Program Tracks Overview
| Program | Est. Tuition | Est. Duration | Credit Hours |
|---|---|---|---|
| MS | $42,640 (res) | 2.5 years (7 semesters) | 52 |
| BS-DNP | $63,960 (res) | 3 years (9 semesters) | 78 |
| Post-Graduate Certificate | $23,780 (res) | 1.5 years (4 semesters) | 29 |
All figures use CU’s current $820/credit resident and $1,330/credit non-resident rate. The BS-DNP’s published duration is 3 years (9 semesters), not the 4.5 years some aggregator sites list.
CU’s Defining Advantage
CU is the flagship pick: its PMHNP programs rank #1 in Colorado for both master’s and DNP tracks (U.S. News 2025), and the university arranges clinical placements for Denver Metro students rather than leaving the search to them.
Quick Facts
| Feature | Details |
|---|---|
| Program Types | MS, BS-DNP, Post-Graduate Certificate |
| Format | Mostly Online — limited in-person requirements on the Aurora campus, including an on-campus assessment lab |
| Clinical Hours | 630 (MS) · 1,000+ (BS-DNP) · 630 (Certificate) |
| Clinical Placement | Arranged by the university for Denver Metro-area students |
| Population | Across the lifespan |
| RN License Requirements | Current, unencumbered RN license |
| Admissions | 3.0 GPA (GRE or 12 graduate credits if below); MS/DNP admit Fall only, Certificate admits Spring only |
| Tuition | $820/credit resident and WRGP; $1,330/credit non-resident |
| Accreditation | CCNE (nursing); HLC (institutional) |
Master of Science, Psychiatric Mental Health Nurse Practitioner
The estimated tuition for the MS PMHNP at CU is approximately $42,640 for Colorado residents (52 credits at $820/credit) or $69,160 for non-residents. The program takes 2.5 years (7 semesters) to complete on a full-time basis.
MS Curriculum
The 52 credits split into 38 didactic credits and 14 clinical credits, with four sequential PMHNP practicum courses that build from foundational assessment to independent case management. One core course, Advanced Assessment, includes an on-campus lab.
- NURS 6243 – Advanced Pathophysiology
- NURS 6222 – Advanced Pharmacology and Therapeutics
- NURS 6664 – Integrated Behavioral Health Care and Common Psychiatric Presentations Across the Lifespan
- NURS 6659 – Advanced Assessment, Neurobiology and Psychopharmacology
- NURS 6661 – Diagnosis and Management of Adults for the PMHNP
- NURS 6662 – Diagnosis and Management of Children, Adolescents and the Older Adult for the PMHNP
- NURS 6665 – Psychotherapy, Behavior Change and Health Promotion/Disease Prevention Across the Lifespan
- NURS 5991–5994 – PMHNP Advanced Practicum I–IV
More curriculum details are available here.
You Should Know
Fall-only admission: the MS and BS-DNP tracks admit new students only in the fall, with a January 15 priority deadline. The Certificate, by contrast, admits only in the spring (July 1 priority deadline).
MS Clinical Requirements
- 630 hours across four practicum courses (90, 135, 135, and 270 hours respectively)
- 1 clinical credit equals 45 hours of face-to-face direct patient care
- Placements are arranged by the university for students in the Denver metro area
630 hours clears the 500-hour PMHNP certification floor but sits below the 750 direct patient care hours in the 2022 NTF Standards. University-arranged placement is the more consequential fact here: unlike Regis, CU students are not searching for their own preceptors.
MS Admissions
- BSN from a CCNE or ACEN-accredited program
- Minimum 3.0 cumulative GPA (GRE or 12 completed graduate credits required if below 3.0)
- Current, unencumbered RN license
- Undergraduate nursing research and statistics courses, C or better
- Three letters of reference (one academic preferred), an essay, and an interview for selected applicants
BS to Doctor of Nursing Practice, Psychiatric Mental Health Nurse Practitioner
The estimated tuition for the BS-DNP PMHNP at CU is approximately $63,960 for Colorado residents (78 credits at $820/credit) or $103,740 for non-residents. The program takes 3 years (9 semesters) to complete on a full-time basis.
BS-DNP Curriculum
Both degrees are awarded back-to-back from a single application; there is no separate admission cycle for the doctoral phase. The curriculum mirrors the MS track’s 52 classroom credits, then adds roughly 26 credits of DNP-level project and systems work.
- The full MS PMHNP curriculum listed above
- Additional DNP-level coursework in evidence-based practice, quality improvement, and health care systems management
- A DNP scholarly project developed across the doctoral phase
More curriculum details are available here.
BS-DNP Clinical Requirements
- 1,000+ total clinical hours across the combined program
- Placements arranged by the university for Denver metro-area students
1,000+ hours comfortably clears both the 500-hour certification floor and the 750-hour NTF Standard, and CU’s placement model removes the site-search burden Regis puts on its own DNP students.
BS-DNP Admissions
- BSN from a CCNE or ACEN-accredited program
- Minimum 3.0 undergraduate nursing GPA (GRE or 12 graduate credits if below 3.0)
- Current, unencumbered RN license; undergraduate research and statistics courses, C or better
- Three letters of reference, an essay, and an interview for selected applicants
Post-Graduate Certificate, Psychiatric Mental Health Nurse Practitioner
The estimated tuition for the PMHNP Post-Graduate Certificate at CU is approximately $23,780 for Colorado residents (29 credits at $820/credit) or $38,570 for non-residents. The program takes 1.5 years (4 semesters) to complete.
Certificate Curriculum
The 29 credits split into 15 didactic and 14 clinical credits, drawn from the same PMHNP specialty sequence as the MS. CU notes that estimates exclude any core courses a transcript evaluation determines a student still needs.
- NURS 6659 – Advanced Assessment, Neurobiology and Psychopharmacology
- NURS 6664 – Integrated Behavioral Health Care and Common Psychiatric Presentations Across the Lifespan
- NURS 6661 – Diagnosis and Management of Adults for the PMHNP
- NURS 6665 – Psychotherapy, Behavior Change and Health Promotion/Disease Prevention Across the Lifespan
- NURS 6662 – Diagnosis and Management of Children, Adolescents and the Older Adult for the PMHNP
- NURS 5991–5994 – PMHNP Advanced Practicum I–IV
More curriculum details are available here.
You Should Know
Spring-only admission: the certificate admits once a year for a spring start, on the opposite cycle from the MS and DNP tracks.
Certificate Clinical Requirements
- 630 hours across the same four PMHNP practicum courses used in the MS track
- Placements coordinated for Denver metro-area students
Certificate Admissions
Requirements mirror the MS program, designed for nurses who already hold a master’s degree in nursing and want to add the PMHNP specialty.
Tuition
Cost per credit at CU is $820 for Colorado residents and WRGP students, and $1,330 for non-residents, both current 2026–2027 rates applied uniformly across all three tracks. All totals below are estimates built from these published per-credit rates.
- MS: $42,640 resident / $69,160 non-resident (52 credits)
- BS-DNP: $63,960 resident / $103,740 non-resident (78 credits)
- Post-Graduate Certificate: $23,780 resident / $38,570 non-resident (29 credits)
Be aware that:
- Per-semester fees vary by term, not a flat rate: $392 in Fall, $232 in Spring, and $180 in Summer, plus a one-time $140 matriculation fee in a student’s first term.
- Books and supplies run about $2,000 total, and CU’s optional student health insurance ranges from $1,292 to $4,524 per term if not waived.
- Non-resident BS-DNP pricing tops $100K ($103,740), the highest total on this page even though CU’s per-credit rate is the lowest of Colorado’s three PMHNP programs.
The per-credit rate is the same across every CU track, so the lever a student actually controls is credit count: the certificate is the fastest, cheapest route in for anyone who already holds a qualifying master’s.
See the official tuition and fees page for current rates.
Why Choose This PMHNP Program?
Best suited for Denver Metro-area nurses who want placement support and a nationally ranked credential without paying Regis’s premium.
Ranked #1 in Colorado for both master’s and DNP nursing programs. U.S. News & World Report’s 2025 rankings put CU at the top of the state for both credential levels, with the DNP also ranked nationally.
Clinical placements are arranged, not self-sourced. Denver Metro-area students get sites coordinated by the university, a meaningful contrast to Regis’s student-arranged model, though CSU Pueblo’s placement process is comparably unclear.
The trade-offs are real: coursework still requires periodic on-campus time in Aurora, admission runs on a single annual cycle per track, and applicants below a 3.0 GPA need a GRE score or 12 completed graduate credits to qualify. Nurses outside the Denver metro area lose the placement-arrangement advantage and should weigh CU mainly on price and ranking instead.
Accreditation
The University of Colorado College of Nursing’s programs are accredited by the Commission on Collegiate Nursing Education (CCNE).
The University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus is institutionally accredited by the Higher Learning Commission (HLC), which underlies the university’s authority to grant degrees and its students’ eligibility for federal financial aid.
Graduates are eligible to sit for the Psychiatric Mental Health Nurse Practitioner Across the Lifespan certification exam.
Review More PMHNP Programs in Colorado
- CSU Pueblo - Pueblo
- Regis University - Denver