Master of Science in Family Nurse Practitioner
Provide compassionate primary care to people of all ages.
Become your patients’ first point of contact for all their health care needs with the CCNE- accredited online Master of Science Family Nurse Practitioner program.
This FNP degree supports your preparation for FNP certification through the American Nurses Credentialing Center (ANCC) or the American Academy of Nurse Practitioners National Certification Board (AANP).
Learn More Today
Complete the form to learn more about this program.
- Duration 8 semesters
- Cost per Credit $825
- Credit Hours 48
Program Benefits
- Prepare for FNP certification through the ANCC or the AANP
- Participate in a three-day immersion experience
- Complete 720 practicum hours across three courses
- CCNE accredited
Immersive, Hands-On Learning
Our FNP degree includes an in-person, three-day immersion experience, hosted from Friday to Sunday at Utica College. In a simulated clinical setting using real hospital equipment, you’ll gain hands-on experience with suturing, orthopedic splinting, gender examination, X-ray interpretation, and other essential everyday skills.
Next, across three courses, complete 720 practicum hours focused on preventing health problems, caring for child-bearing individuals, and treating asthma, diabetes, hypertension, and other chronic illnesses. You can apply this experience toward the 1,000 practicum hours required for FNP certification.
The FNP program and staff at UC continue to exceed my expectations. Faculty members are genuine. Whenever I reach out, they are quick to respond and extremely supportive! I am constantly recommending this program to others.– ANGELA SMITH, MS – FAMILY NURSE PRACTITIONER STUDENT
Career Outlook: Fill the Primary Care Shortage
By 2032, it’s projected communities nationwide will have a shortage of up to 55,220 primary care physicians.1
At the same time, more than 20 states and Washington, D.C. now permit FNPs to fully practice without physician supervision.2 This allows you to fill the primary care shortage by building your own practice and providing compassionate care to the people who need it most.
The average salary for nurse practitioners and other advanced practice nursing positions is $115,800, with 45% job growth projected through 2029.3 This growth is driven by baby boomers living longer, more active lives.3
Jobs and Income
Curriculum: Skills to Build an Autonomous Practice
You’ll begin the CCNE-accredited FNP degree with core courses in nursing leadership, health care quality improvement, and more.
Next, you’ll build your skills in primary care, including leading nursing teams, preventing the spread of disease, public health and epidemiology, and treating acute injuries and chronic illness.
Each course required by the FNP degree is designed to fit the life of a busy working nurse, so you never need to worry about missing a class if you pick up a shift or your schedule changes.
Explore CoursesCCNE Accreditation
The master’s degree program in nursing (Family Nurse Practitioner [FNP], Leadership and Education) and the post-graduate APRN FNP certificate program at Utica College are accredited by the Commission on Collegiate Nursing Education.
Program Outcomes
The M.S. Family Nurse Practitioner program prepares you to:
- Integrate the arts and sciences, including leadership and ethical principles, with nursing science as a foundation for decision-making within diverse situations, settings, and communities resulting in safe patient care, quality outcomes, and health promotion.
- Use critical reflection, innovation, and interprofessional collaboration to promote lifelong learning and continual improvement, integrate current evidence, and inform policy.
- Incorporate current technologies to augment professional practice and scholarship.
- Employ analytic and diagnostic reasoning skills in the promotion of health, reduction of risk, and management of illness with diverse patient populations.
- Demonstrate interprofessional collaboration, ethical principles, and leadership through political and policy endeavors to enhance safety, quality, health care processes, and delivery systems.
- Illustrate effective communication and collaboration during patient and family interaction and coordination of care services.
Admission Requirements
Advancing your nursing education with Utica College is simple. Students with a history of volunteer work, excellent communication skills, and previous publications and presentations are especially encouraged to apply.
Graduate nursing program admissions requirements include:
- Completed application
- Unencumbered RN license in the state in which you reside (NY or FL)
- Bachelor’s degree in nursing from an accredited nursing program
- 3.0 minimum GPA
- 2,000 hours of work experience
- 3-credit statistics course (grade of B* or higher)
- Baccalaureate-level health assessment course*
- Two letters of recommendation from professional colleagues at the B.S.N. level or higher
- Résumé
- Writing sample
*Applicants with a B- or lower grade in Health Assessment will be required to successfully complete a 3-credit hour course prior to starting the program. Applicants with a B- or lower grade in statistics will be provided the option of completing a self-study module and accompanying exam.
Note: Approved background check and fingerprints required at the time of clinical courses.
Get StartedTuition and Financial Aid
Our CCNE- accredited FNP degree costs $825 per credit hour, with 48 total credits. Utica College is dedicated to making an advanced education accessible and affordable and offers many avenues for financial aid.
Learn MoreFaculty
At Utica College, you’ll work directly with faculty who have years of combined experience in health care and nursing education. They’ll ensure you’re well prepared to serve as an FNP by sharing their learning from real-world practice.
Our graduate nursing faculty is led by program chair Annette Becker, D.N.S., RN, who has been teaching with Utica since 2006, and FNP coordinator Jennifer Klimek Yingling, RN, Ph.D., ANP-BC, FNP-BC.
Both leaders bring you decades of experience in nursing education, research, and practice.
Doreen Rogers, DNS, RN, Alumnus CCRN, CNE
Assistant Professor of Nursing, Director of Nursing Graduate Programs
Dr. Doreen Rogers was appointed Assistant Professor of Nursing at Utica College in January 2018. Prior to joining Utica College, Dr. Rogers taught at associate and baccalaureate levels of pre-licensure. She was most recently the coordinator of the online Nursing Education graduate program at SUNY Polytechnic Institute, where she was an instructor as well.
Dr. Rogers began her nursing education at St. Elizabeth School of Nursing. She completed her baccalaureate degree at SUNY Utica/Rome, her graduate degree in Nursing Education from Mansfield University, and her Doctor of Nursing Science (Nursing Education/Leadership) from Sage Graduate School. Over the past 26 years, Dr. Rogers’ professional nursing practice encompasses medical-surgical and critical care. She holds CCRN (2001) and Certified Nurse Educator (2008) certifications and has provided workshops on test construction, item writing, and item analysis. Her research activity encompasses professional collegiality, resilience, rural nursing, nursing retention, and various components of nursing education. In her spare time, Dr. Doreen Rogers enjoys spending time with her husband at their two teens’ athletic competitions, providing assistance with community functions, and coaching varsity girls’ basketball during the winter months.
Jennifer Klimek Yingling, RN, Ph.D., ANP-BC, FNP-BC
Assistant Professor of Nursing, Nurse Practitioner Program Coordinator
Dr. Jennifer Klimek Yingling is an Assistant Professor of Nursing at Utica College, as well as an upstate New York resident helping to strengthen the community through practice, academics, and research.
Dr. Klimek Yingling studied at Mohawk Valley Community College and the State University of New York Institute of Technology, and she received her Doctorate of Philosophy in Nursing from Rutgers University. A passionate caregiver and a patient advocate, she is a dual-boarded Family and Adult Nurse Practitioner, holding nursing licenses in New York, Florida, and Massachusetts. Her more than two decades of nursing experience include medical-surgical, emergency, forensic, occupational and student health. Dr. Klimek Yingling practices clinically on a weekly basis in the Mohawk Valley Health Systems Emergency Department, which allows her to bring real-life experiences to the classroom.
Her research activities include work with breast cancer survivorship, horizontal violence, emergency department throughput, and adverse childhood experiences. In her free time, Dr. Klimek Yingling enjoys spending time in the Adirondacks with her husband and four children, as well as photography, gardening, cooking, and painting.
Frequently Asked Questions
Advancing your life and career with an online degree comes with lots of questions, and we want to ensure your search for answers is effortless. If you have a question we haven’t covered, call (866) 295-3106 to speak with an enrollment counselor.
Interested in our state authorizations? To learn about state authorizations, click here.
The time the program takes to complete depends on several factors, including how many credits you need to complete your degree and the number of credits you take each 16-week semester. Students taking six credits per 16-week semester could complete the 48 credit program in as few as eight semesters.
Request more information to learn about an Accelerated graduate nursing program option.
The Master’s in Family Nurse Practitioner program offers both part-time (one course per 16-week semester) and full-time (two courses per 16-week semester) options. Because this program is rigorous, we encourage students to consider either full-time study with part-time work or part-time study with full-time work.
The Master’s in Family Nurse Practitioner program has a per-credit cost of $825 with 48 total credit hours. Not including fees, your estimated tuition is $39,600.
Learn more about fees and funding opportunities on our tuition page.
In the Master’s in Family Nurse Practitioner program, you’ll develop your skills in prescribing pharmaceutical drugs, interpreting EKGs, suturing wounds, removing skin lesions, splinting broken bones, and other everyday primary care responsibilities.
The FNP program includes a three-day immersion session at the Utica College campus, followed by 720 practicum hours focused on caring for child-bearing individuals, helping patients manage chronic illnesses, and assessing and managing common health problems.
The FNP curriculum supports your preparation for national certification through the American Nurses Credentialing Center (ANCC) or the American Academy of Nurse Practitioners National Certification Board (AANP). Explore the FNP courses on our Master’s in Family Nurse Practitioner curriculum page.
Yes. The online Master’s in Family Nurse Practitioner program is accredited by the Commission on Collegiate Nursing Education (CCNE). Utica College is also accredited by the Middle States Commission on Higher Education, which affirms you’ll receive an exceptional and rigorously evaluated online education as a Utica student.
Yes. You must have an unencumbered RN license in the state in which you reside, a bachelor’s degree from an accredited baccalaureate nursing program, and 2,000 hours of work experience.
Learn more on our admission requirements page.
Sources
- Association of American Medical Colleges (2019 April 23). New research shows increasing physician shortages in both primary and specialty care. Retrieved on October 7, 2020, from https://news.aamc.org/press-releases/article/workforce_report_shortage_04112018/
- American Association of Nurse Practitioners. (2019 December 20). State Practice Environment. Retrieved on October 7, 2020, from https://www.aanp.org/advocacy/state/state-practice-environment
- U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. (2020 September 1). Nurse Anesthetists, Nurse Midwives, and Nurse Practitioners. Occupational Outlook Handbook. Retrieved on October 7, 2020, from https://www.bls.gov/ooh/healthcare/nurse-anesthetists-nurse-midwives-and-nurse-practitioners.htm