Barry University offers 3 adult-gerontology acute care nurse practitioner tracks:
- MSN AGACNP
- BSN to DNP AGACNP
- Post-Graduate Certificate AGACNP
Program Tracks Overview
| Program | Est. Tuition | Est. Duration | Credit Hours |
|---|---|---|---|
| MSN AGACNP | $54.6K | 2 years (7 semesters) | 52 |
| BSN-DNP AGACNP | $95.6K | 3 years (12 semesters) | 80 |
| Certificate | Not published | Not published | Set by gap analysis |
Tuition and duration are both calculated rather than published.
Barry publishes eight years of ANCC adult-gerontology acute care pass rates by cohort size, a disclosure most nursing schools omit, but no clinical clock-hour total for any of the three tracks. Students secure their own preceptors, and an unrestricted Florida RN license must be in hand before the program starts.
Quick Facts
| Feature | Details |
|---|---|
| Program Types | MSN, BSN to DNP, post-graduate certificate |
| Population Focus | Adult-Gerontology Acute Care (AGACNP), all three tracks |
| Format | Campus, Miami Shores. No distance option published |
| Clinical Hours | No clock-hour total published for any track |
| Clinical Placement | Student secures the preceptor from a school-supplied list |
| RN Experience | One year full-time RN practice within the last year |
| License Requirement | Unrestricted Florida RN license before the program starts |
| Distinctive Coursework | Clinical Procedures in Advanced Acute Care; Differential Diagnosis for AGACNP |
| Tuition | $1,050 per credit MSN and certificate; $1,195 DNP |
| Certification | Prepares for AGACNP certification; Barry reports ANCC results |
| Accreditation | CCNE, including the post-graduate NP certificate |
Requirements Shared Across All Tracks
Clinical Requirements
- Clock hours: no total published for the MSN, the DNP, or the certificate
- Specialty clinical sequence: NUR-665, NUR-667, NUR-668, and NUR-669, 20 credits combined, identical in the MSN and the DNP
- Capstone: NUR-694 practicum in the MSN, NUR-803 residency in the DNP
- Preceptor sourcing: Barry supplies a list of qualified preceptors, and the student contacts them to arrange the placement
- Settings: acute and specialty care environments appropriate to the AGACNP role
- Placement guarantee: none published
The preceptor list is a starting point, not a placement. Barry states that outreach by the student is required to secure a preceptor. Nurses without an existing hospital network in South Florida carry that search themselves.
Campus Requirements
- Location: Miami Shores, Florida
- Delivery statement: Barry publishes no online or hybrid designation for the AGACNP tracks on the program page, the course plan, or the graduate catalog
- Coursework note: the course plan says research papers and online exams are required in every course
Be aware that:
- Format is unstated: the AGACNP tracks do not appear with a published distance-learning designation, so plan on Miami Shores attendance unless Barry confirms otherwise in writing.
RN Experience and Licensure
- Experience required: one year of full-time clinical practice as a registered nurse
- Recency: that year must fall within the last year, not at any earlier point in the career
- Acute or critical care: not specified as a separate requirement
- Licensure at application: current unrestricted RN license in the United States
- Licensure before start: unrestricted Florida license, maintained throughout enrollment
- Out-of-state applicants: must be eligible for endorsement by the Florida Board of Nursing
You should know:
- The recency rule is the tighter gate: a nurse with five years of ICU experience who has been out of bedside practice for two years does not meet the requirement as written.
MSN AGACNP
The estimated tuition for the MSN Adult-Gerontology Acute Care Nurse Practitioner at Barry University is approximately $54,600 (52 credits at $1,050 per credit). The program can generally be completed in about two years across seven semesters.
MSN Curriculum
- NUR-510: Advanced Pathophysiology (3 credits)
- NUR-615: Advanced Pharmacology (3 credits), with NUR-618: Scientific Foundations of Advanced Pharmacology (1 credit)
- NUR-678: Advanced Health Assessment and Diagnostic Reasoning (3 credits)
- NUR-665: Clinical Procedures in Advanced Acute Care (5 credits)
- NUR-667, NUR-668, NUR-669: Adult/Gerontology Acute Care I, II, and III (5 credits each, semesters IV through VI)
- NUR-626: Differential Diagnosis for AGACNP (3 credits)
- NUR-680: Special Topics, Behavioral Health (2 credits)
- NUR-694: Adult Gerontology Acute Care Practicum (5 credits, final semester)
- NUR-601: Philosophical and Theological Bases of Nursing (2 credits)
Acute care content starts in semester three. NUR-665 opens the procedures sequence, and the three graded Adult/Gerontology Acute Care courses run consecutively from semester four to semester six.
More curriculum details are available here.
You should know:
- Two different credit totals are published: the program course plan states 51 total credits, while the graduate catalog states 52 and both course lists add to 52. Use 52 for planning and cost.
MSN Admissions
- Degree: baccalaureate or graduate degree in nursing from a regionally and professionally accredited or internationally recognized institution
- Non-nursing bachelor’s: considered case by case
- GPA: 3.0 minimum on a 4.0 scale, with graduate GPA counted for applicants holding a master’s degree
- Prerequisite: grade of B or higher in an undergraduate nursing research course
- Interview: required once all admission documents are received
- References: one letter of recommendation
BSN to DNP AGACNP
The estimated tuition for the BSN to DNP Adult-Gerontology Acute Care Nurse Practitioner is approximately $95,600 (80 credits at $1,195 per credit). The program can generally be completed in about three years across twelve semesters.
DNP Curriculum
The doctoral track carries the same AGACNP specialty sequence as the MSN and adds 38 credits of doctoral coursework. It drops NUR-601, NUR-652, and the NUR-694 practicum, replacing the practicum with a four-credit residency.
- NUR-711: Role of the DNP (2 credits, semester II)
- NUR-751: Healthcare Economics for Doctoral Nursing Practice (3 credits)
- NUR-727: Healthcare Informatics for DNP (3 credits)
- NUR-721, NUR-733: Scientific Foundations and Translational Research for DNP (7 credits combined)
- NUR-741, NUR-742: Epidemiology and Biostatistics, Global Health Awareness (3 credits each)
- NUR-737, NUR-753, NUR-807: Scholarly Project I, II, and III (7 credits combined, semesters X and XII)
- NUR-803: Residency (4 credits, semester XI)
The last three semesters carry no specialty clinical coursework. Adult/Gerontology Acute Care III finishes in semester six, and semesters X through XII are the residency and the scholarly project.
You should know:
- A catalog subtotal is wrong: semester III is labeled seven credits, but its two courses carry eight. The 80-credit program total is correct and matches the course list.
DNP Admissions
- Shared requirements: Barry publishes the nurse practitioner admission criteria at the program level, so the degree, GPA, licensure, experience, and interview rules above apply
- DNP-specific criteria: none published separately for the post-baccalaureate AGACNP specialization
Post-Graduate Certificate AGACNP
Barry does not publish a credit total, a duration, or a fixed course list for the post-graduate AGACNP certificate. Tuition is $1,050 per credit, the same rate charged for the MSN.
Certificate Curriculum
The plan of study is built individually. The program director or faculty advisor conducts a gap analysis with the student, and the student then validates or completes whatever coursework the AGACNP certification exam requires. Applicants may be asked for syllabi and course objectives from earlier degree programs alongside transcripts.
You should know:
- Cost cannot be estimated in advance: with credits set by gap analysis, two applicants holding different master’s degrees can face materially different totals for the same credential.
- The MSN scholarship does not name certificates: Barry’s nursing tuition discounts list the MSN, the post-baccalaureate DNP, the post-master’s DNP, and the PhD. The post-graduate certificate is not among them.
Certificate Admissions
- Degree: MSN or higher from a regionally accredited or internationally recognized school
- Licensure: current RN or APRN license
- Documentation: official transcripts, and potentially course syllabi and objectives for the gap analysis
Tuition
The cost per credit is $1,050 for the MSN and the post-graduate certificate, and $1,195 for the post-baccalaureate DNP, under Barry’s 2026-2027 School of Nursing rate schedule.
| Program | Credits | Estimated Tuition |
|---|---|---|
| MSN AGACNP | 52 | $54,600 |
| BSN to DNP AGACNP | 80 | $95,600 |
| Post-Graduate Certificate | Set by gap analysis | Not calculable |
Automatic nursing discounts cut both degree totals. Barry applies a 25 percent tuition scholarship to MSN students and 30 percent to post-baccalaureate DNP students. That works out to roughly $40,950 for the MSN and $66,920 for the DNP.
Mandatory university fees sit on top: $500 per semester in fall and spring, $250 for a semester of three credits or fewer, and $150 in summer. Barry’s academic year runs Summer II, Fall, Spring, and Summer I.
You should know:
- A special program fee applies: the graduate catalog states that the AGACNP program requires one, for both the MSN and the DNP, without publishing the amount. It is not included in any figure above.
See the official Barry University tuition and fees schedule for current rates.
Financial Aid
Barry participates in federal and state aid programs, and the automatic nursing tuition scholarships above are the largest single reduction for degree-seeking students. Graduate assistantships are also available. Details are on the graduate financial aid page.
Why Choose This ACNP Program?
Published certification outcomes. Barry reports ANCC AGACNP pass rates by calendar year with the number of test takers, from 2015 through 2022. Results range from 78.43 percent to 95 percent, with 79.59 percent on 98 candidates in the most recent year shown.
One specialty sequence, three credentials. The MSN and the BSN-to-DNP run the same 20 credits of Adult/Gerontology Acute Care coursework. The doctoral premium buys leadership, informatics, and project work rather than additional acute care contact hours.
No acute or critical care prerequisite. Barry requires a year of general RN practice, not ICU or emergency time, which opens the MSN to nurses whose bedside experience sits outside high-acuity units.
Individualized certificate. Certificate coursework is set by gap analysis rather than a fixed sequence, so an applicant with substantial overlapping graduate credit may complete fewer courses than a fixed-credit program would require.
The program suits a Miami-area nurse who can commute to Miami Shores, can arrange a preceptor in a local acute care setting, and holds recent full-time bedside experience. Nurses needing a fully online option or a school-arranged placement should look elsewhere in Florida.
Accreditation and Certification
Barry’s graduate nursing programs are accredited by the Commission on Collegiate Nursing Education. That accreditation covers the MSN, the post-BSN DNP, the post-graduate DNP, and the post-graduate nurse practitioner certificate programs, which matters because ANCC requires certificate holders to have completed an accredited post-graduate APRN program.
The graduate nursing programs are also approved by the Florida Board of Nursing. Barry University itself is accredited by the Commission on Colleges of the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools to award degrees at the baccalaureate, master’s, specialist, and doctoral levels.
All three tracks carry an adult-gerontology acute care population focus. Graduates are prepared to sit for AGACNP certification, and Barry’s published outcomes table reports its results through the American Nurses Credentialing Center. The pass rate data on that page currently ends at the 2022 calendar year.
Compare Barry to Other Florida Acute Care NP Programs
- Nova Southeastern University - Fort Lauderdale
- University of Central Florida - Orlando
- University of Florida Health - Gainesville
- University of Miami - Coral Gables
- University of South Florida - Tampa