Chamberlain University offers 3 Adult-Gerontology Primary Care Nurse Practitioner tracks:
- MSN AGPCNP
- Graduate Certificate AGPCNP
- RN-BSN to MSN AGPCNP
All coursework is online in eight-week sessions. Practicum is completed in person, and every track requires two on-ground events in the Chicago area.
Program Tracks Overview
| Program | Est. Tuition | Est. Duration | Credit Hours |
|---|---|---|---|
| MSN AGPCNP | $34.2K | 2.5 years (15 sessions) | 45 |
| Certificate AGPCNP | ~$25.1K | ~1.8 years (5.5 semesters) | 33 |
| RN-BSN to MSN AGPCNP | Not published | 3+ years | 45 plus BSN coursework |
Certificate tuition and the RN-BSN to MSN duration are calculated rather than published.
Chamberlain backs student-arranged practicum with a documented fallback process, the Practicum Commitment®. The certificate admits any master’s-prepared nurse, with no APRN certification required.
Quick Facts
| Feature | Details |
|---|---|
| Program Types | MSN, graduate certificate, RN-BSN to MSN bridge |
| Population Focus | AGPCNP: adolescents, adults, and older adults in primary care |
| Format | Mostly Online |
| Campus Visits | Two, both in the Chicago area |
| Clinical Hours | 625 practicum plus 25 lab hours |
| Clinical Placement | Student-arranged, with a conditional fallback |
| RN Experience | None required |
| Distinctive Coursework | 125-hour palliative care practicum |
| License Requirements | Unrestricted RN license valid in the practicum state |
| Start Terms | Six per year, eight-week sessions |
| Tuition | $760 per credit, NP courses |
| Certification | AANPCB or ANCC AGPCNP |
| Accreditation | CCNE |
| State Restrictions | Track-specific; not approved in every state |
Requirements Shared Across All Tracks
Clinical Requirements
- Total hours: 625 precepted practicum hours plus 25 faculty-supervised lab hours
- Structure: five 125-hour rotations in NR-576, NR-577, NR-578, NR-579, and NR-580
- Settings: primary care clinics, private practices, long-term care, hospice, palliative care, rehabilitation
- Sequencing: practicum begins only after the NR-509 immersion lab
- Placement responsibility: the student identifies the site and the qualified preceptor
- Fallback commitment: one preceptor option within a 100-mile radius of the student’s home address
- Fallback conditions: documented formal denials plus a request submitted three sessions, roughly six months, in advance
- Licensure: active, unrestricted RN license in the state where the practicum occurs
- Third-party services: fees paid to preceptor-matching services are not reimbursed
Campus Requirements
- Number: two on-ground events, both required in every track
- Immersion: two days during NR-509, covering skills stations and a clinical competency evaluation
- Intensive: two days during NR-580, focused on board certification review
- Location: Chicago area
- Cost: travel, lodging, and meals are the student’s expense
RN Experience and Licensure
- RN experience: not required for any track, at application or before clinical courses
- License origin: U.S. or a jurisdiction that is an associate member of the NCSBN
- Background check: cleared before NP specialty courses in the MSN, by the end of the first course in the certificate
- License review: prior sanctions, violations, and restrictions are reviewed and may result in denial
No RN experience requirement widens the applicant pool. Chamberlain publishes no minimum hours, months, or years of bedside practice for any AGPCNP track, so cohorts will include recently licensed nurses.
MSN AGPCNP
The estimated tuition for the MSN AGPCNP at Chamberlain University is approximately $34,200 (45 credits at $760/credit).
The program can generally be completed in about 2.5 years across 15 eight-week sessions.
MSN Curriculum
The MSN AGPCNP is 45 credits across 15 three-credit courses: six MSN core, four advanced practice core, and six AGPCNP specialty courses. Chamberlain replaced the NR-500NP core series with the NR-58xNP series in January 2024.
- NR-586NP: Population Health and Epidemiology for Advanced Nursing Practice (3 credits)
- NR-507: Advanced Pathophysiology (3 credits)
- NR-509: Advanced Physical Assessment (3 credits; 25 lab hours; immersion)
- NR-565: Advanced Pharmacology Fundamentals (3 credits)
- NR-568: Advanced Pharmacology for the AGPCNP (3 credits)
- NR-576: Differential Diagnosis in Adult-Gerontology Primary Care (3 credits; 125 clinical hours)
- NR-577: Primary Care Management of Adolescents and Adults (3 credits; 125 clinical hours)
- NR-578: Primary Care Management of Older Adults (3 credits; 125 clinical hours)
- NR-579: Palliative Care in Adult-Gerontology Across the Spectrum (3 credits; 125 clinical hours)
- NR-580: Adult-Gerontology Primary Care Capstone and Intensive (3 credits; 125 clinical hours; intensive)
The catalog grid heads the track “8 Full Time” while the catalog narrative on the same page describes seven and one-half semesters. More curriculum details are available here.
MSN Admissions
- Degree: BSN or higher from an accredited institution
- GPA: minimum 3.0 on a 4.0 scale
- Entrance exam: none; the GRE is not required
- Provisional path: applicants at 2.50 to 2.99 must score 70% on an NP Provisional Assessment or complete NR-545 at full tuition before NP coursework
- NR-545 retakes: one permitted; a second unsuccessful attempt results in dismissal
- Transfer grade: B or higher required for all transferred credits
- Transfer aging: NR-507, NR-565, and NR-509 must have been completed within the past five years
- Certified NP waiver: the aging rule on those three courses is waived with proof of active board certification at admission
- Entry: six start dates per year
Board certification must be documented at admission. Without that proof the five-year aging rule applies, and pathophysiology, pharmacology, and health assessment default to being retaken.
Graduate Certificate AGPCNP
The estimated tuition for the Graduate Certificate in AGPCNP at Chamberlain University is approximately $25,080 (33 credits at $760/credit).
The program can generally be completed in about 5.5 semesters of full-time study.
Certificate Curriculum
The certificate is 33 credits across 11 courses, effective March 2024. It runs the MSN plan without NR-581NP, NR-583NP, NR-584NP, and NR-585NP, a 12-credit reduction, and adds NR-582NP Leadership and Role Development.
Every advanced practice core and AGPCNP specialty course listed under the MSN is required, along with the same 625 practicum hours and both campus events.
The program page lists 5.5 full-time semesters while the catalog says five semesters at two courses per semester, which covers 10 of the 11 courses.
Certificate Admissions
- Degree: master’s or doctoral degree in nursing from an accredited institution
- GPA: minimum 3.0 cumulative graduate GPA for the earned master’s
- APRN certification: not required
- Transcripts: required from the institution that awarded the master’s
- Availability: varies by state
The GPA gate is graduate, not undergraduate. A strong BSN record does not offset a master’s transcript below 3.0. Nurse educators, informaticists, and administrators with an MSN and no NP background are eligible; BSN-prepared nurses are not.
You Should Know: Chamberlain highly encourages certificate students who already practice as nurse practitioners to have a practicum site and preceptor secured at admission to avoid progression delays.
RN-BSN to MSN AGPCNP
Chamberlain publishes no tuition total or credit total for the AGPCNP version of the RN-BSN to MSN Option. The MSN portion matches the 45-credit MSN AGPCNP, with BSN completion coursework added.
AGPCNP is one of four NP specializations available through this bridge, and Chamberlain’s state authorization disclosures list it as a separately approved program.
RN-BSN to MSN Curriculum
Two MSN courses satisfy two BSN requirements, so each degree finishes about eight weeks sooner than completing the programs separately. Chamberlain advertises savings up to $11,160 at July 2025 rates. Students graduate with both a BSN and an MSN.
Chamberlain publishes “under three years, 32 months” for the RN-BSN to MSN Option generally, not for the AGPCNP specialization, which adds the six-course specialty sequence and 625 practicum hours.
RN-BSN to MSN Admissions
- Degree: nursing diploma or ADN from an accredited institution
- Undergraduate GPA: minimum 2.0 cumulative
- Graduate GPA: minimum 3.0 cumulative for any prior graduate study
- NP coursework: the MSN portion carries the same background check and specialty course rules as the direct-entry MSN
Be aware: Chamberlain’s Accelerated RN-MSN Option, advertised at as few as 10 months, offers only Advanced Nursing Leadership specializations. It is not an AGPCNP route, and both bridges are marketed on the same page.
Tuition
Chamberlain charges $760 per credit hour for NP courses, effective January 2026. Non-NP courses are $750. Military-affiliated and alumni rates run $600 to $608 per credit.
| Program | Credits | Estimated Tuition |
|---|---|---|
| MSN AGPCNP | 45 | $34,200 |
| Graduate Certificate AGPCNP | 33 | $25,080 |
| RN-BSN to MSN AGPCNP | 45 plus BSN coursework | Not published |
Mandatory fees add materially to both totals:
- APRN fee: $450 per NP course, or $6,750 across the MSN’s 15 courses
- Student services charge: $200 per session
- Course resource fee: $75 per course
- Background check, fingerprint, drug screen: $150
- Books and materials: $75 to $175 per session
- Travel: not covered for either Chicago-area event
Chamberlain publishes a starting cost of $47,100 for the MSN, covering tuition and all fees, reduced to $39,608 by an average Commitment to Completion Grantâ„¢ of $7,492. No comparable total is published for the certificate.
Financial Aid
The Commitment to Completion Grantâ„¢ caps at $8,974 for the MSN and $4,104 for certificates, and certificate students are not eligible for the two no-cost courses included in the MSN version.
The DAISY Honoree Scholarship reduces tuition by 5%. Chamberlain also lists a $1,500 Empower Scholarship Fund award and employer partnership rates across more than 11,000 locations.
See the official tuition page for more details.
Why Choose This AGPCNP Program?
Placement fallback, not placement assignment. Chamberlain defines a documented process and staffs it with experiential learning specialists. The commitment is one preceptor option within 100 miles, after documented denials and a six-month lead time.
Eight-week sessions with six annual starts. Students take one course per session with no mandatory login times, and part-time pacing is available. Cohort programs with a single fall entry cannot offer that.
A certificate open to non-APRNs. Master’s-prepared nurses qualify for the 33-credit certificate without holding NP certification, which keeps the shortest AGPCNP route open to educators, informaticists, and administrators.
A dedicated palliative care rotation. One of the five 125-hour practicums runs in hospice, palliative care, or rehabilitation rather than a standard primary care clinic.
Fees add $12,900 to the MSN. The APRN fee and the session services charge both scale with course count, so slowing to part-time pacing does not reduce them.
The program suits BSN- or master’s-prepared nurses who need session-based flexibility and can reach an adult primary care preceptor without institutional help. Applicants far from Chicago, or in a state where these tracks are not approved, will find the structure harder to work with.
Accreditation and Certification
The master’s degree program in nursing and the post-graduate APRN certificate program at Chamberlain University are accredited by the Commission on Collegiate Nursing Education (CCNE). That scope covers both the MSN AGPCNP specialty track and the Graduate Certificate in AGPCNP.
Chamberlain holds institutional accreditation from the Higher Learning Commission. Online degrees are conferred from the main campus in Addison, Illinois.
Chamberlain limits enrollment to states where each specific track is approved and publishes program approvals state by state. The lists are track-specific: Minnesota permits several Chamberlain nursing programs but neither AGPCNP option.
Review the current state authorization page before applying.
Graduates of either AGPCNP track qualify to sit for national certification as an Adult-Gerontology Primary Care Nurse Practitioner through AANPCB or ANCC. State APRN licensure requirements vary and may add criteria beyond program completion and national certification.