Bradley University AGPCNP Programs (Adult Gerontology)

Bradley University’s Department of Nursing, part of the College of Education and Health Sciences, offers 4 AGPCNP pathways:

RN-to-MSN
BSN-to-MSN
BSN-to-DNP
Post-Master’s Certificate

All four run fully online with no campus residency requirement, and all four route through the same three-course AGPCNP specialty sequence. Every applicant needs a current, unencumbered RN license at entry. Students complete practicum hours locally with preceptors they identify themselves, and Bradley enrolls online students only within the United States.

Program Tracks Overview

Program	Est. Tuition	Est. Duration	Credit Hours
RN-to-MSN AGPCNP	$64,848	3 years (9 semesters)	56
BSN-to-MSN AGPCNP	$54,426	2.3 years (7 semesters)	47
BSN-to-DNP AGPCNP	$79,902–$83,376	3.3 years (10 semesters)	69–72
Post-Master’s Certificate AGPCNP	$37,056	1.7 years (5 semesters)	32

Tuition estimates multiply Bradley’s current published graduate rate of $1,158 per credit hour by each pathway’s published credit total. Bradley charges the same rate in every state. The DNP figure is a range because the graduate catalog states degree requirements as 69 to 72 hours.

What separates Bradley from most AGPCNP programs is that the clinical training is identical no matter where you enter. NUR 666, NUR 667, and NUR 668 carry 200 clinical hours each, and all four pathways require all three. An RN holding an associate degree and an MSN-prepared nurse adding a certificate complete the same 600 hours in the same three courses. What changes between pathways is the coursework wrapped around that sequence, not the AGPCNP preparation itself.

The trade-off sits in the clinical model and the price. Bradley presents preceptor choice as flexibility, and students do complete practicums where they live and work. But Bradley publishes no placement guarantee, no placement office, and no partner-facility network, and the admission essay asks applicants to name potential clinical mentors before they are admitted.

All four entry points share one 600-hour clinical sequence at one flat rate, and in every one of them the student finds the preceptor.

Quick Facts

Program Types	RN-to-MSN, BSN-to-MSN, BSN-to-DNP, Post-Master’s Certificate
Format	100% online, no campus residency requirement
Campus Visits	None required
Clinical Hours	600 (both MSN tracks and the certificate); 1,000 (BSN-to-DNP)
Clinical Placement	Student identifies the facility and preceptor; the admission essay must name potential clinical mentors; no published placement guarantee
Clinical Locations	Primary care and outpatient settings local to the student
Population Focus	Adolescents, adults, and older adults
Licensure Required	Current, unencumbered RN license at entry
Grading Standard	B or better in every NUR course; C or better in all other coursework
Time Limit	MSN within 5 years of enrollment; DNP within 7 years
Next Published Start	January 20, 2027 (Spring 2027); application deadline November 15, 2026
Tuition	$1,158 per credit hour, identical in every state
Accreditation	CCNE

RN-to-MSN AGPCNP

The RN-to-MSN AGPCNP runs 56 semester hours across 9 semesters, roughly 3 years, with 600 clinical hours. Estimated tuition is $64,848 at the current graduate rate. This is the only Bradley AGPCNP pathway open to nurses without a bachelor’s degree in nursing: applicants enter with an ADN or diploma from a CNEA- or ACEN-accredited program, or with an RN license plus a non-nursing baccalaureate degree.

A published conflict worth knowing about. Bradley’s program page lists the four bridge courses as NUR 300 (3), NUR 303 (3), NUR 404 (3), and NUR 407 (1), which sums to 10 credits and would put the track at 57 hours. Both the program page and the catalog state a 56-hour total, and the program page footnote describes the bridge block as 9 undergraduate hours from RN completion courses. Nine bridge hours added to the 47-hour BSN-to-MSN track reconciles to 56. This page uses 56, and treats the listed credit value of one bridge course as unreliable.

RN-to-MSN Curriculum

The curriculum is the BSN-to-MSN plan with an undergraduate bridge block in front of it. The bridge courses are 300- and 400-level undergraduate nursing courses covering professional nursing concepts, research literacy, and community health, including a short community practicum. Once they are finished, the plan of study is identical to the BSN-to-MSN: a 27-credit graduate core, the 18-credit AGPCNP specialty sequence, and a 2-credit capstone.

Bridge Courses (9 undergraduate hours):

NUR 300 – Conceptual Basis for Professional Nursing Practices (3)
NUR 303 – Research in Nursing (3)
NUR 404 – Community Health Nursing: Theory
NUR 407 – Community Health Practicum RN-MSN (1)

Graduate core, specialty, and capstone courses match the BSN-to-MSN track. See the BSN-to-MSN curriculum below for the full course list.

One planning point on cost. The bridge block is undergraduate credit, and Bradley’s online tuition page publishes a single graduate rate plus one undergraduate rate that applies to a different degree entirely. Which rate the 9 bridge hours carry is not clearly published, so the $64,848 estimate above prices all 56 hours at the graduate rate and may overstate the real total.

View the full RN-to-MSN course list and descriptions.

RN-to-MSN Clinical Requirements

600 AGPCNP clinical hours, 200 in each of NUR 666, NUR 667, and NUR 668
Settings: primary care and outpatient facilities, under a qualified preceptor
Plus NUR 407, a community health practicum in the bridge block; its hour count is not published and it sits outside the 600
Placement responsibility: the student identifies the facility and preceptor, subject to Bradley approval
No campus attendance and no travel to Peoria is required
Clinical hours are logged in Typhon, a $100 one-time software fee

The 600 hours land in the last three semesters of a 9-semester plan, which gives a bridge entrant two full years to build the preceptor relationship before it is needed. That is a real advantage over shorter tracks, but only for applicants who use the time deliberately. Bradley states no fallback if a student cannot secure a site.

RN-to-MSN Admissions

ADN or diploma from a CNEA- or ACEN-accredited nursing program, or an RN license plus a non-nursing baccalaureate degree
Proof of a current, unencumbered RN license
3.0 GPA on a 4.0 scale in the last 60 semester hours of undergraduate coursework for unconditional admission
Completed online application and $40 nonrefundable application fee
Official transcripts from all institutions attended
One admission essay, which must discuss potential mentors for clinical experiences
Two letters of recommendation
CV or resume
Applicants with deficiencies are evaluated individually
Next published start: January 20, 2027, with a November 15, 2026 application deadline

The mentor requirement in the essay is the one to plan around. Bradley asks advanced practice applicants to identify potential clinical mentors as part of the application, so the preceptor conversation happens before admission rather than after. An applicant with no clinical contacts outside their current employer should start that work well ahead of the deadline. Note also that graduate GPA is only considered once an applicant has completed at least 12 graduate credit hours, so most bridge applicants will be judged on undergraduate performance alone.

BSN-to-MSN AGPCNP

The BSN-to-MSN AGPCNP is 47 semester hours across 7 semesters, about 2.3 years, with 600 clinical hours. Estimated tuition is $54,426. Applicants need a BSN from a CNEA-, ACEN-, or CCNE-accredited program; there are no bridge courses on this route. It is the shortest path to AGPCNP certification eligibility for a BSN-prepared nurse who does not want a doctorate.

BSN-to-MSN Curriculum

The plan divides cleanly into three blocks: a 27-credit graduate core, the 18-credit AGPCNP specialty sequence, and a 2-credit capstone. The core is broader than the advanced practice minimum. Alongside the three Ps (pathophysiology, health assessment, pharmacology) and diagnostic reasoning, Bradley requires statistics, nursing theory, evidence-based practice, health informatics, and health policy. That is five courses, 15 credits, of graduate nursing science and systems content beyond the clinical foundation, which is what pushes the track to 47 hours rather than the low 40s common elsewhere.

The specialty sequence is where the distinctive structure shows. Rather than splitting didactic and clinical into separate courses, Bradley bundles both into three 6-credit courses, each carrying 200 clinical hours. NUR 666 establishes assessment, diagnosis, and management of acute and chronic problems; NUR 667 and NUR 668 extend the same framework into comprehensive primary care management across adult and geriatric settings. The practicum load is therefore flat across all three terms rather than ramping up.

Core Courses (27 credits):

BIO 526 – Advanced Pathophysiology (3)
ENC 510 – Statistical Procedures (3)
NUR 501 – Nursing Theories: Analysis and Development (3)
NUR 526 – Evidence Based Practice (3)
NUR 600 – Advanced Health Assessment (3)
NUR 615 – Health Informatics (3)
NUR 640 – Healthcare Policy (3)
NUR 651 – Advanced Pharmacology I (3)
NUR 655 – Diagnostic Reasoning (3)

Specialty Courses (18 credits / 600 clinical hours):

NUR 666 – Management of Adolescents, Adults & Geriatrics I (6 / 200 hours)
NUR 667 – Management of Adolescents, Adults & Geriatrics II (6 / 200 hours)
NUR 668 – Management of Adolescents, Adults & Geriatrics III (6 / 200 hours)

Capstone (2 credits): NUR 690 Professional Aspects of Advanced Nursing Practice.

View the program entry in the graduate catalog.

BSN-to-MSN Clinical Requirements

600 clinical hours total, stated by the catalog as the program requirement
Distributed evenly: 200 hours in each of NUR 666, NUR 667, and NUR 668
Settings: a variety of primary care and outpatient environments under qualified preceptor supervision
Placement responsibility: the student selects the facility and preceptor for Bradley’s approval
No geographic restriction is published beyond Bradley’s state authorization limits
No campus visits, intensives, or on-site skills days

Six hundred hours is the common certification floor, not a figure above it. Applicants comparing Bradley to programs advertising 700 or more hours are trading clinical volume for a shorter, cheaper track. Whether that matters depends on the quality of the site a student can arrange, which is precisely the variable Bradley leaves to the student.

Because each specialty course carries 200 hours alongside 6 credits of didactic work, the practicum terms are heavy. Spread across a standard semester, 200 hours is roughly 13 to 14 hours a week of clinical time on top of coursework, for three consecutive terms. Nurses planning to keep full-time hours should look closely at that stretch of the plan.

BSN-to-MSN Admissions

BSN from a CNEA-, ACEN-, or CCNE-accredited nursing program at a regionally accredited institution
Proof of a current, unencumbered RN license
3.0 GPA on a 4.0 scale in the last 60 semester hours of undergraduate coursework for unconditional admission
Completed online application and $40 nonrefundable application fee
Official transcripts from all institutions attended
One admission essay, which must discuss potential mentors for clinical experiences
Two letters of recommendation
CV or resume
No minimum RN work experience is published
No GRE or standardized test is required

Two absences are worth noting, because both widen eligibility. Bradley publishes no minimum bedside experience requirement, which many AGPCNP programs set at one to two years, and no admission interview. The practical screen is the GPA threshold and the essay.

BSN-to-DNP AGPCNP

The BSN-to-DNP AGPCNP runs 10 semesters, about 3.3 years, and requires 1,000 clinical hours. Credit requirements are stated inconsistently across Bradley’s own sources (see below); estimated tuition is $79,902 to $83,376 depending on which total applies. Entry requires a BSN, so MSN-prepared nurses cannot use this route and are directed to the certificate instead.

A published conflict worth knowing about. Bradley states the DNP three different ways. The program page says 68 credit hours. The graduate catalog headline says 70 semester hours. The catalog’s own course list totals 69 to 72. The gap is a single course: NUR 840 DNP Clinical Practice, a variable 1.0 to 4.0 credit practice course that appears in the catalog’s degree requirements and is absent from the program page. Bradley’s fixed courses sum to exactly 68, and 68 plus NUR 840 produces the catalog’s 69 to 72 range. This page uses the catalog range, because the catalog is the authoritative statement of degree requirements and its arithmetic reconciles.

BSN-to-DNP Curriculum

The DNP is the MSN specialty sequence set inside a doctoral framework, but the core is rebuilt rather than extended. Three master’s-level courses drop out (nursing theory, evidence-based practice, and health informatics at the 500 and 600 level) and are replaced by doctoral versions, and five courses are added outright: health care economics and finance, theoretical foundations of nursing science, health promotion in populations, research design and statistical methods, and leadership in advanced practice nursing. The result is a 36-credit core, nine credits heavier than the MSN core.

The DNP project runs as a four-course sequence with escalating practice hours (50, 50, 125, 75) rather than a single capstone, so project work is spread across four terms and carries its own clinical load. The AGPCNP specialty courses are unchanged from the MSN.

Core Courses (36 credits):

BIO 526 – Advanced Pathophysiology (3)
ECO 605 – Health Care Economics & Finance (3)
NUR 600 – Advanced Health Assessment (3)
NUR 651 – Advanced Pharmacology I (3)
NUR 655 – Diagnostic Reasoning (3)
NUR 700 – Theoretical Foundations of Nursing Science (3)
NUR 703 – Health Promotion in Populations (3)
NUR 705 – Research Design and Statistical Methods (3)
NUR 720 – Methods in Evidence Based Practice (3)
NUR 735 – Leadership in Advanced Practice Nursing (3)
NUR 740 – Healthcare Policy and Ethics in Advanced Practice Nursing (3)
NUR 752 – Advanced Health Informatics (3)

Specialty Courses (18 credits / 600 clinical hours): NUR 666, NUR 667, and NUR 668, 6 credits and 200 clinical hours each.

DNP Project Sequence (12 credits / 300 practice hours):

NUR 841 – DNP Project I (3 / 50 hours), project identification and planning
NUR 842 – DNP Project II (3 / 50 hours), written proposal and IRB approval
NUR 843 – DNP Project III (3 / 125 hours), implementation and evaluation
NUR 844 – DNP Project IV (3 / 75 hours), oral presentation and dissemination

Also in the catalog’s degree requirements: NUR 840 DNP Clinical Practice (1.0–4.0 credits) and NUR 690 Professional Aspects of Advanced Nursing Practice (2 credits). A comprehensive assessment is required before graduation.

View the full DNP course list in the graduate catalog.

BSN-to-DNP Clinical Requirements

1,000 clinical hours required in total
600 AGPCNP direct patient care hours across NUR 666, NUR 667, and NUR 668
300 DNP practice hours across the four project courses (50 + 50 + 125 + 75)
Project hours are completed under a mentor rather than a clinical preceptor
Placement responsibility: the student identifies the facility and preceptor, as in the MSN tracks
No campus attendance is required at any point

The itemized courses account for 900 of the required 1,000 hours. Bradley does not publish where the other 100 sit. NUR 840 DNP Clinical Practice is the only other practice course in the catalog’s degree requirements and is the likeliest home for them, but Bradley does not say so, and applicants budgeting time should treat the final 100 hours as unallocated rather than assume they are absorbed elsewhere.

One wording discrepancy is worth flagging. The catalog’s DNP entry describes the 600 specialty hours as taking place in acute care settings, while the MSN and certificate entries describe the same three courses as primary care and outpatient placements. The course descriptions themselves are primary care. Bradley does not explain the difference, and applicants should confirm the setting expectation with the department rather than plan around the catalog sentence.

BSN-to-DNP Admissions

BSN from a CNEA-, ACEN-, or CCNE-accredited nursing program at a regionally accredited institution
Proof of a current, unencumbered RN license
3.0 GPA on a 4.0 scale in the last 60 undergraduate semester hours; applicants with prior graduate coursework must also hold a 3.0 across all graduate work, with at least 12 graduate credits completed for that GPA to count
Completed online application and $40 nonrefundable application fee
Admission essay and portfolio, with the essay discussing potential clinical mentors
Two letters of recommendation
CV or resume
Degree requirements must be completed within 7 years of enrollment

The portfolio is the one requirement unique to the DNP and the one that adds real preparation time. Bradley does not publish its contents or format, so applicants should request the specification from the department early rather than assume a resume will serve.

Post-Master’s Certificate AGPCNP

The AGPCNP Post-Master’s Certificate is 32 semester hours across 5 semesters, about 1.7 years, with 600 clinical hours. Estimated tuition is $37,056. Eligibility turns on one requirement: an earned MSN from a CNEA-, ACEN-, or CCNE-accredited nursing program. Bradley does not require existing APRN certification, so an MSN-prepared nurse educator, administrator, or clinical nurse specialist can use this route, not only practicing nurse practitioners.

Certificate Curriculum

The certificate strips the MSN down to what AGPCNP certification requires: the three Ps plus diagnostic reasoning as a 12-credit core, the full 18-credit specialty sequence, and the 2-credit capstone. Removed from the MSN plan are statistics, nursing theory, evidence-based practice, health informatics, and health policy, which is where the 15-credit saving comes from.

Core Courses (12 credits):

BIO 526 – Advanced Pathophysiology (3)
NUR 600 – Advanced Health Assessment (3)
NUR 651 – Advanced Pharmacology I (3)
NUR 655 – Diagnostic Reasoning (3)

Specialty Courses (18 credits / 600 clinical hours): NUR 666, NUR 667, and NUR 668, 6 credits and 200 clinical hours each.

Capstone (2 credits): NUR 690 Professional Aspects of Advanced Nursing Practice.

This is the section most likely to cost an applicant money without their noticing. Bradley’s current certificate page and catalog entry both state the certificate as a fixed 32 semester hours, and neither publishes a course waiver, gap analysis, or transfer credit policy for the three Ps. An MSN-prepared nurse who already completed advanced pathophysiology, health assessment, and pharmacology during their master’s should ask the department directly whether those courses can be waived. If they cannot, repeating the 12-credit core costs roughly $13,896 at the current rate.

View the certificate entry in the graduate catalog.

Certificate Clinical Requirements

600 clinical hours, identical to the MSN tracks
200 hours in each of NUR 666, NUR 667, and NUR 668
Settings: primary care and outpatient facilities under qualified preceptor supervision
Placement responsibility: the student identifies the facility and preceptor
No reduction in clinical hours for prior APRN practice is published

The compression matters here. A 5-semester plan with 600 clinical hours means the practicum sequence occupies three of the five terms, back to back. Certificate students are typically working nurses, often already in advanced roles, and 200 hours per term for three consecutive terms is a significant commitment to schedule around an existing job.

Certificate Admissions

MSN from a CNEA-, ACEN-, or CCNE-accredited nursing program
Proof of a current, unencumbered RN license
3.0 GPA on a 4.0 scale in the last 60 undergraduate semester hours; applicants with prior graduate coursework need a 3.0 across all graduate work, with at least 12 graduate credits completed
Completed online application and $40 nonrefundable application fee
Official transcripts from all institutions attended
One admission essay, which must discuss potential mentors for clinical experiences
Two letters of recommendation
CV or resume
No existing APRN certification is required

Bradley’s two sources differ in scope here. The catalog lists only an accredited MSN and an unencumbered license. The program page adds the GPA threshold and the full document set. This page follows the program page as the more complete of the two, but applicants at or near a 3.0 should confirm how the threshold is applied to a graduate transcript.

Tuition

Bradley charges $1,158 per credit hour for online graduate programs, including all nursing tracks. As a private university it makes no in-state or out-of-state distinction, so residency has no effect on cost. Bradley marks the rate as subject to change each academic year.

This is an increase over the rate carried in older listings for Bradley, which showed $1,135 per credit. The $23 difference compounds across a full plan of study: about $1,081 more on the 47-credit MSN, $1,288 more on the 56-credit RN-to-MSN, $736 more on the certificate, and roughly $1,610 more on a 70-credit DNP. Any estimate built on the retired rate understates every pathway.

Estimated Total Tuition

Pathway	Credit Hours	Est. Tuition
RN-to-MSN AGPCNP	56	$64,848
BSN-to-MSN AGPCNP	47	$54,426
BSN-to-DNP AGPCNP	69–72	$79,902–$83,376
Post-Master’s Certificate AGPCNP	32	$37,056

Calculated from Bradley’s published $1,158 per-credit graduate rate and each pathway’s published credit total. Bradley does not publish these as program totals. The RN-to-MSN figure prices all 56 hours at the graduate rate; 9 of them are undergraduate bridge credits whose rate Bradley does not publish.

Fees Beyond Tuition

Technology fee: $250 per semester for graduate students enrolled in 4 or more credit hours
Typhon clinical hour tracking software: $100
Malpractice insurance: $66 each year
Background check: up to $118
Nursing badge: $5 for the card, $10 shipping
Application fee: $40, nonrefundable
Books, supplies, and proctoring services for select courses, not itemized by Bradley
Payment processing: credit card payments carry a 2.95% fee; ACH debit from a checking or savings account is free

The technology fee is the largest of these over a full program. At $250 per term in any semester carrying 4 or more credits, it works out to as much as $1,750 across the BSN-to-MSN’s 7 semesters, $2,250 across the RN-to-MSN’s 9, $2,500 across the DNP’s 10, and $1,250 across the certificate’s 5. Bradley does not publish these program-level totals; they are calculated from the published per-semester fee and semester counts.

Bradley offers a Deferred Payment Plan and a Monthly Installment Payment Plan for regular semesters and states that paying in full is the least expensive option. No scholarship specific to AGPCNP students is published.

See Bradley’s official tuition and fees page.

Why Choose This AGPCNP Program?

Best suited for: a working RN who already has a realistic route to a primary care preceptor and wants a no-travel, fixed-price path into adult-gerontology primary care from whatever credential they hold now, including an associate degree.

Four entry points, one clinical standard

Few schools cover the full range from associate degree to post-master’s certificate in a single specialty, and fewer run all of them through the same practicum courses. For an ADN-prepared nurse this is the headline: the bridge adds 9 undergraduate hours and about a year, and then the path converges with the BSN entrant’s. There is no separate, lighter version of the clinical training for bridge students.

The preceptor search is yours

This is the single factor most likely to decide whether Bradley works for a given applicant. Students choose their own approved preceptors and complete practicums where they live, which is genuinely useful for a nurse already embedded in a health system with primary care clinics. It is a serious risk for a nurse in a saturated market competing with local programs that hold contracted sites, or in a hospital-only setting with no outpatient access. Bradley publishes no placement guarantee and no remedy if a site falls through, and it asks applicants to name potential mentors at the application stage. Treat that essay requirement as the school telling you what it expects you to arrange.

Flat private pricing with no residency break

Against a public university’s in-state rate, Bradley will usually lose on price. Against the same university’s non-resident rate, it often wins, and the comparison is stable because Bradley charges every student the same $1,158. An out-of-state applicant can budget the whole program from one number. An Illinois resident with a strong in-state public option should run that comparison before assuming a local school is cheaper.

The DNP’s published requirements do not line up

A prospective doctoral student is asked to commit three and a half years and roughly $80,000 to a program whose credit total appears as 68, as 70, and as 69 to 72 across Bradley’s own sources, and whose published course hours account for 900 of a required 1,000. None of that makes the degree unsound, and the discrepancies all trace to one course being listed inconsistently. But it means the plan of study should be confirmed in writing with the department before enrolling, and it is a fair reason to weigh the MSN plus certificate route instead if the doctorate is not required for the job in view.

The Verdict

The strongest case for Bradley belongs to two groups: ADN- or diploma-prepared RNs who want a single institution to carry them from bridge coursework through AGPCNP certification eligibility without ever driving to campus, and MSN-prepared nurses who want the fastest published route to a second population focus at a predictable $37,056. Both get a conventional, well-sequenced curriculum and clinical training that is identical regardless of entry point.

Applicants who should compare other options: anyone without a credible preceptor lead, since Bradley offers no placement safety net; anyone who wants clinical volume above the 600-hour certification floor; anyone eligible for a strong in-state public program, where flat private tuition is hard to beat; and MSN holders expecting prior coursework to shorten the certificate, since Bradley currently publishes no waiver policy at all.

Accreditation

Bradley’s master’s degree program in nursing, post-graduate APRN certificate program, and Doctor of Nursing Practice program are accredited by the Commission on Collegiate Nursing Education (CCNE). The university is institutionally accredited by the Higher Learning Commission. Bradley states that graduates of each AGPCNP pathway are eligible to sit for the AGPCNP certification examination through the ANCC or the AANP.

Bradley is a SARA-approved institution but does not enroll online students outside the United States, and its own graduate catalog tells applicants living outside Illinois to confirm that Bradley has permission to operate in their state before enrolling. One specific limit is worth checking: Bradley’s Washington State Nursing Care Quality Assurance Commission approval for practice experiences names the FNP, nurse administrator, nurse educator, post-MSN FNP certificate, ADN-MSN FNP, and DNP companion programs, and does not name AGPCNP.

Because availability and licensure alignment change, applicants should verify their own state on Bradley’s state authorization page before applying.

More AGPCNP Programs in Illinois

Chamberlain University - Chicago
DePaul University - Chicago
Loyola University Chicago - Maywood
North Park University - Chicago
Rush University - Chicago
University of Illinois Chicago - Chicago