NAU progression rules for graduate nursing students
NAU's graduate nursing handbook puts the passing line at 84%, and any graduate course finished with a C or lower has to be repeated. Around that sit a six-year limit on the master's, a rule about missing three semesters in a row, and a practicum chain in which each course unlocks the next, so one lost practicum can move your graduation back by a year.
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Tell us your NAU program and where you live. A placement advisor replies with the preceptor and site options that fit your course.
The 84% line and NAU's graduate grade scale
The Graduate Student Handbook for 2021-22, the newest NAU has posted, sets a firm bar: 84% or better passes MS-FNP, post-master's certificate and MS Generalist courses, and a graduate course finished with a C or less must be repeated. DNP courses carry the same 84% rule, which also covers the final DNP project and course papers.
| Grade | Percentage | Effect on progression |
|---|---|---|
| A | 93-100 | Passes |
| B | 84-92 | Passes |
| C | 78-83 | Must be repeated |
| F | Below 78 | Must be repeated |
The C band is where students get caught. A 79 goes on the transcript as a C, not an F, yet it still sends you back through the course and counts toward the dismissal limit below. The PMHNP emphasis and certificate started in fall 2023, after that handbook was written, so PMHNP students should confirm with a graduate nursing advisor that the same line governs their courses.
Repeating a course
The handbook lets the first C or F be repeated with advisor approval. Its repeat allowance names only that first grade; a second falls under the dismissal rules in the next section.
In the FNP sequence a repeat spreads. NUR 663 lists NUR 660 and NUR 661 as prerequisites, and NUR 665 lists NUR 662 and NUR 663, so an unfinished practicum keeps the next one closed. Each practicum sits in one fixed term on the semester calendar, summer, fall or spring, and the 2022-23 FNP Clinical Guidelines expect a practicum lost to administrative withdrawal to be retaken when it is next offered, the following academic year.
Incompletes follow Graduate College policy rather than a nursing rule of their own. Before you ask for an I in a course that feeds the next practicum, ask your advisor how it would affect your start in that next course.
What can lead to dismissal
The handbook lists three grounds on which dismissal may be recommended. The word is may, so none is automatic, but each is safer treated as a hard stop.
- More than six units of C grades. Two 3-unit courses at C reach six; one more C crosses the line.
- Any grade of D or F.
- Failing to finish the degree within NAU's time limits.
Practicum units vary between NAU documents: the 2021-22 graduate handbook shows each FNP practicum at 3 credits, while the 2022-23 guidelines and the catalog put NUR 663 and NUR 665 at 5. At 5 units, a C in one practicum plus a C in any 3-unit course passes six. Good standing also rests on a 3.00 GPA, and one C offset by a single A leaves exactly 3.00, with no margin at all.
Time limits and staying enrolled
Two clocks run alongside your grades: a limit on the whole degree and a rule about gaps between semesters.
| Program | Time limit | Enrollment rule |
|---|---|---|
| MS Nursing, Advanced Practice (FNP or PMHNP) | Six years; one extension of up to a year possible | Missing three consecutive semesters, not counting summer, means you are treated as withdrawn |
| DNP (closed to new applicants) | Eight years | Enrollment expected every fall and spring |
| FNP and PMHNP graduate certificates | None published | Ask your graduate nursing advisor |
Six years sounds roomy for a 2.5-year program, but a repeated practicum and a family leave together can take a real share of it. The enrollment rule matters to anyone pausing for work, a move or a missing preceptor: one skipped fall and one skipped spring stay inside it, and a third straight non-summer semester does not.
Clinical rules that behave like progression rules
Some of the rules with the biggest effect on your timeline sit in the clinical guidelines, not the grade policy. Under NAU's 2022-23 FNP Clinical Guidelines, documents missing two months before rotations can keep you out of clinical orientation and lead to administrative withdrawal from the clinical course and its related theory course. That can cost a year without a single grade being posted; the documents deadline guide lists what must be on file.
Your preceptor's view of you counts as well. The 2022-23 guidelines had preceptors evaluate students online in Typhon, with course faculty overseeing the immersion as NAU's liaison to the site. A preceptor who leaves mid-term puts your hours and that evaluation at risk together; the dropped preceptor guide covers the next steps.
BSN students work under a different set. The May 2022 undergraduate handbook requires a C or better, or a P, in every nursing course and a 78% combined exam average, and a second nursing course failure results in dismissal.
Protecting your standing before a practicum opens
- Ask for the current rulesThe public handbooks date from 2021-22 and 2022-23. Your graduate nursing advisor or program coordinator has the version that binds your cohort.
- Map the chainMark each practicum's term and prerequisites on your plan of study and note which term cannot slip without moving graduation.
- File documents earlyAim to have every clinical document in well before the two-month mark, so a slow lab result or card renewal has room.
- Lock in the preceptor before the cutoffA preceptor confirmed on the Green Form with the site's approval keeps the practicum on its planned term.
- Plan any pause on paperCount the non-summer semesters you would miss and talk to your advisor before you step away, not after.
How we protect your timeline
Several of these rules turn on a single event: a practicum starting on time. That is the point we work on. Your placement advisor locates a preceptor matched to your practicum and checked against Arizona's preceptor rule, R4-19-502, in the form NAU uses it, collects the CV, license and certification, and gets the site's approval in hand so your Green Form goes in complete and early.
Our planning covers all three family practicums from the start, so each link in the prerequisite chain has its preceptor lined up before the term arrives. When a replacement is needed mid-sequence, we search again at once rather than waiting for the next cutoff. If your graduation date is already at risk, the delayed graduation guide sets out your options; to start, send your plan of study through the form below.
Questions NAU students ask
What grade do you need to pass an NAU graduate nursing course?
84%, which is the bottom of NAU's B range, per the Graduate Student Handbook for 2021-22. Grades from 78 to 83 are a C and below 78 an F, and any graduate course finished with a C or less must be repeated. Confirm the current version with your graduate nursing advisor.
Can I retake a failed NP course at NAU?
Yes, with your advisor's approval. The 2021-22 graduate handbook allows the first C or F to be repeated with advisor approval, while a D or F, or more than six units of C, can lead to a dismissal recommendation. A practicum retake waits for the course's next offering; for a withdrawn practicum, the 2022-23 guidelines point to the following academic year.
How long do I have to finish the NAU MS in nursing?
NAU policy gives six years to complete a master's degree, with one possible extension of up to a year. DNP students have eight years. NAU publishes no separate limit for the FNP or PMHNP graduate certificates, so certificate students should ask their graduate nursing advisor.
Can I take a semester off from NAU's NP program?
The 2021-22 graduate handbook treats master's students who miss three consecutive semesters, not counting summer, as withdrawn, so a single semester away stays inside that rule. Because each FNP practicum runs in one fixed term, a pause can still push your sequence back a year. Plan it with your advisor first.
Does a late preceptor affect my progression at NAU?
NAU's public rules say nothing about a preceptor who cancels, but the 2022-23 guidelines tie clinical participation to documents on file two months ahead, and a practicum that cannot run is retaken the next academic year. Securing the preceptor early is the simplest way to keep a practicum on its term.
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.
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
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