The move from 600 to 750 clinical hours at Bradley
Bradley University's 2026-27 catalog raised the PMHNP and both adult-gerontology NP tracks from 600 to 750 clinical hours, and the added time landed in particular courses rather than being spread evenly. FNP was not part of that change: its course list already adds to 750, even though the catalog's program text still says 700. Below is what moved, where it moved, and how to find out which figure governs your plan.
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NUR 658 and NUR 668, up from 200
What changed, track by track
The increase shows up when you set Bradley's recent catalogs side by side with the online program pages Bradley was showing in September 2026.
| Track | Earlier catalogs | 2026-27 catalog | Online page (Sept 2026) |
|---|---|---|---|
| PMHNP, BSN entry | 600 (2024-25 and 2025-26) | 750 | 750 |
| PMHNP, RN entry | 650 | 800 | 800 |
| AGACNP and AGPCNP, MSN and certificate | 600 | 750 | 600 |
| FNP, BSN entry and certificate | 700 (2024-25) | 700 in the text; courses add to 750 | 750 |
| FNP, RN entry | 750 (2024-25) | 750 | 800 |
| MSN Nursing and Healthcare Leadership | 300 (2024-25); 500 from 2025-26 | 500 | 300 (350 RN entry) |
The PMHNP certificate also lists 750 today. The DNP versions of these tracks kept their 1,000-hour headline, although the AG and PMHNP DNPs dropped NUR 840 from their course lists in 2026-27; the DNP project hours page covers what that means.
Where the new PMHNP hours landed
Most of the PMHNP increase sits at the front of the sequence. In the 2025-26 catalog, NUR 684 Advanced Psychiatric Interviewing and Differential Diagnosis was a 3-credit course with 50 simulation hours. In 2026-27 it carries 5 credits and 150 clinical simulation hours, while NUR 680, the PMHNP roles course, shrank from 3 credits to 1. NUR 685 now lists 200 hours, and NUR 686 (250) and NUR 687 (150) complete the 750.
The part that affects your preceptor search is how NUR 684 is described. The catalog calls those hours simulation guided by the practicum instructor; the online PMHNP page calls them clinical hours at selected facilities under a clinical preceptor. If the catalog wording holds for your cohort, your first preceptor is needed for NUR 685. Details sit on the NUR 684 page.
RN-entry PMHNP students reach 800 because NUR 407 adds 50 community hours before the specialty begins.
Where the new adult-gerontology hours landed
The AG tracks gained hours in two places. NUR 655 Diagnostic Reasoning, a 3-credit course both tracks share, now includes 50 supervised practicum hours in real clinical settings; the online pages still give it none. The third management course, NUR 658 for acute care and NUR 668 for primary care, rose from 200 to 300 hours. The first two management courses stay at 200 each.
The same catalog added a campus requirement. Each AG program page states that students will be required to attend one on-site skills bootcamp, and the course descriptions make the completed Nurse Practitioner Skills Bootcamp a prerequisite for NUR 658 and NUR 668. The online AG pages still advertise no campus residency, and no place or date is published; see the AG skills bootcamp page and the NUR 655 page.
FNP: 700 in the text, 750 in the courses
FNP totals held steady through the change. The 2024-25 catalog gave 700 hours for BSN entry and 750 for RN entry, and the 2026-27 program text repeats both. The 2026-27 course descriptions, though, give NUR 676 100 hours, NUR 677 150, NUR 678 200 and NUR 679 300, which is 750 for everyone, and the online MSN-FNP page says 750 (800 for RN entry).
Two more FNP wrinkles are worth knowing. The online MSN-FNP page still mentions five supervised practicums, a holdover from the retired NUR 639 to NUR 649 design, while the current plan has four. And the online DNP-FNP page lists NUR 676 at 50 hours, where the catalog says 100.
The course descriptions set what each preceptor has to cover, so plan all four FNP practicums at 750 hours in total unless your clinical packet tells you otherwise.
Working out which figure governs your plan
Bradley's public documents do not say how the 2026-27 hours apply to students admitted under an earlier catalog. These steps get you a firm answer before a preceptor agrees to the wrong number of hours.
- Ask your academic advisor which catalog year you follow. The Graduate Student Handbook says the recommended course sequence is published in the Graduate Catalog and on MyOnline, so your advisor can tie your plan to one edition.
- Open your program of study in MyOnline. It lists the semester for each practicum course, which tells you when each packet falls due.
- Read the course's clinical packet. Each track's Clinical Packet and Guidelines in MyOnline is the current word on the hours a preceptor must supervise.
- Ask the preceptor for the larger commitment. Finishing a course early is simple; adding a second preceptor mid-semester means a new packet and a new approval.
How 150 extra hours change the search
More hours means more preceptor time, and it arrives unevenly. For AG students, a 300-hour third course works out to 20 hours a week if it spans a full 15-week semester, so the preceptor you choose needs room for two or three clinic days most weeks. NUR 655 has no listed prerequisite, which means its 50 practicum hours can come early in a plan of study, and its packet is due by midterm of the semester before.
For PMHNP students the change mostly moves the preceptor need to NUR 685 and later, with 200, 250 and 150 hours in three mental health settings and a sub-specialty focus at the end. Plan those three in a single search so the settings build on each other, and if the dates are close, the need-a-preceptor-fast page covers a compressed timeline.
Why students on the new plan choose us
We build your search around the 750-hour course list from the first call. AG students get a clinical setting for the 50 hours in NUR 655 and an acute care or primary care preceptor with genuine capacity for the 300-hour third course, planned around the bootcamp trip. PMHNP students get mental health preceptors lined up for NUR 685, NUR 686 and the NUR 687 sub-specialty as one connected plan.
Every preceptor's license, CV, malpractice coverage and site address is collected so the DocuSign packet goes to Bradley complete and early. Bradley approves each preceptor and facility; our job is making that approval straightforward, and keeping you covered if a preceptor steps away. Start with the form below.
Questions Bradley students ask
Did Bradley's PMHNP program go from 600 to 750 hours?
Yes, in the 2026-27 catalog. BSN entry and the certificate now list 750, and RN entry lists 800, up from 650. The largest single change is NUR 684, which grew from 50 to 150 simulation hours, while NUR 685 now carries 200. The online PMHNP page already shows 750, so for this track the two sources agree on the total.
Why does Bradley's AGACNP page still say 600 hours?
The online AGACNP and AGPCNP pages, last updated in September 2026, still describe the 2025-26 plan: 200 hours in each management course and none in NUR 655. The 2026-27 catalog lists 750 and adds a skills bootcamp. Neither page explains the gap, so your academic advisor and your clinical packet are the places to confirm your total.
Does the 750-hour change apply if I started before 2026-27?
Bradley's public pages are silent on how the new hours apply to continuing students. Your program of study in MyOnline and your academic advisor settle it. Ask well before your next packet is due, because each preceptor agrees to a specific block of hours and changing that later means reopening the paperwork.
Did Bradley's FNP hours change in 2026-27?
The stated totals did not. The 2024-25 catalog gave 700 hours for BSN entry and 750 for RN entry, and the 2026-27 text repeats both, while the 2026-27 course descriptions add to 750. What did change is the FNP catalog title, which dropped its mention of an on-site bootcamp, even though NUR 679 still lists one as a prerequisite.
Do the AG tracks now require a trip to campus?
The 2026-27 catalog says yes: one on-site skills bootcamp, completed before NUR 658 or NUR 668. Bradley has not published where or when it runs, and the online AG pages still say no campus residency. Ask the Office of Online and Distance Education or your advisor for dates before you set your preceptor schedule for the third course.
Related pages
Last checked 2026-09-25
We check these pages against Bradley's own catalog, online program pages and Graduate Student Handbook. Your clinical packet, course faculty and academic advisor have the final word.
Bradley lets you choose your preceptors. We find the ones worth choosing.
Tell us your Bradley track, your city and your next practicum course. We line up preceptors who fit the NUR course and gather the license, CV and malpractice details the DocuSign packet asks for, well before the midterm of the semester before you start.
- Preceptors matched to the course: primary care for FNP and AGPCNP, acute care teams for AGACNP, mental health settings for PMHNP
- Preceptor license, CV, malpractice coverage and the site address ready for the packet
- Every practicum in your sequence planned together, close to home in your approved state
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