The University of California, San Francisco (UCSF) School of Nursing offers five nurse practitioner population focuses: family (FNP), psychiatric-mental health (PMHNP), adult-gerontology acute care (AGACNP), adult-gerontology primary care (AGPCNP), and pediatric acute care (PNP-AC). All five run through one BSN Entry to DNP pathway. PMHNP is also offered as the shared UC PMHNP Certificate for licensed APRNs.
Every UCSF DNP specialty shares the same 11-quarter structure, tuition, and calendar. Three policies shape the decision more than any single specialty detail:
- The doctorate is the only degree route. UCSF closed new admissions to its master’s and its own post-master’s certificates in 2023. No master’s is awarded along the way.
- UCSF arranges clinical placements. DNP students do not search for their own preceptors, but every site is in the San Francisco Bay Area.
- Only acute care requires RN experience. AGACNP and PNP-AC require two years of relevant practice. FNP, PMHNP, and AGPCNP require none.
Quick facts
| Category | Information |
|---|---|
| Nursing School | UCSF School of Nursing |
| Location | San Francisco, CA |
| NP Specialties | FNP, PMHNP, AGACNP, AGPCNP, PNP-AC |
| Degree Options | BSN to DNP in all five; UC PMHNP Certificate; master’s and UCSF post-master’s certificates closed to new admissions |
| Format | Hybrid DNP; UC PMHNP Certificate is Mostly Online |
| Clinical Placement | Arranged by UCSF at Bay Area sites for the DNP; arranged by student location across California for the certificate |
| Entry Points | RN with a BSN (DNP); California-licensed APRN (certificate) |
| Minimum GPA | 3.0 |
| RN License | California RN license; out-of-state RNs must license by endorsement |
| Tuition (2026-27) | $52,306 first year and $59,675 each continuing year for California residents, including waivable health insurance |
| Accreditation | CCNE (DNP); BSN Entry to DNP pathway under California BRN review |
Comparing UCSF’s NP programs
All five DNP specialties share a first-year core in advanced practice concepts, health policy, genomics, structural racism and health care, pharmacology, physiology and pathophysiology, health assessment, and quality improvement. Specialty coursework begins partway through year one. Because UCSF charges flat quarterly rates, every specialty costs the same.
| Pathway | Credits | Practice hours | Entry |
|---|---|---|---|
| Family Nurse Practitioner (FNP) | |||
| BSN to DNP | Not published | 1,000 | BSN; no RN experience required |
| Psychiatric-Mental Health (PMHNP) | |||
| BSN to DNP | Not published | 1,000 | BSN; no RN experience required |
| UC PMHNP Certificate | Set by gap analysis | Not published | California-licensed APRN |
| Adult-Gerontology Acute Care (AGACNP) | |||
| BSN to DNP | Not published | 1,000 | BSN and 2 years of inpatient RN practice |
| Adult-Gerontology Primary Care (AGPCNP) | |||
| BSN to DNP | Not published | 1,000 | BSN; no RN experience required |
| Pediatric Acute Care (PNP-AC) | |||
| BSN to DNP | Not published | 1,000 | BSN and 2 years of acute pediatric practice |
UCSF publishes year one of the DNP (39 units, the same for every specialty) but not years two and three, so total credits are not published. The 1,000 practice hours are a DNP degree requirement; UCSF does not publish how many are direct patient care hours in each specialty.
What stands out about UCSF’s NP programs
- School-arranged clinicals at major health systems. UCSF’s Office of Clinical Placements assigns every DNP rotation. Partners include UCSF Health, Zuckerberg San Francisco General, Kaiser Northern California, Stanford Health Care, Lucile Packard Children’s Hospital, Sutter Health, and the VA.
- A doctorate open to newer nurses. FNP, PMHNP, and AGPCNP applicants need a BSN and a California RN license but no work experience.
- Two acute care populations. Adult-gerontology and pediatric acute care run as separate specialties. UCSF states its pediatric acute care specialty is the only one at a public university in California.
- Public-university pricing that isn’t low. Professional Degree Supplemental Tuition puts three years at about $130,500 for residents before health insurance, close to private-school levels.
- A pending state review. The BSN Entry to DNP pathway is under California Board of Registered Nursing review. UCSF states graduates remain eligible for NP certification.
Which UCSF NP program fits your goal?
- FNP: Primary care across the lifespan in community settings
- PMHNP: Psychiatric care across the lifespan; the only specialty with a certificate route
- AGACNP: Acute and critical care of hospitalized adults
- AGPCNP: Primary care from adolescence through older adulthood, with an optional occupational health focus
- PNP-AC: Acute, complex, and critical pediatric illness in hospital settings
Family Nurse Practitioner
Credits Not published · Practice hours 1,000 · BSN to DNP
The FNP specialty in the BSN Entry to DNP prepares students for primary care across the lifespan. Clinical training takes place in community-based and primary care settings serving diverse populations across the Bay Area.
No prior RN experience is required. UCSF offers FNP only as a doctorate, so nurses who want an FNP master’s or post-master’s certificate need another school. Graduates are eligible for FNP certification through the AANP or ANCC.
Psychiatric-Mental Health Nurse Practitioner
Credits Not published · Practice hours 1,000 · BSN to DNP · UC PMHNP Certificate
PMHNP is UCSF’s only NP specialty with two entry routes. Both prepare graduates for ANCC lifespan PMHNP certification.
- BSN to DNP: the same 11-quarter structure and Bay Area placements as the other specialties, with no prior experience required
- UC PMHNP Certificate: a 12-month program for California-licensed APRNs, with online coursework and three virtual immersions. See the UC PMHNP Certificate.
Adult-Gerontology Acute Care
Credits Not published · Practice hours 1,000 · BSN to DNP
The AGACNP specialty prepares students to manage hospitalized adults across internal medicine, cardiology, transplant, neurosurgery, oncology, trauma, intensive care, and emergency settings. UCSF describes it as the only AGACNP specialty of its kind in Northern California. Students also complete an invasive skills workshop in UCSF’s simulation lab.
Applicants need two years of RN inpatient practice and four letters of recommendation, one more than most UCSF specialties. Graduates are eligible for certification through the ANCC (AGACNP-BC) or AACN (ACNPC-AG).
Adult-Gerontology Primary Care
Credits Not published · Practice hours 1,000 · BSN to DNP
The AGPCNP specialty covers adolescents through older adults. Clinical settings include community and hospital-based primary care clinics, patient homes, skilled nursing and long-term care facilities, and worksite occupational health clinics. An optional Occupational and Environmental Health focus is available within the specialty.
No prior RN experience is required. UCSF has no AGPCNP certificate route, so APRNs certified in another population cannot add AGPCNP here. Graduates are eligible for certification through the ANCC or AANPCB.
Pediatric Acute Care
Credits Not published · Practice hours 1,000 · BSN to DNP
The Acute Care Pediatric Nurse Practitioner specialty prepares students to care for infants, children, adolescents, and young adults with physiological instability, medical fragility, and life-threatening illness or injury. Training covers hospitals, intensive care units, specialty clinics, emergency departments, and home health, with an explicit palliative and end-of-life care component.
Applicants need two years of clinical practice in an acute pediatric setting before clinical rotations begin. General pediatric or adult ICU experience does not count. UCSF offers no primary care pediatric track. Graduates are eligible for PNCB certification (CPNP-AC).
The UC PMHNP Certificate
The UC PMHNP Certificate is a University of California program offered through several UC campuses, including UCSF, UC Davis, and UCLA. Students enroll through one campus and pay that campus’s rate.
- Eligibility: a master’s in nursing and California licensure as an NP, CNS, nurse-midwife, or CRNA
- Length: 12 months across four consecutive quarters, starting in summer
- Format: online coursework, virtual clinical case conferences typically on Wednesdays, and three virtual immersions
- Plan of study: set by gap analysis of prior graduate coursework
- Placement: arranged across California based on student location, subject to availability
- Cost: about $50,000 to $60,000 through UCSF, compared with about $21,000 for residents through UCLA
Because the credential is the same across campuses, residents choosing among UC campuses should compare each campus’s rate before applying.
Clinical placement
For every DNP specialty, UCSF’s Office of Clinical Placements selects sites and preceptors in partnership with regional health systems. Students do not find their own, but they must complete each site’s onboarding requirements.
- Geography: all DNP sites are in the San Francisco Bay Area. Placements are assigned, not chosen.
- Timing: clinical training is limited in year one and becomes most of the schedule in years two and three.
- Costs: students cover their own travel to assigned sites.
- Certificate: UC PMHNP Certificate placements are arranged across California near each student, subject to availability.
The practical trade-off: DNP students give up control over location in exchange for never searching for a preceptor.
Format and campus requirements
| Program | Format | Attendance |
|---|---|---|
| BSN to DNP (all five specialties) | Hybrid | Light campus time in fall of year one, more days in winter through summer, mostly in person in years two and three |
| UC PMHNP Certificate | Mostly Online | Online coursework, weekly virtual case conferences, and three immersions listed as virtual |
The DNP is full time only and not designed for distance students. UCSF advises working no more than 60% time during the academic year and estimates about three weekdays a week for coursework alone, before clinical hours.
Post-master’s certificates
UCSF’s own Post-Master’s Certificate Program is closed to new admissions, along with its master’s program. The only certificate open to new students is the UC PMHNP Certificate.
APRNs who want to add FNP, AGACNP, AGPCNP, or pediatric acute care preparation need another school. UCSF’s requirements page also lists MSN holders as eligible for the BSN Entry to DNP (see Admissions).
Admissions
All five DNP specialties use one application and one set of BSN Entry to DNP requirements. Applicants choose a specialty at application.
- Degree: a BSN from an accredited institution. UCSF’s requirements page also accepts an MSN, including one paired with a non-nursing bachelor’s, while its catalog and FAQ still list a nursing bachelor’s as required. Confirm eligibility with UCSF if you do not hold a BSN.
- GPA: 3.0 minimum
- Licensure: a California RN license; out-of-state RNs must obtain California licensure by endorsement
- Experience: required only for AGACNP (two years of inpatient practice) and PNP-AC (two years in acute pediatrics)
- Materials: résumé or CV, goal statement (500 words maximum; AI-generated text prohibited), personal statement, transcripts, and three letters of recommendation (four for AGACNP)
- Testing: no GRE; statistics is no longer required for fall 2027 entry
- Fees: $120 for U.S. citizens and permanent residents, $140 for international applicants, with need-based waivers
The fall 2027 cycle opens Sept. 15, 2026, and closes Feb. 14, 2027. Specialties may close before the deadline once seats fill. Specialty choice is locked after admission. Applicants who need an F-1 visa are not eligible.
Across the whole BSN Entry to DNP pathway, UCSF reports 107 applicants and 100 admits for 2025 entry. It does not publish specialty-level figures.
Tuition
UCSF bills the Post-BSN DNP at flat quarterly rates, not per credit, and every NP specialty pays the same rates. The first year covers three quarters; each continuing year adds a summer quarter. Nonresidents pay supplemental tuition.
| First year, California resident (fall–spring) | $52,306 |
| First year, nonresident | $64,551 |
| Each continuing year, California resident (summer–spring) | $59,675 |
| Each continuing year, nonresident | $71,920 |
| Professional Degree Supplemental Tuition (per year) | $24,792 |
| Nonresident supplemental tuition (per year) | $12,245 |
| Student health insurance, first year / continuing (waivable) | $11,914 / $14,629 |
2026-27 rates. Annual totals include the student health insurance premium, which can be waived with comparable coverage. See the UCSF Registrar fee schedule.
Three-year DNP estimate at 2026-27 rates:
| Tuition example | California Resident | Nonresident |
|---|---|---|
| One first year plus two continuing years | $171,656 | $208,391 |
| Same, with health insurance waived | $130,484 | $167,219 |
- Insurance is the biggest lever: the premium adds about $41,000 over three years.
- Rates are rising: the four-quarter resident rate rose about 11% from 2025-26 to 2026-27.
- UC employees: eligible employees receive a two-thirds reduction in tuition and the Student Services Fee. UCSF does not state that it covers supplemental tuition.
- UC PMHNP Certificate: about $50,000 to $60,000 through UCSF; it is not listed on the DNP fee schedule, so confirm the current rate with UCSF.
These are NPPrograms.com estimates, not UCSF-published program costs. They apply 2026-27 rates to every year and exclude living costs and future increases. Aid is listed on the School of Nursing student funding page.
Accreditation and certification
The Commission on Collegiate Nursing Education (CCNE) accredits UCSF’s Doctor of Nursing Practice program, which includes the BSN Entry to DNP pathway. UCSF is institutionally accredited by the WASC Senior College and University Commission.
UCSF states that the BSN Entry to DNP advanced practice pathway is under review by the California Board of Registered Nursing and that graduates remain eligible for California NP certification. No completion date for the review is published.
Certification follows the population focus: AANP or ANCC for FNP, ANCC for PMHNP, ANCC (AGACNP-BC) or AACN (ACNPC-AG) for AGACNP, ANCC or AANPCB for AGPCNP, and PNCB (CPNP-AC) for pediatric acute care.
State authorization
UCSF requires a California RN license and places DNP students only in the Bay Area, so enrollment is effectively limited to nurses living in or moving to Northern California. The UC PMHNP Certificate requires California APRN licensure. Graduates planning to practice outside California should confirm with UCSF that the program meets that state’s APRN education requirements.
Who is UCSF best for?
May be a strong fit for
- BSN-prepared RNs who live in or can move to the Bay Area and want a DNP
- Newer nurses aiming for FNP, PMHNP, or AGPCNP without an experience requirement
- Experienced inpatient adult or acute pediatric nurses seeking acute care preparation
- Students who want every clinical placement arranged at major health systems
- Nurses interested in occupational and environmental health within AGPCNP
- California-licensed APRNs adding PMHNP through the UC certificate
Compare other options if
- You want a master’s degree or a faster route to NP certification
- You need lower tuition or part-time study
- You need distance delivery or plan to keep working full time
- You want pediatric primary care preparation
- You are an APRN adding FNP, AGACNP, AGPCNP, or PNP-AC through a certificate
- You need clinicals outside the San Francisco Bay Area
Compare more NP programs in California
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