Pairing a WilmU graduate certificate with the DNP
Wilmington University lets nurses pair a graduate certificate with the Doctor of Nursing Practice: FNP or PMHNP for a new APRN specialty, or a leadership certificate such as Nurse Educator or Public Health. Each pairing stacks two sets of practice courses, which usually means two kinds of preceptor at two different points in the plan. We find both, in the order your plan needs them.
Get your placement plan
Tell us your WilmU program and where you live. A placement advisor replies with the preceptor and site options that fit your WilmU course.
The combined options side by side
WilmU's combined-option pages describe three families of pairing. Credits and hours shift with the certificate and, for the leadership certificates, with whether you enter the DNP on the APRN path or the Leadership path.
| Option | Credits | Hours | Practice courses |
|---|---|---|---|
| FNP Graduate Certificate + DNP | 75 | 750 + 500 | GRN 7121 to GRN 7124, then GRN 9001 to GRN 9003 |
| PMHNP Graduate Certificate + DNP | 60 (72 for non-APRNs) | 750 + 500 | GRN 7221 to GRN 7224, then GRN 9001 to GRN 9003 |
| Legal Nurse Consultant, Nurse Educator, Nurse Executive or Public Health certificate + DNP, APRN path | 48 | 500 | GRN 9001 to GRN 9003; Educator adds MSN 7752 |
| The same certificates, Leadership path | 60 | 1,000 | GRN 8121 to GRN 8124 and GRN 9001 to GRN 9003; Educator adds MSN 7752 |
Each pairing is applied for twice: the certificate has its own application, and so does the doctorate. WilmU's combined FNP page also sets up shared advising, with the DNP Program Director alongside the NP Program Chair guiding combined students (and BSN to DNP students) together, which gives you two people to ask when a plan question crosses both programs.
Credit figures worth confirming in writing
Several of WilmU's own numbers for these pairings disagree, so ask for your course plan in MyWilmU Degree Works before you register for the first course.
- FNP certificate + DNP: the page states a 75-credit total but lists its parts as 39 FNP credits and 33 DNP credits, which add to 72.
- PMHNP certificate credits: the combined page counts the certificate at 27 credits; the PMHNP certificate page and the catalog say 31.
- Who the PMHNP pairing serves: WilmU's licensure table describes the post-master's PMHNP as a program for nurses whose master's is as a nurse practitioner, while the combined page gives a separate 72-credit total for non-APRNs.
- Who the FNP certificate serves: the same table describes the post-master's FNP as a route for BSN holders earning an MSN plus a certificate, while the certificate's own page aims it at nurses who already hold a master's or doctorate.
These conflicts concern credits and audience rather than hours: 750 for either NP certificate, and 500 or 1,000 on the DNP side. Your exact total is one for the DNP Program Director and NP Program Chair to confirm.
Stage one: the NP practicums
If you pair the FNP or PMHNP certificate with the DNP, the four NP practicums come first. Each carries 175 hours except the fourth, which carries 225, for 750 in all, which lines up with the Delaware Board of Nursing's 750-hour floor for each APRN track.
On the FNP side, GRN 7121 Family Practicum I waits until GRN 7104 and GRN 7105, along with GRN 7101 and GRN 7103, are complete. The PMHNP side runs each practicum beside a didactic course: GRN 7203 alongside GRN 7221, GRN 7204 alongside GRN 7222, GRN 7205 alongside GRN 7223, and then GRN 7224 stands on its own at the end.
The Delaware Board's APRN program rule looks for a preceptor licensed as a physician, PA, pharmacist or APRN, with that license active and unencumbered and a practice focus comparable to the student's track. WilmU adds two conditions before clinicals begin: CPR certification that is current, and RN licensure in whichever state hosts the clinical. The FNP certificate and PMHNP certificate guides cover this stage course by course.
One more check before you start: WilmU's licensure table leaves the post-master's NP certificates undetermined in seven states: Idaho and Wyoming, plus Louisiana, New Hampshire, New York, North Dakota and Tennessee.
Stage two: the DNP Project and its doctorally prepared preceptor
Once the certificate is complete, the DNP Project courses follow: GRN 9001, GRN 9002 and GRN 9003, roughly 145, 145 and 150 hours in the catalog, one course per term with no break in enrollment. The preceptor for this stage must be doctorally prepared, a different test from the comparable-practice-focus rule that governed your NP practicums.
That difference is the main planning point for combined students. The family or psychiatric clinician who precepted your last practicum may or may not hold a doctorate, and if not, the project stage calls for a new preceptor.
In GRN 9001 the Wilmington University Human Subjects Committee reviews your plan, and WilmU describes the workplace as the usual home for DNP projects. For a nurse who has just added an FNP or PMHNP specialty, that workplace may be about to change, which is worth raising with your DNP Project Advisor early. The DNP preceptor requirements page explains the doctoral rule in full.
Leadership certificate pairings and MSN 7752
Four leadership-side certificates (Nurse Educator, Nurse Executive, Public Health and Legal Nurse Consultant) can join the DNP on either path. On the APRN path the doctorate adds 500 hours through the project courses; on the Leadership path it adds the four experiential engagement courses too, for 1,000.
The Nurse Educator certificate brings a clinical piece of its own. MSN 7752 Clinical Teaching and Evaluation carries 3 credits and 32 clinical hours spent with an approved mentor, and WilmU wants clinical clearance finished before the first class meeting. What qualifies a mentor is a question for your course faculty.
WilmU's leadership certificate page also says each concentration has a clinical component, although MSN 7752 is the only course with stated clinical hours. The Nursing Leadership Graduate Certificates page has the detail, and clinical credentialing clearance is required before you register for any clinical course.
Lining up each preceptor in the right order
- Credentialing clearanceThe background check and drug screen go through the College's designated system ahead of any clinical experience; see clinical credentialing.
- NP preceptor for the first practicumA clinician in a comparable practice focus, near where you live and in a state where you are licensed as an RN, ready before
GRN 7121orGRN 7221. - Coverage through the fourth practicumEither the same preceptor across all four courses or planned handoffs, with the 225-hour final course in mind.
- Educator mentor, if you take MSN 7752An approved mentor for 32 clinical hours, with clearance complete before the course opens.
- Doctorally prepared DNP preceptorConfirmed while your project plan takes shape, ahead of Human Subjects Committee review in
GRN 9001.
Why combined-option students choose us
Combined students carry more than one preceptor search, spread across two programs and several years. Whether WilmU's faculty help with a given placement or you are opening that search yourself, we handle each one in order: comparable-focus clinicians for the NP practicums, then a doctorally prepared preceptor whose expertise fits your DNP Project.
Each preceptor file arrives organized, with license, credential and contact details and the host site's intake steps mapped out. WilmU faculty decide on each preceptor and site, and each file is complete before it lands with them.
Because we plan the whole chain at once, the search for your DNP preceptor can begin while you are still in the NP practicums. Read how it works and use the form below to tell us which pairing you chose.
Questions WilmU students ask
Do I apply once or twice for a WilmU certificate + DNP?
Twice. WilmU treats the certificate and the DNP as separate admissions, each with its own application. The NP certificates start cohorts in Fall and Spring, with deadlines of May 1 and October 1, while the DNP admits in Spring, Summer and Fall.
How many clinical hours does WilmU's FNP certificate + DNP include?
WilmU lists 750 hours for the FNP certificate, across GRN 7121 to GRN 7124, plus 500 practice hours for the DNP in GRN 9001 to GRN 9003. WilmU's DNP overview instead lists 1,500 for advanced practice nurses, a conflict with the curriculum page, so confirm your total with the DNP Program Director.
Can a nurse who is not an APRN take the PMHNP certificate + DNP?
WilmU's combined PMHNP page gives a 72-credit total for non-APRNs, against 60 for APRNs. The licensure table, however, describes the post-master's PMHNP as a program for nurses whose master's is as a nurse practitioner. Put the question to the PMHNP Program Admissions Committee or the NP Program Chair before you apply.
Who advises WilmU certificate + DNP students?
Two people share the job. WilmU's combined FNP page names the DNP Program Director together with the NP Program Chair as joint advisors for combined and BSN to DNP students, and a DNP Project Advisor is also assigned to every DNP student. The who does what page lists every role around a practicum by title.
Is the certificate + DNP option online?
WilmU's DNP with Graduate Certificates page lists traditional classroom and online formats at New Castle, while the DNP curriculum page calls the doctorate itself fully online, without residencies. The NP certificates are delivered online. Ask the DNP Program Director which format applies to each course in your plan.
Related pages
Last checked 2026-09-27
We check these pages against Wilmington University's own program and curriculum pages, the 2026-27 graduate catalog, the College of Nursing and Health Sciences policies and the State Licensures by Program page. Your NP Program Chair, your course faculty and the College have the final word.
A WilmU practicum coming up? Your preceptor search starts here.
Tell us your WilmU program, where you live and when your next practicum starts. Whether WilmU's faculty help with your placement or you are starting the search yourself, we find preceptors who fit the course, check the health system's own intake steps, and organize the preceptor's license and credentials well before the first day.
- Preceptors matched to the course: family practice across the lifespan for
GRN 7121toGRN 7124, psychiatric mental health forGRN 7221toGRN 7224, doctorally prepared for the DNP - Clinicians who meet Delaware's rule for APRN program preceptors: an active APRN, PA, pharmacist or physician license in a comparable focus
- Close to home, in a state where you hold an RN license, with each system's onboarding mapped out early
Start your placement plan
Program, city and semester is all we need to begin.