Program Tracks Overview
| Program Name | Est. Tuition | Est. Duration |
|---|---|---|
| MSN PMHNP | $42,033 | 2 years (full-time) |
| DNP PMHNP (BSN to DNP) | $66,094 | 3 years (full-time) |
| Certificate PMHNP | $23,152 | 2 years (part-time) |
The programs are nationally ranked, with the MSN PMHNP program ranked 4th and the DNP PMHNP program ranked 3rd by U.S. News and World Report for Best Psychiatric-Mental Health NP Programs.
Master of Science in Nursing – PMHNP
The estimated cost for the MSN PMHNP program is approximately $42,033 for North Carolina residents ($890.46 per credit hour × 47 credits) and would take 2 years to complete on a full-time basis.
MSN Curriculum
The 47-credit MSN PMHNP curriculum embraces a lifespan perspective in psychiatric mental health diagnostic reasoning, psychopharmacology, and individual, group, and family psychotherapies. The program includes professional core courses, research core courses, and advanced practice courses specific to psychiatric-mental health nursing.
NURS 715. Pathophysiology for Advanced Nursing Practice. (3 Credits)
This course explains normal body function and links it to disease processes across the lifespan. Students connect pathophysiology to clinical signs, symptoms, and care decisions used in advanced practice nursing.
NURS 720. Pharmacotherapeutics for Advanced Nursing Practice. (3 Credits)
This course builds advanced medication decision skills for common health problems across all age groups. Students apply pharmacology concepts to select, monitor, and adjust drug therapy using a lifespan approach.
NURS 750. Advanced Health and Physical Assessment for Advanced Nursing Practice. (3 Credits: 2 didactic, 1 lab)
This course strengthens advanced assessment skills using evidence, anatomy, and physiology concepts. Students practice holistic data collection and documentation while integrating cultural and psychosocial factors to support prevention, shared decisions, and patient-centered care.
NURS 752. Advanced Diagnostic Reasoning and Management. (2 Credits)
This course teaches a structured approach to diagnostic reasoning for common conditions across the lifespan. Students use assessment findings to plan prevention strategies and basic management decisions.
NURS 740. Evidence-Based Practice and Research. (3 Credits)
This course teaches how to find, evaluate, and apply evidence to clinical and system problems. Students compare research and quality improvement methods and link findings to outcomes for patients and care systems.
NURS 992. Master’s Paper. (3 Credits)
This course guides students through a major scholarly paper that demonstrates synthesis of evidence and clear academic writing. Students produce a final project that reflects graduate-level analysis and practice relevance.
NURS 790i. Population Health: Interprofessional Management in a Changing Healthcare System. (3 Credits)
This course develops team-based skills for population health work. Students practice collaboration, care coordination, and shared planning with other health professionals to improve outcomes.
NURS 746. Health Care Policy and Leadership. (3 Credits)
This course prepares students to use leadership tools in policy and practice settings. Students analyze policy issues and create advocacy strategies that affect health outcomes at local, state, national, and global levels.
NURS 723. Psychiatric Diagnosis and Psychopharmacology Across the Lifespan.
This course covers psychiatric diagnosis and evidence-based psychotropic medication management across the lifespan. Students learn medication selection, monitoring, and discontinuation for mental health and substance use conditions while reviewing neurobiology, genomics, and current treatment trends.
NURS 860. Biopsychosocial Care 1: Psychiatric Mental Health Interventions Across the Lifespan.
This course begins the intervention and case management sequence for PMHNP practice. Students apply diagnostic formulation to plan biopsychosocial care for common mental health and substance use problems across the lifespan, with clinical practice hours to build applied skills.
NURS 865. Biopsychosocial Care 2: Psychiatric Mental Health Interventions with Children.
This course focuses on psychiatric assessment and treatment planning for children. Students apply a biopsychosocial approach to common childhood psychiatric disorders and developmentally appropriate interventions.
NURS 864. Biopsychosocial Care 3: Psychiatric Mental Health Interventions in the Context of Relationships.
This course centers care planning within family and relationship systems. Students strengthen psychotherapy and case management skills through applied clinical work and focus on how relationships affect symptoms, safety, and recovery.
NURS 868. Biopsychosocial Care 4: Management of Complex Psychiatric Mental Health Problems Across the Lifespan. (
This capstone course integrates therapy and medication management for complex psychiatric presentations. Students synthesize prior learning to manage higher-acuity cases across the lifespan and complete advanced clinical work that supports transition to practice.
MSN Clinicals
The MSN PMHNP program requires 660 supervised clinical hours across four sequential clinical courses. Clinical sites are selected to meet course objectives and individual student learning needs, with students encouraged to complete clinical hours in their own communities or regions throughout North Carolina and beyond.
Clinical Hour Distribution:
- Biopsychosocial Care 1: 120 clinical hours
- Biopsychosocial Care 2: 120 clinical hours
- Biopsychosocial Care 3: 180 clinical hours
- Biopsychosocial Care 4: 240 clinical hours
Clinical experiences include psychiatric assessment, comprehensive evaluations, federal/state documentation requirements, individual/family/group therapy implementation, and medication initiation and management.
MSN Admissions Requirements
Academic Requirements:
- BSN degree from CCNE or ACEN-accredited program
- Minimum cumulative GPA of 3.0 (applicants with 2.75-2.99 may apply with strong justification)
- Graduate-level statistics course (grade B or better) completed within 5 years
- At least 6 months full-time RN clinical experience in acute or community psychiatric/substance abuse settings within 3 years of application
- Active unencumbered RN license in North Carolina or compact state
- Application deadlines: November 11 (priority) and February 10
Additional Requirements:
- Criminal history database check
- Drug testing (12-panel urine screen)
- Documentation of required immunizations
- Fitness for practice documentation per North Carolina Board of Nursing requirements
- Access to personal vehicle for clinical placements
Doctor of Nursing Practice – PMHNP (BSN to DNP)
The estimated cost for the BSN to DNP PMHNP program is approximately $66,094 for North Carolina residents ($890.46 per credit hour × 74 credits) and would take 3 years to complete on a full-time basis.
DNP Curriculum
The 74-credit BSN to DNP curriculum prepares nurses for the highest level of advanced practice nursing, combining advanced clinical practice with organizational leadership and evidence-based practice implementation. The program includes organizational leadership courses, practice inquiry courses, and the same PMHNP-specific clinical courses as the MSN program.
Organizational Leadership Courses:
- NURS 935: Leading Organizational and Systems Change (3 credits)
- NURS 936: Informatics for Safe and Effective Health Care (3 credits)
- NURS 938: Public Policy and Advocacy in Health Care (3 credits)
- NURS 945: Population Health in a Global Context (3 credits)
- NURS 967: Economics and Financing of Health Care Systems (3 credits)
Practice Inquiry Courses:
- NURS 740: Evidence-Based Practice and Research (3 credits)
- NURS 921: Theoretical Principles of Evidence-Based Practice (3 credits)
- NURS 922: Critical Appraisal of Evidence (3 credits)
- NURS 923: Implementation and Evaluation of Evidence-Based Practice (3 credits)
- NURS 934: Clinical Scholarship and Professional Communication (3 credits)
- NURS 969: Applied Data Analysis (3 credits)
- NURS 994: DNP Project (minimum 6 credits across multiple semesters)
APRN Core and PMHNP Specialty Courses: (Same courses as MSN program listed above)
DNP Clinicals
The DNP PMHNP program requires the same 660 supervised clinical hours across the four sequential Biopsychosocial Care courses as the MSN program. Students complete a qualifying examination and a practice-focused scholarly DNP project that emphasizes translational research and quality improvement.
Clinical Hour Distribution:
- Biopsychosocial Care 1: 120 clinical hours
- Biopsychosocial Care 2: 120 clinical hours
- Biopsychosocial Care 3: 180 clinical hours
- Biopsychosocial Care 4: 240 clinical hours
The DNP project provides additional opportunities for applied clinical scholarship focused on improving patient and population health outcomes in psychiatric-mental health settings.
DNP Admissions Requirements
Academic Requirements:
- BSN degree from CCNE or ACEN-accredited program conferred by June 30 prior to fall matriculation
- Minimum cumulative GPA of 3.0 in undergraduate nursing program (2.75-2.99 with strong justification)
- Graduate-level statistics course (grade B or better) completed within 5 years
- At least 6 months full-time RN clinical experience in acute or community psychiatric/substance abuse settings within 3 years of application (preference given to psychiatric clinical settings)
- Active unencumbered RN license in North Carolina or compact state by summer prior to matriculation
- Application deadlines: November 11 (priority) and February 10
Additional Requirements:
- Same non-academic requirements as MSN program (criminal background check, drug testing, immunizations, fitness documentation, vehicle access)
Post-Graduate Certificate – PMHNP
The estimated cost for the Post-Graduate Certificate PMHNP program is approximately $23,152 for North Carolina residents ($890.46 per credit hour × 26 credits) and would take 2 years to complete on a part-time basis.
Post-Graduate Certificate Curriculum
The 26-credit Post-Graduate Certificate is designed for MSN or DNP-prepared APRNs pursuing education in a new population area for career expansion. An individualized plan of study is developed based on gap analysis of prior graduate coursework, with additional courses required if the “3 P’s” (pathophysiology, pharmacology, physical assessment) were not completed within the past three years or do not meet current program standards.
Required PMHNP Specialty Courses:
- NURS 727: Advanced Diagnostic Process in Psychiatric Mental Health Nursing (2 credits)
- NURS 723: Psychopharmacology for PMHNP (2 credits)
- NURS 860: Biopsychosocial Care 1 (5 credits)
- NURS 865: Biopsychosocial Care 2 (5 credits)
- NURS 864: Biopsychosocial Care 3 (6 credits)
- NURS 868: Biopsychosocial Care 4 (6 credits)
May Be Required Based on Gap Analysis:
- NURS 715: Pathophysiology for Advanced Nursing Practice (3 credits)
- NURS 720: Pharmacotherapeutics for Advanced Nursing Practice (3 credits)
- NURS 750: Advanced Health and Physical Assessment (3 credits)
- NURS 752: Advanced Diagnostic Reasoning (2 credits)
Post-Graduate Certificate Clinicals
The Post-Graduate Certificate requires 660 supervised clinical hours distributed across the four sequential Biopsychosocial Care courses. Students matriculate in fall and can complete the program in two academic years including one summer semester.
Clinical Hour Distribution: (Same as MSN/DNP programs: 120, 120, 180, and 240 hours respectively)
Post-Graduate Certificate Admissions Requirements
Academic Requirements:
- MSN or DNP degree with current or eligible APRN certification
- Gap analysis conducted upon matriculation to review all prior graduate coursework
- If never practiced as APRN: must demonstrate completion of advanced pathophysiology, pharmacology, and health assessment courses within past 3 years
- If not practiced as APRN in over 2 years: required to retake advanced pharmacology at minimum
- Application deadline: February 10
Additional Requirements:
- All plans of study reviewed and approved by Assistant Dean of MSN and DNP Programs
- Same non-academic requirements apply (background checks, drug testing, etc.)
Tuition
Graduate nursing students at UNC Chapel Hill pay $890.46 per credit hour for tuition ($292.46 tuition + $598.00 in mandatory fees).
Additional program-specific fees include an MSN/DNP Orientation and Graduation Fee ($10.00), Clinical Compliance Fee ($5.50, prorated for distance education at $0.61 per credit hour), and course-specific practicum fees ($150.00 for various NURS courses).
More tuition details are available here.
Accreditation
The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill School of Nursing holds accreditation from the Commission on Collegiate Nursing Education (CCNE).
All nurse practitioner programs prepare graduates to sit for national certification examinations through either the American Nurses Credentialing Center (ANCC) or the American Academy of Nurse Practitioners Certification Board (AANPCB), qualifying them for advanced practice registered nurse licensure in North Carolina and other states.
Additional Information
All program graduates are eligible to sit for either the ANCC or AANP board certification examinations for Psychiatric-Mental Health Nurse Practitioner (Across the Lifespan). An optional Graduate Certificate in Nursing Education (9 additional credits) is available for students who wish to develop teaching and learning skills alongside their advanced nursing preparation.