Maryville's DNP with an NP concentration: two placements on one long timeline

How the DNP-NP is put together

Maryville's DNP page frames the DNP-NP as a program for nurses who have finished an MSN and want to become NPs, or earn a second NP certificate, on the way to a terminal degree. A 2023 Maryville webinar put it more plainly: the post-master's certificate and the DNP combined, for nurses who aren't yet board certified. Admission mirrors the DNP's minus the APRN certification: an MSN, a 3.25 GPA, a year of professional nursing experience and an unencumbered US RN license.

The 2026-27 catalog calls the 17 credits of graduate and NP core the “DNP - NP Option” and stacks the concentration on top. Its lists look shorter for two tracks: AGPCNP at 12 credits and PNP at 15. Spring 2024 starters add NURS 626 and NURS 627C to AGPCNP and NURS 655C to PNP, which brings both to the website's 18.

DNP courses first, clinicals last

The 2023 webinar described the order: the DNP courses come first and you finish with your clinicals, over about 10 semesters. Maryville's DNP-NP track pages now give around 36 months of full-time study. Either way, your NP practicums sit in the back half of the program, the reverse of the post-master's certificate, where they can come quickly.

A late practicum sounds like breathing room, and it is, but it carries its own risk. A clinician who agrees two years ahead may have changed jobs by the time your practicum opens, and Exxat, where the request goes, opens to you only a few months before your first clinical term. Keep a short list of possible preceptors in touch rather than pinning everything on one early yes, and firm it up once your program plan fixes the term.

The same webinar set a tight transfer limit: two classes, six credits at most. Certificate students can bring in far more. For you that means most of the NP core is likely to be taken at Maryville, including NURS 612 Advanced Health Assessment, whose clinical component can begin in week 5 once your approvals are in place. The NP core courses page covers that sequence.

Two searches: a project setting and NP preceptors

The DNP project moves through NURS 701 Foundations of Clinical Scholarship, where your protocol goes to Maryville for approval, and then Clinical Inquiry I to III, NURS 705 to NURS 707. Clinical Inquiry II won't start until your project data is complete. With DNP courses placed first, the project setting has to be settled long before the practicums, and the DNP project courses page takes each course in turn.

The two searches rest on different footing. For the practicums, Maryville's rule is clear: you arrange the preceptor, and program administration approves them through the Exxat request. For the project, no Maryville page says who arranges the setting or a mentor. The one public clue is a DNP graduate in Maryville's 2026 preceptor blog who credits a preceptor with helping create the project.

Could one organization host both? Maryville doesn't say. A practice that suits your project might also fit your concentration's setting, such as a primary care clinic for FNP or a hospital unit for AGACNP. The project goes to Maryville's DNP council, though, while the preceptor and site go through Exxat, so treat them as separate approvals and ask your faculty before building a plan around a single organization.

The practicums in your concentration

Your concentration's practicums are the courses MSN students take, with the same 750 clinical hours since Spring 2024, the same preceptor rules and the same four approvals before clinical begins. What changes for you is only where they fall in the degree.

One catalog quirk to know: the 2026-27 DNP program page lists the AGACNP and PNP didactic courses but leaves out their practicums, NURS 641, NURS 643, NURS 645, NURS 652 and NURS 654. They appear on the website curriculum and as separate catalog course records. Go by your program plan, and see clinical hours by track for what Maryville does and doesn't publish about each.

Which states the DNP-NP covers

The DNP-NP has its own June 2026 licensure grid, and it matches the MSN and certificate grids. New York reads “Does not meet” for all five concentrations. In Louisiana only FNP is marked “Meets”; the other four concentrations read “Does not meet”. Everywhere else on the grid is “Meets”.

Maryville's 2020-era status page, still online, adds two limits the grid doesn't show: Washington residents can't enroll in the online nursing program, and Oregon students can't enroll in AGACNP, PNP or PMHNP. Ask Maryville which statement governs before you commit from either state.

Thirty-six months is long enough for a move. If you relocate, your RN license has to cover the state where you see patients, and Maryville wants your new address in Self-Service. A move can also change which concentrations the grid allows, which matters most if you are heading to Louisiana or New York. The out-of-state clinicals page covers the details.

What isn't published for DNP-NP students

Several answers that shape your plan aren't on Maryville's public pages. Your advisor and faculty hold them.

• A DNP practice-hour total. Neither the catalog nor the DNP pages give one. The 750 hours belong to the NP concentration.
• Whether project work counts toward the 750. Nothing says it does, so don't plan on any overlap.
• Who arranges the project setting or mentor. Not stated for any Maryville DNP.
• Hours per practicum. Only the concentration total is public.
• NURS 705L. The website lists it with NURS 705 as the prerequisite for NURS 706; the catalog has no such course.
• Current term length. The 2023 webinar mentioned 16-week sessions for clinical courses, and today's pages are silent.

Ask for each answer in writing, ideally the term before the piece it affects begins. A preceptor or project host will ask the same questions, and it is easier to answer from Maryville's own wording than from memory.

Where our help fits

Most of what we do lines up with the NP practicums. We look for a preceptor and site near you that suit your concentration and hold up against Maryville's rules. Then we help you gather the paperwork Maryville's reviewers look at: a CV, license and certification lookups, site details for Exxat, and the person at the site who signs the MOU or its own contract. If a preceptor withdraws mid-term, we keep looking for a replacement.

For the DNP project our role is smaller. We can suggest organizations that might host a project and help you approach them, but the project and its approval belong to you, your faculty and Maryville. Maryville alone decides on preceptors, sites and agreements, and we make no promise about approvals or dates. Tell us your concentration and the term your first practicum is likely to fall in through the form below.