How many hours each UNCW practicum carries
On UNCW's new NP sequences, FNP and AGPCNP students complete 180 hours in each of their first three practica and 240 in the capstone, and PMHNP students complete 187.5 in each of four. Earlier cohorts complete 180 in each of three. This page lists every course, explains the Preceptor's Corner's 600-hour note, and turns course hours into a weekly target.
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NSGL 653 or NSGL 663NSGL 646 to NSGL 649
Every UNCW NP practicum and its hours
The new sequences apply to students admitted under the 2025-26 catalog and later. The older sequences stay in the 2026-27 course list for cohorts still finishing them. Hours come from the catalog course pages, the plan-of-study pages and the Fall 2025 clinical handbook.
| Concentration | Course | Hours | Full-time plan semester |
|---|---|---|---|
| FNP | NSGL 650 | 180 | Spring, year 2 |
| FNP | NSGL 651 | 180 | Summer, year 2 |
| FNP | NSGL 652 | 180 | Fall, year 3 |
| FNP | NSGL 653 (4 credits) | 240 | Spring, year 3 |
| AGPCNP | NSGL 660, NSGL 661, NSGL 662 | 180 each | Spring and summer of year 2, fall of year 3 |
| AGPCNP | NSGL 663 (4 credits) | 240 | Spring, year 3 |
| PMHNP | NSGL 646 to NSGL 649 | 187.5 each | Spring and summer of year 2, fall and spring of year 3 |
| FNP, older sequence | NSGL 620, NSGL 621, NSGL 622 | 180 each | Earlier cohorts |
| AGPCNP, older sequence | NSGL 636, NSGL 638, NSGL 639 | 180 each | Earlier cohorts |
| PMHNP, older sequence | NSGL 643, NSGL 644, NSGL 645 | 180 each, not to exceed | Earlier cohorts |
Settings, preceptor types and population focus for each course are on the FNP, AGPCNP and PMHNP practicum pages.
What the new sequences add up to
Summed, the new FNP and AGPCNP practica come to 780 direct-care hours and the new PMHNP practica to exactly 750. The older three-course sequences come to 540. The capstone carries 4 credits where the other practica carry 3, which is where its extra 60 hours come from under UNCW's credit-to-hours ratio.
UNCW's catalog puts the program-level figure for new NP cohorts at 750 direct patient care hours within a 1,000-hour DNP, so the FNP and AGPCNP course pages run 30 hours past it. For semester planning, trust the course figure: each practicum's hours have to be finished before that course ends, and your grade in the course depends on them. The program-level split is explained in UNCW's 1,000-hour DNP rule.
The Preceptor's Corner's "600 total" note
Preceptors reading UNCW's Preceptor's Corner are told that all students must complete 180 clinical hours, and are asked to "Plan for approximately 180 hours each semester and 600 total hours in the program." The 180-a-semester part fits most practica. The 600 total fits none of the current sequences.
Set against the table above, 600 is 60 more than the older three-course total and 180 short of the new FNP or AGPCNP total. It reads as a general expectation written for preceptors rather than a count tied to one curriculum, and your course syllabus overrides it.
It can still cause friction. A preceptor who agreed to 180 hours may be caught off guard by a 240-hour capstone, and one expecting 600 across your program may plan differently from the 780 you need. When you approach a preceptor, give them your course number and its hours rather than the Preceptor's Corner figure.
Tell every preceptor the exact hours for your course. The capstone's 240 is the easiest number to miss when a preceptor has only heard "about 180 a semester."
Turning course hours into a weekly schedule
UNCW's 1:4 credit ratio and its posted semester dates give you a rough weekly target. The figures below are our arithmetic from those UNCW numbers, not UNCW schedules.
- A 180-hour practicum across the spring 2026 semester, January 13 to April 30, is about 12 hours a week: one long clinic day or two shorter ones.
- The 240-hour capstone over the same span is about 16 hours a week, two full clinic days in most weeks.
- A PMHNP practicum's 187.5 hours, at the handbook's limit of 12 clinical hours a day for PMHNP students, takes at least 16 clinic days.
- Summer practica, such as
NSGL 651orNSGL 661on the full-time plan, fit the same hours into a shorter term. UNCW's preceptor pages post no summer clinical dates, so take them from your course. - Hours start only after course orientation and the Graduate Clinical Coordinator's approval and must be done by the last day of classes, so a late approval shrinks the weeks you have.
The Preceptor's Corner gives fall 2026 as August 10 to December 10, while the Registrar lists August 19 as the first day of fall classes. Your course calendar decides which dates bind you.
When one preceptor covers only part of a course
A single clinic may be able to offer only some of a course's hours, and UNCW's handbook plans for that: a practicum can be split across more than one site in the same semester, with a separate placement packet for each preceptor and no more than four preceptors in the course. The rules on splitting, and on staying at one site across courses, are on preceptors per course.
The older FNP and AGPCNP sequences also allowed up to 80 specialty hours in the final practicum, cleared through the Graduate Clinical Coordinator, with one specialty clinic per program. UNCW's public sources do not say whether that allowance carries over to NSGL 653 or NSGL 663, so ask before you plan specialty time into the capstone. If you are already short mid-semester, see behind on clinical hours.
How we match preceptors to your hour load
The best placement for a UNCW practicum is one where the hours fit without strain. Your placement advisor starts with your course number and its hours, then asks North Carolina preceptors how many clinic days a week they can give a student across your semester dates, before a name ever goes to UNCW. For a 240-hour capstone, that means a preceptor with two open days most weeks; for PMHNP, one with no other student booked on your clinic days, since UNCW allows one student per PMHNP preceptor per day.
We prepare the preceptor details UNCW's Graduate Clinical Coordinator reviews, so approval comes early and your first weeks count. When one site can cover only part of the hours, we add a second preceptor within UNCW's four-preceptor limit. Send your course number and semester through the form below.
Questions UNCW students ask
How many hours is NSGL 653 at UNCW?
240 patient contact hours. NSGL 653 is the fourth and final FNP practicum on the new sequence, and it carries 4 credits instead of 3. UNCW's FNP preceptor page calls it the capstone clinical practicum and describes it as the most intensive of the four, and it is where students are expected to meet any remaining program encounter requirements.
Are PMHNP practicum hours the same as FNP hours?
Not quite. Each of the four PMHNP practica, NSGL 646 to NSGL 649, carries 187.5 hours on UNCW's plan of study, 750 in all, with no larger capstone. FNP and AGPCNP run 180, 180, 180 and 240. PMHNP preceptors may host only one student on a given clinical day, which affects how quickly a site can give you hours.
Can I finish practicum hours after the semester ends?
UNCW's rule is that each clinical course's hours are finished before that semester's last day of classes. A student who cannot finish the hours or the required encounters may receive an incomplete and must complete the course in the time frame course faculty set, and progression in the program stops until the incomplete is resolved.
Do the older 180-hour courses and the new ones count hours the same way?
Yes. UNCW's FNP preceptor page says both curricula share the same core objectives, preceptor requirements and 180-hour contact requirement per course, and the encounter minimums apply whichever curriculum you follow. What changed is the number of practica, the 240-hour capstone and the course numbers, plus how the 1,000 program hours split.
Related pages
Last checked 2026-09-24
We check these pages against UNCW's catalog, handbooks and School of Nursing pages. Your course, your cohort's handbook and UNCW's Graduate Clinical Coordinator have the final word.
UNCW asks you to find your own North Carolina preceptor. Let us run that search.
Tell us your UNCW program, your practicum course and where in North Carolina you can travel. We find preceptors who fit the course and prepare the CV, license and agency details UNCW's Graduate Clinical Coordinator reviews, well before the deadline.
- Preceptors matched to the course: primary care, pediatrics and women's health for
NSGL 650toNSGL 653, adult and older-adult care for AGPCNP, psychiatric care for PMHNP - Preceptor CV with dates and site, license number and agency details ready for your submission
- In Wilmington, the Cape Fear region or wherever in North Carolina your clinicals can happen
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