DNP programs differ in pathways, practice-hour accounting, scholarly-project expectations, and how students identify mentors or sites. The cited directory below covers every currently accredited US DNP institution in this roster, while the worked examples explain why each student's current handbook and approval office remain the authority.
Some online DNP programs expect students to identify a proposed preceptor, project mentor, or practice site for school review, while others provide placement assistance. Confirming which model applies to your pathway is one of the most useful steps before a practicum or project term begins.
We support DNP students across the accredited-school directory below. Where a school already assists, we can act as a backstop for an unfilled need or a site that falls through; we do not replace a service the program already provides, and the school retains final approval.
The schools below are included from current national nursing accreditation records. Each page explains how to prepare an approval-ready DNP project mentor, preceptor, and practicum-site request without assigning an unsupported policy to the school.
| Program | DNP track | Post-bacc hours | Who finds the preceptor |
|---|---|---|---|
| Walden | DNP, 7 specializations (NP entry) | 1,000+ | You source; school approves |
| South Alabama | BSN-to-DNP FNP/PMHNP/AGACNP/AGPCNP | 1,140 (FNP) | You source; school approves |
| Arizona State (Edson) | Advanced Nursing Practice DNP | up to 1,125 | Self-source outside Maricopa County |
| Chamberlain | DNP, post-master's APRN | 1,024+ | You source; school approves |
| Capella | BSN-to-DNP & post-master's | 1,000 (CCNE) | Learner responsible |
| Purdue Global | DNP, post-master's (MSN entry) | 1,000 (up to 500 prior) | You select site + Practice Mentor; school approves |
| Grand Canyon | DNP practice/leadership (DPI) | 400+ practicum | You source; OFE approves |
| Aspen | DNP immersion + project | 1,000 immersion | You source; OFE assists |
| Thomas Edison (TESU) | DNP Systems-Level Leadership | 1,000+ | You source |
| Herzing | BSN-to-DNP & MSN-to-DNP (NP) | 945 (FNP combined) | School assists; we back up |
| Rasmussen | DNP, post-master's, 2 specialties | 1,000 | School assists; we back up |
Self-source does not mean the same thing everywhere; the paperwork pipeline behind the approval varies a lot, and it decides your real timeline. A few worked examples from programs we place across:
Walden students submit a practicum application in Meditrek, one application per preceptor, site, course and term. The published deadline is the first day of the month roughly three months before the practicum term, the field-experience office begins reviewing about three months out in submission order, and Walden states the review and approval process can take up to three months or longer once it begins, moving through an affiliation agreement, a preceptor commitment form, license verification, vetting and a degree audit. The hard cutoff: an application must be approved by end of day on the Friday before the term starts or it is closed.
Purdue Global's online post-master's DNP has you select both the practice site and a Practice Mentor, then submit both for approval, with your project also guided by a DNP consultant on the faculty side. Entry requires an accredited MSN with an advanced nursing practice specialty, and the 1,000-hour post-bacc requirement accepts up to 500 prior supervised hours.
GCU's post-master's DNP anchors on the DPI practice-improvement project, so its Office of Field Experience approves sites with the project and its IRB clearance in view, not just a willing clinician. The practicum floor is lower, 400-plus hours, but the site has to be one where a measurable improvement project can actually run.
Every other self-source program has its own version of this pipeline. The common thread: the approval takes longer than students expect, which is why we prepare the paperwork alongside the match rather than after it. The step-by-step shows where that happens.
Often yes, but never in your own chair, and each school writes its own guardrails. Walden's nursing practicum manual allows practicum at your employer only if it happens in a different setting outside your current department or unit, outside your normal working hours, and never under a preceptor who is your immediate supervisor or manager, or who reports to you. Its conflict-of-interest list goes further, ruling out relatives, significant others, roommates, personal friends, your own primary care provider and fellow Walden nursing students, and violations can mean rejected hours or academic-integrity sanctions.
Chamberlain's published guidance runs the same direction, allowing practicum with your current employer in a different department with a preceptor who is not your current supervisor. Capella's NP practicum materials name your current healthcare employer as a sanctioned site option outright. These specifics come from each school's own materials, but handbooks change, so confirm the current rule for your exact DNP track before you build a plan around your workplace.
The workplace route can save months of cold outreach when it fits. When it doesn't, because the only qualified preceptor there is your boss, or the setting doesn't match your specialty split, that is exactly the gap we source across.
It is worth stating plainly, because applicants ask: several well-known online nursing schools do not offer a DNP at all. If you are looking at one of these, your doctoral options are elsewhere.
One school is often mislisted here, so we will correct the record: Purdue Global does offer a DNP. It is an online, CCNE-accredited, post-master's program requiring 1,000 post-baccalaureate practice hours, with up to 500 prior supervised hours accepted. Guides that lump it in with the no-DNP schools are out of date.
Program policies change, and the difference between a handbook's stated intent and how placement actually works in your state can be wide. Before your clinical term, confirm three things: the exact post-bacc hour total for your track, the required direct-care share for your specialty, and whether your school will source a preceptor or expects you to. Tell us those three and we source to fit, and the pricing model means nothing is billed until your school approves the match.
Most do not. Herzing and Rasmussen assist with placement. Walden, South Alabama, Arizona State (outside Maricopa County), Chamberlain, Capella, Purdue Global, Grand Canyon, Aspen and Thomas Edison expect you to find and propose your own preceptor or practice mentor for school approval.
Yes. Purdue Global offers an online, CCNE-accredited, post-master's DNP. It requires 1,000 post-baccalaureate practice hours to graduate, accepts up to 500 supervised hours from prior post-baccalaureate education, and has you select a practice site and Practice Mentor that the school then approves. Older guides listing Purdue Global as having no DNP are incorrect.
Walden students are responsible for identifying their own preceptor and site; Walden reviews and approves them through a Meditrek application with published deadlines, and states the review can take up to three months or longer. We source approvable Walden preceptors and prepare the paperwork Walden requires.
WGU, SNHU and Excelsior offer nursing degrees only through the master's level, and American College of Education's nursing doctorate is an Ed.D in Nursing Education rather than a DNP. Purdue Global, sometimes mislisted with these schools, does offer an online post-master's DNP.
Many programs allow it with restrictions. Walden, for example, requires the practicum to sit outside your current department and normal working hours, with a preceptor who is not your supervisor or direct report; Chamberlain's guidance similarly requires a different department and a non-supervisor preceptor. Confirm your own handbook's version before planning on it.
Sources · last updated July 2026
AACN, About the DNP · AACN, DNP Fact Sheet · NCSBN, APRN Consensus Model · CCNE Accredited Program Directory · ACEN Accredited Program Directory · NLN CNEA Accredited Programs
No cost to request, and nothing is billed until a match is confirmed and your school signs off. We'll reply within one business day.
We do not guarantee placement. Final approval rests with your program.
