Post-Graduate APRN Certificate Programs
The Post-Graduate APRN Certificate Program is for nurse practitioners who are seeking to earn a nurse practitioner certification in another NP specialty.
Our APRN Certificate Programs
Penn Nursing offers APRN certificates for the programs listed below, and more information can be found on our Post-Graduate APRN Certificate page under Academics.
Streamlined Adult Gerontology Acute Care
Neonatal
Pediatric Acute Care
Admissions Requirements
A complete application includes the following:
- $80 non-refundable application fee
- Completed online application
- Applicants must submit all unofficial transcripts from their original Nurse Practitioner coursework that include courses taken in Pathophysiology, Pharmacology, Physical Assessment, and your clinical courses, to verify the requirements for NP certification. Official transcripts will be required only if you are admitted. They can be sent electronically (from the issuing institution) or sent via postal mail. Note: mailed transcripts can take up to six weeks to arrive at the School of Nursing after the initial request.
- Verification that you’ve completed the required statistics class. If you are applying for the online Streamlined AGACNP Program, this is not required.
- One letter of recommendation from a direct supervisor
- Responses to essay questions
- Copies of your active RN license and active NP certification and/or license.
- Interview: We will contact you if you qualify for this step in the application process.
International applicants
Please visit our International Applicants page for further information.
Gap Analysis
If you are admitted, we will generate a DRAFT plan of study. Upon acceptance of our offer of admission, you must submit a $300 fee so we can conduct a formal gap analysis to determine your actual plan of study. You will need to submit syllabi and course calendars for each of the courses preliminarily considered transferable. We will conduct a thorough curriculum review to develop a final plan of study and formal gap analysis.
Licensure
You are required to have a Pennsylvania Registered Nursing License prior to beginning clinical rotations. If you do not have a Pennsylvania license but you are licensed to practice in another country, you must complete the CGFNS Certification Program. We need proof you’ve passed the CGFNS Qualifying Examination before reviewing your admissions application. See the Pennsylvania State Board of Nursing website for more details.
Applicants to the Streamlined Adult Gerontology Acute Care NP program are not required to obtain a Pennsylvania nursing license, unless they will be completing their clinical rotations in Pennsylvania.
Tuition & Financial Aid
Tuition for Post-Graduate APRN Certificate programs are based on graduate tuition rates. Certificate programs are not eligible for federal educational loans.
Please note the following information for Streamlined applicants:
The Streamlined Adult Gerontology Acute Care NP program is offered online but currently cannot serve students in the following states: Louisiana, New York*, and Tennessee. Please check our website periodically for updates. GREs, proof of a statistics course, TOEFLs, and WES analysis is not required for streamlined applicants. We only require official transcripts for all courses taken to be eligible for NP certification.
*New York prospective applicants: We are granted authorization by the New York State Board of Regents on the number of clinical placements we are permitted in the state. Due to the high demand of interest in this program from applicants who are licensed in New York, we have reached the allowable capacity of enrollments for this program.
Please fill out this form to indicate your interest in pursuing the Streamlined Adult Gerontology Acute Care NP program if it becomes available in your state.
New contract/affiliation agreements can be initiated with health care agencies across the country. To assist us in being strategic in this effort, we ask that you reach out to Theresa Bombaci, Clinical Site Coordinator, at dtheresa@nursing.upenn.edu. She will obtain information from you about the agency where you plan to complete clinical hours to determine if we already have a contract or if one does not exist. If a new contract needs to be developed, Theresa will obtain additional information regarding who at the clinical agency establishes new agreements so the process can begin.
If you will be fulfilling this program’s clinical training requirements at your place of employment, please note that you may not earn academic credit for activities for which you receive compensation. Therefore, clinical training hours must be separate from employment (compensated) time.
Neonatal and Pediatric Acute Care Applicants
Please reach out to Jessica Strohm Farber at jstrohm@nursing.upenn.edu for questions about the Post-Graduate APRN curriculum.