The University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences (UAMS) College of Nursing offers 2 Adult-Gerontology Primary Care Nurse Practitioner (AGPCNP) pathways:
- Post-BSN to DNP – AGPCNP specialty
- Post-Graduate Certificate – AGPCNP, for nurses who already hold an MSN or DNP
The strongest argument for UAMS is price. Arkansas residents and nurses licensed in six named border states pay $525 per credit, which puts a 72-credit DNP near $37,800 in tuition.
Program Tracks Overview
| Program | Est. Tuition (Resident) | Est. Duration | Credit Hours |
|---|---|---|---|
| Post-BSN to DNP – AGPCNP | $37,800 | 3 or 4 years | 72 |
| Post-Graduate Certificate – AGPCNP | $11,550 | ~3 semesters plus any gap coursework | 22 |
Tuition figures are calculated from published FY 2026-2027 per-credit rates and published credit totals.
Quick Facts
| Program Types | Post-BSN to DNP; Post-Graduate Certificate |
| Format | Coursework delivered at a distance; UAMS does not publish a campus-visit schedule for this track |
| Clinical Hours (DNP) | 1,120 total clock hours; 770 in the AGPCNP specialty sequence |
| Clinical Hours (Certificate) | Not published |
| Clinical Placement | Faculty confirm placements and evaluate sites and preceptors; UAMS does not publish who is responsible for locating them |
| Preceptor Requirements | NP, PA, or physician with at least 1 year in that role |
| RN License (DNP) | Unencumbered Arkansas or compact-state RN license |
| RN License (Certificate) | Current, unencumbered Arkansas RN license |
| Start Terms | August and January (see conflict noted under DNP Admissions) |
| Course Load | Full-time; UAMS advises a minimum of 36 hours per week |
| Tuition | $525/credit resident and border-state; $888/credit non-resident |
| Accreditation | CCNE, through December 2035 |
Requirements Shared Across Both Tracks
Both pathways use the same six AGPCNP specialty courses, the same faculty, and the same specialty coordinator. Neither pathway is separately accredited; both fall under the College of Nursing’s CCNE approval.
Preceptors must be a licensed nurse practitioner, physician assistant, or physician with at least one year of experience in that role, per the UAMS Preceptor Hub. The college’s preceptor handbook uses a broader definition – a healthcare provider with a minimum of a master’s degree – so the applied standard depends on which document a coordinator works from.
Faculty confirm each placement with the student and preceptor, evaluate the practicum site, and make at least one clinical evaluation visit per semester. Clinical hours are logged in Typhon. An interview and essay may be required for either pathway, and all students complete an annual criminal background check and drug screen.
Post-BSN to DNP – AGPCNP Specialty
Estimated tuition for the UAMS AGPCNP DNP is ~$37,800 for residents and ~$63,936 for non-residents, based on 72 credits at FY 2026-2027 rates. Three-year and four-year plans are both offered; UAMS publishes only the three-year sequence.
This is a full-time program by design. UAMS tells applicants to expect a minimum of 36 hours per week of coursework, rising to as much as 24 hours per week in clinic once specialty courses begin, and states that working during the program will be difficult.
DNP Curriculum
The first four semesters are identical across all seven UAMS nurse practitioner specialties – 33 credits of research methods, advanced pathophysiology, theory, analytics, evidence-based practice, pharmacology, epidemiology, prevention, health assessment, economics, and informatics. AGPCNP content does not begin until the fifth semester.
Specialty coursework then runs across three semesters and includes a feature most AGPCNP curricula do not have: a dedicated psychiatric theory course and a matching 140-hour psychiatric practicum. Behavioral health is a standalone graded sequence here rather than a thread inside a general primary care course.
The final semester is doctoral rather than specialty: leadership and health policy, integration of DNP competencies, and a 350-hour synthesis practicum. Quality Outcomes Management sits in Fall III alongside the last specialty practicum.
AGPCNP specialty courses (20 credits):
- NURS 51403 – Adult-Gerontology Primary Care Nursing Theory I (3 cr)
- NURS 72405 – DNP AG Primary Care Nursing Practicum I (4 cr, 280 clock hours)
- NURS 52463 – Adult-Gerontology Primary Care Psychiatric Nursing Theory (3 cr)
- NURS 71403 – DNP AG Primary Care Psychiatric Nursing Practicum (2 cr, 140 clock hours)
- NURS 52403 – Adult-Gerontology Primary Care Nursing Theory II (3 cr)
- NURS 73405 – DNP AG Primary Care Nursing Practicum II (5 cr, 350 clock hours)
Other required coursework outside the shared core: NURS 71163 Roles & Professional Practice for APRNs (3 cr), one elective (3 cr), NURS 72133 Quality Outcomes Management (3 cr), NURS 71173 Leadership in Health Policy & Advocacy (3 cr), NURS 72142 Integration of DNP Competencies (2 cr), and NURS 74004 Advanced Nursing Clinical Practice (5 cr, 350 clock hours).
See the full UAMS DNP nurse practitioner plans of study.
DNP Clinical Requirements
UAMS publishes a total of 1,120 practicum clock hours for the three-year plan. Of that, 770 hours sit in the AGPCNP specialty sequence and 350 hours in the DNP synthesis practicum (NURS 74004), which is doctoral practice rather than population-focused primary care.
The 770-hour specialty figure still clears the 500-hour minimum required for AGPCNP national certification by a wide margin. The certification-relevant number is what matters when comparing schools, so do not read 1,120 as the primary care total.
Clock hours for the four-year plan are not published. Assume the same 1,120 total unless the program confirms otherwise.
UAMS does not publish a policy stating whether students locate their own preceptors or whether the college places them. What it does publish is the faculty side: faculty confirm the placement, evaluate the site, review the preceptor, and visit at least once per semester. That site-visit obligation is the practical constraint – it implies a defined service area rather than nationwide placement, and UAMS does not publish how far from Little Rock it will support clinical education.
DNP Admissions
- BSN from a CCNE- or ACEN-accredited program; foreign degrees require NACES evaluation
- Cumulative GPA of 3.00 or above, calculated from the last 60 undergraduate hours, or from graduate coursework if the applicant holds a graduate nursing degree
- Basic statistics course with a grade of C or better
- Academic or ANCC-COA-approved health assessment course
- Unencumbered Arkansas or unencumbered compact-state RN license, maintained in good standing throughout enrollment
- 2,000 verified RN experience hours before enrolling in Advanced Health Assessment (semester four); two years recommended at application
- Letter of good standing from any prior graduate nursing or health professions school
- Interview and essay may be required; applicants ranked by GPA and interview score
- Electronic transcripts accepted only through eScrip-Safe
- Applicants seeking a second NP specialty must also show completion of an APRN-eligible graduate program, national certification in the APRN role, and an unencumbered APRN license
Two admissions rules deserve attention. The license requirement rules out applicants whose only license is in a non-compact state, a filter that excludes several large states regardless of NC-SARA participation. UAMS also will not consider anyone who earned two grades of “C” or “NC” in graduate nursing courses, or a single “D,” “F,” “WD,” or “WF,” which is stricter than the standard no-repeats language most programs use.
Deadlines conflict across UAMS pages. The DNP program page states classes begin in August and January, with a March 1 deadline for the August cohort and September 1 for January. The nurse practitioner programs page and the DNP FAQ both describe a single March 1 deadline for fall admission only. Confirm the intake calendar before planning around a January start.
Post-Graduate Certificate – AGPCNP
Estimated tuition for the AGPCNP post-graduate certificate is ~$11,550 for residents and ~$19,536 for non-residents, based on 22 credits. Admission is on a space-available basis, with no guaranteed seat.
The certificate uses the same six AGPCNP specialty courses as the DNP, but assigns more credit to two of the practica: NURS 72405 carries 5 credits here versus 4 in the DNP, and NURS 71403 carries 3 versus 2. UAMS does not publish clock hours for the certificate practica, so published materials do not show whether certificate students complete more clinical time or simply receive different credit weighting for the same hours.
Because tuition is charged per credit, those extra 2 credits add roughly $1,050 for a resident relative to the DNP’s version of the same sequence.
A gap analysis is conducted after admission. Applicants missing core or foundational coursework – advanced pathophysiology, pharmacology, health assessment – must complete it in addition to the 22 specialty credits, which can move the real total well above the published figure. Request the transcript review early; it is the single largest variable in what this pathway costs.
Certificate Admissions
- Official transcript showing a master’s or DNP in nursing from a CCNE- or NLNAC-accredited institution
- Current, unencumbered Arkansas RN license
- Interview and essay may be required
- Apply through the MNSc application, indicating the post-graduate certificate program in the Supplemental Question section
- Gap analysis conducted after admission
- Space-available admission
The Arkansas license requirement is the eligibility line that matters. The certificate page names Arkansas specifically, with no compact-state alternative, unlike the DNP tracks. Out-of-state nurses should confirm whether a compact license satisfies this before applying.
Tuition
UAMS College of Nursing FY 2026-2027 graduate and DNP tuition is $525 per credit for residents and $888 per credit for non-residents. There is no separate online rate.
Nurses from Louisiana, Missouri, Mississippi, Oklahoma, Tennessee, and Texas are charged the in-state rate for all College of Nursing programs except Nurse Anesthesia. For a 72-credit DNP that border-state waiver is worth about $26,100, larger than the entire cost of the certificate pathway.
Mandatory fees for FY 2026-2027:
- Graduate Program Fee: $260 (covers standardized patients, Typhon, Osmosis, Enflux)
- Student Liability Insurance: $20 per semester
- Institutional fees, fall and spring: Student Health $145, Transportation $78, Technology $130, University Services $500, Student Activity $25
- Summer: Technology, University Services, Health, and Activity fees are not charged; Transportation is reduced to $39
- Application Fee $50; Enrollment Deposit $150 (applied to first-semester tuition); Graduation Fee $75
The Graduate Program Fee is described two ways on the same page: as a fee for students enrolled in Advanced Health Assessment, and as a fee charged every semester to graduate students. That ambiguity is worth several thousand dollars across a doctoral program. On the three-year DNP plan, total fees land near $6,000 if the program fee is assessed once and near $8,000 if it is assessed in each of the nine semesters.
Arkansas residents should look at the Graduate Nursing Education Student Loan and Scholarship Program (AGNSLS), a state loan that converts to a scholarship grant in exchange for full-time advanced practice in an Arkansas community, one year of service per year of funding. Full funding requires enrollment in nine or more credits per semester; five or more credits qualifies for half funding. Funding depends on legislative appropriation.
Current UAMS College of Nursing tuition and fee rates.
Why Choose This AGPCNP Program?
Best suited for: an Arkansas or border-state RN who can commit to full-time doctoral study, already has a preceptor network within reach of UAMS faculty, and would accept FNP as a fallback if the AGPCNP cohort does not fill.
The cohort minimum is the first thing to weigh
UAMS states plainly that ten new enrollees are needed to run the AGPCNP program, and that applicants may be redirected to FNP otherwise. No other decision factor matters if the cohort does not launch. Applicants who want AGPCNP specifically, rather than any NP credential, should ask about recent cohort sizes before committing an application cycle.
Six-state pricing, not just in-state pricing
The border-state waiver extends the $525 rate to Louisiana, Missouri, Mississippi, Oklahoma, Tennessee, and Texas. Nurses in those states get a public-university resident rate on a doctoral program without relocating, and the compact license requirement is satisfiable in all six.
Behavioral health as a graded specialty sequence
The AGPCNP track requires a psychiatric theory course and a 140-hour psychiatric practicum. For a primary care role where depression, anxiety, and dementia-related behavioral symptoms dominate the panel, a separately assessed rotation is more than most AGPCNP curricula provide.
Full-time load and an undefined placement radius
Two constraints work against distance applicants. The program expects a minimum of 36 hours per week and up to 24 clinic hours per week during specialty terms, which makes continued full-time RN work impractical. Because faculty must evaluate each site and visit at least once per semester, the effective clinical service area is limited in a way UAMS does not publish.
The Verdict
The strongest case for UAMS belongs to an Arkansas or border-state nurse who can stop working, wants a doctorate rather than a master’s, and values the psychiatric practicum. At roughly $37,800 in resident tuition for a 72-credit DNP with 770 specialty clinical hours, few programs match the value inside that six-state footprint.
Nurses outside those six states should compare elsewhere. They face full non-resident tuition of about $63,936, a compact-license requirement, no published placement radius, and the possibility of being routed into FNP. Nurses who need to keep working full-time, or who hold an out-of-state non-compact license, will find the structural obstacles here harder than the price advantage is worth.
Accreditation
The UAMS DNP and post-graduate APRN certificate programs are accredited by the Commission on Collegiate Nursing Education (CCNE) through December 2035. UAMS is institutionally accredited by the Higher Learning Commission. Graduates who complete the AGPCNP sequence are prepared to sit for national AGPCNP certification.
UAMS participates in NC-SARA and states it may offer online distance education to residents of all states, including California. Its published professional-licensure disclosures cover only one 100% online licensure program, and nursing is not among them, so distance applicants should verify their own state before applying. See UAMS state authorization and the College of Nursing accreditation page.
The more binding limit is licensure, not authorization: DNP applicants need an unencumbered Arkansas or compact-state RN license, and certificate applicants need an Arkansas license.