UTA clinical hours by track
Most UTA nurse practitioner tracks require 720 clinical hours, the two dual tracks 1,260 and Neonatal NP 600, all above a national floor of 500 direct-care hours. Only FNP's hours are listed course by course on a current UTA page; the other NP totals come from 2020-21 course lists that UTA still links. UTA waives none of them.
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Tell us your UTA track and where you live. A placement advisor replies with what a UTA-ready preceptor and site look like for you.
Pick your UTA track
Your clinical courses and hours, who can precept you, where, and when to start looking. From UTA's own catalog and program pages.
- Who precepts
- A licensed provider with at least a year in the role, in family primary care
- Where
- Family primary care practices; online clinicals begin in year two
- Start looking
- 12–16 weeks before NURS 5337, and no later than while you're in Pharmacology
- Who precepts
- A licensed provider with at least a year in adult-gerontology acute care
- Where
- Specialty practice and high-acuity settings
- Start looking
- 12–16 weeks before NURS 5354; hospitals add their own onboarding time
- Who precepts
- A licensed provider with at least a year in adult or older-adult primary care
- Where
- Primary care and long-term care settings
- Start looking
- 12–16 weeks before NURS 5352
- Who precepts
- A licensed provider with at least a year in pediatric primary care
- Where
- Pediatric primary care practices, patients birth to 21
- Start looking
- 12–16 weeks before NURS 5371
- Who precepts
- A licensed provider with at least a year in pediatric acute care
- Where
- Pediatric acute and chronic care sites, patients birth to 21
- Start looking
- 12–16 weeks before NURS 5373; children's hospitals set their own timelines
- Who precepts
- A licensed provider with at least a year in psychiatric-mental health practice
- Where
- Inpatient, community and forensic psychiatric settings, across the lifespan
- Start looking
- 12–16 weeks before NURS 5324
- Who precepts
- A licensed provider with at least a year in neonatal practice
- Where
- NICU settings; the track is campus-based
- Start looking
- Early: a NICU is often your own department, which UTA does not allow
- Who precepts
- Preceptors in both populations, primary and acute care
- Where
- Two settings across five clinical courses
- Start looking
- Before the first clinical course; plan both settings at once
- Who precepts
- No preceptor: a faculty project advisor approves your hours in Exxat
- Where
- An approved project site, outside your normal paid job
- Start looking
- Enter the project site in Exxat by the end of NURS 6323
- Who precepts
- A preceptor who works in nursing education, licensed, a year or more in the role
- Where
- Clinic, hospital or academic settings
- Start looking
- Before NURS 5362, the 10-week teaching practicum
- Who precepts
- Senior nurse leaders at a healthcare facility
- Where
- Healthcare facilities with administrative senior nurses; UTA prefers a site other than your employer for NURS 5339
- Start looking
- Before NURS 5339, the first 90-hour course
- Who precepts
- No preceptor to find: UTA says you will not need to identify one
- Where
- Your workplace (3315, 4455) and your community (3325, 4465)
- Start looking
- Line up a community agency before NURS 3325 and 4465
Clinical hours for every UTA track
The table puts every track on one line. Read the last column as carefully as the total: it tells you whether the number comes from a current UTA page or from UTA's 2020-21 course lists.
| Track | Clinical or practicum courses | Total hours | Where the total comes from |
|---|---|---|---|
| FNP (MSN, RN-to-MSN, post-master's) | NURS 5337 (180), NURS 5338 (180), NURS 5660 (360) | 720 | Current UTA Online FNP pages, course by course; the 2020-21 list agrees |
| AGACNP | NURS 5354, NURS 5355, NURS 5640 | 720 | 2020-21 course list only |
| AGPCNP | NURS 5352, NURS 5353, NURS 5645 | 720 | 2020-21 course list only |
| PNP Primary Care | NURS 5371, NURS 5372, NURS 5685 | 720 | 2020-21 course list only |
| PNP Acute Care | NURS 5373, NURS 5374, NURS 5680 | 720 | 2020-21 course list only |
| PMHNP | NURS 5324, NURS 5325, NURS 5650 | 720 | 2020-21 course list only |
| AG Dual (acute and primary) | NURS 5353, NURS 5354, NURS 5355, NURS 5640, NURS 5645 | 1,260 | 2020-21 course list only |
| PNP Dual (acute and primary) | NURS 5372, NURS 5373, NURS 5374, NURS 5680, NURS 5685 | 1,260 | 2020-21 course list only |
| Neonatal NP | NURS 5450, NURS 5610 | 600 | 2020-21 course list only; the handbook also sets 600 as the NNP minimum |
| MSN Nursing Education | NURS 5362 (135 precepted), NURS 5312 (45), NURS 5360 (45); NURS 5150 hours not stated | 135 precepted, plus 45 and 45 of clinical application | Current UTA Online Education and RN-to-MSN pages |
| MSN Nursing Administration | NURS 5339 (90), NURS 5340 (90), NURS 5341 (45), NURS 5342 (45) | No total published; the listed hours add to 270 | Current UTA Online Administration page |
| DNP (post-master's) | NURS 6620, NURS 6621; 180 hours applied after NURS 6326 | 1,000 post-baccalaureate, up to 500 credited from the MSN | 2026-27 catalog; DNP handbook (January 2025) |
| RN-to-BSN | NURS 3315, NURS 3325, NURS 4455, NURS 4465, NURS 4685; elective NURS 3300 | None published; NURS 3300 needs 120 hours at work | Current UTA Online RN-to-BSN page |
Current pages versus the 2020-21 course lists
FNP is the one NP track where a current UTA page lists hours course by course: 180 in NURS 5337, 180 in NURS 5338 and 360 in NURS 5660, on the UTA Online FNP, RN-to-MSN FNP and post-master's FNP pages.
For every other NP track, the only UTA document with a total is its 2020-21 course list, and those lists show their age. They still carry the old MSN core (NURS 5327, NURS 5366, NURS 5367) that UTA has replaced with NURS 5363, NURS 5364 and NURS 5365, and the PNP Primary Care list shows 42 credits where the 2026-27 catalog shows 41. Treat those totals as UTA's latest published figure, and confirm yours in your syllabus or with your clinical coordinator.
Per-course hours are unpublished outside FNP. The other tracks share FNP's pattern of two 3-credit clinical courses and a 6-credit practicum, but UTA hasn't said the split is the same. AGACNP has an extra wrinkle: the 2026-27 course inventory lists new clinical courses, NURS 5454, NURS 5455 and a 5-credit NURS 5560 Clinical Residency, with no clock hours, while the degree plan still lists the older sequence. More on AGACNP clinical courses.
Don't copy FNP's 180/180/360 onto another track. UTA hasn't published that split for AGACNP, AGPCNP, PNP or PMHNP courses.
UTA's hour rules
These rules come from the MSN and PMC handbook and UTA's online FAQ, and they apply across the NP tracks.
- 500 is the floor, not the target. National bodies require at least 500 clinical hours for NP programs and 600 for Neonatal NP, and UTA's tracks carry more.
- The minimum is direct patient care. Simulation and observation can count only toward hours above it.
- Population hours are protected. Simulation can never replace population-specific hours.
- No waivers. Students can't graduate without all program-required hours, and waiving any of them is “not appropriate”, in the handbook's words.
- No pay. You can't be paid by your employer or your preceptor for clinical hours.
- Employer sites have limits. Your workplace can host you if the placement fits the course's clinical focus, but not in your own department or with your current supervisor as preceptor. See clinical hours at your job.
How hours are recorded in Exxat, and how quickly, is covered on clinical hour logs.
The 1:4 ratio and post-master's certificates
UTA's catalog says of its 6-credit NP practicum courses, and of Neonatal NP's NURS 5450 and NURS 5610: “The ratio of credit to clinical hours is 1:4.” The catalog doesn't explain how that converts to clock hours. The only place UTA publishes credits and clock hours side by side is FNP, where the 6-credit NURS 5660 carries 360 hours and each 3-credit clinical practice course carries 180.
Post-master's certificate students take the same clinical courses as MSN students, chosen through a gap analysis by the program director. The UTA Online post-master's FNP page lists the same three courses at 180, 180 and 360 hours. The other certificate pages name the clinical courses but not the hours, so ask during your gap analysis. See post-master's NP certificates.
Education, Administration, DNP and RN-to-BSN hours
Nursing Education: NURS 5362 carries 135 precepted hours, and NURS 5312 and NURS 5360 each list 45 hours of clinical application. UTA doesn't say whether those 45-hour blocks sit inside the 135 or on top of it, and NURS 5150 has a clinical component with no hours stated. The preceptor must work in nursing education; see the teaching practicum.
Nursing Administration: NURS 5339 and NURS 5340 list 90 hours each, and NURS 5341 and NURS 5342 list 45 each. UTA publishes no total; the listed hours add to 270. UTA's RN-to-MSN page would rather NURS 5339 happen somewhere other than where you work.
DNP: 1,000 post-baccalaureate practice hours, with up to 500 credited from your MSN. APRNs are credited 500; other MSN graduates verify their MSN clinical hours by letter. 180 practicum hours are applied after NURS 6326 once the Graduate Nursing Review Committee approves the project proposal, and all hours must sit outside your normal paid work. See DNP practice hours.
RN-to-BSN: UTA publishes no hour counts for the workplace courses (NURS 3315, NURS 4455), the community courses (NURS 3325, NURS 4465) or the NURS 4685 capstone. The one exception is the NURS 3300 co-op elective, which requires 120 hours or more on the job. See RN-to-BSN practice experiences.
What earlier UTA syllabi said about hours
Current UTA pages leave some hour questions open, and older syllabi show how UTA handled them before. They are history, not today's policy, but they tell you what to ask.
- Earlier UTA syllabi (2016–2018) said FNP students needed at least 90 direct-care hours each with pediatric, adult and geriatric patients, and the Fall 2016 version also asked for at least 500 family practice hours.
- Earlier UTA syllabi (2016–2018) said AGACNP's
NURS 5354andNURS 5355carried 180 hours each and the practicum 360, with no more than 25 non-patient-care hours. - Earlier UTA syllabi (2016–2018) said FNP students could use at most two preceptors per clinical course.
Today's handbook still shields population-specific hours from simulation, so population-specific hours still matter, but UTA's public pages don't list the numbers. Ask your course faculty for them before you commit to a site that sees only one age group.
Why students choose us to match their hours
A total only becomes real once it's matched to a preceptor's calendar, and course length matters as much as the hours: a preceptor who can take you one day a week may suit one course and leave you short in the next. Online clinical courses run 11 or 13 weeks, as the online clinical schedule shows.
Every UTA search we run starts from the course's hours and dates. We look for a preceptor and site in person near you whose calendar can carry the full total in the weeks available, assemble what UTA's clinical team reviews so it can decide on a complete file, and stay on call if a preceptor drops mid-course. Use the form below to start.
Questions UTA students ask
Is UTA's PMHNP really 720 hours when the course pages don't list any?
It is the most recent figure UTA has published. The 2020-21 PMHNP course list gives 46 credits and 720 clinical hours, and UTA's program pages still link it. The 2026-27 catalog descriptions of NURS 5324, NURS 5325 and NURS 5650 give no hours, so confirm the number in your first clinical syllabus.
Will UTA reduce my clinical hours because I've been an RN for years?
No. The handbook says waiving any amount of clinical hours in any NP track is not appropriate, and you can't graduate without all of them. RN experience matters at admission instead: several tracks, including AGACNP and PNP Acute Care, ask for two years of RN experience, but that experience doesn't shorten the clinical courses.
How many clinical hours a week should I plan for?
UTA doesn't publish a weekly figure. Take your course's hours and divide by the weeks you can realistically be on site, then check that against what your preceptor can offer. For scale, earlier UTA syllabi (2016–2018) said the 135-hour NURS 5362 practicum worked out to 12–14 hours a week over 10 weeks.
Do AG and PNP dual students repeat every clinical course?
No. The 2026-27 catalog's AG dual plan lists five clinical courses, NURS 5353, NURS 5354, NURS 5355, NURS 5640 and NURS 5645, and leaves out NURS 5352. The PNP dual likewise leaves out NURS 5371. The 2020-21 course lists put each dual track at 1,260 clinical hours in total.
Related pages
Last checked 2026-09-23
We check these pages against UTA's own sources. UTA's current handbook and your course faculty have the final word.
Hand us the search. Keep your term.
Tell us your UTA track, your county and when your clinical course opens. We look for a preceptor and a site that fit what UTA asks for, and we help you put the approval packet together.
- Matched to your track's population and setting
- Paperwork prepared the way UTA's clinical team expects it
- In person near you, or a virtual option where your course allows it
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