UL Lafayette's online Family Nurse Practitioner MSN
The Family Nurse Practitioner concentration is an online MSN that UL Lafayette offers through the ICMSN consortium: 42 to 45 credits over five semesters, three family health practicums and at least 750 precepted clinical hours, all of them in Louisiana. Below are the admission rules, the full plan of study, the hour and grade rules, and how we line up the preceptors those practicums need.
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How UL Lafayette's FNP concentration is set up
The Family Nurse Practitioner concentration belongs to an MSN that four Louisiana public universities run together as the Intercollegiate Consortium for a Master of Science in Nursing (ICMSN): McNeese State, Nicholls State, Southeastern Louisiana and UL Lafayette. You enroll through the LHC Group · Myers School of Nursing, yet any given course may be taught by faculty on a partner campus. Those courses still open inside UL Lafayette's Moodle once you file the consortium's Online Enrollment Form for that advising period. The ICMSN guide walks through that routine.
Coursework is online only, and UL Lafayette lists no on-campus intensive for the MSN. There are two entry points a year: January, with applications due October 30, and August, with applications due June 30. F-1 international students are not eligible for the online MSN.
The 2026-27 catalog sets the plan at 42 to 45 credits over five semesters. The three-credit swing comes from a single choice, the focused scholarly project or the thesis, covered further down this page.
Admission rules, including one license conflict
The catalog's MSN entry list applies to FNP applicants. The nursing school's How to Apply page asks for slightly different documents, so prepare both sets until the graduate nursing office tells you otherwise.
What UL Lafayette asks for
- A bachelor's from an accredited program; the How to Apply page names a BSN from an ACEN- or CCNE-accredited school
- An undergraduate GPA of at least 2.75
- A completed undergraduate statistics course
- A physical assessment course covering the lifespan
- Evidence of immunization
- A statement of purpose and a resume or CV in the catalog; a letter of application and three references, one from a recent supervisor or employer, on the How to Apply page
- A current, unencumbered RN license (see the wording below)
The license line reads three ways. The catalog accepts a "current unencumbered Louisiana or Multistate Registered Nurse license." UL Lafayette's online MSN page accepts a multistate license "with proof of Louisiana residency," and the How to Apply page lists a Louisiana RN license alone. The university's state authorization notes add that NP clinicals need a Louisiana RN license. If your compact license was issued by another state, get an answer from the graduate nursing office before you apply; RN license requirements compares every version.
Two things are not on the list: UL Lafayette has not required the GRE since Fall 2019, and it states no minimum period of RN experience. When seats in nursing courses must be capped, students are ranked by their GPA in graduate nursing courses.
The five-semester FNP plan of study
Here is the sequence exactly as the 2026-27 catalog lays it out. Semesters one and two build the advanced practice core. The family health practicums begin in semester three and continue to graduation, one per semester.
| Semester | Course | Credits | Precepted? |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | NURS 500 Theoretical Foundations of Advanced Nursing | 3 | No |
| 1 | NURS 505 Applied Statistics for the Health Sciences | 3 | No |
| 1 | NURS 518 Pathophysiology for Advanced Practice Nursing | 3 | No |
| 2 | NURS 502 Generating Evidence for Nursing Practice | 3 | No |
| 2 | NURS 507 Health Assessment and Diagnostic Reasoning for Advanced Practice | 3 | Lab only |
| 2 | NURS 517 Pharmacotherapeutics for Advanced Practice Nursing | 3 | No |
| 3 | NURS 509 Population-Based Primary Care | 3 | No |
| 3 | NURS 582 Family Health I: pediatric, adolescent and childbearing women | 5 | Yes |
| 4 | NURS 583 Family Health II: adult | 5 | Yes |
| 4 | NURS 595 Focused Scholarly Project, or NURS 599 Thesis | 3 (thesis 3-9) | No |
| 5 | NURS 584 Family Health III: geriatric | 5 | Yes |
| 5 | NURS 581 Business, Leadership and Health Policy for Nurse Practitioners | 3 | No |
| 5 | NURS 599 Thesis (thesis track only) | 3-9 | No |
NURS 507 shows lab contact hours in the catalog but is not labeled as precepted. Each practicum's full title begins "Advanced Practice Nursing: Family Health," numbered I to III. What each course asks of a preceptor and a site is on the FNP practicums page.
At least 750 precepted hours, every one in Louisiana
Under the 2026-27 catalog, FNP students must "attain a minimum of 750 precepted clinical hours." The figure has moved. UL Lafayette's FNP requirements web page and the 2025-26, 2023-24 and 2022-23 catalogs set the floor at 600. The current catalog governs new students; if you entered under an earlier catalog, your course faculty and the graduate coordinator decide which total your plan carries.
How the hours split among NURS 582, NURS 583 and NURS 584 is not published. The catalog gives the three courses lab contact figures of 13, 18 and 18, but that field is not a clock-hour target, so ask course faculty for each course's hours before the term opens.
Place is not flexible. The How to Apply page states that every FNP clinical hour must be completed in Louisiana, and the MSN overview extends the rule to all concentrations. Even students living in Mississippi, the one other state UL Lafayette lists as meeting its educational requirements, complete their hours in Louisiana. Louisiana-only clinicals explains the rule and the notes behind it.
Some UL Lafayette pages and older catalogs still print 600 hours. Plan for 750 unless your course faculty tell you a different total applies to your catalog year.
Focused scholarly project or thesis
The plan divides in semester four. On the project route you take NURS 595 Focused Scholarly Project, one 3-credit course, and finish at 42 credits. On the thesis route you take NURS 599 Thesis Research and Thesis, a variable-credit course that the catalog totals at 6 hours across semesters four and five, which brings the program to 45.
Your clinical load stays the same either way: 750 hours, three practicums, the same order. What changes is the research work running beside Family Health II and III, the two practicums with the heaviest lab contact figures. If you work full time, weigh the thesis hours against those two semesters before you choose.
Neither route closes the door to a later doctorate at UL Lafayette. The post-MSN Doctor of Nursing Practice looks for a nurse practitioner master's, a 3.3 GPA on master's work and a graduate statistics course, and lists no thesis among its entry rules.
Grade rules that reach into the practicums
The MSN floor is a B. Any course finished below B has to be repeated, a course can be repeated only once, and a C never counts toward the program. The consortium's handbook adds a firmer line: a D or F in any course makes you ineligible to progress. The Graduate School also expects a 3.0 GPA at all times.
Clinical courses add one more condition. Under the ICMSN handbook, an unsatisfactory final evaluation from a preceptor or faculty member results in an F for the course, regardless of your written work. That puts each FNP preceptor inside your grade, which is why a well-matched site matters as much as a willing one. Withdrawals, incompletes and time limits are covered on the grades and progression page.
Why FNP students choose us for their practicums
An FNP plan asks for three populations in three semesters: children, adolescents and childbearing women, then adults, then older adults. Whether or not UL Lafayette takes part in arranging your placement, we find preceptors and sites that meet its rules for each of those courses, as close to home as the Louisiana rule allows, whether you live in Lafayette, elsewhere in Acadiana, Baton Rouge, Lake Charles, New Orleans or North Louisiana.
Everything is built around UL Lafayette's checklist. Your preceptor holds an active Louisiana license and the population certification the Louisiana Board expects for most of your hours, has at least a year of clinical experience and takes no more than two graduate students at once. The agency contract details, the preceptor's CV, the letter of agreement and your health, OSHA and HIPAA items are ready well ahead of day one, as the clinical paperwork guide lays out. Course faculty approve every preceptor and the graduate coordinator reviews each one; we make sure what reaches them is complete and right the first time.
When a preceptor withdraws mid-semester, your placement advisor begins lining up the next one immediately, keeping your hour count on track. The how it works page shows our steps; the form below takes your start term and home parish.
Questions UL Lafayette students ask
Does UL Lafayette's FNP program have any campus visits?
None are published. UL Lafayette describes FNP coursework as online only, and no MSN page or catalog entry lists an on-campus intensive or skills check-off. The in-person part is your clinical work: at least 750 precepted hours at Louisiana practice sites across the three family health practicums. Courses taught by partner ICMSN schools still run inside UL Lafayette's Moodle.
Can I start the FNP MSN in summer?
UL Lafayette admits MSN students for spring and fall only. Apply by October 30 for a January start or by June 30 for an August start. The registrar had not posted Summer 2027 dates when this page was updated, so ask your advisor how any summer coursework fits your plan once you are admitted.
What GPA do I need to stay in the FNP program?
Admission asks for a 2.75 undergraduate GPA, but the bar rises once you enroll. The Graduate School expects a 3.0 GPA at all times, no course below B counts toward the MSN, and the consortium stops progression after any D or F. Treat every course, clinical or not, as a B-or-better course.
Can my FNP hours be done where I work?
The ICMSN handbook permits a preceptor at your own workplace as long as your clinical hours stay separate from your job duties and are not paid time. The facility still needs a current agency contract with the university, and the rest of the clinical file must be in place before your first shift as a student.
When should FNP preceptor planning start?
Well before semester three, when NURS 582 begins. The ICMSN handbook warns that a new agency contract can take several weeks to months, and every document must be on file before your first clinical day. We suggest starting in your first semester, which leaves time to line up all three practicums rather than one at a time.
Is UL Lafayette's FNP concentration accredited?
Yes. The MSN, FNP included, holds CCNE accreditation through the ICMSN, with the current term running to December 31, 2033, and the Louisiana State Board of Nursing lists it with full approval. UL Lafayette as a whole is accredited by SACSCOC to award bachelor's, master's and doctoral programs.
Related pages
Last checked 2026-09-27
We check these pages against UL Lafayette's 2026-27 catalog, its online program and state authorization pages, the ICMSN student handbook and Louisiana's nursing rules. Your course faculty and your plan of study have the final word.
Whether UL Lafayette helps or you start alone, we find the preceptor.
Tell us your UL Lafayette program, the practicum coming up and the Louisiana town you train near. We look for preceptors and sites that fit the course and gather the license, CV and agency details that must be on file before your first clinical day.
- Preceptors who meet Louisiana's rules: an active Louisiana license, most hours with an APRN in your population focus
- The preceptor's CV, the agency details and your letter of agreement items gathered early
- Across Acadiana and the rest of Louisiana, plus DNP residencies in your home state
Start your placement plan
Your program, your town and your next clinical semester is all we need to begin.