NAU's post-master's FNP certificate: the courses, the 780 hours and the preceptor plan
Northern Arizona University's Family Nurse Practitioner Graduate Certificate is for nurses who already hold a master's in nursing. It carries the full clinical load of the MS route, 780 hours across NUR 661, NUR 663 and NUR 665, while trimming three MS courses, and NAU lists it at about 25 months online. For most certificate students the practicums, not the coursework, decide how the program goes.
Line up your certificate practicums
Tell us your town and your first practicum term. Your placement advisor replies with family practice options that fit.
Who the certificate is for
The catalog describes the certificate as a program for nurses with a master's degree in nursing, and admission is built around that degree. Beyond the master's itself, NAU wants a 3.0 GPA across nursing coursework, a multistate RN license or one issued for Arizona, the Arizona IVP Fingerprint Clearance Card, references and essays.
The master's can be in any nursing area as far as the catalog wording goes; it names no required specialty. What changes is the path through the program. MS students work through the full 23-unit core, while certificate students follow the shorter list below, which leaves three MS courses out. How NAU reads a particular transcript is a question for graduate nursing advising, which handles admissions and coursework for graduate students.
If you want the degree route instead, the MS FNP emphasis page describes the 48-unit version of the same clinical sequence.
The course list, and how it differs from the MS
The 2025-26 catalog lists twelve courses for the certificate. Set against the MS FNP emphasis, it drops NUR 510, NUR 530 and NUR 676 and keeps everything else, including every practicum.
| Group | Courses |
|---|---|
| Shared with the MS core | NUR 520, NUR 540, NUR 550, NUR 560, NUR 650, NUR 675 |
| FNP theory | NUR 660, NUR 662, NUR 664 |
| FNP practicums | NUR 661, NUR 663, NUR 665 |
| MS courses left off the certificate | NUR 510, NUR 530, NUR 676 |
One detail to raise early: the catalog's entry for NUR 661 names NUR 510, NUR 530 and NUR 676 among its prerequisites, even though none of the three is on the certificate list. NAU's public pages do not explain how certificate students satisfy them, so ask your advisor or the FNP Program Coordinator before you register for the summer practicum.
Units, length and the rules that apply
NAU's 2024-25 and 2025-26 catalog pages tell students to take 39 units; Degree Search lists a minimum of 38. No archived copy of the 2026-27 certificate page exists, so 2025-26 is the newest catalog text anyone can read. Go by the plan of study NAU issues when you are admitted, and confirm the total with your advisor.
Degree Search puts the certificate at 25 months, online. The graduate handbook holds post-master's certificate courses to the same 84% pass mark as the MS FNP, with a repeat required after any C; the progression rules page covers the rest. NAU publishes a six-year limit for master's degrees but no separate limit for graduate certificates.
One more date to check: the certificate page's application note still says the FNP application is open for summer 2025, wording left from a 2024 update. Graduate nursing advising can give you the current intake.
Same 780 hours, same approval route
Certificate students complete the identical sequence: 180 hours in NUR 661 in summer, then 300 in NUR 663 in fall and 300 in NUR 665 in spring. NAU's 2022-23 FNP Clinical Guidelines head their hours table "MS-FNP and Post-Masters Certificate FNP" and list outcomes for the post-master's certificate, so the hour rules, the recommended population mix and the approval steps apply to you exactly as they do to MS students.
That includes the way preceptors are found. You propose a preceptor on the FNP Preceptor/Agency Green Form, NAU confirms or requests the site and starts an affiliation agreement if needed, the preceptor sends a CV, license and certification, and the FNP Program Coordinator gives the approval. The Practicum II guide and the FNP hour mix page carry the course-level detail.
Fitting practicums around a working schedule
Many certificate students are working nurses, and NAU's guidelines rule out clinical shifts during university breaks, on holidays and on weekends unless the FNP Program Coordinator signs off in advance. Weekday availability is therefore the real constraint. Before each practicum, count how many weekdays the term leaves you and how many hours a clinic day gives you; the pacing guide does that arithmetic for 180-hour and 300-hour terms.
Your own employer can be a site if it offers family primary care and a qualified preceptor, but NAU requires an affiliation agreement even when you are on staff, and the 2021-22 Green Form cautioned that a new agreement might need anything from several days to several months. The workplace practicum page explains what to check. Whatever the site, all clinical documents need to be on file two months before rotations begin.
Licensure table and accreditation
The certificate has its own row in NAU's professional licensure table, labeled Family Nurse Practitioner (GCERT) since the end of 2025; earlier captures called it the Post-Master's Family Nurse Practitioner. Its answers match the MS FNP: Does Not Meet in the same seven states, Meets everywhere else. A student located in one of those seven at initial enrollment signs an attestation of intent to work in another state. NAU's policy has program leaders review these answers every year and the live table shows no date, so check your state's row again before you enroll.
CCNE accreditation covers the Post-Master's FNP Graduate Certificate, with the next review shown for 2028, and the university holds Higher Learning Commission accreditation. The state authorization page covers SARA and what to do if you move during the program.
Why certificate students choose us
You already know how graduate school works; the certificate's hard part is three family practicums on a working nurse's calendar. We find family primary care preceptors close to you who see children, adults and women's health patients, check each against Arizona rule R4-19-502, and assemble the CV, license and certification before you file the Green Form, with the site already on board.
We map summer, fall and spring together so every cutoff is met with room to spare, raise any affiliation agreement early, and stay with you through NUR 665. If a preceptor leaves partway through a term, we source a replacement fast. The FNP Program Coordinator makes the final call; we make sure what reaches NAU is complete and fits its rules. Start with the form below.
Questions NAU students ask
How long does NAU's post-master's FNP certificate take?
NAU's Degree Search lists 25 months online. The clinical sequence alone spans a summer, a fall and a spring, because each practicum is the prerequisite for the one after it. Core and theory courses come before and alongside those practicums, and the plan of study from your advisor sets the exact order.
Do certificate students complete fewer clinical hours than MS students?
No. The certificate uses the same three practicums and the same 780-hour total, with the same floor of 500 faculty-supervised hours in the family focus. Only the coursework differs: three MS courses (NUR 510, NUR 530 and NUR 676) are absent from the certificate.
Can I apply with an MSN in education or leadership?
The catalog asks for a master's degree in nursing and names no required specialty, so an education or leadership MSN fits its wording. The other entry items, the license, fingerprint card, GPA, references and essays, are the same for everyone. Graduate advising can tell you how your earlier master's courses line up with the certificate list.
Can I do the certificate practicums outside Arizona?
No NAU source rules on out-of-state graduate clinicals either way. The 2022-23 guidelines expect your RN license to cover the state where your clinical hours take place, and some states set their own rules for out-of-state programs. Confirm with the FNP Program Coordinator before you secure a preceptor outside Arizona.
Is the FNP certificate the same program NAU used to call the Post-Master's FNP?
Yes. NAU's accreditation table and its college location table still say Post-Master's FNP, and the licensure table carried the longer post-master's label until late 2025 before shortening it to Family Nurse Practitioner (GCERT). The catalog plan code is PMFNPCT in both the 2024-25 and 2025-26 catalogs, and the three practicums are unchanged.
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 catalog 2025-26: Family Nurse Practitioner Graduate Certificate (archived)
- Northern Arizona University College of Nursing: Family Nurse Practitioner certificate
- Northern Arizona University FNP Clinical Guidelines, AY 2022-23 (archived)
- Northern Arizona University Degree Search: Family Nurse Practitioner certificate
- Northern Arizona University: professional licensure by state
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.