Quinnipiac University offers one AGPCNP pathway: the MSN – Adult-Gerontology Primary Care Nurse Practitioner.
Highlights include:
- Online coursework with three one-week on-campus immersions
- 780 supervised clinical hours across four sequential practicums
- Full-time (2 years) or part-time (3 years) options
- Applicants accepted from nine Northeastern states only
Program Track Overview
| Program | Est. Tuition | Est. Duration | Credit Hours |
|---|---|---|---|
| MSN | ~$48,800–$54,300 | 2 years full-time / 3 years part-time | 45 to 50 |
Quick Facts
| Program Types | MSN only (no certificate, no DNP AGPCNP track) |
| Format | Online coursework plus three one-week on-campus immersions |
| Campus Visits | Three, tied to NUR 520L, NUR 639, and NUR 645 |
| Clinical Hours | 780 total (150 + 240 + 240 + 150) |
| Clinical Placement | Arranged by the school for CT students only; all others self-arrange |
| Population Focus | Adolescence through geriatrics, primary care |
| Distinctive Coursework | Healthcare Technology and Innovation; Reproductive Health Problems in Primary Care; Transition to Practice for the APRN |
| RN Requirement | Unencumbered RN license plus ~1 year (2,000 hours) full-time RN experience |
| Start Terms | Fall (Aug. 1 deadline) and Spring (Jan. 1 deadline), rolling |
| Eligible States | CT, MA, NY, NJ, RI, NH, VT, ME, PA |
| Tuition | $1,085 per credit (2026-27) |
| Accreditation | CCNE |
MSN – Adult-Gerontology Primary Care Nurse Practitioner
Estimated tuition is $48,800–$54,300 depending on which credit total applies (45 or 50 credits at the 2026-27 rate of $1,085 per credit). Full-time students finish in two years; part-time students in three. The key eligibility gate is not the degree but residency: you must live in one of nine approved states when you apply, and if you live outside Connecticut you are responsible for finding every clinical site and preceptor yourself.
MSN Curriculum
The 50-credit plan of study divides into three functional blocks.
The APRN core front-loads the three P’s plus assessment: Advanced Health Assessment (NUR 520) with a required 2-credit lab, Advanced Pathophysiology (NUR 522), and Advanced Pharmacology (NUR 530). NUR 520L is not a standard online lab — it carries an on-ground clinical residency, making it one of the three campus visits.
The AGPCNP specialty sequence runs Common Problems in Primary Care (NUR 636) into Complex Problems in Primary Care (NUR 642), with Reproductive Health Problems (NUR 634) alongside. NUR 639, Advanced Specialty Assessment and Diagnostic Reasoning, sits between the core and the specialty content and covers ECG interpretation and diagnostic testing through a hybrid format with a second on-campus residency focused on procedural competence. Few AGPCNP programs isolate procedural skills into a dedicated course this way.
The practicum progression is four sequential courses with a deliberate hours arc: 150 hours in NUR 631, 240 in NUR 641, 240 in NUR 643, then a lighter 150 in NUR 645. NUR 631 runs as a corequisite with NUR 639, so students enter clinical alongside the diagnostic-reasoning course rather than after it. The final practicum’s reduced hours make room for certification preparation and the third immersion.
Two courses stand out against comparable programs. NUR 504 – Healthcare Technology and Innovation is a required 3-credit course on digital tools and workflow, unusual in a clinically dense MSN. NUR 669 – Transition to Practice for the APRN is a 1-credit capstone on scope of practice, interprofessional collaboration, and self-care. Neither adds clinical hours, but both consume credits that some programs spend on additional specialty content.
Selected courses with credits:
- NUR 520 – Advanced Health Assessment Across the Lifespan (3)
- NUR 520L – Advanced Health Assessment Lab (2) — on-ground residency required
- NUR 522 – Advanced Pathophysiology Across the Lifespan (3)
- NUR 530 – Advanced Pharmacology Across the Lifespan (3)
- NUR 639 – Advanced Specialty Assessment and Diagnostic Reasoning (3) — on-ground residency required
- NUR 631 – Clinical Practicum and Seminar I (3) — 150 hours
- NUR 636 – Common Problems in Primary Care (3)
- NUR 634 – Reproductive Health Problems in Primary Care (3)
- NUR 641 – Clinical Practicum and Seminar II (3) — 240 hours
- NUR 642 – Complex Problems in Primary Care (3)
- NUR 643 – Clinical Practicum and Seminar III (4) — 240 hours
- NUR 645 – Clinical Practicum and Seminar IV (4) — 150 hours, 1-week immersion
- NUR 502 – Principles of Epidemiology and Biostatistics (3)
- NUR 501 – Nursing Scholarship and Evidence-Based Practice (3)
- NUR 504 – Healthcare Technology and Innovation (3)
- NUR 503 – Advanced Practice Nursing Leadership (3)
- NUR 669 – Transition to Practice for the APRN (1)
Be aware: the catalog contradicts itself on NUR 643. The plan-of-study table lists it at 4 credits; the course description on the same page lists it at 3. At 3 credits the program totals 49 — the figure Quinnipiac published in prior years. At 4 credits it totals 50, matching the stated total. This is the likely source of the 45-versus-50 discrepancy on the cost page.
See the official curriculum page for the full course list.
MSN Clinicals
- Total practicum hours: 780, all in the AGPCNP specialty
- Distribution: NUR 631 (150), NUR 641 (240), NUR 643 (240), NUR 645 (150)
- Settings: outpatient clinics, medical offices, and skilled nursing facilities
- Placement responsibility: the School of Nursing arranges placements only for students in Connecticut. Students in the other eight states must identify their own sites and preceptors; the school provides guidance and recommendations but does not place them
- New York restriction: New York students cannot complete APRN clinical requirements in New York and must plan to complete clinicals in Connecticut or New Jersey
- Relocation: students who move mid-program must notify the program director immediately. If Quinnipiac is not approved to place students in the new state, progression may be jeopardized unless the student can complete rotations in an approved state
- Passing standard: B− or better on final faculty and preceptor clinical evaluations; falling short means retaking the course when next offered, which places the student in a later cohort and delays graduation
- Guarantee: none is published for students outside Connecticut
Two practical consequences follow. An out-of-state student has to secure preceptors for four separate rotations totaling 780 hours, a larger sourcing burden than programs with 500 or 600 hours, and one that must be solved four times rather than once. In markets where NP students compete for a limited preceptor pool, that is the most likely reason a student stalls.
The New York rule creates a commuting problem Quinnipiac states plainly but does not solve. A New York applicant must arrange sites across a state line and travel to them for roughly 780 hours. For a nurse upstate or in western New York that is not workable; for one in Westchester or the Bronx it may be. Realistically this is a downstate-NY option only.
On the upside, the 780-hour total exceeds the 500-hour supervised direct patient care minimum that AANPCB and ANCC require by a wide margin. Graduates enter their first NP job with substantially more supervised practice than a minimum-compliant program provides.
MSN Admissions
- Earned BSN with a minimum 3.0 GPA
- Unencumbered, unrestricted RN license
- At least one year of full-time RN experience (approximately 2,000 hours)
- Undergraduate statistics with a grade of C or better; conditional acceptance available for applicants who complete Quinnipiac’s statistics course
- Official transcripts from all institutions attended
- Current resume or CV
- Minimum of one reference from a professional supervisor or faculty member
- Personal statement answering two prompts, 300 words maximum each
- $45 nonrefundable application fee
- TOEFL or IELTS for international applicants
- Background check and drug screen after acceptance; acceptance is conditional until both clear
- Rolling admissions; Spring deadline January 1, Fall deadline August 1 (final deadlines generally two weeks before classes start)
- Applicants must reside in CT, MA, NY, NJ, RI, NH, VT, ME, or PA
The residency requirement is the screening rule that eliminates most applicants, and it is checked at the point of application. Quinnipiac invites prospective students in other states to contact Graduate Admissions about future availability but publishes no timeline for expansion.
The second personal-statement prompt is unusually specific. It asks for a professional self-assessment, an account of a setback and what you learned, and a concrete plan for balancing work, life, and clinical hours. That last item is not filler: programs that require students to source their own preceptors have a direct interest in whether applicants have thought through the logistics.
Be aware: a single grade below B− in a nursing course means repeating it when next offered, moving to a different cohort, and pushing back the completion date. Two unsatisfactory grades in one semester means dismissal with no option to repeat.
See the official admissions page for current requirements.
Tuition
Graduate nursing tuition is $1,085 per credit for 2026-27. The rate is flat with no residency differential: a Connecticut resident and a Pennsylvania resident pay the same.
| Credit total | Source | Tuition estimate |
|---|---|---|
| 50 credits | Curriculum page and academic catalog | $54,250 |
| 45 credits | Program cost-and-budget page | $48,825 |
Both figures come from current Quinnipiac pages. The 50-credit total appears in the 2026-2027 catalog and on the program curriculum page and is internally consistent with the course-by-course credits listed there. The 45-credit figure appears only in the cost-budget footnote. The catalog is the more authoritative source for degree requirements, so plan around $54,250 and verify.
Mandatory fees for 2026-27: student fees of $50 per credit capped at $450 per semester, a $30 per-term registration fee for online programs, and technology and lab fees of $430 per semester for full-time fall/spring enrollment, $205 part-time, and $110 for summer. Applied to a full-time two-year plan of roughly six terms, these add an estimated $4,000–$5,000 on top of tuition. That is a calculation from the published fee schedule, not a Quinnipiac-published total. Students in strictly online programs are not charged the mandatory accident insurance or the commuter meal plan.
All estimates use current-year rates. Quinnipiac states that tuition and fees are subject to annual updates, so a student starting in Fall 2026 and finishing in 2028 should expect the second year to cost more than the first.
You should know: Quinnipiac’s graduate merit scholarships are awarded to newly admitted full-time students in on-campus programs, and graduate grant funds are only available for on-campus graduate programs. This MSN is delivered online, so neither applies. Federal loans, employer tuition reimbursement, and outside scholarships are the practical funding routes.
Not included in these figures: travel, lodging, and time off for three one-week campus immersions, plus travel to clinical sites, which for out-of-state and New York students can be considerable.
See the official tuition and financial aid page.
Why Choose This AGPCNP Program?
Best suited for: an experienced Connecticut RN who wants a two-year online MSN with clinical placements arranged by the school, high clinical volume, and minimal campus attendance.
Placement support is the whole decision for Connecticut applicants
Self-sourcing preceptors is the most common failure point in online NP education, and Quinnipiac removes it entirely for CT students. For a Connecticut nurse, that support against a $54,000 private-university price is a defensible trade. For a nurse in the other eight states the calculation flips: you pay private tuition and still do the placement work yourself, which is what a lower-cost online program would ask of you anyway. If you live outside Connecticut, compare this program against cheaper self-placement options rather than against other placement-supported programs.
780 clinical hours cuts both ways
The hour total is meaningfully above the certification minimum, and the 100% first-attempt pass rate among 2025 graduates is consistent with that. Graduates should be more practice-ready than minimum-compliant peers. But those hours are also 280 more hours of preceptor time to secure if you are self-placing, spread across four rotations. Treat the number as a strength only if you already have a viable clinical network.
Three immersions instead of a monthly commute
Campus attendance is tied to three specific courses: the assessment lab, the diagnostic-reasoning course, and the final practicum. Three weeks over two years is a light footprint compared with programs requiring quarterly intensives, and each visit maps to skills that are hard to teach remotely. Budget for travel, lodging, and PTO three times.
The DNP continuation is not what most applicants assume
Quinnipiac allows MSN NP graduates to move into the post-master’s DNP within two years of graduation without a new application, and up to 500 MSN practice hours count toward the DNP’s 1,000-hour requirement. That is real value, but the DNP concentrations are Care of Populations and Nursing Leadership, not a clinical AGPCNP doctorate. The DNP path here builds systems, policy, and quality-improvement expertise on top of the NP credential. It is also a 36-credit minimum degree, so it is a second financial commitment rather than a short add-on, and only 500 of your 780 MSN clinical hours transfer, so the extra hours do not shorten it.
The strongest reason to choose it: you are a Connecticut RN with a BSN, a 3.0 GPA, and at least a year of experience, and you want school-arranged clinical placements with high clinical volume in a two-year online format. That combination is difficult to find and it justifies the private-university price.
Compare other options if you live outside Connecticut. You will pay roughly $54,000 at a private institution, receive no institutional grant or scholarship aid because the program is online, and still source 780 hours of preceptored clinical time yourself. New York residents face an additional structural obstacle that makes the program impractical outside the New York City metro area, and applicants in the remaining 41 states are not eligible to apply at all. Weigh two smaller factors as well: the unresolved 45-versus-50 credit discrepancy, which swings the tuition estimate by more than $5,000, and the strict progression policy, under which one grade below B− delays graduation by a full cohort cycle.
Accreditation
The BSN, MSN, and DNP programs at Quinnipiac University are accredited by the Commission on Collegiate Nursing Education (CCNE).
Quinnipiac states that its MSN with the Adult-Gerontology Nurse Practitioner specialization qualifies graduates to sit for the national certification exams offered through AANP or ANCC, and that the MSN meets the educational requirements for licensure in all states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, and the US Virgin Islands.
National eligibility does not mean national access. Enrollment is limited to nine states, New York students cannot complete clinicals in New York, and relocating mid-program can jeopardize progression. Confirm your state’s status with Graduate Admissions before applying and review Quinnipiac’s professional licensure and certification disclosures for current licensure information, since availability changes.
More AGPCNP Programs Nearby
- Post University - Waterbury
- Western Connecticut State University - Danbury
- Yale University - Orange