Clarkson College DNP Post-Graduate Option: hours, mentor and project site
Clarkson College's DNP Post-Graduate Option, still titled DNP Post-Master's on the website, is a 28-credit online doctorate for master's-prepared nurse practitioners who are already licensed and certified. It has no new NP clinical courses. The practice work comes as DNP hours and a scholarly project at a site you arrange, with a mentor you recruit: 350 hours by the catalog, 300 by the program page.
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Tell us your project topic and your state.
Who the option is built for
Clarkson's 2025-26 catalog describes the option as meant for "Master's degree-prepared currently licensed and certified nurse practitioners." The program web page opens by also naming nurse anesthetists, so a CRNA considering it should confirm eligibility with Graduate Nursing before applying. The catalog renamed the option from Post-Master's to Post-Graduate in 2025-26; both names describe the same program.
Policy AD-1 asks for an MSN or higher from an ACEN-, NLN CNEA- or CCNE-accredited program, two recommendations, and RN and APRN licenses effective in the state where your clinical or residency experiences will take place. Graduate statistics is required too, and Clarkson notes it "can also be taken within the first year." The license rule ties your project to states where you are licensed; the state authorization guide shows where Clarkson's Graduate Nursing programs meet requirements. A master's-prepared nurse who is not yet an NP would look at the post-graduate certificate instead.
Because you arrive already certified, the curriculum carries no new NP clinical courses. Its practice component is a scholarly project carried out at a practice site, and the hours you log there are counted as DNP hours.
The 28 credits and how long they take
The required courses in the 2026-27 catalog are DNP 915, DNP 916, DNP 918, DNP 919, DNP 932, DNP 944, DNP 945, DNP 948, DNP 960, DNP 961, DNP 962 and IPE 301. The Fall 2025 degree plan, now available only as an archived copy, added a line for optional major courses, up to 18 credits chosen from the DNP elective list.
The website lists four semesters full time and ten or more part time, while another line on the same page mentions earning the degree in six semesters. Every Clarkson program must be finished within seven years, leaves included, so either pace fits comfortably if the project stays on track.
Clarkson publishes no on-campus requirement for this option. The one appearance at Clarkson built into the curriculum is the dissemination step in DNP 962, where the student presents the project "at the site and College"; ask your faculty chair how that presentation is delivered.
350 hours or 300: what the sources say
Clarkson's own pages disagree on the number, so it helps to see each version plainly.
| Source | What it says |
|---|---|
| Policy AA-55, 2026-27 catalog | A minimum of 350 professional practice hours; all DNP students reach at least 1,100 |
| DNP Hours Guide, 2023-24 | 350 at the final checkpoint; 125 for students admitted with more than one NP certification |
| Program web page, live in 2026 | "a minimum of 300 clinical hours" |
| Catalogs 2020-21 and 2022-23 | 300 hours, which was the rule before 2023-24 |
The 300 figure matches the rule that ended in 2023-24, so the catalog's 350 is the better planning number unless your faculty chair tells you otherwise. The DNP hours guide explains how Clarkson counts the hours you earned in your master's program toward the doctoral total.
Your mentor, your site and anyone you shadow
The DNP Hours Guide builds each project around a team of three: you, a faculty chair Clarkson appoints, and an External Subject Area Expert/Mentor you find and secure yourself. The mentor needs an advanced degree or qualifications tied to your topic, with a doctorate preferred but not required. Approval happens at the start of DNP 960 on a Mentor Approval Form the team signs, and a change of mentor later means repeating that approval from the beginning.
The project site matters as much as the person. If the organization has no affiliation agreement with Clarkson, one may be needed, and the guide notes the program director may help secure it; start early, since Clarkson has said agreement paperwork can take up to two months. The affiliation agreements guide explains that step.
The Spring 2024 addendum adds a line many students miss: "You may be required to identify someone to shadow and/or interview." Build a short list of possible contacts in your project area along with the mentor.
Start your mentor search during DNP 948, before the DNP 960 approval step, not after it.
Planning around a working NP schedule
Clarkson's graduate handbooks expect nursing students to keep working throughout the program, so the project has to fit around a clinical schedule. Three decisions shape the whole program: the topic, the site and the mentor. Choose them together, because a strong topic at a site with no willing mentor stalls quickly.
Whether your own employer can host the project is a question for your faculty chair; Clarkson's public sources address workplace clinicals for NP students but say nothing specific about DNP project sites. The Clarkson approval process shows how sites and agreements move through Graduate Nursing and Compliance.
If you hold more than one NP certification, check early whether the 125-hour figure applies to you. It changes how much practice time the project has to absorb.
Why DNP post-graduate students choose us
Experienced NPs come to us because the hardest part of this option is outside the classroom: finding a qualified mentor and a site willing to host a doctoral project. We search for mentor candidates whose training and work fit your topic, and for organizations in your state where the project can run, then check each against what Clarkson's DNP guide asks of a mentor and a site.
We gather the details your team needs to review a mentor, flag early whether the site already has an agreement with Clarkson, and stay available if a mentor has to step back so the approval can be repeated without losing a term. Tell us your topic and state in the form on this page.
Questions Clarkson students ask
Does Clarkson's DNP Post-Graduate Option include NP clinical courses?
No. The 28 required credits are doctoral courses, and the practice component runs through the scholarly project courses DNP 960, DNP 961 and DNP 962. You already hold NP certification, so there is no NRS 830 and no Graduate Weekend. The practice work is counted as DNP professional practice hours instead.
Do my MSN clinical hours count toward the Clarkson DNP?
Clarkson's 2023-24 DNP Hours Guide counts hours verified from your master's or certificate program, documented on a Clinical Hour Verification Form, and sets the DNP hours needed on top of them. Ask your faculty chair for the current form early, because your earlier school may need time to confirm your hours.
I hold two NP certifications. Do I still need 350 hours?
Possibly not. Clarkson's 2023-24 DNP Hours Guide says students admitted with more than one NP certification accrue 125 DNP hours rather than 350. That guide is no longer on Clarkson's public site, so confirm with your faculty chair that the reduction still applies before you plan your project around it.
Can a nurse anesthetist enroll in Clarkson's DNP Post-Graduate Option?
The program web page opens by mentioning nurse anesthetists, but the catalog describes the option as for licensed, certified nurse practitioners, and admission asks for an APRN license. Nurse anesthesia DNP students elsewhere in Clarkson count 125 DNP hours. Ask Graduate Nursing directly whether a CRNA applicant fits this option.
Is there a campus visit in the DNP Post-Graduate Option?
Clarkson publishes none for this option. The only College appearance in the curriculum is the project presentation in DNP 962, which the catalog describes as presenting "at the site and College." Your faculty chair can tell you whether that happens in Omaha or online.
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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