UTA's accelerated online clinical schedule, 2026-27
UTA's accelerated online MSN runs one intensive course at a time, with several start dates a year. Online FNP students begin clinical courses in their second year, and every online NP track follows the same shape: two 11-week clinical practice courses, then a 13-week advanced practicum. Your preceptor has to fit those exact course dates, so plan from the schedule, not from a semester.
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How the accelerated online calendar works
UTA's graduate nursing comparison table describes the accelerated online MSN as “One Intensive Course at a Time” with “Multiple Start Dates Each Year”, fully online, with clinicals that “Will Depend on Your Own Clinical Arrangements”. The MSN and PMC handbook adds that online courses run from 3 to 13 weeks, depending on the course.
The NP tracks on this calendar are FNP, AGACNP, AGPCNP, PNP Acute Care and PNP Primary Care; Nursing Education and Nursing Administration are offered only in this format. PMHNP and Neonatal NP sit in the handbook's campus-based list instead. UTA Online quotes finishing times of as few as 32–36 months for FNP, 29–33 for AGACNP, AGPCNP and PNP Primary Care, and 31–33 for PNP Acute Care.
For FNP, UTA Online says “You will begin your clinical courses in your second year of the program.” The year of coursework before that is your search window, and UTA's own FAQ expects you to use it.
2026-27 start dates and application deadlines
This calendar appears on the UTA Online FNP, AGACNP, AGPCNP, PNP Acute Care, PNP Primary Care, Nursing Administration and Nursing Education pages, under a table header that says 8-week courses. The session labels are UTA's, including the repeated ones.
| Session | Program start | Application deadline |
|---|---|---|
| Fall I | 8/17/26 | 7/24/26 |
| Fall II | 9/28/26 | 9/4/26 |
| Fall III | 10/12/26 | 9/18/26 |
| Spring I | 1/11/27 | 12/11/26 |
| Spring II | 2/15/27 | 1/22/27 |
| Spring II | 3/8/27 | 2/12/27 |
| Summer I | 5/17/27 | 4/23/27 |
| Summer I | 6/14/27 | 5/21/27 |
| Fall I | 8/23/27 | 7/30/27 |
| Fall II | 10/4/27 | 9/10/27 |
| Fall II | 10/18/27 | 9/24/27 |
Two other calendars run alongside it. The UTA Online post-master's certificate pages use their own dates, with Fall III starting 11/2/26 (deadline 9/25/26) and earlier application deadlines. The online DNP starts on 8/17/26, 10/12/26, 1/11/27, 3/8/27, 5/17/27, 8/23/27 and 10/18/27.
Clinical course lengths by track
Every online NP track uses two 11-week clinical practice courses followed by a 13-week advanced practicum. Only FNP publishes hours per course; totals for the other tracks are on UTA clinical hours.
| Track | Clinical courses and online length | Clinical hours |
|---|---|---|
| FNP | NURS 5337 11 wk, NURS 5338 11 wk, NURS 5660 13 wk | 180, 180, 360 |
| AGACNP | NURS 5354 11 wk, NURS 5355 11 wk, NURS 5640 13 wk | Not published per course |
| AGPCNP | NURS 5352 11 wk, NURS 5353 11 wk, NURS 5645 13 wk | Not published per course |
| PNP Primary Care | NURS 5371 11 wk, NURS 5372 11 wk, NURS 5685 13 wk | Not published per course |
| PNP Acute Care | NURS 5373 11 wk, NURS 5374 11 wk, NURS 5680 13 wk | Not published per course |
| Nursing Education | NURS 5312 5 wk, NURS 5360 5 wk, NURS 5362 10 wk (program page) or 11 wk (2026 schedule) | 45, 45, 135 precepted |
| Nursing Administration | NURS 5339 5 or 10 wk, NURS 5340 10 wk, NURS 5341 5 or 10 wk, NURS 5342 5 wk | 90, 90, 45, 45 |
| DNP | NURS 6326, NURS 6620, NURS 6621: the last three sessions, 13 weeks each | 500 to 1,000 in the program, set individually |
Where two lengths appear, UTA's own pages disagree: the MSN Administration page gives 5 weeks for NURS 5339 and NURS 5341 and the RN-to-MSN page gives 10. Check the schedule for your actual section.
What comes before your first clinical course
The courses before clinicals are when the search should happen. In the online NP tracks they include Advanced Pathophysiology (NURS 5315, 11 weeks), Advanced Pharmacology (NURS 5334, 11 weeks), Advanced Health Assessment (NURS 5220, 5 weeks), 3-week assessment labs, the 5-week role course NURS 5350, the 8-week MSN core and your track's 8-week population courses.
Two UTA markers fall in this stretch. UTA's online FAQ says orientation on locating clinical sites happens in the last 5 weeks of the health assessment course, listed under its old number NURS 5418 (now NURS 5220). UTA's General MSN FAQ says to find a preceptor “As soon as a student starts the program” and no later than while in Pharmacology.
Prerequisites set the order. NURS 5337 needs NURS 5432, NURS 5433, NURS 5434 and a 3.0 GPA; NURS 5354 needs NURS 5463 or concurrent enrollment; NURS 5352 needs NURS 5462 or concurrent enrollment; NURS 5371 needs NURS 5465; NURS 5373 needs NURS 5467 and NURS 5466, or concurrent enrollment. Your degree plan in MyMav shows your own sequence.
Reading the Fall 2026 course schedule
UTA's accelerated online graduate schedule for Summer and Fall 2026 shows how the clinical courses land in practice. It lists NURS 5660 for the 8/24/2026 start, and both NURS 5337 and NURS 5338 for the 9/21/2026 start.
Two things follow. First, course start dates are not program start dates: the program calendar says 8/17/26 and 9/28/26, while these clinical courses start 8/24 and 9/21, so give your preceptor the course dates. Second, the catalog allows NURS 5338 to be taken alongside NURS 5337, so you may carry both first clinical courses in the same 11-week window. If that is your plan, your preceptor or preceptors need room for both courses' hours at once.
UTA posts these course schedules by term on its UTA Online graduate course schedule page. Check the one for your clinical term when it appears, because that document, not the program calendar, sets the dates your preceptor needs.
Lining a preceptor up to your dates
Work backward from the first day of the clinical course, not from the start of a term. The full order of deadlines is on the placement timeline page; here is how it maps onto the online calendar.
- From your first termStart the search. UTA's General MSN FAQ puts the deadline for finding a preceptor at your Pharmacology course.
- 12 to 16 weeks outUTA's online FAQ recommends starting to look for sites and preceptors this far ahead of your first clinical course. Treat it as the last safe moment, not the ideal one.
- Within 12 monthsThe course's MyRequest appears in Exxat. Note its Wishlist close date; see MyRequest.
- 30 days outYour background check and drug test can be done no earlier than 30 days before the first clinical course. See background check and drug screen.
- First clinical dayThe signed Preceptor Agreement must reach the Clinical Coordinator no later than this day.
Large health systems can add their own lead time. UT Southwestern, for example, takes APRN student requests for fall rotations from January 1 to March 31, so check Texas health system onboarding if your site belongs to one.
Why online students plan preceptors with us
The online calendar is fixed; preceptor availability isn't. We start from your course's actual start date and length, then search for a preceptor and site near you, or a virtual option where your course allows it, whose schedule can carry your hours across 11 or 13 weeks.
We help you assemble what UTA's clinical team reviews before your Wishlist closes, and if a preceptor drops partway through an 11- or 13-week course, we go straight back to searching. UTA approves every preceptor, site and agreement, and your request reaches it built around your real course dates. If your course starts soon, read need a preceptor fast; otherwise, use the form below and tell us your track, your program start and your first clinical course. If you are still in your didactic year, that is a good time to start the conversation.
Questions UTA students ask
If I start the online FNP in January 2027, when will I need a preceptor?
Your clinical courses would begin in your second year, and UTA's advice is to start looking from your first term. The exact start of NURS 5337 depends on your degree plan and course sequence, which you can see in MyMav. Once that date is within 12 months, its MyRequest appears in Exxat and you can check the Wishlist close date.
Can one preceptor cover a whole 13-week practicum?
UTA's current public pages don't set a rule on splitting a course between preceptors. A 2024 FNP guidelines document, which we saw only as an excerpt, says one preceptor is preferred and two accepted in the first two clinical courses, and up to three in the final practicum. Earlier UTA syllabi (2016–2018) said FNP students could use at most two per course. Confirm with your clinical coordinator.
Is the PMHNP on the accelerated online calendar?
Not according to the handbook, which lists PMHNP among the campus-based programs. UTA's PMHNP page does call the program “fully online”, but we found no UTA Online page or start dates for it, and campus-based programs list fall and spring starts without exact dates. Ask MSNadvising@uta.edu which calendar applies to you. More on PMHNP clinical courses.
Do post-master's certificate students follow the same calendar?
Not exactly. The UTA Online certificate pages publish their own start dates, including a Fall III start on 11/2/26, with earlier application deadlines than the MSN. The clinical courses are the ones MSN students take, listed under a NURSC prefix in UTA's online schedule, and a gap analysis by the program director decides which courses you need.
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.
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