UT Tyler MSN FNP and post-master's FNP certificate
UT Tyler's MSN Family Nurse Practitioner is 47 credits with 750 direct patient care hours spread across five clinical courses, and the post-master's certificate shares its specialty courses and its hour total. You choose each preceptor and site in Texas, and your clinical faculty approve them. Below are the full course list, the clinical order and where each course's rules are covered.
Get your FNP placement plan
Tell us your next FNP clinical course and your part of Texas. Your placement advisor replies with the preceptors that course needs.
The FNP in brief
The MSN FNP is hybrid. Most coursework is online, and UT Tyler pictures you doing clinical hours with preceptors close to home, then spending a day or two each semester on the Tyler main campus. Those campus days are the OSCEs, the only required visits, typically around Week 11.
Admission asks for a BSN, a 3.0 GPA on your last 60 undergraduate hours, statistics with a C or better and a one-page personal statement, with a CV recommended. Anyone seeking an APRN track needs a Texas RN license under the 2026-27 catalog, and your statement has to lay out how you expect to line up preceptors for the whole program.
The School of Nursing offers year-round starts, and you must be admitted two weeks before your session begins. UT Tyler offers full-time and part-time study but publishes no fixed program length. Graduates sit the AANPCB exam, the board UT Tyler names on its accreditation page.
Every course in the MSN FNP
The table follows the 2026-27 catalog, with credits taken from the second digit of each course number, as UT Tyler's numbering rule sets out. The sequence follows the catalog's part-time outline; your signed degree plan sets your own order.
| Course | Title | Credits | Clinical hours | Sequence |
|---|---|---|---|---|
NURS 5301, NURS 5302, NURS 5321, NURS 5324, NURS 5325 | MSN core: Translational Science I and II, Health Policy, Informatics, Organizational Leadership | 15 | 10 practice hours each, not direct care | 7-week Flex sessions, any term |
NURS 5350 | Advanced Pathophysiology | 3 | None | Semester 1 |
NURS 5352 | Advanced Health Assessment for NPs | 3 | 20, embedded in the course | Semester 1 |
NURS 5354 | Advanced Nursing Pharmacotherapeutics | 3 | None | Semester 2 |
NURS 5339 | Diagnostic Methods and Procedures | 3 | Not stated for the 750-hour plan | Semester 2, with NURS 5354 |
NURS 5111 | The Advanced Practice Role | 1 | None | Semester 3, first Flex session |
NURS 5453 | FNP Primary Care I (pediatrics) | 4 | 125 | Semester 3, 15 weeks |
NURS 5454 | FNP Primary Care II (sexual and mental health) | 4 | 125 | Semester 4 |
NURS 5455 | FNP Primary Care III (adult and geriatric) | 4 | No figure printed | Semester 5 |
NURS 5347 | FNP Internship I | 3 | 187.5 | Semester 6 |
NURS 5349 | FNP Internship II | 3 | 187.5 | Final semester; can run alongside NURS 5347 |
NURS 5112 | Transitions to Practice | 1 | None | Final semester, with NURS 5349 |
| Total | 47 | 750 direct care, in the five clinical courses |
The catalog prints no hours for NURS 5455. Take the other four courses away from 750 and 125 remains; that number is our subtraction, not something UT Tyler prints.
The five clinical courses, in order
Every clinical course runs the full 15-week semester, and the NURS 5453 syllabus asks for at least 10 clinical hours a week. Treat the five as five separate placements: each one needs its own approved preceptor and site, matched to that course's patients.
NURS 5453FNP Primary Care I: pediatrics, 125 hoursYour first direct care course needs a preceptor with a pediatric caseload, and it includes an on-campus OSCE. Details are on the pediatric primary care course page.NURS 5454FNP Primary Care II: sexual and mental health, 125 hoursA setting where sexual health and mental health visits are routine. Its syllabus names the OSCE as the one required campus date. See Primary Care II.NURS 5455FNP Primary Care III: adult and geriatric careAdult and older adult primary care, with at least three written, measurable objectives handed to your preceptor before the first shift. See adult-gerontology primary care.NURS 5347andNURS 5349FNP Internships: 187.5 hours eachFamily practice hours, two passing preceptor evaluations, on-campus OSCEs and board prep. Hospital acute care hours are not approved inNURS 5349. See the FNP internships.
The OSCE days are the fixed points to schedule around, and FNP OSCE campus days collects what UT Tyler publishes about them, including the Fall 2026 dates for NURS 5349.
750 hours in the catalog, 675 for earlier cohorts
The 2026-27 catalog sets 750 direct care hours. Several Fall 2026 syllabi, written for students who began under the previous plan, still say 675. That plan uses NURS 5351 (pediatrics, 120 hours) and NURS 5353 (women's health, 120) where the new one has NURS 5453 and NURS 5454, then 145 hours in NURS 5455, 120 in each internship and a further 50 drawn from NURS 5352 plus NURS 5339, with NURS 5382 Capstone in place of NURS 5112.
Which plan applies depends on when you entered, and your signed degree plan settles it. Even the older syllabi split the hours two ways: one lists women's health at 120 and family practice at 435, another at 75 and 480. The 750 versus 675 guide compares both plans course by course.
The post-master's FNP certificate
The certificate is for nurses who already hold an MSN. It carries the same 11 specialty courses and the same 750 direct care hours as the MSN, without the MSN core. To enter, you need the MSN already in hand, a Texas RN license and a year of full-time hands-on patient care inside the past four years. The fall deadline is June 15; the spring deadline is November 1.
Took the three Ps (pathophysiology, assessment, pharmacology) in the last three years? A competency exam can spare you from repeating those nine credits. The catalog gives the credit range two ways on one page, 20 to 29 and 21 to 32, so confirm your total with your advisor.
Certificate students sit in the same clinical courses as MSN students, so the preceptor rules, the OSCE days and the approval steps on this page apply to you unchanged. An older certificate page describes one to two days a semester on the Tyler campus, the same rhythm as the MSN.
Who can precept FNP hours
UT Tyler's FNP preceptors are nurse practitioners, physicians (MD or DO) and physician assistants practicing in Texas, approved by your clinical instructor. The NURS 5349 syllabus suggests an advanced practice nurse for 25% of total program hours, while UT Tyler's online program page says most clinical time should be with an APRN. Planning toward the higher bar satisfies both.
- Up to 240 hours with any one preceptor, per UT Tyler's InPlace how-to.
- Your boss, anyone above you in your reporting chain and family members are all off the list. Employees of small physician- or NP-owned clinics should expect to rotate elsewhere; clinicals where you work has the full rules.
- Sites and preceptors cleared ahead of the term under policy 7.2, following a Self-Placement Request filled in with your preceptor's details.
- Hours logged in Exxat within 72 hours, matching your preceptor's daily signature sheet. Some syllabi still say InPlace.
- A copy of UT Tyler's Preceptor Handbook, from the Mission Possible Canvas site, reviewed with each preceptor.
- Every hour completed in Texas, while you live in Texas.
A preceptor who agrees to take you is not yet an approved preceptor. Your request form, your preceptor's online agreement survey, sign-off from faculty and the facility contract all come first, and UT Tyler wants them finished before the semester begins.
How we set up five FNP placements
We work from UT Tyler's own sequence. For each clinical course, we find a preceptor in your part of Texas whose patients fit that course, check them against UT Tyler's rules before anyone signs, and hand you the preceptor details your request form needs.
- Map the sequenceYour degree plan against the five clinical courses and the OSCE weeks, so each search starts a full term ahead.
- Match the patientsPediatrics for
NURS 5453, sexual and mental health forNURS 5454, adults and older adults forNURS 5455, outpatient family practice for the internships. - Check the rules firstLicensure, supervisor and relative conflicts, the 240-hour limit with one preceptor and the APRN share, settled before a preceptor commits.
- Hand over a complete requestPreceptor credentials, site details and facility contacts ready for your request form and for the facility's affiliation agreement.
- Stay on callA preceptor who leaves partway through gets replaced, and we draft the updated request with you.
Share your county and your next clinical course on the placement request form.
Questions UT Tyler students ask
Can I do UT Tyler FNP clinicals outside Texas?
No. UT Tyler's graduate nursing page says NP students must be Texas residents who log all clinical hours inside the state on a Texas or compact RN license, and the current catalog asks APRN-track applicants for a Texas license. The FNP program page still mentions licensure in whichever state hosts the practicum; that wording is older than the Texas-only rule.
How long does UT Tyler's FNP program take?
UT Tyler publishes no fixed length for the MSN FNP and offers both full-time and part-time study. The catalog's part-time outline places the first direct care course, NURS 5453, in the third semester and the internships in the sixth and final semesters. Your signed degree plan sets your own timeline, and each clinical course then runs a full 15-week semester.
When should I start looking for my first FNP preceptor?
Well before the semester that opens NURS 5453. Under policy 7.2, approval of the site and preceptor has to land before the term opens, and the facility's affiliation agreement and onboarding take time on top of faculty review. UT Tyler publishes no filing deadline beyond that, so we begin each search a full term ahead of the course.
Can hospital hours count toward UT Tyler FNP clinicals?
Not in NURS 5349, whose Fall 2026 syllabus rules out hospital acute care hours. The FNP clinical courses are primary care courses covering children, sexual and mental health, adults and older adults, and family practice. If a hospital-owned outpatient clinic is on your list, ask your course faculty before you file the request.
Which board exam do UT Tyler FNP graduates take?
The AANPCB is the board UT Tyler lists for the family track on its accreditation page, and board review in the internships runs on FNP Mastery plus the APEA predictor test. UT Tyler reports a 96% first-time FNP pass rate for 2024. After certification, the Texas Board of Nursing issues the APRN license.
Related pages
Last checked 2026-09-25
We check these pages against UT Tyler's own catalog, syllabi, program pages and clinical policies, and Texas rules. Your course, your program coordinator and the Clinical Coordinator have the final word.
UT Tyler asks you to choose your clinical site. We find it.
Tell us your UT Tyler track, where in Texas you live and when your next clinical course starts. We find preceptors near you who fit the course and gather everything your Self-Placement Request needs, so faculty can approve it before the semester.
- Preceptors matched to the course: pediatrics for
NURS 5453, adult and geriatric care forNURS 5455, psychiatric care forNURS 5367 - Texas-licensed preceptors who clear UT Tyler's supervisor, relative and site rules
- Anywhere in Texas, from the Piney Woods to the Valley
Start your placement plan
Program, city and start date is all we need to begin.