Purdue University Pediatric Nurse Practitioner Programs

Purdue University School of Nursing offers 3 Pediatric Nurse Practitioner pathways, all in primary care:

BSN to MS – Primary Care, CPNP-PC
BSN to DNP – Primary Care, CPNP-PC
Post-Master’s Certificate – Primary Care, CPNP-PC

All three are based at the West Lafayette campus and use a blended format that combines online coursework with in-person classes. Students need an Indiana RN license (a compact license may be accepted) before the first day of class, and every clinical preceptor is licensed in Indiana, so these are programs for nurses who live within reach of central Indiana.

Program Tracks Overview

Program	Est. Tuition (Resident)	Est. Duration	Credit Hours
MS – PC	$22.5K	2 yrs	47
DNP – PC	$36K	3 yrs	~76
Cert – PC	$6K–$20K (est.)	8 mos–2 yrs (est.)	16–34

Tuition estimates apply Purdue West Lafayette’s 2026–2027 resident graduate rates (a flat $4,996 per fall or spring semester at 8+ credits, $2,498 per summer at 6–9 credits, and $347.85 per credit below those loads) to each published plan of study; nonresident costs are in the Tuition section.

Purdue’s clinical model is what sets it apart. The School of Nursing holds more than 100 clinical contracts in Tippecanoe and surrounding counties and secures the precepting agencies itself. Every student spends at least one semester in a rural clinic serving underserved families, one in a private practice, and one with a pediatric nurse practitioner, and faculty visit each site at least twice a semester. For Indiana residents, the flat full-time rate also keeps the MS near $22,500 in tuition.

That model is tied to Indiana. Students need an Indiana or compact RN license, attend in-person class sessions in West Lafayette, and complete clinicals with Indiana-licensed preceptors. Nonresidents pay nearly three times the resident rate, and Purdue gives priority to full-time applicants who apply by April 1.

Purdue pairs low in-state tuition with school-secured pediatric placements across rural central Indiana, but its blended format and Indiana-licensed preceptors keep it a regional program.

Quick Facts

Population Focus	Primary Care (CPNP-PC), all pathways
Format	Blended: online, hybrid, and classroom courses in West Lafayette
Campus Attendance	Hybrid and classroom courses each term; DNP adds a six-day summer session
Clinical Hours	MS and Cert: 630 \| DNP: 630 plus doctoral residency hours (1,000 minimum)
Clinical Placement	School secures agencies; 100+ contracts in Tippecanoe and surrounding counties
Required Settings	One semester each in a rural underserved clinic, a private clinic, and with a PNP
RN License Required	Indiana RN (compact may be accepted), before classes begin
Start Terms	Rolling admission; priority deadline April 1
Tuition	$4,996 per semester resident, $14,397 nonresident (full time, 2026–2027)
Accreditation	CCNE

Clinical Education

All three pathways share one 630-hour pediatric preceptorship: three preceptorship courses, clinical time in advanced health assessment, and a hands-on suturing workshop. The School of Nursing acquires and maintains the contracts with precepting agencies, and preceptors are Indiana-licensed nurse practitioners or physicians with pediatric experience and national certification.

Sites include Purdue’s Nursing Center for Family Health, North Central Nursing Clinics (Delphi, Monon, Wolcott, Burlington), IU/Arnett primary care offices, Riggs Community Health Center, St. Elizabeth Medical Center, Riley and Peyton Manning specialty clinics, and public health departments
At least one semester in a rural clinic serving underserved populations, one in a private clinic, and one with a pediatric NP
Faculty make at least two site visits per semester
Preceptorships with the Navajo Nation in Kayenta, Arizona, and global projects in Ecuador, Nicaragua, and South Africa

Purdue describes this as letting nurses train in or near their rural home communities instead of commuting to urban centers. That holds for nurses in north-central Indiana; for anyone farther away, the Indiana-licensed preceptor requirement and in-person classes make relocation or a long commute likely.

General Admissions

Bachelor’s degree in nursing from an accredited program (CCNE or NLN for the DNP)
3.0 undergraduate GPA; conditional admission is possible below that
Indiana RN license (compact may be accepted), required before classes begin
300–500 word essay on goals and practice interests, an academic history statement, a CV or resume, and two official transcripts from each school
Three recommendations addressing clinical ability and graduate potential; the DNP requires at least one from a nursing professor, or a direct manager for applicants out of school more than five years
Interview if invited
Rolling review with priority for applications received by April 1; admission continues until clinical spots fill
Admission offers must be accepted within 14 days

Full-time applicants get priority, and part-time study is allowed only on a space-available basis with the program director’s permission. Purdue warns that part-time students may not find required courses in the needed sequence, which can lengthen the program.

MS Primary Care Pediatric Nurse Practitioner

The MS Primary Care Pediatric Nurse Practitioner program costs an estimated $22,482 for Indiana residents and $64,787 for nonresidents. It is 47 credits and takes two years full time, including one summer. Graduates are prepared for primary care certification (CPNP-PC) through the Pediatric Nursing Certification Board.

MS Curriculum

The 47 credits divide into a 14-credit graduate nursing core, a 17-credit advanced practice core, and a 16-credit pediatric specialty. Delivery varies by course: some are online only, some hybrid, and advanced health assessment is classroom-based.

Pediatric Specialty Sequence

NUR 51400 – Clinical Application in Pharmacotherapeutics for Pediatric NPs (1)
NUR 51500 – Health Promotion in Pediatric Populations, 120 clinical hours (3)
NUR 52800 – Acute Illness: Pediatric Health Practice (3, online synchronous)
NUR 52900 – Acute Illness: Pediatric Health Preceptorship, 210 clinical hours (3)
NUR 55200 – Chronic Illness and Commonly Recurring Conditions: Pediatric Health Practice (3, hybrid)
NUR 55300 – Chronic Illness and Commonly Recurring Conditions: Pediatric Preceptorship, 210 clinical hours (3, hybrid)

Advanced Practice and Graduate Core

NUR 50700 – Physiologic Concepts for Advanced Practice Nursing (4, online)
NUR 50200 – Pharmacotherapeutics for Advanced Practice Nursing (3)
NUR 50300 – Advanced Health Assessment, 45 clinical hours (3, classroom)
NUR 51100 – Health Promotion for Advanced Practice in Nursing, 45 clinical hours (3)
NUR 58600 – Applied Informatics and Emerging Technologies in Healthcare (3, online)
Plus theory, research, sociocultural influences, health policy, quality and leadership, and role transition

View the MS curriculum.

MS Clinical Requirements

630 clinical hours: 45 in advanced health assessment, 45 in health promotion, 120 in pediatric health promotion, and 210 in each pediatric preceptorship
Placements through Purdue’s contracted agencies, following the rotation requirements in Clinical Education

At 630 hours, the MS sits in the middle of the typical 600 to 750 range for a single-population track. Because 90 of those hours come from general advanced practice courses, the pediatric-specific total is 540.

MS Admissions

General Admissions applies with no additional MS requirements. Purdue does not require prior pediatric RN experience.

Post-BSN DNP, Primary Care Pediatric Nurse Practitioner

The post-BSN Doctor of Nursing Practice with a primary care PNP focus costs an estimated $36,016 for Indiana residents and $103,624 for nonresidents, over three years and about 76 credits. It includes the full MS pediatric sequence and 630-hour preceptorship, plus doctoral coursework and residency hours, and prepares graduates for CPNP-PC certification.

DNP Curriculum

Purdue’s published plan runs nine consecutive terms, including three summers. Year 1 combines the advanced practice foundations with doctoral courses in human factors, epidemiology, evidence-based practice, and systems. Pediatric content starts in the summer of Year 2 and the two pediatric preceptorships fall in Year 3, alongside the DNP residencies. The 76-credit figure is this page’s sum of the plan; two courses carry credit values taken from the MS curriculum and Purdue’s catalog.

NUR 64000 – Human Factors in Healthcare Engineering (3)
NUR 64100 – Principles of Epidemiology (3)
NUR 62400 – Evidence-Based Practice (3) and NUR 64200 – Systems Approaches in Healthcare (3), which meet six consecutive days in the first week of summer
NUR 62600 – Applied Biostatistics for Outcome Evaluation (3) and NUR 67800 – Healthcare Economics and Finance (3)
NUR 67300 – DNP Health Policy Residency, 128 residency hours (2)
NUR 68000 – DNP Cognate Residency: Direct Practice/Systems Management I
NUR 68700 and 68900 – DNP Practice Inquiry: Evidence-Based Practice I and II, 192 residency hours each
NUR 51700 – DNP Project Seminar (0 credits, most terms)

View the BSN-to-DNP PNP plan of study.

DNP Clinical Requirements

The same 630-hour pediatric preceptorship as the MS
DNP residency hours: 128 (health policy) plus 192 in each practice inquiry course, plus the cognate residency
At least 1,000 post-BSN clinical hours in total, as Purdue requires

The pediatric clinical volume is identical to the MS. The extra year buys doctoral coursework and residency hours focused on systems, policy, and the DNP project, not additional pediatric practice.

DNP Admissions

Upper-division statistics course with a 3.0 or better within the last five years, or taken in the first semester
At least one recommendation from a nursing professor (or a direct manager if out of school more than five years)
Grades of B or better in any prior master’s coursework
Admission is subject to authorization in the state where the RN lives and practices

Post-Master’s Primary Care Pediatric Nurse Practitioner Certificate

The Post-Master’s Primary Care PNP Certificate requires 16 to 34 credits and the full 630 clinical hours. Purdue says it can be finished in as little as eight months, depending on the student’s prior specialty. Estimated tuition runs about $6,000 to $20,000 for residents and $15,000 to $58,000 for nonresidents, depending on credit load and whether terms are billed per credit or at the full-time flat rate.

Open to holders of a graduate degree in nursing or a health-related field (MPH, MHA, MBA with a healthcare concentration, PhD, DNP)
Credits set individually by academic record, clinical experience, and goals
Same 630-hour preceptorship and placement model as the degree programs

The certificate is unusually open: a nurse with an MHA or MPH, not only an APRN master’s, can apply. Those applicants should expect a plan near 34 credits, since they will need the full advanced practice core. The duration and tuition ranges are estimates built from the credit range and Purdue’s billing rules. View the certificate in Purdue’s catalog.

Tuition

Purdue West Lafayette bills graduate students a flat rate per semester at full-time loads rather than per credit. For 2026–2027, a fall or spring semester at 8 or more credits costs $4,996 for Indiana residents and $14,397 for nonresidents. Summer is a flat $2,498 or $7,198.50 at 6 to 9 credits. Below those loads, tuition is $347.85 per credit for residents and $948.30 for nonresidents. The bursar’s graduate schedule lists no nursing differential fee.

Pathway	Resident	Non-Resident
MS (4 semesters + 1 summer)	$22,482	$64,787
BSN-DNP (6 semesters + 3 summers)	$36,016	$103,624
Post-Master’s Certificate (16–34 credits, est.)	$6,000–$20,000	$15,000–$58,000

Totals are calculated from Purdue’s published rates and plans of study. The DNP’s final summer carries 3 credits and is billed per credit.

Key Cost Takeaways

The flat rate rewards full-time study: 8 credits and 12 credits cost the same in a fall or spring semester
Nonresident tuition is nearly triple the resident rate, which pushes the DNP past $100,000 for out-of-state students
The DNP costs about $13,500 more than the MS for Indiana residents and prepares for the same CPNP-PC exam with the same pediatric clinical hours
Students commuting to West Lafayette should budget for travel to in-person class sessions

See Purdue’s 2026–2027 graduate tuition and fees.

Why Choose This PNP Program?

Best suited for: Indiana nurses within reach of West Lafayette who want pediatric primary care preparation with school-secured, rural-focused clinical placements at in-state public tuition.

Structured Rural and Underserved Rotations

Every student rotates through a rural clinic serving underserved families, a private practice, and a PNP-led setting, drawn from more than 100 contracted sites. Few programs guarantee that mix.

An MS Option at About $22,500

Many schools have moved pediatric NP training to the doctorate. Purdue still offers a two-year MS, and at the resident flat rate it is one of the lower-cost routes to CPNP-PC eligibility.

A Certificate Open Beyond APRNs

The post-master’s certificate accepts graduate degrees in health-related fields, not only nursing master’s degrees, giving nurses with an MHA or MPH a shorter path into pediatric practice than a second full degree.

Drawbacks

Primary care only; no acute care pediatric option
In-person class sessions in West Lafayette and Indiana-licensed preceptors limit the program to nurses in or near Indiana
Nonresident tuition is nearly triple the resident rate
Part-time study is space-available only, and course sequencing is not guaranteed

The Verdict

Purdue is a strong choice for Indiana nurses who can attend classes in West Lafayette and want an affordable MS with carefully structured rural placements. Nurses outside Indiana, those who need a fully online program, and those interested in acute care should look elsewhere.

Accreditation

Purdue states that its School of Nursing, including the MSN and certificate programs, is accredited by the Commission on Collegiate Nursing Education (CCNE). Graduates are eligible for national certification; for pediatric primary care, that is the Pediatric Nursing Certification Board’s CPNP-PC exam.

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