The University of Miami offers 3 adult-gerontology acute care nurse practitioner tracks:
- MSN AGACNP
- BSN to DNP AGACNP
- Post-Master’s Certificate AGACNP
Program Tracks Overview
| Program | Est. Tuition | Est. Duration | Credit Hours |
|---|---|---|---|
| MSN AGACNP | $46.6K | 1 year full-time (3 semesters) or 1.5 years part-time (5 semesters) | 37 |
| BSN-DNP AGACNP | $94K | 2 years (6 semesters) or 4 years (12 semesters) | 70 |
| Certificate | $30K | About 1 year (3 semesters) | 20 |
Certificate tuition and certificate duration are both calculated rather than published.
Miami charges block tuition by the semester on the MSN and the DNP, so a part-time student pays the same total as a full-time student and simply spreads it over more terms. Enrollment pace also sets the entry term: the MSN admits full-time students in fall and part-time students in spring.
Quick Facts
| Feature | Details |
|---|---|
| Program Types | MSN, BSN to DNP, post-master’s certificate |
| Population Focus | Adult-Gerontology Acute Care (AGACNP), all three tracks |
| Format | Campus, Coral Gables |
| Clinical Hours | 616 specialty hours on all tracks; 1,176 total on the DNP |
| Clinical Placement | Faculty coordinate placements with community preceptors |
| Clinical Locations | Miami-Dade and Broward counties |
| RN Experience | Minimum one year of critical care experience |
| License Requirements | Florida RN license, or the state of current practice on the MSN and DNP |
| Certifications | AHA BLS and ACLS required |
| Start Terms | Fall for full-time; spring for part-time MSN and the certificate |
| Tuition | Block rate per semester on the MSN and DNP; $1,500 per credit on the certificate |
| Certification | ANCC AGACNP-BC and AACN ACNPC-AG eligible |
| Accreditation | CCNE through 2031, including the certificate |
Requirements Shared Across All Tracks
Clinical Requirements
- Specialty clinical hours: 616 across the four AGACNP courses, identical on all three tracks
- Hours per course: NUR 610 is 112, NUR 621 is 56, NUR 625 is 224, and NUR 638 is 224
- Rate: 56 clinical hours per clinical credit
- Laboratory hours: 28 in NUR 613, which Miami counts separately and excludes from the 616
- Placement model: faculty coordinate clinical experiences with community preceptors
- Geographic range: Miami-Dade and Broward counties
- Clinical settings: ICU, CCU, emergency departments, transplant units, trauma centers, and rapid response teams
- Specialty focus: the final course allows a concentration in a specialty area or practice location
- Clearance: immunizations, negative drug test, and an FBI background check with no infractions
You should know: a background report containing any infraction rescinds the offer of admission, regardless of how the matter was resolved or adjudicated.
Campus Requirements
- Campus: Coral Gables
- Simulation facility: S.H.A.R.E., a 41,000 square foot simulation hospital accredited by the Society for Simulation in Healthcare in teaching and education
- Endorsement: INACSL endorsed S.H.A.R.E. across four Healthcare Simulation Standards of Best Practice from 2023 through 2026
- Pre-enrollment coursework: NUR 606 Advanced Practice Preparation is completed online through Blackboard before matriculation
- Distance option: Miami publishes no online or hybrid delivery for any AGACNP track
RN Experience and Licensure
- Experience required: minimum one year of critical care experience on every track, at application
- Qualifying units, MSN and DNP: ICU, CCU, intermediate care, step down, ER or trauma, urgent care, and flight nursing
- Qualifying units, certificate: ICU, SICU, CCU, CVICU, step down, PICU, ER, trauma ED, trauma ICU, neuro ICU, and flight nursing
- Applicants outside those units: encouraged to apply and reviewed individually
- License, MSN and DNP: unencumbered RN license in Florida or the state or territory of current practice
- License, certificate: unrestricted Florida RN license, obtained before orientation
- Life support: AHA BLS for Health Care Providers plus ACLS, both maintained throughout
You should know: the certificate requires a Florida license and confines every clinical experience to Florida, while the MSN and DNP accept a license from the state where an applicant currently practices.
Be aware that: applicants may apply to only one School of Nursing and Health Studies program per cycle, and admitted students owe a $1,500 non-refundable deposit within two weeks, credited toward first-semester tuition.
MSN AGACNP
The estimated tuition for the MSN AGNP Acute Care program at the University of Miami is $46,647. The program runs 3 semesters full-time or 5 semesters part-time.
Full-time students enter in fall and follow a fall, spring, summer sequence. Part-time students enter in spring and finish across five terms.
MSN Curriculum
The program totals 37 credits: 25 class credits and 12 credits of clinical and laboratory work.
- NUR 601: Advanced Pharmacology (3 credits)
- NUR 612: Physiology and Pathophysiology for Advanced Practice Nursing (3 credits)
- NUR 613: Advanced Health Assessment and Diagnostic Reasoning (3 credits, 28 lab hours)
- NUR 610: Adult Gerontology Acute Care I (4 credits, 112 clinical hours)
- NUR 621: Diagnostics and Therapeutic Interventions for the ACNP (3 credits, 56 clinical hours)
- NUR 625: Adult Gerontology Acute Care II (7 credits, 224 clinical hours)
- NUR 638: Adult Gerontology Acute Care III (6 credits, 224 clinical hours)
- NUR 608: Concepts in Advanced Practice Nursing (3 credits)
- NUR 609: Professionalism in Advanced Practice Nursing (2 credits)
- NUR 630: Research Methods and Evidence-Based Practice (3 credits)
An introductory statistics course is a prerequisite to NUR 630 and does not count toward the 37 credits.
More curriculum details are available here.
MSN Admissions
- Degree: BSN from a regionally accredited institution; a bachelor’s in another relevant science field may be considered
- Ineligible: applicants holding direct-entry master’s degrees
- Transcript caution: an ASN from a non-regionally-accredited institution may not be accepted even with a later RN-to-BSN
- GPA: 3.0 minimum cumulative undergraduate
- Prerequisite: introductory statistics
- Recommendations: three letters, at least one academic
- Full-time deadline: fall entry, applications open September 1 and close June 1
- Part-time deadline: spring entry, applications open April 1 and close October 1
- Application route: NursingCAS, $90 for the first program and $60 for each additional
- Interviews: at faculty discretion, in person or virtual, with travel at the applicant’s expense
You should know: pace and entry term are bound together. A nurse who wants a fall start is committing to the three-semester full-time plan, and one who needs part-time study waits for a spring cohort.
BSN to DNP AGACNP
The estimated tuition for the BSN-DNP AGNP Acute Care program at the University of Miami is $94,000. The program runs 6 semesters full-time or 12 semesters part-time.
Both paces enter in fall only. The clinical and licensure requirements match the shared section above.
DNP Curriculum
The program totals 70 credits and 1,176 clinical hours. The four AGACNP specialty courses supply 616 of those hours; the remaining 560 come from practice immersion and doctoral project work.
- AGACNP specialty sequence: NUR 610, NUR 621, NUR 625, and NUR 638, identical to the MSN
- NUR 676: Practice Immersion I, Quality Improvement and Patient Safety (4 credits, 168 hours)
- NUR 688: Practice Immersion II, Personal, Professional and Leadership Development (2 credits, 112 hours)
- NUR 672 and NUR 673: DNP Scholarly Project Seminars I and II (3 credits each, 112 hours each)
- NUR 659: Technology in Health Care (3 credits, 56 hours)
- NUR 664: Applied Biostatistics for Nursing Practice (3 credits)
- Doctoral core: NUR 654, 655, 656, 657, 658, 660, and 663 covering theory, policy, economics, global health, population health, translational science, and evidence
- Specialty timing: full-time students reach NUR 610 in the fourth semester; part-time students reach it in the tenth
The doctoral premium buys systems coursework, not more patient contact. The DNP adds 33 credits and 560 hours over the MSN, and every one of those hours sits in immersion or project work rather than the AGACNP sequence.
More curriculum details are available here.
DNP Admissions
- Degree: BSN from a regionally accredited institution
- GPA: 3.0 minimum cumulative undergraduate
- Prerequisite: introductory statistics
- Recommendations: three letters, at least one academic
- Entry term: fall only, for both full-time and part-time study
- Deadline: applications open September 1 and close June 1
- Progression: a DNP scholarly project must be completed before graduation
Post-Master’s Certificate AGACNP
The estimated tuition for the Post-Master’s AGACNP Certificate at the University of Miami is $30,000 (20 credits at $1,500 per credit). Miami publishes the length as varying by individual plan of study.
Certificate Curriculum
The certificate is the four AGACNP specialty courses and nothing else: NUR 610, NUR 621, NUR 625, and NUR 638, for 20 credits. The clinical sequence and the 616 hours match the MSN exactly, as described in the shared section above.
- Sequence length: three semesters when the courses are taken in the MSN order, which is the basis for the one-year estimate
- Gap analysis: additional graduate courses may be required and would extend both the credit count and the cost
- Structure: lock-step, following an individualized plan of study issued after the gap analysis
Certificate Admissions
- Degrees: bachelor’s and master’s from regionally accredited institutions, both held before orientation
- Track requirement: the master’s must include a nurse practitioner track
- GPA: 3.0 minimum on both the bachelor’s and the master’s
- Graduate prerequisites: at least three credits each in advanced pathophysiology, advanced pharmacology, and advanced physical or health assessment
- Certification: current national certification in a nursing specialty
- Recommendations: two letters, at least one academic
- Entry terms: fall, closing June 1, and spring, closing October 1
You should know: the certificate is the only Miami AGACNP track priced per credit, so a gap analysis that adds courses raises the total directly at $1,500 each.
Tuition
Miami prices the MSN and the DNP as a block rate per semester rather than per credit, and charges the certificate at $1,500 per credit. Students pay the full semester rate regardless of how many courses they take.
| Program | Credits | Estimated Tuition |
|---|---|---|
| MSN AGACNP | 37 | $46,647 |
| BSN to DNP AGACNP | 70 | $94,000 |
| Post-Master’s Certificate | 20 | $30,000 |
The MSN block rate is $15,549 per semester full-time and $9,329 part-time. The DNP block rate is $15,666 full-time and $7,833 part-time. Miami publishes both program totals directly; only the certificate figure is calculated.
Mandatory fees sit outside those totals. The MSN carries nursing fees of $1,170 and an Advanced Practice Preparation course fee of $600. The DNP carries a $600 comprehensive orientation fee.
You should know: a student who fails or withdraws from a course waits until the next academic year that course is offered, then pays for it again at the university per-credit rate on top of the block tuition already paid.
Financial aid runs through the Office of Financial Assistance, and the School of Nursing and Health Studies offers a limited number of merit and need-based scholarships to continuing students. Certificate applicants should confirm eligibility, since non-degree study restricts federal aid.
See the official cost of study page for more details.
Why Choose This ACNP Program?
- One year to an MSN. The full-time master’s runs three consecutive semesters, which is short for a 37-credit acute care degree with 616 clinical hours attached.
- Predictable pricing. Block tuition means the published total is the total, with no per-credit arithmetic and no surprise from a heavier term.
- Accredited simulation. S.H.A.R.E. holds Society for Simulation in Healthcare accreditation and INACSL endorsement, a level of external review most nursing simulation centers do not carry.
- Faculty-coordinated placement. Miami arranges clinical experiences with community preceptors rather than leaving students to find their own.
- A certificate that mirrors the degree. Certificate students take the same four specialty courses and complete the same 616 clinical hours as MSN students.
Miami suits an experienced critical care nurse in South Florida who can attend on campus and wants a short, fixed-price path to AGACNP practice. Nurses who need to keep working full-time or who live outside Miami-Dade and Broward will find the pace and the placement range hard to work around.
Accreditation and Certification
The University of Miami is accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges.
The Commission on Collegiate Nursing Education accredits the BSN, MSN, DNP, and post-master’s certificate programs at the School of Nursing and Health Studies, with full accreditation through 2031. Naming the post-master’s certificate explicitly matters, because ANCC requires certificate holders to have completed an accredited post-graduate APRN program to sit for the exam.
All three AGACNP tracks carry the adult-gerontology acute care population focus, covering patients across the adult lifespan. Graduates are eligible for the AGACNP certification exam from the American Nurses Credentialing Center and the ACNPC-AG exam from the American Association of Critical-Care Nurses.
Research More Florida ACNP Programs
- Barry University - Miami Shores
- Nova Southeastern University - Fort Lauderdale
- University of Central Florida - Orlando
- University of Florida Health - Gainesville
- University of South Florida - Tampa