When a missing preceptor pushes graduation back
At NAU a missed practicum often costs a year rather than a term. The three FNP practicums run in a fixed order, one per term, and NAU's guidelines have a withdrawn student retake the course the following academic year, so graduation moves with it. The steps below keep one delay from turning into two.
Plan the rest of your practicums
Tell us your NAU track, your revised timeline and your town. Your placement advisor maps preceptors for every practicum still ahead.
Why one missed practicum can cost a year
NAU's 2022-23 FNP guidelines place each practicum in its own term: NUR 661 in summer, NUR 663 in fall and NUR 665 in spring. The catalog chains them, since NUR 663 requires NUR 661 and NUR 665 requires NUR 663, and each practicum is paired with a theory course taken alongside it.
The guidelines also say a student whose clinical documents are late can be withdrawn administratively from the practicum and from the theory course paired with it, then retake them the following academic year. A practicum that cannot start for lack of a preceptor is likely to follow the same pattern, though your advisor confirms how your case is handled.
| Practicum | Term | Taken with | What else waits, by the published prerequisites |
|---|---|---|---|
NUR 661 Practicum I, 180 hours | Summer | NUR 660 | NUR 663 and NUR 665 |
NUR 663 Practicum II, 300 hours | Fall | NUR 662 | NUR 665 |
NUR 665 Practicum III, 300 hours | Spring | NUR 664 | Your graduation term |
Conferral dates to plan around
NAU's Registrar and the Arizona Board of Regents calendar set these conferral points: December 11, 2026; May 7, 2027; August 3, 2027 for summer; December 10, 2027; and May 5, 2028. An FNP student on the standard sequence finishes with NUR 665 in spring, so the usual conferral is in May.
Suppose you expected to graduate in May 2027 but cannot start NUR 665 in January. If the practicum next runs in spring 2028, the new target becomes May 5, 2028, a full year later. Whether NAU can offer any practicum outside its usual term rests with your graduate nursing advisor and the FNP Program Coordinator; the published guidelines describe no such option.
PMHNP students follow a different structure, with NUR 680 carrying 13 units in the MS and 9 or 13 in the certificate. NAU does not publish how those units spread across terms, so ask your program coordinator how a late start affects your finish date. NAU's semester calendar lists the term dates.
Limits that start to matter
A single one-year slip leaves a 2.5-year MS well inside NAU's outer limit, but it helps to know the rules. NAU policy gives master's students six years to finish, with one possible extension of up to a year. The graduate handbook for AY 21-22 treated master's students who miss three consecutive semesters, not counting summer, as withdrawn, so staying enrolled through a gap year matters.
Grades interact with delays too. Under that handbook, a mark below 84 percent in an MS-FNP or certificate course counted as a C or lower and meant retaking the course; a first C or F could be retaken with advisor approval; and more than six units of C, any D or F, or running past the time limit could lead to a dismissal recommendation. NAU publishes no separate time limit for graduate certificates, so certificate students should confirm theirs with an advisor. NAU progression rules has the detail.
What a later graduation moves with it
Graduation starts the next set of clocks. National certification comes first, then Arizona RNP certification from the Board of Nursing, which requires it, and then prescribing and dispensing authority for NPs who plan to prescribe. An employer waiting on your start date, or a move to practice in another state, shifts back as well. Write the new conferral date beside each of those steps, so the whole chain is visible when you sit down with your advisor.
If you are weighing a delay against a distant placement NAU has offered, count those later dates as part of the decision. A long commute for one term may cost you less than a year's wait, and a preceptor near home can spare you both. Arizona NP practice rules explains certification after graduation, and placement options compared weighs each route.
Getting back on schedule
- Meet your graduate nursing advisorBook through NAU's appointment scheduler and confirm your revised plan of study, the term each remaining course runs and your new conferral date.
- Confirm the re-entry termAsk the FNP Program Coordinator when the practicum you missed runs next and what NAU needs from you before then.
- Stay enrolledCheck with your advisor that the gap does not trip the continuous-enrollment rule, and keep your student record active.
- Secure the preceptor earlyTreat the returning practicum as a fresh search with an early start: preceptor chosen, site approved and Green Form in well before that term's cutoff.
- Plan every remaining practicum nowLine up the practicums that follow at the same time, so each later cutoff arrives with a preceptor already in place.
- Keep your documents currentRenew BLS, TB screening and anything else that lapses during the gap, so everything is on file two months before rotations.
How we keep your next term on schedule
A delay is the moment to plan the rest of the program in one piece. Your placement advisor maps every practicum still ahead of you, searches close to home for preceptors suited to each course, and checks every one against the Arizona preceptor rule NAU follows. For FNP students that means the remaining practicums in order, each with enough pediatric and women's health volume; for PMHNP students, in-person psychiatric settings for NUR 680.
We collect the CV, license and certification, confirm each site's approval, flag early whether an affiliation agreement is needed, and have each Green Form ready well before its cutoff. If a preceptor steps away later, your advisor is ready with a replacement search, so one setback does not become a second. Tell us your revised plan; the steps we follow are on how it works.
Questions NAU students ask
Can I take time off while I wait for the next practicum?
NAU's graduate handbook for AY 21-22 treated master's students who miss three consecutive semesters, excluding summer, as withdrawn, and the six-year master's limit keeps counting. Any leave option comes through the Graduate College and your advisor. Ask before you step away, so the gap is recorded correctly and your return term is confirmed.
Does a delayed practicum mean I failed the course?
It depends on how the course is recorded. NAU's 2022-23 guidelines describe administrative withdrawal for late documents, which is a different outcome from a C, D or F under the graduate progression rules. Ask your advisor and course faculty how your situation will be recorded before the term ends, and what each option means for your plan of study.
Could I finish faster by doubling up practicums later?
NAU's published sequence runs one FNP practicum per term, and each requires the one before, so doubling up does not fit the catalog as written. Ask your graduate nursing advisor whether any exception exists, but plan on the standard order unless the program tells you otherwise.
Is a distant NAU placement better than waiting a year?
Only you can weigh it, but look at the whole picture: travel and overnight stays repeat through the term, while a year's wait moves certification and work plans too. NAU's guidelines also warn that turning down an offered site because of travel does not entitle you to a different one, so decide with that in mind and talk it through with your advisor.
Related pages
Last checked 2026-09-27
We check these pages against Northern Arizona University's own catalog, program pages and published nursing documents. Your program coordinator and course faculty have the final word.
- Northern Arizona University Graduate Student Handbook: Academics, AY 21-22 (archived)
- Northern Arizona University policy, master's degree time limit
- Northern Arizona University Registrar, Important Dates
- Northern Arizona University FNP Clinical Guidelines, AY 2022-23 (archived)
- Northern Arizona University catalog 2026-27, MS Nursing, Advanced Practice (archived)
NAU welcomes a preceptor you arrange. We arrange one close to home.
Tell us your NAU track, your town and your next practicum. We line up preceptors who fit the course and Arizona's preceptor rule, confirm the site's approval, and gather the CV, license and certification the Green Form needs, well before NAU's cutoff.
- Preceptors matched to the course: all-ages family primary care for FNP, psychiatric settings for PMHNP
- License, experience and certification checked against the rule NAU applies, before the Green Form goes in
- All three FNP practicums planned together, near home instead of a long drive away
Start your placement plan
Track, town and next practicum is all we need to begin.