University of Scranton FNP Programs

Department of Nursing • Scranton, PA • Mostly Online • $965/credit

The University of Scranton offers 2 Family Nurse Practitioner Tracks:

  • MSN
  • Post-Master’s Certificate

Program Tracks Overview

ProgramEst. TuitionEst. DurationCredit Hours
MSN$34,740 21 mos (full-time)36
Post-MSN Cert.$26,05521 mos27

Scranton’s defining feature is that clinical volume is fixed by a published conversion rather than a marketing estimate: one practicum credit equals 125 clock hours, so seven practicum credits produce 875 hours. The post-master’s certificate carries all four of those same practicums, so it delivers identical clinical volume for nine fewer credits.

Format is the open question — the graduate admissions site markets the program as 100% online, while the nursing department’s own page describes specialty courses meeting on campus one day per week.

Quick Facts

FeatureDetails
Program TypesMSN (36 credits); Post-Master’s Certificate (27 credits)
FormatSynchronous online classes plus two on-campus intensives ⚠ conflicting descriptions across university pages
Clinical Hours875 for both tracks (7 practicum credits × 125 hours); marketing states 750+
Clinical PlacementFaculty assign the preceptor; program states placements are supported close to home
PopulationIndividuals and families across the lifespan, primary care
Distinctive CourseworkSplit family sequence: developing family, established family, family health synthesis
Preceptor RulesNP, certified nurse midwife, or physician with 1+ year of practice
Progression RuleB or higher required in five specialty courses; one repeat permitted program-wide
Admissions InterviewRequired for the MSN; not listed for the certificate
RN License RequirementsActive RN license in the state where practicums are completed
Transfer CreditUp to 6 credits with program director approval
Tuition$965 per credit, both tracks; rate lock available at 9+ credits per year
AccreditationCCNE (nursing); Middle States Commission on Higher Education (institutional)

MSN — Family Nurse Practitioner

The estimated tuition for the Family Nurse Practitioner, MSN at the University of Scranton is approximately $34,740 (36 credits at $965/credit).

The program can generally be completed in about 21 months of full-time study, running across five consecutive semesters including one summer term, with a part-time option available.

MSN Curriculum

The curriculum’s distinguishing move is that it splits family practice into three sequenced specialty courses rather than teaching it as one lifespan block. Students take Health Problems in the Developing Family first, then Health Problems in the Established Family, then Family Health Synthesis. That ordering follows the family unit through its own life cycle — pregnancy, infancy and pediatrics early, then adult and geriatric management, then integration — instead of the more common organization by body system or by age group taught in parallel.

Foundation Courses

The first fall carries the heaviest load at nine credits and front-loads the diagnostic toolkit. Advanced Clinical Assessment is split into a two-credit didactic course and a separate one-credit lab, which is where the on-campus skills work concentrates.

Practicum Progression

Practicum begins in the very first semester at one credit, then steps up to two credits for each of the remaining three. The escalation is meaningful: students start clinical work at 125 hours while still learning assessment, then carry 250 hours per semester for three consecutive terms alongside the specialty courses those hours are meant to reinforce.

Non-Clinical Coursework

Three courses separate the MSN from the certificate — Issues in Advanced Practice Nursing, Research Methodology and Application, and Systems Leadership in Advanced Practice Nursing. These are the degree-granting requirements, not clinical preparation, which is why the certificate can drop them without losing a single practicum hour.

  • NURS 510 — Advanced Physiology and Pathophysiology (3)
  • NURS 530 / 530L — Advanced Clinical Assessment and Lab (2 + 1)
  • NURS 541 — Family Health Promotion (2)
  • NURS 551 — Health Problems in the Developing Family (3)
  • NURS 561 — Health Problems in the Established Family (3)
  • NURS 571 — Family Health Synthesis (3)
  • NURS 591 — Issues in Advanced Practice Nursing (3)
  • NURS 593 — Research Methodology and Application (3)
  • NURS 597 — Systems Leadership in Advanced Practice Nursing (3)

More curriculum details are available here.

MSN Clinical Requirements

  • 875 total clinical hours, stated in the catalog and confirmed by course math
  • Derivation: 7 practicum credits × 125 clock hours per credit = 875 hours
  • Practicum I (1 credit, 125 hours); Practicums II, III, and IV (2 credits each, 250 hours each)
  • Practicum runs across four of the five semesters
  • Faculty assign students to a preceptor; students are not left to source their own
  • Preceptors must be a certified nurse practitioner, certified nurse midwife, or licensed physician with at least one year of practice
  • The catalog describes two days of clinical per week during fall and spring semesters
  • Students must purchase nurse practitioner tracking software to log clinical experience
  • Program marketing states 750+ direct patient care hours, 125 fewer than the catalog’s 875

875 hours sits well above the 500-hour national certification floor and above the 600 to 700 hours common in FNP programs. The more useful detail is how Scranton arrives at the number. Most programs publish a total and leave the arithmetic unstated; Scranton publishes the conversion rate itself, so the figure can be checked against the credit table rather than taken on faith.

The 750+ figure in marketing materials may describe direct patient care as a subset of total practicum time, but the pages do not say so — ask the program which number appears in the student handbook.

The placement model is the second substantive point. The catalog states faculty assign the preceptor, and the department describes securing placements that can be completed near the student’s home. That shifts a burden most online FNP students carry themselves, though the program stops short of using the word guarantee, and the strength of that support likely depends on how far a student lives from Scranton’s clinical partner network in northeastern Pennsylvania.

MSN Admissions

Two features distinguish this application: there is no fee, and every applicant interviews with the program director or a faculty member before admission.

  • No application fee
  • BSN from a CCNE, ACEN, or CNEA-accredited program
  • Undergraduate GPA of 3.00 or higher, or other evidence of graduate-level readiness such as prior post-baccalaureate coursework or entrance exam scores
  • Official transcripts from all institutions attended
  • Active RN license in the state where practicums will be completed
  • Two professional references
  • 300-word personal statement on career goals
  • Personal interview with the program director or a faculty member
  • No minimum RN work experience is stated
  • Marketing describes rolling admissions with three annual starts, but only fall and spring deadlines are published, and both published plans of study begin in the fall

Post-Master’s Certificate — Family Nurse Practitioner

The estimated tuition for the Family Nurse Practitioner Post-Master’s Certificate at the University of Scranton is approximately $26,055 (27 credits at $965/credit). The program is published at 21 months, the same duration as the MSN, because the four-semester practicum sequence sets the pace rather than the credit count.

Certificate Curriculum

The certificate is the MSN with three courses removed: Issues in Advanced Practice Nursing, Research Methodology and Application, and Systems Leadership. Every specialty course and every practicum is retained, and the sequencing is unchanged. Semester loads run nine, eight, five, and five credits across four terms, with no summer term.

This is worth understanding clearly, because post-master’s certificates vary widely in how much clinical preparation they preserve. Some strip practicum hours on the assumption that a prior APRN degree substitutes for them. Scranton does not. The reduction is entirely in degree-level coursework a student already completed during their master’s.

  • NURS 510 — Advanced Physiology and Pathophysiology (3)
  • NURS 530 / 530L — Advanced Clinical Assessment and Lab (2 + 1)
  • NURS 541 — Family Health Promotion (2)
  • NURS 520 — Advanced Pharmacology (3)
  • NURS 551 — Health Problems in the Developing Family (3)
  • NURS 561 — Health Problems in the Established Family (3)
  • NURS 571 — Family Health Synthesis (3)
  • NURS 542 / 552 / 562 / 572 — Family Clinical Practicums I–IV (1 + 2 + 2 + 2)

Certificate Clinical Requirements

  • 875 clinical hours, from the same four practicum courses as the MSN
  • Derivation: 7 practicum credits × 125 clock hours per credit = 875 hours
  • Same preceptor standards and faculty assignment model as the MSN
  • ⚠ The catalog states 875 hours for the FNP program without separating the two tracks; the certificate page does not restate a clinical hour total

A post-master’s applicant should read this as a full clinical program, not an abbreviated one. The certificate costs $8,685 less than the MSN and carries the same 875 hours, which means the savings come entirely from coursework the applicant has already done at the master’s level. The trade-off is time: 21 months is the same commitment as the degree, so anyone hoping a certificate would be materially faster should plan otherwise.

Certificate Admissions

Requirements largely mirror the MSN, with one notable difference — the certificate’s published admissions list does not include the faculty interview.

  • No application fee
  • Master’s degree in nursing from a CCNE, ACEN, or CNEA-accredited program
  • Minimum undergraduate GPA of 3.0
  • Official transcripts from every college or university attended
  • Active RN license in the state where practicums will be completed
  • Two professional references
  • 300-word personal statement on career goals
  • ⚠ The department describes the certificate as being for nurses holding a master’s in an advanced practice specialty, while the catalog and admissions page require only a nursing master’s — a difference that matters for nurses with an MSN in education, informatics, or administration

Tuition

Scranton publishes a single per-credit rate of $965 that applies to both FNP tracks, with no separate resident and non-resident schedules. Total estimated tuition is $34,740 for the 36-credit MSN and $26,055 for the 27-credit certificate.

  • MSN: 36 credits × $965 = $34,740
  • Post-master’s certificate: 27 credits × $965 = $26,055
  • No application fee for either track
  • Up to 6 transfer credits accepted with program director approval, worth $5,790 if fully applied
  • Graduate Tuition Guarantee locks the per-credit rate for up to three years for students taking at least nine credits per year
  • Graduate assistantships offer tuition remission from $1,100 to $4,400 per semester in exchange for 5 to 20 hours of weekly department work
  • Loyola University Maryland undergraduates receive a 15% tuition discount on the MSN-FNP through a partnership agreement

Be aware that:

  • The university’s own tuition calculator lists the FNP MSN at 30 required credits and $28,950, while every other page states 36 credits and $34,740 — a $5,790 difference. Notably, 30 credits is exactly 36 minus the maximum 6 transfer credits, but no page says the calculator is applying that assumption. Confirm your billed credit count in writing before enrolling.
  • The MSN page refers to a “Graduate Tuition Fee” that makes the program more affordable, which appears to describe the Graduate Tuition Guarantee rate lock rather than a charge. The wording is ambiguous and the amount is unstated.
  • The rate lock requires at least nine credits per year. Part-time students pacing below that threshold may lose it and become exposed to annual rate increases across a longer program.
  • Assistantship remission is published as fixed dollar amounts, not true percentages of your bill. The 80% tier pays $4,400 per semester, but an actual nine-credit FNP semester costs $8,685 — roughly 51% coverage, not 80%. This is a derived estimate based on Scranton’s published tier amounts and per-credit rate.
  • Students must purchase nurse practitioner clinical tracking software. The cost is not published.
  • Two on-campus intensives require travel to Scranton for students living at a distance. Travel and lodging are not part of tuition.
  • Scranton states the totals exclude fees, textbooks, and supplies without itemizing what those fees are.

The all-in figure for most students will land above the published totals once tracking software, intensive travel, and unitemized fees are added — but the rate lock is a real hedge for anyone finishing in the standard 21 months. Full official figures are on the tuition and financial aid page.

Why Choose This FNP Program?

Best suited for nurses who want a high clinical hour count they can verify from the credit table, faculty-arranged preceptors rather than a self-directed placement search, and a short, fixed timeline they can commit to without pacing decisions.

The clearest advantage here is verifiability. Scranton publishes the conversion — 125 clock hours per practicum credit — so the 875-hour total can be checked against the course list rather than accepted as a marketing claim. That matters more than the raw number. Add faculty-assigned preceptors and the split family sequence, and the program’s clinical design is more transparent than most FNP catalogs allow.

The honest trade-off is the progression policy, which is stricter than it first appears. A grade below B in any of the five specialty courses stops progression, and repeating one requires repeating the co-requisite practicum regardless of the clinical grade. Only one specialty course may ever be repeated, and a single Unsatisfactory in any practicum means dismissal — with no second attempt. In a program where practicum and specialty coursework are locked together semester by semester, one difficult term can cost a full year of sequencing or end enrollment outright.

Before applying, get three things in writing: whether your specialty courses meet online or on campus weekly, whether you will be billed for 30 or 36 credits, and exactly how the dismissal rule is applied to a first clinical Unsatisfactory. The program’s structure rewards students who can hold a demanding, inflexible sequence for 21 months without interruption. If your work schedule, family situation, or health makes an uninterrupted run unlikely, the strictness of the progression rules should weigh as heavily in your decision as the 875 hours.

Accreditation

The baccalaureate, master’s, Doctor of Nursing Practice, and post-graduate APRN certificate programs at the University of Scranton are accredited by the Commission on Collegiate Nursing Education (CCNE), which covers both FNP tracks on this page. The university is institutionally accredited by the Middle States Commission on Higher Education, which most recently reaffirmed accreditation on June 27, 2019, with the next evaluation visit scheduled for 2027–2028; post-master’s certificates are within the scope of that accreditation. Institutional accreditation was verified from the university’s own Middle States page, as the supplied program materials did not name it.

Scranton states that graduates are eligible for FNP certification in Pennsylvania through the State Board of Nursing and may sit for the national FNP certification exam from either the American Nurses Credentialing Center or the American Academy of Nurse Practitioners — dual eligibility that most FNP graduates hold.

Compare More Family NP Programs

View our Pennsylvania online FNP program comparison