Program Tracks Overview
| Program | Est. Tuition (In-State) | Est. Duration | Credit Hours |
|---|---|---|---|
| BSN-to-DNP | $67K–$68K | 2.7 yrs (FT) – 3.7 yrs (PT) | 72 |
| RN-to-DNP | $68K+ | 3.5–5.7 yrs | 72 + 11–20 prereq |
| Certificate | $17K–$19K | 4 semesters | 17–20 |
UM-Flint’s defining advantage is that the MSN is conferred partway through the doctorate. You sit for PMHNP boards, get licensed, and practice at nurse practitioner pay while finishing the last 18 DNP credits — one application covers both degrees. Expect three to five trips to Flint per year for the degree tracks; the certificate has no campus requirement.
Quick Facts
| Feature | Details |
|---|---|
| Program Types | BSN-to-DNP with MSN (72 cr), RN-to-DNP with MSN (72 cr + prereqs), Post-Graduate Certificate (17–20 cr) |
| Format | Degree tracks: online with campus visits 3–5 times yearly. Certificate: fully online didactic. |
| Clinical Hours | 780 in the MSN portion (540 psychiatric + 240 physical health); 900 with the DNP immersion; 540 for the certificate |
| Clinical Placement | Clinical coordinator assists; target is a site within two hours of home. Student participates in the search. |
| Population | Lifespan — children, adolescents, and adults required in the practicum sequence |
| Distinctive Coursework | 240-hour acute/chronic physical health management practicum (NUR 524/525) inside the PMHNP track |
| Concentrations | PMHNP is one of five NP concentrations sharing the same core; optional Organizational Leadership certificate after MSN conferment |
| RN License Requirements | Current unencumbered U.S. RN license. Certificate also requires an active NP license in a different specialty. |
| Enrollment Restriction | Admission limited to applicants located in states where UM-Flint’s licensure requirements are satisfied |
| Start Terms | Degree tracks: fall (main) and winter. Certificate: winter only. |
| Tuition | $895.50/cr in-state, $1,344.50/cr out-of-state (2026–27 nursing rate), plus $339 per semester |
| Accreditation | CCNE (BSN, MSN, DNP, post-graduate APRN certificate); HLC institutional |
BSN to DNP with MSN – PMHNP
The estimated tuition for the Online BSN to DNP with MSN program at University of Michigan-Flint is approximately $64,476 in-state or $96,804 out-of-state (72 credits at $895.50 or $1,344.50 per credit), before the per-semester registration fee.
The program can generally be completed in about 2 years and 8 months full-time or 3 years and 8 months part-time, with the MSN conferred roughly a year before the DNP.
BSN-to-DNP Curriculum
Structure. The 72 credits split into 54 for the MSN and 18 for the DNP completion. Within the MSN portion, 26 credits are shared NP core and 28 are PMHNP specialty coursework. The design point is the conferment break: once the 54 MSN credits are done, the degree posts, you sit for boards, and the remaining doctoral work happens while you practice.
Specialty sequence. The psychiatric content runs as a three-part theory and practicum ladder (NUR 780/781, NUR 750/754, NUR 790/791), with each theory course paired to its own practicum in the same or adjacent term. Medication management sits in its own dedicated course (NUR 753) rather than folded into a general pharmacology requirement — students take the APRN pharmacology core first, then a PMHNP-specific prescribing course.
Unusual coursework. The PMHNP track carries NUR 524/525, Management of Acute/Chronic Problems, a four-credit theory course with a matching four-credit, 240-hour practicum in general physical health management. Most PMHNP curricula give students a single advanced assessment course and move on. UM-Flint requires PMHNP students to complete a full primary-care-style management rotation, which matters because psychiatric patients carry high rates of metabolic, cardiac, and substance-related comorbidity that the prescriber is often first to notice.
Representative Courses
- NSC 503 – Pathophysiology for Advanced Practice Professionals (3)
- NSC 504 – Pharmacology for Advanced Practice Professionals (3)
- NUR 604 – Advanced Health Assessment and Clinical Reasoning (3)
- NUR 524/525 – Management of Acute/Chronic Problems, Theory and Practicum (8)
- NUR 753 – Medication Management, Lifespan Psychiatric Mental Health (2)
- NUR 780/750/790 – Care of Persons Across the Life Span, PMH Theory I–III (9)
- NUR 781/754/791 – PMH Practicum I–III (9)
- NUR 904 – Research and Implementation Science (3), required before the DNP project
- NUR 905 – Advanced Practice Leadership Immersion (2)
- NUR 910 – DNP Scholarly Project (minimum 3 total)
More curriculum details are available here.
BSN-to-DNP Clinical Requirements
- 780 supervised hours in the MSN portion: 240 (NUR 525) + 180 (NUR 781) + 180 (NUR 754) + 180 (NUR 791)
- 540 of those hours are psychiatric-mental health specific; 240 are acute/chronic physical health management
- NUR 905 adds a 120-hour advanced practice leadership immersion in the DNP year, bringing the total to 900
- Practicum sequence must cover children, adolescents, and adults
- A clinical coordinator helps identify sites, with a stated target of placement within two hours of the student’s home
- Students are expected to participate actively in the placement search rather than receive an assigned site
The psychiatric hour count (540) sits at the common national floor, but the 780 total puts UM-Flint above most PMHNP programs, which typically land between 500 and 675 hours. The extra volume is not more psych — it is a general medical management rotation. That is a real trade-off worth naming: you graduate more comfortable managing a patient’s diabetes or hypertension alongside their bipolar disorder, but you do not get more supervised psychiatric hours than a 540-hour program elsewhere. On placement, “coordinator-assisted” is a middle position. It is meaningfully better than programs that hand students a preceptor packet and wish them luck, and meaningfully weaker than a guaranteed placement. Budget time for the search.
BSN-to-DNP Admissions
Admission is capped by cohort size, and UM-Flint restricts enrollment to applicants located in states where its licensure requirements are satisfied — verify your state before investing in an application.
- BSN from a regionally accredited institution
- 3.2 GPA over the last 60 undergraduate credit hours
- Current unencumbered U.S. RN license
- One year of RN experience preferred, not required
- Three recommendation letters from faculty, supervisors, or an APRN/PA/MD/DO
- CV or résumé and a one- to two-page professional goal statement in APA format
- Phone or in-person interview may be required
- $55 application fee (waivable by attending a webinar) and a $100 enrollment deposit credited toward first-semester tuition
- Applicants apply to either the full-time or part-time curriculum at the point of application
- Annual cycle: February 1 for scholarship and assistantship priority, April 1 final for fall; August 15 for winter
- Required in-person orientation before coursework begins, typically mid-May for fall starts and mid-October for winter
RN to DNP with MSN – PMHNP
The estimated graduate tuition for the Online RN to DNP with MSN program matches the BSN entry point at approximately $64,476 in-state or $96,804 out-of-state (72 credits), plus 11–20 undergraduate prerequisite credits billed at UM-Flint’s undergraduate rate, which the university does not publish alongside its graduate schedule.
The program can generally be completed in about 3.5 to 5.7 years, depending on how quickly prerequisites are finished and whether graduate coursework is full-time or part-time.
RN-to-DNP Curriculum
Bridge phase. ADN-prepared nurses complete 11–20 undergraduate credits at UM-Flint before starting graduate coursework, covering professional nursing theory, nursing research, integrated case studies, and population health, plus roughly 16 community volunteer hours. All prerequisites must be finished at UM-Flint and completed within two years of admission.
Graduate phase. After the bridge, RN-entry students merge into the same 72-credit MSN/DNP curriculum described above — identical courses, identical clinical hours, identical conferment structure. There is no separate RN-entry sequence.
What you do not get. This pathway awards no BSN along the way and offers no stop-out point at the bachelor’s level. If the BSN credential itself matters to you — for a current employer’s ladder, for military or state requirements, or as insurance against not finishing — UM-Flint directs applicants to its separate RN-to-BSN route with early assurance into the graduate curriculum instead.
More curriculum details are available here.
RN-to-DNP Clinical Requirements
- Identical to the BSN entry point: 780 hours in the MSN portion, 900 including the DNP leadership immersion
- 540 psychiatric hours across child, adolescent, and adult populations
- Prerequisite phase carries no graduate clinical hours, but requires about 16 community volunteer hours
- Same coordinator-assisted placement model, targeting sites within two hours of home
Because the clinical requirement is unchanged, the honest way to read this track is as the BSN pathway with a front-loaded bridge attached. The prerequisite phase is the flexible part — you can take one course a semester or four, work full-time throughout, and pause if life demands it. Once graduate coursework starts, that flexibility ends: the program runs as a lockstep cohort, courses are offered on a fixed rotation, and stopping out can push graduation back a full year.
RN-to-DNP Admissions
The GPA bar is higher here than on the BSN pathway — 3.5 versus 3.2 — which is worth flagging because it runs opposite to the usual assumption that bridge programs admit more loosely.
- ADN from a regionally accredited institution with a 3.5 GPA over the last 60 credit hours
- Current unencumbered U.S. RN license
- One year of RN experience preferred
- Three recommendation letters, CV, and a professional goal statement
- Phone or in-person interview may be required
- Prerequisite-phase deadlines run on an annual cycle: August 1 for fall, November 1 for winter, April 1 for summer, with rolling monthly review between September and April
- Graduate coursework starts in fall or winter only — there is no summer graduate start, and a winter start does not accelerate graduation
Post-Graduate PMHNP Certificate
The estimated tuition for the Online Post-Master’s Psychiatric Mental Health Nurse Practitioner Certificate at University of Michigan-Flint is approximately $15,224–$17,910 in-state or $22,857–$26,890 out-of-state (17–20 credits at $895.50 or $1,344.50 per credit).
The program can generally be completed in about four semesters while continuing to work.
Certificate Curriculum
Course set. The certificate is the degree program’s psychiatric specialty sequence lifted out whole: three theory courses (NUR 780, 750, 790), three matching practica (NUR 781, 754, 791), and the dedicated medication management course (NUR 753). At full length that is 20 credits; a gap analysis of your prior graduate coursework can reduce it to as few as 17.
The gap analysis is the variable to plan around. UM-Flint reviews your previous program before admission and may require syllabi for advanced pathophysiology, pharmacology, and health assessment. The university warns explicitly that integrated courses — a single course combining pharmacology and pathophysiology, for example — are unlikely to satisfy certifying bodies, and that students may need to retake them. Gather those syllabi before you apply, not after.
No transfer credit. Unlike the DNP program, which accepts up to 12 transferred graduate credits, the PMHNP certificate permits none. A minimum of nine credits must be completed at UM-Flint regardless.
Certificate Courses
- NUR 780 – Care of Persons Across the Life Span, PMH Concerns, Theory I (3)
- NUR 781 – PMH Practicum I (3)
- NUR 753 – Advanced Practice Nursing Care, Medication Management (2)
- NUR 750 – PMH Concerns, Theory II (3)
- NUR 754 – PMH Practicum II (3)
- NUR 790 – PMH Concerns, Theory III (3)
- NUR 791 – PMH Practicum III (3)
More curriculum details are available here.
Certificate Clinical Requirements
- 540 practicum hours (180 × 3) — the same psychiatric hour count degree-track students complete
- Hours must span children, adolescents, and adults
- No physical health management practicum — NUR 524/525 is not part of the certificate
- Coordinator-assisted placement near the student’s home; no campus attendance required
- Orientation is delivered by Zoom rather than in person
540 hours is the standard national requirement, and the certificate is genuinely 100% online — no campus travel at all, which distinguishes it from the degree tracks and from Michigan State’s hybrid certificate. The trade-off against the MSN route is the missing 240-hour physical health rotation. That is defensible for an applicant who already practices as an NP in another specialty and has that training, which is precisely who this certificate admits.
Certificate Admissions
The eligibility gate here is narrower than most post-master’s certificates: you must already hold an active NP license in a different specialty. An MSN alone — nurse educator, CNS, administration — does not qualify.
- MSN from a regionally accredited institution with a 3.2 overall graduate GPA
- Current unencumbered license as a nurse practitioner in a specialty other than PMHNP
- Current unencumbered U.S. RN license
- Three recommendation letters, CV, and a professional goal statement
- Syllabi from prior graduate pathophysiology, pharmacology, and health assessment coursework for gap analysis
- Phone or in-person interview may be required
- Winter admission only; annual deadline is August 15
- $100 enrollment deposit, credited toward first-semester tuition
- Stand-alone certificate students are not eligible for federal financial aid and do not participate in commencement
Tuition
Estimated all-in totals, tuition plus the mandatory registration assessment: BSN-to-DNP about $67,200–$67,900 in-state or $99,500–$100,200 out-of-state; the certificate about $16,600–$19,300 in-state or $24,200–$28,200 out-of-state. The RN entry point adds undergraduate prerequisite tuition on top of the graduate figures.
Derivation uses UM-Flint’s 2026–27 nursing rate schedule, which is separate from the university’s general graduate rate:
- Nursing (DNP, MSN, Nursing Certificate): $895.50/credit in-state, $1,344.50/credit out-of-state
- BSN-to-DNP: 72 × $895.50 = $64,476 in-state; 72 × $1,344.50 = $96,804 out-of-state
- Certificate: 20 × $895.50 = $17,910 in-state; 20 × $1,344.50 = $26,890 out-of-state (17 credits reduces these to $15,224 and $22,857)
- Registration Assessment Fee: $339 per semester, flat, regardless of credit load — roughly $2,700–$3,400 across the degree tracks and $1,356 across the certificate’s four semesters
- NOTE: The nursing per-credit rate rose about 4% year over year, from $861.25 to $895.50 in-state and $1,290 to $1,344.50 out-of-state. Rates are not cohort-locked, so multi-year students should expect further increases.
- UM-Flint states that mandatory and course-related fees beyond tuition are not included in published rates, but does not itemize them for nursing. Clinical, lab, or technology fees may apply.
- The undergraduate rate governing the RN-to-DNP prerequisite phase is not published on the graduate tuition page. Ask the Office of Student Accounts before budgeting this pathway.
The practical read: $895.50 per credit is not a bargain public rate, and 72 credits is a lot of them. In-state, UM-Flint’s doctorate lands well above Michigan’s cheapest public options and above the state’s master’s-level PMHNP alternatives. Out-of-state, at roughly $100,000, this becomes a hard number to justify unless the mid-program licensure structure is specifically what you want.
See the official graduate tuition page for current rates.
Why Choose This PMHNP Program?
Best suited for nurses who want a doctorate but refuse to wait until the end of it to start earning nurse practitioner pay.
That structure is the whole argument. UM-Flint confers the MSN at 54 credits, roughly a year before the DNP finishes. You take boards, get licensed, and work as a PMHNP while completing 18 remaining credits — and the DNP coursework is deliberately non-clinical (transcultural care, health policy, quality and safety, organizational theory, scholarly project), so it coexists with a full practice schedule. Against Michigan’s other doctoral option at Grand Valley State, where the credential arrives only at the end, that is one to two years of NP-level income earned during school rather than after it. One application covers both degrees, which also removes the risk of applying twice and being admitted once.
The second reason is curricular and easy to miss. PMHNP students here complete NUR 524/525, a 240-hour practicum in acute and chronic physical health management, on top of 540 psychiatric hours. Psychiatric prescribers routinely manage patients whose metabolic and cardiac problems are worsened by the medications the prescriber is writing, and most PMHNP programs address that with a single assessment course. This one puts you in a general management rotation. If you plan to practice in integrated behavioral health, community mental health, or a rural setting where you are the only advanced practice provider in the room, that rotation is a competitive advantage.
The honest costs: at roughly $67,000 in-state and $100,000 out-of-state, this is not the affordable path — Spring Arbor’s fully online 50-credit MSN finishes faster and cheaper if you only want the master’s, and Saginaw Valley State runs Michigan’s lowest public tuition with a dedicated placement team. The degree tracks require three to five trips to Flint each year, which is a genuine expense for anyone outside driving distance. Enrollment is limited by state authorization and by cohort size, and UM-Flint reserves the right to delay specialty clinical courses until minimum enrollment is met — a scheduling risk in a five-concentration program. The cohort is lockstep once graduate coursework begins, so a stop-out can cost a year. And placement is coordinator-assisted, not guaranteed. Choose UM-Flint when the mid-program licensure and the physical health rotation are worth paying a premium for; choose a cheaper Michigan program when they are not.
Accreditation
The baccalaureate, master’s, Doctor of Nursing Practice, and post-graduate APRN certificate programs at the University of Michigan-Flint are accredited by the Commission on Collegiate Nursing Education (CCNE) — verified from the School of Nursing’s own program pages, which state that all four levels carry CCNE accreditation. This covers all three PMHNP pathways, including the stand-alone certificate. The University of Michigan-Flint is institutionally accredited by the Higher Learning Commission. UM-Flint states that graduates of each pathway are qualified to sit for the PMHNP board certification examination, and reports an 86–100% first-attempt pass rate across its post-master’s certificate programs. Note the enrollment restriction described above: because the university only admits applicants located in states where its educational requirements are known to be satisfied, accreditation alone does not guarantee you are eligible to enroll from your state.
Review More PMHNP Programs in Michigan
- Davenport University - Grand Rapids
- Michigan State University - East Lansing
- Saginaw Valley State - Saginaw
- Spring Arbor University - Spring Arbor
- Wayne State - Detroit