California State University, Long Beach offers a BSN-DNP – AGACNP track.
The program is delivered in a hybrid format combining face-to-face and online teaching sessions over 15-week semesters.
Program Track Overview
Graduates are prepared for complex practice, leadership roles in clinical settings, teaching roles at colleges and universities, and are eligible for national certification through ANCC or AACN upon completion.
BSN to Doctor of Nursing Practice – AGACNP
The estimated cost for the BSN-DNP – AGACNP program is $57,144 and would take 3 years to complete on a full-time basis.
BSN-DNP Curriculum
The BSN-DNP – AGACNP track requires 72 semester units total, consisting of 39 units of core courses, 24 units of AGACNP specialty courses, and 9 units of doctoral project work.
Core Courses (39 units)
NRSG 701 – Advanced Pathophysiology for Advanced Practice Nursing
Covers how disease processes disrupt normal body function across the lifespan. Emphasizes the mechanisms behind cellular injury, organ dysfunction, and the body’s compensatory responses to support advanced clinical decision making.
NRSG 702 – Advanced Pharmacology for Advanced Practice Nursing
Introduces advanced principles of pharmacokinetics, pharmacodynamics, and pharmacogenetics. Focuses on selecting and managing drug therapies for common health problems across the lifespan in preparation for clinical practice.
NRSG 703 – Health Assessment for Advanced Practice Nursing
Develops advanced history-taking and physical examination skills for patients of all ages. Uses classroom, online, and self-assessment activities to build diagnostic reasoning and refine comprehensive assessment techniques.
NRSG 703L – Health Assessment for Advanced Practice Nursing Laboratory
Provides hands-on practice with advanced physical assessment skills in a lab setting. Reinforces course concepts through structured practice and guided feedback to strengthen diagnostic accuracy.
NRSG 704 – Health Care Policy and Economic
Examines how health policy, finance, and organization shape care delivery at local, national, and global levels. Highlights the advanced practice nurse’s role in advocacy, ethics, quality improvement, and reducing health disparities.
NRSG 705 – Social Determinants of Health, Epidemiology, Population and Global Health
Explores how social, environmental, and economic factors affect health outcomes for populations. Covers key topics such as epidemiology, health promotion, infectious disease, emergency preparedness, and social justice.
NRSG 706 – Leadership and Roles for Advanced Practice
Applies leadership and organizational principles to the role of the advanced practice nurse. Emphasizes designing care models, improving quality and safety, and balancing financial pressures with patient-centered care.
NRSG 707 – Humanism in Health and Health Care
Focuses on humanistic approaches that support patients’ physical, emotional, and spiritual well-being. Teaches strategies that help advanced practice nurses build trust, promote resilience, and improve health outcomes.
NRSG 708 – Informatics in Healthcare
Prepares students to evaluate and use health information systems to support clinical decisions and quality improvement. Addresses data standards, technology selection, and ethical and legal issues in health informatics.
NRSG 709 – Data Management and Evaluation for Advanced Nursing Practice
Teaches how to collect, analyze, and interpret health data to drive quality improvement. Emphasizes use of measurement systems and common improvement methods to evaluate change in practice settings.
NRSG 710 – Advanced Evidence-Based Practice
Builds skills in appraising research and translating evidence into practice. Students learn to critique quantitative and qualitative studies and develop focused literature reviews that inform DNP projects.
NRSG 711 – DNP Proposal Development
Guides students in designing a DNP project proposal that targets a real practice problem. Focuses on applying research principles to plan program evaluations, quality initiatives, or practice-change projects.
NRSG 712A – Learning and Instructional Theories Applied to Nursing
Applies major learning and instructional theories to patient, staff, and student education. Examines factors that influence learning, models of instruction, and strategies for evaluating teaching effectiveness.
NRSG 712B – Curriculum Development in Nursing
Covers principles for designing, organizing, and evaluating nursing curricula in academic and clinical settings. Emphasizes the educator role of advanced practice nurses in meeting the learning needs of students, staff, and patients.
NRSG 795 – National Certification Review Course
Provides a structured review of key content needed for nurse practitioner certification exams. Helps students integrate specialty knowledge and build confidence as they move from student to certified provider.
Adult Gerontology Acute Care Nurse Practitioner Specialty (24 units)
NRSG 760 – Adult Gerontology Acute Care Theories for Adv Practice Nursing I
Introduces assessment and management of acutely ill adult and geriatric patients with cardiovascular, pulmonary, endocrine, and hematologic/immunologic conditions. Emphasizes differential diagnosis, stabilization of physiologically unstable patients, and care of those who depend on complex technology.
NRSG 761 – Adult Gerontology Acute Care Theories for Adv Practice Nursing II
Focuses on acute and complex episodic illnesses involving the gastrointestinal, neurologic, and genitourinary systems. Highlights rapid assessment, differential diagnosis, and management of shock, emergencies, and other high-risk situations in unstable, technology-dependent patients.
NRSG 760L – Adult Gerontology Acute Care Clinical Studies for Advanced Practice Nursing Practicum I
Provides supervised clinical experience caring for adult and older adult patients with acute and complex cardiovascular, pulmonary, endocrine, and hematologic/immunologic problems. Students apply course concepts to evaluate, diagnose, and manage medically fragile patients in high-acuity settings.
NRSG 761L – Adult Gerontology Acute Care Clinical Studies for Advanced Practice Nursing Practicum II
Continues supervised practice with a focus on gastrointestinal, neurologic, renal/genitourinary, and emergency conditions, including shock. Students refine skills in advanced assessment, treatment, evaluation, and psychosocial support of medically complex, acutely ill adult and geriatric patients.
NRSG 762L – Adult Gerontology Acute Care Clinical Residency I
Offers an advanced clinical residency that builds leadership in the AGACNP role while managing patients with complex medical conditions. Students gain experience in higher-level practice activities such as mentoring, teaching, and consulting, while accruing clinical hours toward the DNP requirement.
Doctoral Project Courses (9 units):
- NRSG 792A – Integrative Scholarship I: Evidence Based Practice (3 units)
- NRSG 792B – Integrative Scholarship II (1 unit)
- NRSG 792C – Integrative Scholarship III (2 units)
- NRSG 792D – Integrative Scholarship IV (3 units)
More curriculum details are available here.
BSN-DNP Clinicals
The program requires a minimum of 1,000 clinical hours completed throughout the specialty practice courses.
Clinical hours are distributed across:
- NRSG 760L (8 units)
- NRSG 761L (8 units)
- NRSG 762L (2 units)
Students work with preceptors approved by the School of Nursing in acute care settings, which may include their place of employment but not on the unit where they currently work.
BSN-DNP Admissions Requirements
- Bachelor of Science degree in Nursing from a nationally accredited program
- Minimum cumulative GPA of 3.0
- Active, unencumbered, unrestricted current RN license in California (or eligible for California licensure)
- College-level course in Statistics
- Physical assessment course with clinical practice (lab)
- Upper division or graduate level course in pathophysiology
- One year of clinical experience as a Registered Nurse
- Three letters of professional reference from faculty, colleagues, or supervisors (within past year, dated, and signed)
- Official transcripts from all universities/colleges previously attended
- Statement of purpose for obtaining the BSN-DNP degree/NP Specialty Certificate (no more than 1 page single-spaced)
- Successful completion of interview
- On-site or monitored online essay assessment
- Verification of current employment as a Registered Nurse from direct supervisor
Additional Requirements
Students must successfully pass a DNP Qualifying Assessment after completing NRSG 711, demonstrating ability to synthesize knowledge applicable to their DNP Scholarly Project.
Students can retake the examination once within one semester if needed. Students may transfer up to 9 units of graduate-level coursework from another university, subject to Graduate Director approval, but cannot transfer research courses.
Tuition
The Cost of Attendance for BSN-DNP students at CSULB for the 2025-2026 academic year (Fall and Spring semesters) includes tuition and mandatory fees of $19,048 annually, based on average enrollment of 15 units per semester.
See the official tuition page for more details.
Accreditation
California State University, Long Beach School of Nursing is approved by the California Board of Registered Nursing and accredited by the Commission on Collegiate Nursing Education (CCNE), 1 Dupont Circle, NW Suite 530, Washington DC, 20036-1120.
Additional ACNP Programs for California Students
- Cal State LA - Los Angeles
- California Baptist University - Riverside
- Loma Linda University - Loma Linda
- University of California San Francisco - San Francisco