC). UNF states that graduates are eligible to sit for national Family Nurse Practitioner certification exams — the plural covers both the AANP (FNP-C) and ANCC (FNP-BC) examinations — and to apply for APRN licensure through the Florida Board of Nursing.

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