Clarkson DNP hours: how students reach 1,100
Every Clarkson College DNP graduate must log at least 1,100 professional practice hours. For BSN to DNP nurse practitioner students who began in Spring 2024 or later, that means 975 clinical hours plus 125 DNP hours; earlier starters followed 750 plus 350. Post-graduate students bring verified hours from their master's program and add DNP hours on top: 350 in the catalog, 300 on the program web page.
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Four routes to the same floor
Policy AA-55 in the 2026-27 catalog sets the floor: "All DNP students must complete a minimum of 1,100 professional practice hours." What differs is how each group gets there, and that depends on your program and your start term.
| Student group | Clinical hours | DNP hours |
|---|---|---|
| BSN to DNP (FNP, AGACNP, PMHNP), started Spring 2024 or later | 975 in the five NP courses | 125 |
| BSN to DNP, started before Spring 2024 | 750 in the five NP courses | 350 |
| DNP Post-Graduate Option | Verified hours from your master's or certificate program | 350 (catalog); 300 (web page); 125 with more than one NP certification |
| Nurse anesthesia BSN to DNP | At least 2,000 | At least 125 |
Clinical hours are the direct patient care you log in the NRS courses, and the clinical hours planner breaks them down course by course. DNP hours are the separate practice hours tied to the doctoral work and the scholarly project, and they are the subject of the rest of this page.
Why the split moved in 2024
Clarkson's DNP-hour rules have changed twice since 2020-21. The 2020-21 catalog asked for 300 clock hours of DNP "residency" and 1,000 practice hours in total; 2022-23 kept 300 (125 for nurse anesthesia) and 1,000. From 2023-24, the catalog moved to 350 DNP hours and a 1,100 total, the figures AA-55 still prints.
The Spring 2024 addendum to the DNP Hours Guide then rebalanced the BSN to DNP. Alongside the DNP-level course hours that took effect that term, 975 across the five NP courses, it set the separate DNP-hour requirement for new students at 125. Clarkson connected the change to ACEN requirements and the 2022 National Task Force standards. The clinical hours history traces the whole sequence, including the MSN's move from 650 to 750.
The effect for a new BSN to DNP student is more hours with a preceptor in every clinical course and fewer stand-alone DNP hours at the end.
Where Clarkson's own sources disagree
Three mismatches are worth knowing before you plan. First, AA-55 still says "A minimum of 350 professional practice hours are required for the program," with no mention of the 125-hour split the addendum created for new BSN to DNP students. Both versions add up to 1,100, so the difference is in the labeling, not the total.
Second, the live DNP post-graduate page says "The program requires a minimum of 300 clinical hours," while the catalog and the 2023-24 guide say 350. The 300 figure matches the rule Clarkson retired after 2022-23.
Third, the 2023-24 guide frames the post-graduate hours as reaching at least 1,000 faculty-supervised post-baccalaureate hours when combined with verified earlier hours, while AA-55 names 1,100 for every DNP student. Your faculty chair and the current DNP guide settle which applies to you; ask for both in writing at the start of the program.
Where the catalog, the guide and the web page differ, ask your faculty chair which figure applies to your start term.
Counting your master's hours: the Clinical Hour Verification Form
Post-graduate students do not start from zero. Clarkson's 2023-24 DNP Hours Guide counts the faculty-supervised hours you completed in your earlier MSN or certificate program, once they are verified on a Clinical Hour Verification Form, and then sets the DNP hours still needed on top of them. The guide's final checkpoint shows 350; students admitted with more than one NP certification accrue 125.
Who signs the form and what proof it takes are set out in the current guide, which Clarkson no longer posts publicly. The practical step is simple: as soon as you are admitted, ask your faculty chair for the current form, then contact your earlier school about confirming your clinical hours. Schools can take time to answer, and the verification sits at the start of the hour count.
BSN to DNP students have no earlier NP hours to verify; their clinical hours are earned inside Clarkson's own courses.
The mentor behind your project hours
DNP hours are built around the scholarly project, and the project is built around a team. The 2023-24 guide names three members: you, a faculty chair appointed by Clarkson, and a "student-selected, approved External Subject-Area Expert/Mentor." Finding the mentor is your job, and the guide says to begin thinking about candidates during DNP 948.
Approval comes at the start of DNP 960 through a Mentor Approval Form signed by the team. The mentor should bring an advanced degree or qualifications specific to your project; a doctorate is preferred, not required. The program director or a designee can help you identify someone and may help put an affiliation agreement in place with the project site. If the mentor changes for any reason, the whole approval runs again, so pick someone likely to stay for the length of the project.
The Spring 2024 addendum also warns that you "may be required to identify someone to shadow and/or interview," which adds another person to recruit.
Logging and tracking
Direct-care clinical hours, including those of DNP students, are "documented in Typhon," according to the Spring 2024 addendum; the Typhon guide covers that system. The project itself runs through DNP 960, DNP 961 and DNP 962, two credits each, and ends with a presentation at the site and the College.
What Clarkson does not publish in its catalog is how the DNP hours are split across those courses or exactly how they are logged. That detail lives in the current DNP Hours Guide and its addenda, which you can request from your faculty chair. Keep your own running record as well, dated and tied to project activities, so the checkpoint reviews hold no surprises.
How the hours sit inside each degree is covered program by program: the BSN to DNP guide for students entering with a BSN, and the DNP post-graduate guide for certified NPs.
Why DNP students plan their hours with us
BSN to DNP students need preceptors who can carry 200 to 250 hours a term, and post-graduate students need a mentor and a project site that will stay with them to the end. We search for both. For clinical courses, we look for providers in your track's settings whose schedules fit the DNP-level load and check each against Clarkson's preceptor rules. For the project, we look for mentor candidates whose expertise fits your topic and organizations willing to host the work, and we flag early whether a new affiliation agreement may be needed.
Tell us your program, start term and project idea in the form below, and we will map the hours you still owe.
Questions Clarkson students ask
Why does my plan say 125 DNP hours when the catalog says 350?
Clarkson's Spring 2024 addendum moved BSN to DNP NP students who started in Spring 2024 or later to 975 clinical hours plus 125 DNP hours. Policy AA-55 still prints 350, the figure for the older plan and for post-graduate students. Both reach 1,100; your faculty chair confirms the split for your start term.
Does the DNP mentor have to hold a doctorate?
No. Clarkson's 2023-24 DNP Hours Guide prefers a doctorate but does not require one. The mentor should hold an advanced degree or qualifications specific to your project, and the project team approves them on a Mentor Approval Form at the start of DNP 960.
What happens if my DNP mentor leaves partway through?
The guide says that if a mentor needs to be changed for any reason, the full approval process is repeated. Tell your faculty chair right away, line up a replacement with matching expertise, and expect the new mentor to go through the same Mentor Approval Form and team sign-off as the first.
How many DNP hours do nurse anesthesia students need?
At least 125, on top of at least 2,000 clinical hours, under Policy AA-55. Nurse anesthesia is also the one Clarkson DNP where the program assigns clinical sites rather than the student finding them. Its residents follow program policies on weekly hours and supervision that the NP tracks do not share.
Are Clarkson DNP hours the same as clinical hours?
They are counted separately. Clinical hours are direct patient care in the NP courses, logged in Typhon. DNP hours are practice hours tied to the doctoral work and the scholarly project. For the 1,100 total, Clarkson adds the two together, or, for post-graduate students, adds DNP hours to verified master's hours.
Related pages
Last checked 2026-09-27
We check these pages against Clarkson College's own catalog, program pages and published nursing documents. Your course faculty and Graduate Nursing advisor have the final word.
Clarkson asks you to find your preceptor. We make the search the easy part.
Tell us your Clarkson track, your city and your next clinical course. We line up preceptors who fit the NRS course and Clarkson's rules, gather the details the site and preceptor agreement asks for, and flag early whether the site needs a new affiliation agreement.
- Preceptors matched to the course: all-ages primary care for FNP, acute care units for AGACNP, psychiatric providers for PMHNP
- License, experience and site details checked against Clarkson's rules before the agreement is filed
- Every clinical course planned in sequence, close to home in a state where Clarkson's graduate nursing meets requirements
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