Samford's FNP and PMHNP post-graduate certificates: credits, clinicals and timing
Samford's post-graduate certificates let a nurse with a graduate nursing degree add the Family or Psychiatric-Mental Health NP role without a second degree. The coursework is shorter than the MSN, but the clinical hours are not: each certificate carries the full 750, and the first clinical course arrives within your first year.
Certificate clinicals come fast
Tell us which certificate and your start term. Your placement advisor lines up the first preceptor before spring or summer arrives.
The two certificates side by side
Both certificates admit in August with a June 1 deadline and ask for a 3.5 GPA. Both are online with short required visits to Birmingham. The differences are in who may apply, how long the plan runs and how many credits Samford says it takes.
| FNP certificate | PMHNP certificate | |
|---|---|---|
| Who the page addresses | Nurses with a master's or doctoral degree in nursing | Nurses with a master's degree in nursing (MSN or DNP) |
| Length on the program page | About 2 years | 5 semesters |
| Credits | 36 in the plan and the catalog | 26 in the plan, 37 in the catalog |
| Required intensives | 2 to 3 on campus | 1 to 2 (on-campus; the intro also mentions telehealth) |
| Clinical courses | NURG 723 (150), NURG 724 (300), NURG 730 (300) | NURG 767 (75), NURG 788 (150), NURG 789 (225), NURG 790 (300) |
| Clinical hours | 750 | 750 |
| Federal aid | Not eligible (certificate-only) | Not eligible (certificate-only) |
Samford's documents describe the FNP certificate's length two ways: the program page says roughly two years, while the plan shows five semesters, which by our count runs from an August start to the spring of the second year. Plan around the semesters in your own plan of study.
The PMHNP certificate credit conflict: 26 or 37
This is the largest number conflict on Samford's NP pages. The PMHNP certificate plan of study totals 26 credits. The 2025-2026 catalog totals 37, and the gap is almost entirely three APRN core courses: NURG 533 Advanced Physiology and Pathophysiology, NURG 610 Advanced Health Assessment and NURG 633 Pharmacotherapeutics. The catalog also lists NURG 771 Psychiatric Mental Health I at 3 credits where the plan shows 2.
The plan reads as if it assumes you completed those three courses in your earlier graduate program; the catalog reads as if they are part of the certificate. Which one applies to you comes down to Samford's gap analysis of your transcript, described below. Get your individual plan in writing before you count on 26.
The FNP certificate has no such split: 36 credits in both documents.
Do not budget time or tuition for the PMHNP certificate on the 26-credit plan alone. Samford's catalog says 37, and your gap analysis decides which is yours.
The gap analysis decides your real plan
Samford reviews each certificate applicant's prior transcripts in a gap analysis. For the FNP certificate, it may add NURG 731 Concepts of APN, NURG 732 evidence-based practice and NURG 606 Systems Leadership. For the PMHNP certificate, it may add NURG 533, NURG 610 and NURG 633 as well as those same three.
Transfer credit follows the graduate rules: up to 12 graduate credits from a CCNE, CNEA or ACEN accredited school, requested on a course substitution form with the syllabus and transcript attached. An added course could change the order of your terms, so treat the plan you receive after the gap analysis as the one your preceptor search runs on.
Two habits save time here. Keep the syllabus from every graduate course you have taken, since a substitution request is only as strong as the paperwork behind it. And ask for the result of your gap analysis in writing, so the credit total you plan around is Samford's figure for you rather than a number from the website.
When the clinical courses arrive
| Term | FNP certificate | PMHNP certificate |
|---|---|---|
| Year 1 fall | NURG 533 (campus visit), NURG 610, NURG 633 | NURG 766, NURG 769, COHS 500 |
| Year 1 spring | NURG 706, COHS 500 | NURG 767: 75 hours; NURG 771 |
| Year 1 summer | NURG 707 (campus visit); NURG 723: 150 hours | NURG 772; NURG 788: 150 hours |
| Year 2 fall | NURG 708; NURG 724: 300 hours | NURG 774; NURG 789: 225 hours |
| Year 2 spring | NURG 730: 300 hours | NURG 790: 300 hours |
For anyone who started in August 2026, that means NURG 767 in spring 2027 for PMHNP students and NURG 723 in summer 2027 for FNP students, by our reading of the plans. Spring classes begin January 11, 2027, and the graduate catalog assigns College of Health Sciences graduate programs a 12-week summer term running May 17 to August 5, 2027. Those preceptors need to be identified this fall.
The course guides carry the detail: NURG 723 for the first FNP clinical and the PMHNP clinicals for NURG 788 through NURG 790.
Already practicing? What carries over and what does not
If you already practice as an NP or lead a nursing team, your network is an asset. Colleagues in your practice may be willing to precept, and a new population means new hours: the plan asks for the full 750 in the new specialty whatever you did before. Samford publishes little about clinicals at your own workplace, so read what is known before assuming your clinic can host you.
Two paperwork points are specific to certificates. Samford's NP licensure disclosure names the MSN and DNP tracks but not the certificates, although both certificate pages carry the same 16-state application table as the degree pages; the state authorization page explains the disclosure. And if you later pursue a Samford DNP, the handbook allows up to 500 hours from a post-graduate certificate toward the DNP's 1,000 post-baccalaureate hours.
How we set up certificate clinicals
A certificate compresses the timeline, so the preceptor work starts at admission, not after the first semester. Your placement advisor takes the plan you receive after the gap analysis and works backward from the first clinical term.
- Match the populationFor FNP, an adult-focused primary care preceptor for
NURG 723, then a practice with children and adults forNURG 724andNURG 730. For PMHNP, a therapy setting forNURG 767and psychiatric preceptors for the three clinicals. - Build the file Samford reviewsPreceptor credentials and site details are gathered and checked against the course before your clinical rotation request goes to Samford, including the site facts needed if a new affiliation agreement is requested.
- Clear the siteWe keep the site's onboarding and your Samford compliance items moving together so nothing holds up day one.
- Back you upAn advisor stays on call through each term and starts a replacement search if a preceptor withdraws.
Samford approves every preceptor and site. Start your certificate plan and we will map all three or four clinical courses in one pass.
Questions Samford students ask
Can I use federal financial aid for Samford's NP certificates?
Samford's graduate financial aid page says the nursing school's certificate-only programs are not eligible for federal aid. The same page notes that the Moffett & Sanders School of Nursing offers merit and need-based assistance to students who apply, so ask Samford One Stop and the school about scholarships before you enroll.
Do certificate students complete fewer clinical hours than MSN students?
No. Each certificate plan lists the same clinical courses and the same 750 hours as the matching MSN. The savings are in coursework you already completed in an earlier graduate program, which is why the certificate plans run five semesters instead of six or eight.
Will Samford accept my earlier pharmacology or assessment course?
That is what the gap analysis settles. Samford compares your transcript with the certificate plan and adds courses you lack. Transfer credit is capped at 12 graduate credits from a CCNE, CNEA or ACEN accredited program, requested with a course substitution form, the syllabus and the transcript.
Can a certified FNP take Samford's PMHNP certificate?
Samford's pages point that way. The NP department page describes its post-master's PMHNP study as aimed at certified primary care nurse practitioners, while the PMHNP certificate page addresses registered nurses with a master's degree in nursing. Graduate Student Services confirms fit case by case, and the 750 psychiatric clinical hours apply either way.
Can certificate hours count toward a DNP later?
Samford's handbook lets up to 500 hours of supervised advanced clinical practice from an MSN or post-graduate certificate count toward the DNP's 1,000 post-baccalaureate hours. The Academic Advisor approves hours applied. See the DNP hours page for how that works.
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
Start your placement plan
Program, city and start date is all we need to begin.