Loyola University Chicago AGPCNP Programs

Loyola University Chicago’s Marcella Niehoff School of Nursing offers 3 Adult-Gerontology Primary Care Nurse Practitioner pathways:

BSN-to-DNP (69 credits)
BSN-to-DNP with Oncology Specialty (72 credits)
Post-Graduate APRN Certificate (credits set by gap analysis)

The same constraints apply to all three. Clinical placements sit in the Chicago metropolitan area, an Illinois RN license is required before rotations begin, in-person immersion experiences are hosted at Loyola’s Health Sciences Campus in Maywood, and the DNP is unavailable to residents of Colorado, Minnesota, and Washington.

Program Tracks Overview

Program	Est. Tuition	Est. Duration	Credit Hours
BSN-to-DNP AGPCNP	$89,355	Not published	69
AGPCNP with Oncology Specialty (DNP)	$93,240	Not published	72
Post-Graduate APRN Certificate	$1,295/credit; total set by gap analysis	Not published	Individualized

Tuition estimates multiply Loyola’s 2026–2027 graduate nursing rate of $1,295 per credit hour by the catalog credit total. Loyola charges a single rate for all graduate nursing students, so there is no resident or non-resident figure.

Loyola stands out as much for who it turns away as for what it teaches. The DNP advanced practice tracks are open only to registered nurses who are not already certified as an NP or CNS, and the post-graduate APRN certificate requires a completed Doctor of Nursing Practice on the transcript. An MSN-prepared, board-certified FNP who wants to add adult-gerontology primary care has no published route into either option.

Faculty design every clinical rotation and place students with preceptors, which removes the largest logistical risk in NP education. In exchange, every placement sits in the Chicago metro, an Illinois RN license must be in hand before rotations start, and immersions bring students to Maywood. This is a Chicago program regardless of how the coursework is delivered.

Loyola arranges every clinical placement for you, in Chicago, and only if you are not already a certified NP or CNS.

Quick Facts

Program Types	BSN-to-DNP; BSN-to-DNP with oncology specialty; post-graduate APRN certificate
Format	Loyola does not publish a course-delivery designation for the AGPCNP track; in-person components are required
Campus Attendance	Immersion experiences at the Health Sciences Campus, Maywood, IL; frequency not published
Clinical Placement	Faculty design rotations and place students with preceptors
Clinical Locations	Chicago metropolitan area
Clinical Hours	12 practicum credits (GNUR 543); clock hours not published
Prior RN Experience	Minimum 2,000 hours before the first APRN rotation
Population Focus	Late adolescence through end of life
Licensure Required	Current U.S. RN license, eligible for Illinois endorsement; Illinois RN license before clinicals
Start Terms	DNP: Fall only (July 1 deadline). Certificate: Fall or Spring (July 1 / December 1)
Tuition	$1,295 per credit hour, 2026–2027, single rate
State Restrictions	DNP not available to residents of Colorado, Minnesota, or Washington
Accreditation	CCNE (DNP and post-graduate APRN certificate)

BSN-to-DNP AGPCNP

The Adult-Gerontology Primary Care Nurse Practitioner DNP requires 69 credits at $1,295 per credit, an estimated $89,355 in tuition. Loyola publishes no expected completion time and no term-by-term plan of study. Eligibility is the sharpest filter: the track admits RNs with a BSN or higher who are not already certified as an NP or CNS.

A published conflict worth knowing about. The AGPCNP track page and the 2026–2027 catalog both state that faculty design clinical rotations and place students with preceptors. The DNP program landing page instead says faculty design the practicums and guide students as they select their clinical sites. This page follows the track page and catalog, which are program-specific and agree with each other.

BSN-to-DNP Curriculum

The catalog divides the 69 credits into five blocks: 24 credits of foundational DNP coursework, 12 credits of APRN role courses, 15 credits of adult-gerontology population courses, 6 credits of DNP scholarly project, and 12 credits of practicum. The subtotals reconcile to the published 69-credit total.

Two structural choices distinguish it. First, the entire practicum sits in a single 12-credit course, GNUR 543, rather than a sequence of three or four graded practicum courses. Loyola publishes no clock-hour figure and no term-by-term hour distribution, so applicants cannot compare Loyola’s clinical volume against the 500-hour certification floor from published material alone. Second, the foundational block is heavier than most AGPCNP curricula, with standalone required courses in social justice and ethics (3 credits) and population-focused health (3 credits) that many programs fold into a single policy course.

The population block includes a dedicated 2-credit palliative care course, which is uncommon as a separate requirement in primary care NP curricula and fits the track’s adult and older-adult focus.

Two smaller inconsistencies are worth noting. The catalog classifies GNUR 529 Family-Focused Health Promotion and Disease Prevention as a population course; the program page lists the same course under role courses. The program page also names an Interprofessional Education Practicum that does not appear in the catalog’s 69-credit table. Neither changes the credit total, but the program page’s course groupings should be treated as descriptive rather than authoritative.

Foundational Courses (24 credits)

GNUR 404 – Theories & Concepts for Advanced Clinical Practice (3)
GNUR 405 – Introductory Statistics for Healthcare Professionals (3)
GNUR 407 – Social Justice and Ethics in Health Care (3)
GNUR 408 – Research for Advanced Clinical Practice (3)
GNUR 420 – Leadership and Roles in Advanced Nursing Practice (3)
GNUR 521 – Population-Focused Health (3)
GNUR 523 – Health Care Policy and Economics (3)
GNUR 545 – Evidence Translation for Advanced Clinical Practice (3)

Role (APRN) Courses (12 credits)

GNUR 413 – Advanced Pharmacology (3)
GNUR 425 – Advanced Health Assessment Across the Lifespan (4)
GNUR 442 – Advanced Physiology/Pathophysiology (3)
GNUR 476 – Basic Diagnostics for Advanced Practice (2)

Population (Adult-Gerontology) Courses (15 credits)

GNUR 471 – Palliative Care (2)
GNUR 526 – Management of Common Adult Health Problems (4)
GNUR 528 – Management of Complex Adult Health Problems (4)
GNUR 529 – Family-Focused Health Promotion and Disease Prevention (3)
GNUR 534 – Advanced Practice Nursing Care of Older Adults (2)

Project and Practicum (18 credits)

GNUR 570 – DNP Scholarly Project: Planning (1)
GNUR 571 – DNP Scholarly Project: Proposal and Pre-Implementation (2)
GNUR 572 – DNP Scholarly Project: Project Implementation (2)
GNUR 573 – DNP Scholarly Project: Analysis and Dissemination (1)
GNUR 543 – Adult Primary Care NP Practicum (12)

View the full curriculum in the Loyola course catalog.

BSN-to-DNP Clinical Requirements

12 practicum credits delivered through one course, GNUR 543; total clock hours are not published
Faculty design the clinical rotations and place students with preceptors
All placements are in the Chicago metropolitan area, drawn from Loyola’s academic-practice partnerships, with an emphasis on underserved communities
An Illinois RN license is required before clinical rotations begin
A minimum of 2,000 hours of prior RN clinical practice experience is required before entering the first APRN rotation
A criminal background check is required before practicums begin; results may affect Loyola’s ability to place a student
GNUR 543 carries a $185 course fee
Loyola does not publish a placement guarantee, a per-term hour load, or a policy covering students who cannot be placed

Faculty-arranged placement is the single most valuable feature here. Self-placement is the most common reason NP students stall or extend their programs, and Loyola removes that risk entirely for students who can study in Chicago. The corresponding limitation is absolute: there is no published out-of-area option, so a nurse in Rockford, Springfield, or another state cannot complete this program from home.

The 2,000-hour prior-experience rule is an entry gate, not program clinical time. It equates to roughly one year of full-time RN practice and screens out new graduates. Loyola does not publish how it counts part-time or non-bedside hours. Falling short delays the first APRN rotation, not the start of coursework.

BSN-to-DNP Admissions

BSN or higher from an accredited program; transcripts for APRN tracks must show a completed Bachelor of Science in Nursing
Applicants must not already be certified as an NP or CNS
GPA of 3.0 or higher, stated by Loyola as the GPA in the applicant’s graduate program
Current U.S. nursing license and eligibility for endorsement in Illinois
Two professional letters of recommendation; one from a doctorally prepared health professional is suggested
Personal statement, generally under 1,000 words, addressing role, population, fit, and career goals
Current CV or resume
Interview with the DNP Admissions Committee
No application fee; applications are reviewed on a rolling basis
Fall entry only, July 1 deadline, term begins in late August
Criminal background check required before clinical practicums

Three requirements deserve attention. The prohibition on already-certified NPs and CNSs is a hard eligibility rule, not a preference, and it redirects experienced APRNs to the post-graduate certificate, which carries its own doctoral prerequisite. The GPA language is ambiguous for this track: Loyola states a 3.0 minimum in the applicant’s graduate program, yet the APRN tracks admit BSN-prepared nurses who have no graduate GPA. Loyola does not state which transcript it evaluates for BSN-entry applicants.

Single annual entry is the third. With Fall as the only start term and a July 1 deadline, a missed application or a failed interview costs a full year. Certificate applicants, by contrast, have a Spring option.

See Loyola’s full DNP application requirements.

AGPCNP with Oncology Specialty (DNP)

Loyola also offers the AGPCNP track with an oncology specialty, which the School of Nursing states can be completed in 72 semester hours. At $1,295 per credit that is an estimated $93,240, about $3,885 above the standard track. It carries the same admission rules, the same Chicago clinical model, and the same Fall-only entry.

What is not published. The catalog lists this as a separate degree program, but the entry does not currently display a course-by-course curriculum table, so the three additional credits cannot be identified from official sources. Loyola also does not state whether the specialty adds oncology-specific clinical hours or redistributes existing practicum time.

The practical value depends on certification plans. Loyola directs graduate students to the Oncology Nursing Certification Corporation for oncology NP credentialing, so this track suits a nurse who intends to hold both AGPCNP certification and an oncology specialty credential. For a nurse heading into general adult primary care, the extra credits add cost without a published return.

View the oncology specialty entry in the Loyola catalog.

Post-Graduate APRN Certificate (AGPCNP)

The Post-Graduate APRN Certificate is billed at the same $1,295 per credit hour as the degree programs. Credit count, cost, and length are all individualized: a gap analysis of prior graduate coursework and its recency sets the plan of study, and Loyola publishes no minimum, maximum, or typical figure for any of the three. The eligibility rule is what narrows the field. Loyola’s certificate application requirements state that the transcript must show a completed Doctor of Nursing Practice.

A published conflict worth knowing about. The 2026–2027 catalog describes the certificate as designed for graduate-prepared registered nurses generally, which would include MSN holders. The School of Nursing certificate page says the programs are geared toward DNP-prepared nurses, and the certificate application requirements state flatly that transcripts must show a completed DNP. This page follows the application requirements, which are the operative admissions document. As published, an MSN alone does not meet the certificate degree requirement.

Certificate Curriculum

There is no fixed course list. The catalog states that coursework is individualized based on prior graduate nursing coursework and its recency, and that every student completes, at minimum, patient care management coursework and clinical practicum experiences relevant to the AGPCNP role and population focus. The program director builds the plan of study with the student after admission.

That structure has a clear consequence for planning. A candidate cannot price this certificate or estimate its length before applying and completing the gap analysis, which makes side-by-side comparison with fixed-credit certificates at other schools impossible until an offer is in hand. Applicants with recent doctoral coursework in advanced pharmacology, pathophysiology, and health assessment should expect a shorter plan than applicants whose core coursework is several years old.

View the certificate entry in the Loyola course catalog.

Certificate Clinical Requirements

Practicum hours are set by the individualized plan of study; no minimum or typical figure is published
Clinical placements follow the School of Nursing model: faculty-designed rotations in the Chicago metropolitan area
Current U.S. nursing license and Illinois endorsement eligibility are required; an Illinois license is required before clinical experiences begin
Criminal background check required before practicums
Population focus runs from late adolescence through end of life

The clinical unknown is larger here than in the DNP. Because hours are assigned case by case, a working DNP-prepared nurse cannot estimate how many days per week the certificate will take out of a schedule until the plan of study is issued. That is a meaningful planning problem for someone already practicing full time.

Certificate Admissions

Transcript showing a completed Doctor of Nursing Practice
Official transcripts for all undergraduate and graduate work
Current U.S. nursing license and eligibility for endorsement in Illinois
Double-spaced personal statement addressing preparation, population or specialty, professional goals, and the NP role
Current CV or resume
RN experience is weighed in the admission decision for nurse practitioner programs
Gap analysis with the program director sets the individualized plan of study
Deadlines: July 1 for Fall (late August start), December 1 for Spring (mid-January start)
Criminal background check before clinical practicums

Loyola does not publish a GPA minimum, an APRN certification requirement, or a required interview for the certificate, and none should be assumed. The doctoral prerequisite is the constraint that matters: a DNP-prepared FNP or PMHNP adding adult-gerontology primary care is squarely the intended applicant, while an MSN-prepared NP is not.

See Loyola’s certificate application requirements.

Tuition

Loyola’s Office of the Bursar lists a 2026–2027 graduate nursing rate of $1,295 per credit hour. The same rate applies to degree-seeking students and to non-degree graduate nursing certificate students, and Loyola publishes no resident or non-resident distinction. That removes residency from the decision entirely, which is unusual among the public universities most AGPCNP applicants compare against, and it means the sticker price is the same whether an applicant lives in Chicago or out of state.

Pathway	Credits	Estimated Tuition
BSN-to-DNP AGPCNP	69	$89,355
AGPCNP with Oncology Specialty (DNP)	72	$93,240
Post-Graduate APRN Certificate	Individualized	Not calculable until the gap analysis is complete

These totals are calculated from Loyola’s published per-credit rate and catalog credit totals. Loyola does not publish program totals of its own.

Fees Beyond Tuition

Student Development Fee (degree-seeking): $50 per semester at 1–3 credits, $101 at 4–8, $206 at 9 or more
Student Development Fee (hybrid plan codes): $31 per semester at 1–5 credits, $62 at 6 or more
Technology Fee: $32 per semester at 1–3 credits, $70 at 4–8, $135 at 9 or more
Fitness Center Fee: $194 per semester at 8 or more credits, except students in online or hybrid programs
Course fees: GNUR 543 practicum $185; GNUR 570 $20; GNUR 573 $20
Matriculation fee: $100, payable at registration
Student health insurance premium: $3,869 annually

Two details in the fee table are easy to miss. Loyola maintains a separate fee schedule for graduate nursing hybrid plan codes, where the Student Development Fee drops from as much as $206 per semester to $62; which schedule applies depends on the plan code assigned at registration, and Loyola does not state which one covers the AGPCNP track. Separately, the non-degree graduate nursing certificate schedule lists no Student Development Fee at all, so certificate students appear to pay the technology fee and course fees only.

Loyola publishes no scholarship or grant specific to AGPCNP or post-graduate certificate students on the pages reviewed. Transportation to Chicago-area clinical sites and to Maywood immersions is a student cost, though Loyola does not quantify it.

See the official 2026–2027 graduate nursing tuition and fee schedule.

Why Choose This AGPCNP Program?

Best suited for: a Chicago-area RN with at least a year of clinical experience, not yet certified as an NP or CNS, who wants a doctoral AGPCNP credential without hunting for their own preceptors.

Placement is handled, and that is worth real money

Faculty design the rotations and place students with preceptors, drawing on Loyola’s academic-practice partnerships across the Chicago metro. Students at programs that require self-placement routinely lose a term, pay preceptor-matching services, or settle for a site that does not match their goals. None of that applies here. The emphasis on underserved community settings also shapes the clinical experience in a way that suits applicants headed for community health, FQHCs, or safety-net practice.

Eligibility rules exclude a large group of applicants

The DNP tracks are closed to nurses already certified as an NP or CNS. The certificate requires a completed DNP. Between those two rules, the MSN-prepared certified NP seeking a second population focus, the most common post-graduate certificate applicant nationally, has no published path at Loyola.

Chicago residency is effectively required

Clinical placements are Chicago-area only, an Illinois RN license must precede rotations, and immersions are held in Maywood. Loyola participates in NC-SARA, but the DNP is not available to residents of Colorado, Minnesota, or Washington. The practical filter is tighter than the state list suggests: a nurse anywhere outside commuting distance of Chicago cannot realistically complete this program.

Several comparison figures are simply not published

Loyola does not publish clinical clock hours, program length, a term-by-term plan of study, a course-delivery designation, or immersion frequency for this track. Applicants who compare programs on clinical volume and time to completion will not find those numbers here, which makes this track hard to benchmark against programs that publish a plan of study and an hour count.

The Verdict

The strongest case for Loyola belongs to a Chicago-area BSN or MSN nurse, not yet an NP, who values guaranteed faculty placement and a social justice oriented curriculum more than a published hour count, and who can absorb roughly $89,000 in tuition at a private rate with no residency discount. A DNP-prepared APRN adding adult-gerontology primary care is also well served by the certificate, provided the gap analysis produces a plan of study they can afford and schedule.

Applicants who should look elsewhere: anyone living outside the Chicago metro, any MSN-prepared certified NP seeking a second population focus, anyone requiring a Spring or Summer DNP start, and anyone whose decision depends on comparing clinical hours across schools, since Loyola does not publish that figure.

Accreditation

The Marcella Niehoff School of Nursing’s Doctor of Nursing Practice program and post-graduate APRN certificate program are both accredited by the Commission on Collegiate Nursing Education, as are its baccalaureate and master’s programs. Loyola University Chicago is institutionally accredited by the Higher Learning Commission. Graduate NP students apply for national certification after completing degree requirements; Loyola directs them to the American Nurses Credentialing Center and the American Academy of Nurse Practitioners, the two bodies that certify AGPCNPs.

Loyola participates in NC-SARA, but the School of Nursing maintains program-specific restrictions. The DNP is not offered in Minnesota (nursing faculty requirements) or Washington (State Nursing Commission requirements), and School of Nursing students cannot complete clinical rotations in Colorado under its clinical affiliation agreements. Applicants outside Illinois should check Loyola’s state authorization page before applying, since the list changes.

More AGPCNP Programs in Illinois

Bradley University - Peoria
Chamberlain University - Chicago
DePaul University - Chicago
North Park University - Chicago
Rush University - Chicago
University of Illinois Chicago - Chicago