Program Tracks Overview
| Program | Est. Tuition | Est. Duration | Credit Hours |
|---|---|---|---|
| MS | $21K in-state / $51K out | 2.5–3 yrs | 45 |
| Post-Master’s DNP | $41K in-state / $50K out | ~3 yrs | 42 |
| Advanced Cert | $10K+ in-state | 1–2 yrs | 22+ |
Stony Brook’s defining advantage is SUNY economics without campus travel: roughly $471 per credit for New York residents, delivered through live online classes with no required campus attendance. Add a dedicated Office of Clinical Placements that arranges every clinical site and prohibits students from paying for placements, and it’s the value benchmark for PMHNP education in New York.
Quick Facts
| Feature | Details |
|---|---|
| Program Types | MS (45 cr), Post-Master’s DNP (42 cr, advanced standing only), Advanced Certificate (22+ cr) |
| Format | Mostly Online — no campus class attendance; real-time synchronous online instruction; on-site requirements are the clinical placements |
| Clinical Hours | MS/certificate totals not clearly stated; DNP requires 500 additional scholarly practice hours |
| Clinical Placement | Arranged by the Office of Clinical Placements; no self-arranged or paid placements permitted |
| Population | Psychiatric mental health across the lifespan, with multicultural emphasis |
| Start Term | Summer only; applications open August 1 annually |
| Licensure Requirement | Unencumbered New York State RN license specifically — not just any state |
| Certification | Graduates eligible for both AANPCB (PMHNP-C) and ANCC (PMHNP-BC) exams |
| Tuition | ~$471/credit in-state, ~$1,124/credit out-of-state (MS/cert); DNP billed per semester |
| Accreditation | CCNE — baccalaureate, master’s, DNP, and post-graduate APRN certificate programs |
MS PMHNP
The estimated tuition for the MS PMHNP at Stony Brook University is approximately $21,206 for New York residents or $50,580 out-of-state (45 credits at ~$471/$1,124 per credit). The program can generally be completed in about 2.5–3 years, starting each summer.
MS Curriculum
The 45 credits combine an MS core — organizational leadership, quality improvement, health policy, two evidence-based practice courses — with the APRN sciences and a psychiatric specialty built around a four-course progressive clinical theory sequence, running from foundations through special populations to a culminating practice course.
Psychopharmacology and psychiatric diagnostic reasoning get standalone courses, and multicultural context is threaded explicitly through the specialty sequence. Students admitted Summer 2026 and later follow an updated curriculum.
- Advanced Health Assessment; Clinical Pharmacology; Clinical Pathophysiology Across the Lifespan
- Psychopharmacology
- Advanced Psychiatric Health Assessment and Diagnostic Reasoning
- Advanced Theory and Clinical Practice in Psychiatric/Mental Health I–IV
- Nursing Research and Evidence-Based Practice I–II
More curriculum details are available here.
MS Clinical Requirements
A total clinical hour count is not clearly stated; hours are embedded in the four progressive psychiatric theory/clinical courses. What Stony Brook does publish is the placement model, and it’s one of the strongest in the state: the School of Nursing’s Office of Clinical Placements arranges every placement through formal SUNY affiliation agreements — students do not self-arrange, and neither students nor third parties may pay clinical sites, a direct rejection of the paid-placement practices spreading through NP education.
- Clinical hours embedded in the four-course psychiatric sequence; total not clearly stated
- All placements arranged by the Office of Clinical Placements under SUNY affiliation agreements
- No student-arranged and no fee-based placements permitted; SUNY provides insurance certificates
- BLS with AED certification required at admission and maintained throughout
MS Admissions
Applications open August 1, with an early-November deadline (November 6 for the Summer 2026 cycle).
- BSN from an accredited program; minimum 3.0 GPA
- Current, unencumbered New York State RN license — out-of-state applicants must obtain NYS licensure
- Minimum 1 year of recent, relevant nursing experience (preferred)
- Three-credit undergraduate courses in both health assessment and statistics
- Three letters of recommendation; current CV or resume
- GRE not required
- Upon admission: malpractice insurance, BLS with AED, health insurance, CastleBranch setup (one-time fee)
Post-Master’s DNP PMHNP
The estimated tuition for the Post-Master’s DNP PMHNP at Stony Brook University is approximately $40,953 for New York residents or $50,418 out-of-state, billed at a flat full-time semester rate of $13,651/$16,806 including fees.
The program takes about 3 years, starts each summer, and is currently open to advanced standing applicants only — you must already hold an MS as a nurse practitioner or certified nurse midwife, as post-BSN entry is not available (policy subject to change; confirm before applying).
DNP Curriculum
The 42-credit curriculum spans five cores: scientific underpinnings (applied science and systems theory), a 21-credit DNP Project core anchored by three Synthesis courses, analytics and informatics (biostatistics plus a large-data analysis course — uncommon at the DNP level), genomics, and population health. A gap analysis at admission validates prior coursework and master’s-level clinical hours.
- Theories of Applied Sciences; Systems Theory
- Doctoral Seminar in Evidence-Based Practice; DNP Synthesis I–III
- Biostatistics; Large Data Analyses
- Genomics
- Healthcare Policy and Social Justice; Epidemiology and Population Health
More curriculum details are available here.
DNP Clinical Requirements
Advanced standing students complete a minimum of 500 additional scholarly practice hours — distributed across the three DNP Synthesis courses — to reach the 1,000+ post-baccalaureate hours the degree requires, with master’s-level hours validated through the admission gap analysis. Placements run through the same Office of Clinical Placements model as the MS.
- Minimum 500 additional scholarly practice hours (toward a 1,000+ post-baccalaureate total)
- Hours distributed across DNP Synthesis I–III
- Placements arranged via SUNY affiliation agreements; no paid placements
DNP Admissions
The DNP deadline runs later than the master’s tracks — mid-February (February 15 for the Summer 2026 cycle).
- MS as an advanced practice nurse practitioner or certified nurse midwife (required)
- BSN from an accredited program with 3.0+ GPA
- Current, unencumbered New York State RN license
- Written statement, three letters of recommendation, CV/resume, official transcripts
- Interview may be required
- Gap analysis at admission validates coursework and clinical hours
- Malpractice insurance as an NP student in the program specialty
Advanced Certificate PMHNP
The estimated tuition for the Advanced Certificate PMHNP at Stony Brook University starts at approximately $10,368 for New York residents (22-credit minimum at ~$471/credit), with the final total set by gap analysis.
The program takes about 1–2 years depending on that analysis, starting each summer — and at the in-state rate, it’s plausibly the cheapest route to a PMHNP credential in New York.
Certificate Curriculum
The 22-credit minimum comprises the same four-course psychiatric clinical sequence as the MS plus a combined psychopharmacology and diagnostic reasoning course. Foundation courses — the three P’s, leadership, quality improvement, policy — are added individually by gap analysis, and anything already completed in Stony Brook’s own master’s programs won’t be repeated.
- Advanced Theory & Clinical Practice in Psychiatric/Mental Health I–IV
- Psychopharmacology & Diagnostic Reasoning Across the Lifespan
- By gap analysis: Advanced Health Assessment, Clinical Pharmacology, Clinical Pathophysiology, leadership/QI/policy courses
More curriculum details are available here.
Certificate Clinical Requirements
Clinical hours sit inside the four-course psychiatric sequence (19 of the 22 minimum credits); a published hour total is not clearly stated. The Office of Clinical Placements arranges all sites under the same no-self-arranged, no-payment rules as the degree tracks.
- Clinical hours embedded in the four psychiatric clinical courses; total not clearly stated
- Placements arranged via SUNY affiliation agreements
- BLS with AED required (ACLS not required for PMHNP); malpractice insurance throughout
Certificate Admissions
- Master’s or doctoral degree from an accredited nursing program; minimum 3.0 GPA
- Current, unencumbered New York State RN license
- Three-credit undergraduate health assessment and statistics courses
- Three letters of recommendation; CV or resume
- Early-November deadline for summer start (November 6 for the Summer 2026 cycle)
- Final credit count may exceed the 22-credit minimum by faculty advisement
Tuition
Total tuition runs approximately $21,206 in-state ($50,580 out-of-state) for the MS, $40,953 in-state ($50,418 out-of-state) for the DNP, and a $10,368 in-state minimum for the certificate.
MS and certificate estimates derive from 2025–26 annual graduate tuition ($11,310 resident / $26,990 non-resident, roughly $471/$1,124 per credit); the DNP bills at a flat full-time semester rate of $13,651 resident / $16,806 non-resident including fees.
Add $2,912 in annual graduate fees, waivable health insurance for full-time students, and a one-time CastleBranch fee. SUNY sets rates annually, so figures shift with state approval.
More tuition details are available here.
Why Choose This PMHNP Program?
Stony Brook resets the price floor for New York. At ~$471 per credit in-state, the full MS costs about $21K — less than half of even Russell Sage, the cheapest private option in this guide, and roughly a sixth of NYU — while the ~$10K certificate may be the least expensive PMHNP credential in the state. The value doesn’t come at the cost of support: a dedicated Office of Clinical Placements arranges every clinical site under SUNY affiliation agreements and flatly prohibits paid placements, an institutional stance stronger than most private programs’ placement promises. Graduates leave with dual exam eligibility (AANPCB and ANCC) and CCNE accreditation across every track.
The constraints are a public university’s: one start term (summer) with deadlines the previous fall, a hard requirement for a New York State RN license specifically, out-of-state tuition that erases most of the price advantage, and a DNP currently closed to anyone without an existing NP or CNM master’s. Coursework is delivered synchronously — real-time online classes rather than log-in-anytime flexibility — published clinical hour totals for the MS and certificate are missing, the certificate is mid-curriculum-transition through 2027, and the DNP’s cost basis (three full-time semesters against a three-year timeline) needs clarifying with the Bursar.
Stacked against the field: Russell Sage answers with employer discounts and lighter admission gates, Pace with tri-state eligibility, NYU with its flagship-hospital network — but if you’re a New York resident optimizing for cost per credential with genuine placement support, nothing else in this guide competes with Stony Brook’s math.
Accreditation
The baccalaureate, master’s, DNP, and post-graduate APRN certificate programs at Stony Brook University School of Nursing are accredited by the Commission on Collegiate Nursing Education (CCNE). Graduates of all PMHNP tracks are eligible for New York State certification and academically qualified to sit for national certification through either the AANPCB (PMHNP-C) or ANCC (PMHNP-BC) examinations.
More PMHNP Programs Near You
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