Board certification after UT Tyler's FNP and PMHNP programs
UT Tyler's own pages point FNP graduates to the AANPCB exam and PMHNP graduates to the ANCC PMHNP-BC. UT Tyler reports 2024 first-time pass rates of 96% on the FNP exam and 100% on the PMHNP exam. For FNP students, board prep runs inside the two internships, the semesters with the most clinical hours.
Keep your last clinicals on schedule
Tell us which UT Tyler clinical course comes next and where you live in Texas. Your placement advisor maps the preceptors you still need.
Which exam each UT Tyler NP track leads to
Your certification board follows your population focus. UT Tyler names a board for its FNP and PMHNP tracks, and the Texas Board of Nursing later asks for certification that matches the role and population you trained in.
| UT Tyler track | Exam UT Tyler names | Where UT Tyler says it | Result UT Tyler reports |
|---|---|---|---|
| MSN FNP and post-master's FNP certificate | AANPCB | School of Nursing accreditation page | 96% first-time, 2024 |
| MSN PMHNP and post-master's PMHNP certificate | ANCC PMHNP-BC | PMHNP program page | 100% first-time, 2024 |
| Post-master's AGACNP certificate | Not named on the pages reviewed | Ask your AGACNP program coordinator | None published |
| DNP-Nurse Anesthesia | Dual certification as an AGACNP and a CRNA | Nurse anesthesia program page | None published |
The post-master's FNP and PMHNP certificates carry the same specialty courses, the same 750 clinical hours and the same population focus as the MSN tracks. UT Tyler's announcements report results by exam, without separating MSN graduates from certificate graduates.
The pass rates UT Tyler reports, with their dates
UT Tyler reports a 96% first-time pass rate on the family nurse practitioner exam and a 100% first-time pass rate on the psychiatric-mental health NP certification exam for 2024. Those figures come from a UT Tyler news release dated May 29, 2025. The university's At a Glance page repeats the pair, and the PMHNP program page says its most recent pass rate was 100%.
The only older NP figure is for the FNP: a legacy post-FNP page reports that every summer 2022 FNP graduate passed the national boards on the first attempt. That line sits on a legacy page, so read it as history rather than a current result.
Several results are simply not public. The pages read for this guide show no AGACNP, nurse anesthesia or informatics certification results, and FNP and PMHNP figures exist for 2024 only. Treat every number here as UT Tyler's claim, stated the way UT Tyler states it.
Board prep inside the FNP internships
The FNP program builds prep into its last two clinical courses. The Fall 2026 syllabi for NURS 5347 FNP Internship I and NURS 5349 FNP Internship II list FNP Mastery and the APEA University Predictor Exam as required resources. You work through them while logging the program's largest clinical blocks: 187.5 hours in each internship under the 2026-27 catalog, or 120 under the older plan those syllabi still describe.
Course exams in these semesters are proctored through Respondus LockDown Browser and Respondus Monitor, and NURS 5347 also uses ProctorU Record+. Set these up early with help from the student tools guide. NURS 5112 Transitions to Practice, a one-credit course taken with NURS 5349, closes the MSN; students on the older 675-hour plan take NURS 5382 Capstone in its place.
Both internships also include on-campus OSCEs, and for NURS 5349 in Fall 2026 the campus dates are November 9 to 15. The hours, preceptor rules and site limits for both courses are on the FNP internships page.
PMHNP graduates and the ANCC exam
UT Tyler's PMHNP program page names the ANCC PMHNP-BC as the certification its graduates sit for. The clinical sequence moves across age groups: adults and older adults in NURS 5367 and NURS 5368, then children, adolescents and families in NURS 5370, with the NURS 5373 capstone alongside.
Several PMHNP rules widen that range further. The program requires at least 125 inpatient hours, NURS 5370 sets a minimum number of pediatric hours and adolescent encounters, most hours should be with PMHNP preceptors, and no single preceptor may cover more than two rotations. The PMHNP practicum guide explains each rule course by course.
The UT Tyler materials reviewed for this guide name no required PMHNP prep product. Check your course syllabus in Canvas for what your faculty assign, and plan study time around the paired practicum semesters, when 250 clinical hours fall in a single term.
Between the exam and your first patient
Certification is the middle step, not the last one. The Texas Board of Nursing licenses APRNs, and it asks for national certification in the role and population focus that matches your education, alongside an RN license it accepts and a program that meets its rules. Accreditation and licensure walks through the full Board list.
Texas NPs then practice with physician delegation: the Board states that APRNs do not have full practice authority in Texas, and prescribing runs through a prescriptive authority agreement with a physician. Texas NP practice explains what that agreement contains and why it matters to the preceptors who train you.
None of this changes what you do as a student, but it explains why your clinical record matters beyond the grade: the Board counts the supervised clinical hours your program delivers, with 500 per role and population focus as its floor.
Other UT Tyler tracks with a certification path
The NP tracks are not the only UT Tyler programs that end at a national credential. UT Tyler ties several of its non-APRN master's programs to certifications, and in some of them the practice hours count toward eligibility.
| UT Tyler track | Credential UT Tyler names | What UT Tyler says about hours |
|---|---|---|
| MSN Nursing Administration | ANCC Nurse Executive and AONL CENP | 24 placement hours in each of NURS 5331, NURS 5335 and NURS 5337, per the catalog |
| MSN Informatics, Quality and Safety | ANCC | The program's practice hours meet ANCC's 200-hour eligibility requirement |
| IQS post-baccalaureate certificate only | ANCC | Certificate-only students need 1,000 hours in an informatics nursing role |
| MSN Nursing Education | NLN CNE exam | 500 practice hours, including the 125-hour NURS 5329 practicum |
| DNP-Nurse Anesthesia | CRNA and AGACNP | 2,750 clinical hours in the catalog; the program page gives 750 AGACNP and 2,000 CRNA minimums |
Protecting your exam plans: hours finished on time
Your exam plans rest on finishing the last clinical course on schedule. A preceptor who cancels partway through NURS 5349 can leave you short of hours when the semester closes, and a UT Tyler Incomplete must be resolved within one year before it converts to an F.
We plan the internship preceptors early, confirm that each site offers outpatient family practice hours, since NURS 5349 excludes hospital acute care hours, and hand you everything the Self-Placement Request needs. If a preceptor drops mid-semester, we find a replacement and prepare the new request. Start with the placement request form.
UT Tyler's pass rates describe graduates who finished. What decides your own exam timing is whether both 187.5-hour FNP internships, or both PMHNP practicum pairs, have approved preceptors before those semesters begin.
Questions UT Tyler students ask
Does UT Tyler prepare FNP students for the AANPCB or the ANCC exam?
UT Tyler's accreditation page names the AANPCB exam for its FNP graduates, and the internship syllabi require FNP Mastery and the APEA University Predictor Exam as prep resources. The UT Tyler pages reviewed for this guide say nothing about an ANCC family NP exam, so ask your FNP program coordinator if you are weighing the two boards.
Do UT Tyler's pass rates include post-master's certificate students?
UT Tyler's May 2025 release gives first-time results by exam, 96% for the FNP and 100% for the PMHNP in 2024, without splitting MSN graduates from certificate graduates. The certificates share the MSN tracks' specialty courses and 750 clinical hours, but UT Tyler has published no certificate-only figure.
Does UT Tyler publish an AGACNP certification pass rate?
Not on the pages reviewed for this guide. The post-master's AGACNP certificate launched in fall 2024 and takes two years, so it has only a short record. UT Tyler publishes FNP and PMHNP results for 2024 and NCLEX results by year, and nothing yet for the AGACNP certificate or the nurse anesthesia program.
Can I work as a nurse practitioner in Texas right after passing my boards?
Only once the Texas Board of Nursing grants your APRN license. The Board wants national certification matching your role and population focus, an RN license it accepts and a qualifying program, and its FAQ says review may take 10 to 15 business days. Prescribing then runs through a prescriptive authority agreement with a delegating physician.
Is the APEA predictor exam required for UT Tyler FNP students?
Yes, in the Fall 2026 internship syllabi. NURS 5347 and NURS 5349 name the APEA University Predictor Exam and FNP Mastery as the required resources for board preparation. How each counts toward your course grade is set in the syllabus for your section, so read it in Canvas during the first week.
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.
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