Bradley's semester calendar for online nursing students
Bradley University's online nursing year has three parts. Fall and spring each last fifteen weeks and break into a pair of seven-week halves; summer lasts thirteen weeks and breaks into two six-week halves. On the 2026-27 university calendar, fall opens August 26, spring January 20 and summer May 19, while the online term dates that clinical deadlines hang on are posted inside MyOnline.
Get your placement plan
Tell us your Bradley program and where you live. A placement advisor replies with the preceptor and site options that fit your course.
How the online nursing year is built
The welcome sites for FNP, PMHNP, AGACNP, AGPCNP and Nursing Leadership students describe the year in matching words: long fall and spring semesters, each halved into seven-week terms, and a shorter summer halved into six-week terms. Each of those sites points you to Bradley's academic calendar in MyOnline for the dates themselves.
You do not build a schedule each term. The catalog says the academic department enrolls online students automatically, working from the Program of Study, and your job is to confirm. Canvas makes each course visible at 8 a.m. Central on its first day. MyOnline, Canvas and the other systems each play a part in that routine.
New students can begin in fall, spring or summer, according to the FNP certificate page. On September 25, 2026, Bradley's online program pages named January 20, 2027, as the next start, and the application deadline for it is November 15, 2026.
2026-27 dates on Bradley's university calendar
The catalog's 2026-27 academic calendar, identical in its undergraduate and graduate copies, gives the dates below. Bradley marks them subject to revision.
| Term | Full semester | First half | Second half |
|---|---|---|---|
| Fall 2026 | Aug 26 to Dec 19 (classes end Dec 8; finals Dec 10 to 16) | Aug 26 to Oct 9 | Oct 19 to Dec 8 |
| Spring 2027 | Jan 20 to May 15 (classes end May 4; finals May 6 to 12) | Jan 20 to Mar 9 | Mar 22 to May 4 |
| Summer 2027 | May 19 to Aug 20 (classes end Aug 18) | May 19 to Jun 30 | Jul 7 to Aug 18 |
Recesses fall in three places: Fall Recess from October 10, Thanksgiving Recess from November 25, 2026, and Spring Recess from March 13, 2027. Memorial Day (May 31, 2027) and July 5, 2027, carry no classes. January Interim covers January 4 to 18, and May Interim May 17 to June 4, 2027.
One caution. Bradley never states that the online seven-week and six-week terms follow these session dates. The January 20 online start matches, and the session lengths roughly fit, but the calendar inside MyOnline is the one that governs your courses.
Where clinical deadlines land on the calendar
Most clinical rules are anchored to a semester rather than a date, so they travel with your Program of Study:
- Clearance: the Viewpoint Screening package is due at the halfway point of your first semester, and a late package brings a registration hold; health insurance proof is refreshed each February 1.
- Preceptor packets: signed through DocuSign by the halfway point of the semester that precedes the practicum, so a spring 2027 course needs its preceptor packet finished around the middle of fall 2026.
- Typhon: access arrives shortly before your first clinical course; the Typhon page covers setup and logging.
- Hours: the count starts on the semester's first day, never earlier, and every practicum day needs a Typhon entry inside a week.
- Breaks: clinical work between semesters is limited to students finishing an Incomplete who have the lead faculty member's go-ahead, plus DNP project students who meet the project conditions.
Midterm is not a published date. As a rough marker, the university calendar ends the first half of fall 2026 on October 9 and the first half of spring 2027 on March 9; the exact packet deadline is in MyOnline. The clinical deadlines page gathers every date-driven rule in one place.
Confirming, dropping and withdrawing
Automatic enrollment comes with one duty: confirm each term under Financial Services, Current Balances in MyOnline. Miss the noon Central cutoff on the confirmation deadline and the welcome sites say your classes are dropped, with a late processing charge to re-register.
Dropping a single course starts with two conversations, one with your academic advisor and one with Student Financial Services, followed by the Drop Course Request Form under the Class/Grades tab. Refunds are tied to the first class day, because tuition starts accruing on day two. University rules then set two drop deadlines for each semester and session: the first leaves no trace on your record, the second leaves a W, and past both only the dean can approve a withdrawal, in cases of extreme hardship.
| Session | Drop with no record | Drop with a W |
|---|---|---|
| Session I | Sep 2 | Oct 1 |
| Session II | Oct 27 | Dec 3 |
| Full semester | Sep 11 | Nov 18 |
Bradley does not say the online terms share these dates, and the spring and summer 2027 deadlines were not posted as of September 2026. The nursing department layers on its own limits: each course allows at most two repeats or re-enrollments across your whole time at Bradley, early drops within a course's first fortnight are not counted against you, and every NUR course demands a B or higher. A distance student leaving the university drops every course through MyOnline, and the date of that last drop becomes the official withdrawal date.
Incompletes, leaves and time limits
Nursing sets a tighter Incomplete deadline than the university. The catalog gives an IN until four weeks before the close of the next regular semester in which you enroll. The Department of Nursing requires that you have finished eighty percent of the course and hold at least a B overall, needs sign-off from the Chairperson of Nursing and the Program Director, and sets the finish line at the contract date, no later than week 11 of the next semester. IP grades are normally kept for DNP Project courses. Follow the department's version and confirm your date with your advisor.
A leave of absence may run up to 12 consecutive months, and no clinical hours count during it. Graduate students are expected to stay registered, and skipping both a fall and a spring sends you back through admission. If a leave or an Incomplete puts your hours at risk, behind on clinical hours covers the recovery options.
The time limits differ by source: the graduate academic regulations allow five years for any graduate degree or certificate, while the nursing catalog page gives MSN students five years and DNP students seven. Your advisor can confirm which clock applies to you.
Planning practicums around the calendar with us
Each practicum on Bradley's calendar has two fixed points: the packet deadline one semester out and the first day hours can count. We plan around both. Your placement advisor lines up every clinical course on your Program of Study with its semester, works back to the DocuSign deadline, and collects the preceptor's credentials and practice details well ahead of it.
For FNP students we keep the October FNP Bootcamp days clear on the preceptor's schedule, and for AG students we plan around the skills bootcamp once Bradley posts it. If a course shifts to a later term, we re-time the search with you the same week. The how it works overview explains our process, and the form below takes your term and track.
Questions Bradley students ask
When do Bradley's online nursing classes start in spring 2027?
January 20, 2027. The online program pages list it as the next start, and it lines up with the opening of spring semester and Spring Session 1 on the university calendar. Your Canvas courses appear that morning. For the online term dates themselves, the academic calendar in MyOnline is the authority.
Is the online nursing calendar the same as Bradley's campus calendar?
Bradley does not say so directly. Online nursing uses fifteen-week semesters split into seven-week terms, and the university calendar splits each semester into two sessions of similar length, with the same January 20 spring start. Drop deadlines published for campus sessions may not match the online terms, so rely on the calendar in MyOnline.
Can I log clinical hours between semesters?
Only in narrow cases. The graduate handbook forbids starting before a semester opens and permits break-time hours only for a student completing an Incomplete whose lead faculty member approves. DNP project students may keep working over a break once the prior project course is passed, the next one is on their schedule and the mentor agrees. Ask course faculty about recesses inside a term.
What happens if I miss the enrollment confirmation deadline?
The welcome sites say an unconfirmed enrollment is dropped at the deadline, and registering again brings a late processing charge. For a clinical course, a dropped registration can also unsettle a preceptor who is expecting you on a set date, so confirm early each term under Financial Services in MyOnline.
How many credits make an online graduate student full-time at Bradley?
Six graduate credit hours in fall or spring, with three counting as half-time, under the catalog's academic regulations for online graduate students. A 6-credit practicum such as NUR 676 or NUR 666 therefore reaches full-time on its own in those semesters. The rule as Bradley states it covers fall and spring, so ask Student Financial Services about summer if your aid depends on it.
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
Start your placement plan
Track, city and next practicum is all we need to begin.