Widener University FNP Programs

Dwyer School of Nursing • Chester, PA • Hybrid • $1,090/credit

Widener University offers 3 Family Nurse Practitioner Tracks:

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

Program Tracks Overview

ProgramEst. TuitionEst. DurationCredit Hours
MSN$49,050Not stated (5-yr limit)45
BSN-DNP$79,5705 yrs (published plan)73
Post-MSN Cert.$16,350–$26,16018–24 mos (part-time)15–24

Widener’s defining feature is that the clinical training does not change with the credential. The same four-course FNP practicum sequence and the same 750 faculty-supervised clinical hours sit inside both the MSN and the BSN-DNP, and BSN-DNP students earn the MSN en route to the doctorate. The trade-off is format: all three tracks are hybrid, requiring in-person attendance at Widener’s Chester or Harrisburg campuses, so this is a regional program rather than a distance option.

Quick Facts

FeatureDetails
Program TypesMSN, BSN-DNP, Post-Master’s Certificate
FormatHybrid — online coursework plus in-person sessions at Chester or Harrisburg, PA
Clinical HoursMSN 750; BSN-DNP 1,310 (750 FNP + 560 DNP); Certificate 672 minimum
Clinical PlacementFaculty-supervised. Who secures preceptors and sites is not clearly stated
PopulationFamily / individuals across the lifespan (primary care)
Distinctive CourseworkHealth Care Finance; Ethics and Genetics (DNP); Underserved Populations (certificate only)
ConcentrationsNone offered within the FNP tracks
RN License RequirementsValid U.S. RN license. PA State Board licensure required before clinicals begin
IntakeMSN and DNP admit once per year, fall only. Certificate: summer or fall
InterviewRequired for DNP and certificate applicants; not required for MSN
Tuition$1,090 per credit at every level, plus about $293 per semester in fees
AccreditationCCNE (master’s, DNP, and post-master’s certificate); MSCHE institutional

MSN — Family (Individual Across the Lifespan) CRNP

The estimated tuition for the MSN Family (Individual Across the Lifespan) CRNP specialization at Widener University is approximately $49,050 (45 credits at $1,090 per credit). Widener does not publish a standard completion timeline for this track — students set their own full-time or part-time pace within a five-year limit from matriculation.

MSN Curriculum

Structure. The 45 credits split cleanly into 27 credits of graduate core and 18 credits of FNP specialty coursework. That 60/40 split toward non-clinical core is heavier than many MSN-FNP programs, which typically run 12–15 credits of core before specialty work begins.

What the core emphasizes. Beyond the standard advanced pathophysiology, pharmacology, and assessment sequence, Widener’s core carries three courses most FNP curricula treat as optional or fold into a single survey: Health Care Finance, Health Care Policy, and Informatics. This is a management-literate core. For a nurse who expects to run or open a practice, budget a panel, or sit on a system committee, those three courses are the practical payoff. For a nurse who only wants clinical depth, they are nine credits — roughly $9,810 — spent away from patient care content.

Specialty sequence. All 18 specialty credits live in four linked practicum courses that escalate in intensity: a 4-credit introduction, two 6-credit intensives, and a 2-credit field practicum. Every specialty course carries clinical hours, so there is no classroom-only specialty semester — you are in clinic from the moment the FNP sequence starts.

  • NURS 601 — Advanced Pathophysiology (3)
  • NURS 608 — Advanced Health Assessment (3)
  • NURS 639 — Advanced Pharmacology (3)
  • NURS 694 — Health Care Finance (3)
  • NURS 736 — Informatics (3)
  • NURS 648 — Advanced Family Nursing I / Practicum I (4)
  • NURS 649 — Advanced Family Nursing II / Practicum II (6)
  • NURS 655 — Advanced Family Nursing III / Practicum III (6)
  • NURS 658 — Advanced Family Nursing Field / Practicum I (2)

Widener also references an accelerated RN/MSN track for registered nurses without a BSN, but publishes no separate curriculum, credit total, or cost for it.

Ask admissions directly if you are entering without a BSN.

More curriculum details are available here.

MSN Clinical Requirements

  • 750 faculty-supervised clinical hours, stated as a minimum in the catalog
  • Itemized by course: 125 (NURS 648) + 250 (NURS 649) + 250 (NURS 655) + 125 (NURS 658) = 750. The per-course hours match the stated total exactly
  • Clinical hours begin in the first specialty course rather than after coursework concludes
  • Settings named by the school include community health centers, family practices, schools, college health centers, occupational health offices, home health agencies, senior and child daycare centers, and hospitals
  • PA State Board of Nursing licensure must be in place before clinicals start
  • NOTE: Widener does not state whether students find their own preceptors or whether the school arranges placements

750 hours runs 50% above the 500-hour national certification floor and above the 600–700 hours most FNP programs assign. The unusually broad list of approved settings — school health, occupational health, daycare centers — suggests Widener treats “primary care” expansively rather than routing everyone through family practice offices. That breadth is useful if you want exposure outside a clinic, but it also means the mix you get depends heavily on which sites are available to you.

Since the placement model is unpublished, ask specifically whether the school secures sites or whether that responsibility falls to you. In the Philadelphia metro, where competition for preceptors is real, the answer changes the difficulty of the program materially.

MSN Admissions

The MSN is the only Widener FNP track that does not require an interview, but it carries a hard prerequisite that trips up applicants: an undergraduate statistics or research course completed with a C or better.

  • BSN or equivalent from an accredited program
  • Minimum 3.0 GPA on a 4.0 scale in the BSN
  • Undergraduate statistics or research course, grade of C or better
  • Two recommendations, preferably from nurses holding graduate degrees
  • Valid U.S. RN license; PA State Board licensure required before clinicals
  • Personal statement, updated resume, official transcripts
  • $35 application fee
  • Application deadline is August 15 for fall entry, on an annual cycle — MSN programs admit once per year, fall only
  • Up to 2 previously completed courses may transfer in

BSN-DNP — Family Nurse Practitioner

The estimated tuition for the BSN-DNP Family (Individual Across the Lifespan) Nurse Practitioner at Widener University is approximately $79,570 (73 credits at $1,090 per credit). The published plan of study spans five years of continuous fall, spring, and summer enrollment, inside a seven-year limit from matriculation.

BSN-DNP Curriculum

The MSN-in-transit design. The most consequential feature of this track is that BSN-DNP students can earn the MSN while progressing toward the doctorate. Read the plan of study and you can see where: the entire FNP practicum spine finishes in Year Three, and the doctoral practice courses do not begin until Year Four. That means the nurse practitioner training is complete two full years before the degree is. If Widener certifies the MSN at that point, you can sit for FNP certification and begin practicing as an NP while completing the DNP project years part-time.

What the doctoral layer adds. The 28 credits above the MSN are not more clinical training in family practice. They are research and systems coursework — epistemology, complex health systems and organizational change, two evidence-based practice courses, ethics and genetics — plus a three-course DNP project sequence carrying 560 additional practice hours. This is a leadership and translation credential layered on a clinical one, not a deeper clinical credential.

Pacing. The plan of study never exceeds six credits in a term and runs continuously through every summer. It is built for a nurse who keeps working, not for a full-time student who wants to finish quickly. Widener does allow a full-time pace, but does not publish an accelerated plan.

  • NURS 702 — Nursing Science I: Epistemology (3)
  • NURS 713 — Complex Health Care Systems and Organizational Change (3)
  • NURS 732 — Evidence-Based Practice I (3)
  • NURS 734 — Evidence-Based Practice II: Translational Inquiry (3)
  • NURS 740 — Ethics and Genetics in Advanced Practice (3)
  • NURS 885 — Doctor of Nursing Practice I (4)
  • NURS 886 — Doctor of Nursing Practice II (6)
  • NURS 887 — Doctor of Nursing Practice III, DNP Project (6)

More curriculum details are available here.

This DNP catalog entry sits in a different catalog year than the MSN and certificate entries — confirm the current plan of study with the department before relying on the sequence.

BSN-DNP Clinical Requirements

  • 1,310 total clinical hours, split by Widener as 750 FNP hours and 560 DNP project hours
  • FNP hours are itemized as 250 (NURS 658) + 250 (NURS 649) + 250 (NURS 655) = 750
  • DNP hours are itemized as 112 (NURS 885) + 224 (NURS 886) + 224 (NURS 887) = 560. Both subtotals reconcile to the stated 1,310
  • The DNP course list assigns NURS 658 250 hours and NURS 648 none, while the MSN list assigns each 125. The 750 total is identical in both; only the itemization differs
  • NURS 889 DNP Project Advisement is required as needed beyond the listed courses, with continuous enrollment until the project is finished

The number to focus on is 750, not 1,310. The 560 DNP hours are project and systems work, not additional patient encounters, so your primary care preparation is identical to the MSN track’s. What the doctoral hours buy is a completed implementation project and the leadership training around it. Note also that continuous-enrollment requirement: if the DNP project runs long, you keep registering and keep paying for advisement credits beyond the 73 in the plan.

BSN-DNP Admissions

The DNP adds a faculty interview to the MSN’s requirements, arranged only after a preliminary review of your file — so the application is effectively a two-stage screen.

  • BSN from an accredited program, minimum 3.0 GPA
  • Undergraduate statistics course with a grade of C or better
  • Two references — one from an educator or advanced practice nurse, one from an employer holding a graduate degree
  • Goal statement emphasizing health care practice improvement
  • Curriculum vitae and valid RN license
  • Interview with a nursing faculty member
  • GRE not required; $35 application fee
  • August 15 deadline for fall entry, annually. DNP programs admit once per year, fall only

Post-Master’s Certificate — Family Nurse Practitioner

The estimated tuition for the Family Nurse Practitioner post-master’s certificate at Widener University is approximately $16,350 to $26,160 (15 to 24 credits at $1,090 per credit).

The credit total conflicts across Widener’s own pages: the catalog and program overview both state 24 required credits, while the certificate cost card states 15. Widener states the certificate takes 18 to 24 months of part-time study.

Post-Master’s Certificate Curriculum

Credits are set by portfolio, not by catalog. Widener assesses your prior coursework, continuing education, and experience before assigning a plan of study, which is why the published credit totals disagree — 24 is the full requirement, and 15 likely reflects a typical waived load. You will not know your actual cost until that assessment is done. Treat the $16,350 figure as a floor, not a quote.

Three prerequisites sit outside the credit count. Graduate-level advanced pathophysiology, advanced health assessment, and advanced pharmacology (3 credits each) must already be completed before the certificate begins. If your master’s did not include them — common for nursing education, administration, or leadership MSNs — that is nine additional credits and roughly $9,810 on top of the certificate itself.

Content the MSN track does not include. The certificate requires two courses absent from the MSN curriculum: Dynamics of Family Health Care and Issues in Health Care for Underserved Populations. Certificate students therefore get more family-specific and population-focused content than MSN students do, in exchange for the finance, policy, and informatics core they skip.

  • NURS 636 — Dynamics of Family Health Care (3)
  • NURS 638 — Issues in Health Care for Underserved Populations (3)
  • NURS 648 — Advanced Family Nursing I / Practicum I (4)
  • NURS 649 — Advanced Family Nursing II / Practicum II (6)
  • NURS 655 — Advanced Family Nursing III / Practicum III (6)
  • NURS 658 — Advanced Family Nursing Field / Practicum I (2)

More curriculum details are available here.

NOTE: Widener advertises that certificate students can apply 700-level credits earned with a B or better toward its nursing PhD. Every course in the FNP certificate is 600-level, so this pathway appears not to apply to this certificate as listed. Confirm before enrolling if doctoral progression is part of your plan.

Post-Master’s Certificate Clinical Requirements

  • 672 minimum faculty-supervised clinical hours
  • Itemized by course: 112 (NURS 648) + 224 (NURS 649) + 224 (NURS 655) + 112 (NURS 658) = 672, matching the stated minimum
  • The same four practicum courses used in the MSN and DNP tracks, at roughly 90% of the MSN hour allocation
  • Proof of health insurance and a copy of liability insurance within the specialty’s acceptable limits are required at application

672 hours clears the 500-hour certification floor comfortably and lands inside the 600–700 range typical of FNP programs. The 78-hour gap below the MSN track is not a quality difference — it reflects the shorter course-hour allocation applied to certificate students, who arrive with a master’s already in hand. The liability insurance requirement at application, rather than at clinical start, is unusual and means you need coverage in place before you have a seat.

Post-Master’s Certificate Admissions

The certificate has the most documentation-heavy application of the three tracks and the only one that requires insurance verification up front.

  • Master’s degree in nursing from an accredited program
  • Transcript from the completed master’s program
  • Valid U.S. RN license and PA State Board of Nursing licensure
  • Two recommendations addressing your practice and potential for the FNP role
  • Goal statement related to the FNP role
  • Proof of health insurance coverage
  • Copy of liability insurance within acceptable limits for the specialty
  • Personal interview, arranged by the applicant
  • December 1 deadline annually, for summer or fall entry. No spring start

Tuition

Widener charges $1,090 per credit for the 2026–2027 year, and this rate applies identically to nursing master’s courses, nursing doctoral courses, and nursing certificates. That matters more than it sounds: Widener bills graduate courses by course number, with 500–699 assessed at the master’s rate and 700–999 at the doctoral rate. For most disciplines those rates differ. For nursing they do not, so DNP students face no mid-program rate step-up when they move into 700-level coursework.

Estimated total tuition by track (credits × $1,090, derived from Widener’s published per-credit rate):

  • MSN — 45 credits = $49,050
  • BSN-DNP — 73 credits = $79,570
  • Post-Master’s Certificate — 15 to 24 credits = $16,350 to $26,160 ⚠

Mandatory fees beyond the per-credit rate, charged per semester:

  • Technology fee (3+ credits): $154
  • Nursing technology fee: $100
  • Graduate student fee: $39
  • New student fee: $38 (one time)
  • Application fee: $35
  • Widener notes that field placement may carry additional costs it does not itemize ⚠

That comes to roughly $293 per semester in recurring fees. For the BSN-DNP, whose plan of study runs 15 consecutive terms including summers, the derived fee total is about $4,433 — pushing the realistic all-in figure to roughly $84,000 before books, travel to campus, and any DNP advisement credits taken beyond the 73 in the plan. Two discounts can move these numbers materially: Widener alumni may qualify for a 20% tuition reduction, and the university maintains employer partnerships offering discounted rates. Neither stacks with the other.

See Widener’s official graduate tuition page for current rates, which the university notes are subject to change.

Why Choose This FNP Program?

Best suited for nurses living within commuting distance of Chester or Harrisburg who want the option to keep climbing without switching schools.

The structural case for Widener is credential mobility. All three tracks run through the same four practicum courses, so the clinical preparation is consistent whether you enter with a BSN or an MSN. If you enter the BSN-DNP, you finish the entire FNP sequence by Year Three and can earn the MSN before the doctoral project years begin. That design lets you start practicing as an NP roughly two years before the DNP is conferred, which changes the economics of a five-year program considerably — you are earning NP wages while paying for the back half. Compare that to committing to a standalone MSN and later returning for a separate post-master’s DNP, and the integrated route saves both application cycles and duplicated coursework.

The honest trade-offs are three. First, format: this is a hybrid program requiring in-person attendance, and Widener never publishes how often. If you are outside southeastern or central Pennsylvania, the travel math likely rules it out, and you should ask for the actual session schedule before applying anywhere near a decision. Second, timing: MSN and DNP applicants get exactly one shot per year, with an August 15 deadline and a fall-only start. Miss it and you wait twelve months. Third, cost: at $1,090 per credit with no in-state discount, Widener sits in private-university territory, well above what Pennsylvania’s public nursing schools charge. The alumni and employer discounts are the main levers for closing that gap, and both are worth confirming in writing before you enroll.

Which track fits. If you hold a BSN and want the terminal degree, the BSN-DNP is the clear pick — the MSN-in-transit design makes it strictly better than doing the two degrees separately. If you hold a BSN and want to practice as soon as possible without a doctorate, the 45-credit MSN gets you there at $49,050, though nine of its credits go to finance, policy, and informatics rather than clinical content. If you already hold an MSN, the certificate is the efficient route — but get the portfolio assessment done before you budget, because your real credit count and whether you owe the three prerequisite courses are the only numbers that matter, and neither is published.

Accreditation

Widener’s nursing programs are accredited by the Commission on Collegiate Nursing Education (CCNE), and the school states this separately for all three FNP pathways: the master’s degree program in nursing, the Doctor of Nursing Practice program, and the post-master’s certificate programs. Institutionally, Widener University is accredited by the Middle States Commission on Higher Education (MSCHE), with a status of Accreditation Reaffirmed — verified from Widener’s own accreditations page. There is no candidacy or provisional status on any of these.

Widener states that graduates are eligible to apply for certification through the American Nurses Credentialing Center (FNP-BC) or the American Association of Nurse Practitioners (FNP-C) — explicit dual eligibility, which gives you a choice of credential. Note that Widener’s catalog uses the older “American Academy of Nurse Practitioners” name for AANP; the current body is the American Association of Nurse Practitioners Certification Board. Widener also publishes a licensure-by-state page for the Dwyer School of Nursing. Review it for your intended practice state before enrolling, since meeting Pennsylvania’s educational requirements does not automatically satisfy another state’s. International applicants should note separately that students whose visa status requires in-person coursework may be ineligible for these programs.

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