MRU's DNP: practice hours, project courses and your mentor
From Fall 2026 MRU offers a single DNP: a 39-credit leadership doctorate with 765 indirect practice hours, replacing the 60-credit version. It does not lead to APRN licensure. MRU assigns you a DNP Project team mentor, and your project needs approval from an external IRB before you put it into practice.
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The DNP after the Fall 2026 change
MRU's DNP web page states that from Fall 2026 the 60-credit DNP "will no longer be offered". The July 2026 DNP catalog addendum replaces it with a 39-credit plan carrying 765 practice hours, where the older plan required 1,000 practicum hours inside the program.
There are two paces. The fast track takes about 20 months over five semesters. The regular track takes 36 months over nine semesters, one course at a time. Admission runs on a continuous 16-week cycle, and delivery is described as "offsite and online".
Two MRU documents still show older figures. The DNP web page's header gives 36 credits for the regular track while its degree plan adds up to 39, and the February 2026 Program Timeframe Addendum still lists the DNP at 60 credits. The July 2026 addendum is the newer document; confirm your own plan with the program director if the numbers matter for financial aid or timing.
A leadership doctorate, not an APRN route
MRU says plainly that this DNP does not prepare graduates for Advanced Practice Registered Nurse licensure. Its practice hours go toward leadership-focused scholarly work rather than direct patient care under an NP preceptor, so the search most NP students face does not apply in the same way.
To finish, you complete a DNP project that produces a clinical practice change, a portfolio and an oral presentation, and you demonstrate leadership competencies aligned with AONL. If you were hoping for a doctorate that also adds an NP specialty, MRU's NP specialties are offered through the FNP program and the post-master's certificates instead.
Courses and practice hours
Every course except the orientation seminar carries practice hours, and the addendum calls them "indirect practice hours". Most are 45 hours attached to a 3-credit course; the project courses carry more.
| Course | Credits | Practice hours | Fast-track semester |
|---|---|---|---|
DNP1010 Pre-Immersion Seminars (orientation, PICOT topic) | 0 | 0 | Before semester I |
DNP7001 Evolution of Nursing Practice Theory & Evidence-Based in Practice | 3 | 45 | I |
DNP7200 Statistics for the Health and Biological Sciences | 3 | 45 | I |
DNP7500 Organizational and Management Theory | 3 | 45 | II |
DNP7510 Leader Development | 3 | 45 | II |
DNP7600 Population-based Health and Health Care Disparities | 3 | 45 | II |
DNP7800 Health Care Management, Economics, Financing and Ethics | 3 | 45 | II |
DNP8100 Structure and Process in Health Care Organizations and Health Care Policy | 3 | 45 | III |
DNP8300 Technology in Health Care | 3 | 45 | III |
DNP8200 Professional Practice Developments Experience Practice Immersion | 2 | 45 | III |
DNP7700 DNP Project I | 5 | 135 | IV |
DNP8440 Practicum in Health Care Administration | 5 | 180 | V |
DNP8500 DNP Project II | 3 | 45 | V |
| Total | 39 | 765 |
Add 330 didactic hours and the plan totals 1,095 hours. Our clinical hours hub sets the DNP beside MRU's other programs.
The four project courses
DNP8200: plan the change and clear the IRBTwo credits and 45 practice hours. You plan the practice change and obtain approval from a third-party (external) IRB before anything is implemented. MRU lists an External IRB fee for this.DNP7700DNP Project I: the proposalFive credits and 135 practice hours spent building the project proposal with your project team.DNP8440Practicum in Health Care Administration: implementationFive credits and 180 practice hours, the largest block in the degree, where the project is implemented.DNP8500DNP Project II: dissemination and final approvalThree credits and 45 practice hours. The addendum's description header for this course repeats the title ofDNP8440by mistake; the degree plan names it correctly.
DNP8100, which shares semester III with DNP8200, includes an organizational assessment interview ahead of the practicum. That interview is an early signal that you need an organization willing to host the work.
Mentor, practice site and approvals
MRU assigns the mentor; you do not recruit one. Under the July 2026 addendum, each student gets a DNP Project team mentor at admission, chosen by the program director.
Who finds the practice site is less clear. No MRU source says outright whether the student or MRU arranges it. The program page speaks of applying what you learn in your own practice environment, which suggests most students work with the organization where they already practice. The 2025 catalog said program faculty approve practicum hours, projects, preceptors and mentors, and its older plan required a "Permission to use site" document and a preceptor form in DNP8000. That course is not part of the 2026 plan, and the public 2026 documents describe no replacement for those submissions.
Before semester III, ask your program director three things: whether your workplace can host the project, whether a site contact or preceptor must be named and approved, and what written permission the organization has to provide. The preceptor approval page shows how approval works across MRU programs.
Tracking, clearance and prior hours
DNP practice hours are recorded in myevaluation.com, and MRU charges a Practicum Tracking Software Fee for it. The myevaluation guide covers how indirect practice hours are logged. The DNP fee table also lists a Practicum Credentialing Fee and a Level II background check with fingerprints; the Level II page explains that check.
If you are wondering whether hours from your MSN count toward a post-baccalaureate total, MRU's 39-credit documents do not say. The 1,000-hour requirement belonged to the older plan, and no gap-analysis rule for DNP hours was published. Ask before you assume either way.
Admission and accreditation
The DNP asks for an MSN with at least 24 credit hours and a GPA of 3.0 or higher, an active, unencumbered RN license from Florida or an eNLC (Compact) state, an interview, a signed Program Work Expectations form, three letters of recommendation and a mandatory orientation. The license rule replaces the Florida-or-SARA residence wording used for MRU's master's programs.
The DNP is an ACEN candidate for initial accreditation, effective September 4, 2024, which is not the same as being accredited. MRU's June 2026 accreditation addendum puts the candidacy end date at June 30, 2027, replacing the September 4, 2026 date in the 2025 catalog, and ACEN's own listing shows an initial site visit scheduled for February 2027. The accreditation page tracks this.
How DNP students use us
DNP students come to us for one specific job: finding a host organization. If your employer cannot host your project, we look for another organization near you and help assemble the details MRU and your mentor will want to see. MRU's faculty and your mentor decide what is acceptable. Tell us your semester and project topic through the form below.
Questions MRU students ask
Does MRU's DNP make me a nurse practitioner?
No. MRU states that the DNP does not prepare graduates for APRN licensure. It is a leadership doctorate whose practice hours go to scholarly work such as organizational assessment and a practice-change project. To become an NP through MRU you would enter the MSN-FNP or one of the post-master's certificates.
Can I still enroll in MRU's 60-credit DNP?
Not as a new student. MRU's DNP page says the 60-credit program will no longer be offered from Fall 2026, and the July 2026 addendum sets out the 39-credit plan in its place. If you started under the older plan, ask the program director how the change affects you, because the public documents do not cover current students.
Do my MSN clinical hours count toward MRU's DNP?
MRU does not address it in the 39-credit documents. The 765 practice hours are built into the DNP's own courses, the older 1,000-hour rule applied to the retired 60-credit plan, and no rule on counting prior hours has been published. Put the question to the program director in writing before you plan around it.
Who chooses my DNP mentor?
The program director does. According to the July 2026 addendum, every DNP student is assigned a DNP Project team mentor at admission. You do not have to recruit one. You work with that mentor through the project, while your practice hours are tracked in myevaluation.com.
Can I do MRU's DNP from outside Florida?
The DNP's admission rule is about your license rather than residence: you need an active, unencumbered RN license from Florida or an eNLC Compact state. Delivery is offsite and online. If you hold a single-state license from a non-Compact state, check with admissions before applying.
Related pages
Last checked 2026-09-24
We check these pages against MRU's own catalog, addenda and program pages. The nursing student handbook on the MRU student portal and MRU's Office of Academic Affairs have the final word.
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