NP certification after Samford: ANCC, AANPCB and what Samford reports
Samford's FNP and PMHNP pages name two national certifying bodies, ANCC and AANPCB, and Samford reports a 100% pass rate for its FNP graduates on the AANP certification exam in 2024. Certification is also what opens CRNP approval in Alabama, so the road runs from your final clinical course, through the exam, to the Board.
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Tell us your Samford program and where you live. A placement advisor replies with preceptor and site options in your community that fit your Samford course.
Which exam fits your Samford track
Samford's NP program pages say graduates certify through ANCC and/or AANPCB, and they leave the choice between the two to you. The other Samford nursing programs lead to different exams, and Samford publishes a result for some of them but not all.
| Samford program | Exam or certifying body | What Samford reports |
|---|---|---|
| FNP: MSN, ADN to MSN, BSN to DNP, MSN to DNP, certificate | ANCC and/or AANPCB | “100% FNP AANP certification exam pass rates (2024)” |
| PMHNP: MSN, ADN to MSN, MSN to DNP, certificate | ANCC and/or AANPCB | No pass rate published |
| Emergency NP (not accepting applications) | AANPCB only | No pass rate published |
| Nurse anesthesia DNP | NBCRNA | 87% first-time pass rate, Class of 2025 (program page); 96.9% for 2024 graduates (distinctives page) |
| BSN pathways | NCLEX-RN licensure exam | 100% first-time pass rate, 2024 graduates |
The FNP figure appears on every Samford NP page and on the nursing home page. Samford reports it as a single year on a single exam.
Reading Samford's reported results
Every number on this page is Samford's own, quoted as Samford states it. Samford reports the 100% FNP result for 2024 on the AANP exam; it publishes no FNP result for the ANCC exam, and none for PMHNP or emergency NP graduates. If you are comparing programs or planning which exam to sit, that is the whole public record.
The nurse anesthesia figures show why the year matters. The program page reports an 87% first-time pass rate for the Class of 2025, while the school's distinctives page reports 96.9% for its 2024 nurse anesthesia graduates. Both can be accurate, because they describe different cohorts, so cite the class year whenever you repeat either number.
Samford's home page also reports that 100% of employers surveyed would hire another graduate of the school. It is an employer survey, not an exam result, and it covers the school as a whole rather than one track.
The published FNP result covers one exam in one year. It tells you nothing about ANCC results or PMHNP results, so treat it as a single data point from Samford, not a forecast for your cohort.
PMHNP graduates: check the credential your state accepts
Samford's graduate handbook gives PMHNP students a specific instruction: before choosing AANPCB, make sure your state board of nursing accepts the AANPCB PMHNP credential. Samford names both bodies for PMHNP certification, but it flags that one for a board check.
Do that check early, before you register for an exam, and do it for the state where you plan to practice, not only the state where you live now. Samford's licensure disclosure says the MSN and DNP NP tracks meet the educational requirements in every state, yet it also asks anyone planning to practice outside Alabama to confirm the details with that state's licensing agency. The state authorization page covers the disclosure, and each state guide links its board.
The demand side is clear in Alabama. HRSA's June 30, 2026 shortage summary puts the share of mental health need met across Alabama's designated areas at 28.40%, well below the primary care figure. A PMHNP who certifies and stays in the state enters a field with room to grow.
From exam to CRNP approval in Alabama
In Alabama, certification is a condition of practice, not a line on a resume. Since January 10, 2026 the Board's CRNP approval rules sit in chapter 610-X-9. The path looks like this:
- Hold the right licenseAn Alabama RN license or a multistate RN license. Nurses on a compact license from another state still apply to Alabama for advanced practice approval.
- Finish the degreeAt least a master's or higher degree in advanced practice nursing, shown on your transcript.
- CertifyCurrent certification as a nurse practitioner from a national certifying body.
- Set up collaborationCollaborative-practice continuing education and an application that includes the standard protocol with each collaborating physician.
- Use the right titleUntil approval, you may use only the title your certifying body grants. CRNP is reserved for approved nurses in a current collaborative practice.
New graduates who have not yet sat the exam can seek provisional approval as a Graduate Registered Nurse Practitioner for up to six months, with on-site supervision by an approved CRNP or physician and review of every patient case. The Board also reported a cybersecurity event and a system outage on September 1, 2026, and moved initial CRNP approvals to paper applications for now. The Alabama NP practice page covers collaboration in depth.
Your final clinical course sets the exam date
Exam plans depend on finishing the program, and every Samford NP plan of study ends with a 300-hour practicum: NURG 730 for FNP students and NURG 790 for PMHNP students, both in a spring semester. Spring graduates of the College of Health Sciences walk at the spring commencement, set for May 1, 2027 in the current calendar.
That makes the last clinical semester the part of the timeline with the least slack. An Incomplete in a clinical course blocks progression without permission from your program coordinator or the graduate nursing associate dean, and unfinished work must be completed in the following term. A preceptor who drops in March can move a graduation, and the exam and CRNP approval move with it.
The practicum course page for NURG 730 shows what that final semester asks of a preceptor, and behind on clinical hours covers the options if a rotation slips.
How we keep your finish line where you planned it
Our part is the stretch before the exam: making sure each clinical course has the right preceptor on time, so the certification plan you made in your first semester still holds in your last. We work from your plan of study, so each search starts a semester or more before the course it serves.
For the final practicum we look for a preceptor who can carry a full 300 hours inside one semester, in the setting the course calls for, close to where you live. We assemble what Samford needs to review the preceptor and site, stay on call through the semester, and line up a replacement quickly if a preceptor has to step away. Tell us your track and graduation term through the placement request form.
Questions Samford students ask
Should Samford FNP graduates take the ANCC or the AANPCB exam?
Samford's pages list both and leave the decision to you. Its only published FNP result is for the AANP exam in 2024, which says nothing about how Samford graduates do on ANCC. Look at which credential your future employer and state board expect, and check each certifying body's own eligibility rules before you register.
What is Samford's PMHNP certification pass rate?
Samford has not published one. Its NP pages report only the 2024 FNP result on the AANP exam, and no PMHNP, emergency NP or FNP ANCC figure appears on any Samford page reviewed on September 25, 2026. If a PMHNP rate matters to your decision, ask Graduate Student Services directly.
I hold a compact RN license. Do I still need Alabama CRNP approval?
Yes. The Alabama Board of Nursing says APRNs holding a multistate RN license from another compact state must still apply for approval to practice as advanced practice nurses in Alabama. The compact covers your RN license, not your CRNP approval, which requires national certification and a collaborative practice arrangement.
What happens to Alabama CRNP approval if my certification lapses?
Approval ends when either your RN license or your national certification expires, whichever comes first, so the two renewals need to stay in step. Each Alabama renewal also calls for six contact hours in pharmacology. And if your collaboration with a physician ends, the Board's rule withdraws the approval automatically.
When do most Samford NP students graduate?
Most Samford NP plans of study end in a spring semester with the final 300-hour practicum. The College of Health Sciences holds its spring commencement at the start of May and a fall ceremony in December, where summer graduates also walk. Samford notifies the Registrar of each term's graduation candidates.
Related pages
Last checked 2026-09-25
We check these pages against Samford's own program pages, plans of study, the 2026-27 Graduate Nursing Student Handbook and Alabama rules. Your course, your program coordinator and Graduate Student Services have the final word.
Samford says connections are essential. We are the connection.
Tell us your Samford track, where you live and when your next clinical course starts. We find preceptors near you who fit the course and prepare the details Samford needs to approve the rotation, including a new affiliation agreement where one is needed.
- Preceptors matched to the course: adult primary care for
NURG 723, family practice across the lifespan forNURG 724, psychiatric care forNURG 788 - Preceptor, license and site details ready for your clinical rotation request
- In your own community, anywhere Samford accepts you and your RN license is valid
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