Grades, progression and time limits in UTRGV's NP programs
Three rules decide whether a UTRGV nurse practitioner student moves forward: keep a cumulative GPA of 3.0 or better, earn at least a B in every clinical course, and finish each clinical course's hours with a satisfactory preceptorship grade. MSN-FNP students also have five years from admission to finish. Here is where each rule comes from, how current it is, and how your preceptor shapes it.
Get your placement plan
Tell us your UTRGV program and where you live. A placement advisor replies with preceptor and site options in your community that fit your UTRGV course.
The 3.0 GPA and the B rule in clinical courses
The 2026-27 graduate catalog sets the baseline for the MSN-FNP: students must keep a cumulative grade point average of 3.0, which it equates with a B, or higher. The same B standard appears at the door of the PMHNP certificate, which asks for its prerequisite health assessment, pharmacology and pathophysiology courses to have been passed with a B or better.
The clinical-course rule is stricter, and its source is older. The 2023-24 Graduate Nursing Student Guide, now gone from UTRGV's live site and read from an archived copy, says students with a grade below a B in any clinical course “will not be allowed to progress in the program.” No newer public document restates or replaces it, so treat it as the working rule and confirm today's wording with your program coordinator.
The rule bites hardest at the end of the FNP sequence. NURS 6612 is the prerequisite for NURS 6613, so a grade below B in FNP I does not just cost one course; it holds up the final clinical semester as well.
Passing a clinical course takes hours and a satisfactory preceptorship grade
In UTRGV's FNP clinical courses, a strong theory grade cannot carry you. The Fall 2025 NURS 6612 syllabus requires all 224 clinical hours and a satisfactory clinical preceptorship grade to pass the course, regardless of the theory grade, and the Spring 2026 NURS 6613 syllabus applies the same rule to its 336 hours. The PMHNP and DNP syllabi tie passing or grading to hours in the same spirit.
| Course (syllabus term) | Hours condition | Other clinical requirements named |
|---|---|---|
NURS 6612 FNP I (Fall 2025) | All 224 clinical hours to pass | Satisfactory preceptorship grade; logs with weekly preceptor signatures |
NURS 6613 FNP II (Spring 2026) | All 336 clinical hours to pass | Satisfactory preceptorship grade; evaluations by preceptor and by faculty |
NURS 6476 PMHNP II (Fall 2025) | 220 hours with a preceptor to pass | End-of-course evaluations by preceptor and faculty |
NURS 6620 PMHNP 3 (Spring 2026) | 300 precepted hours to pass | Clinical evaluation by faculty and by preceptor |
NURS 8211 DNP Project II (Fall 2025) | Clinical logs of 100 hours as a graded component | At least four meetings with DNP Project Faculty Advisors |
The archived 2023-24 guide splits the roles clearly: preceptors assess your progress in writing at the end of the experience, but faculty or the course coordinator remain ultimately responsible for evaluating clinical performance. The preceptor's evaluation feeds the grade, and faculty decide it. Site visits and evaluations shows how that oversight works in each program.
Where students lose clinical grades
Most clinical-grade trouble at UTRGV comes from paperwork and timing rather than patient care. The syllabi name the usual traps.
- Unsigned logs. The
NURS 6612log grading criteria refuse any log without weekly preceptor signatures or a preceptor evaluation. - Rushed hours. Finishing clinical hours ahead of schedule is not allowed without a legitimate reason and the course coordinator's prior approval.
- Double counting. Hours cannot count toward another clinical course you are taking in the same term.
- A late time report. The Mandatory Weekly Time Report goes in every week, covering the current and following week, because faculty use it to make random site visits.
- A preceptor who leaves mid-course. Only approved sites count, so hours pause until a replacement is approved, while the semester keeps moving.
The rules for counting hours cover each of these in detail. The answer to the last one is a second willing preceptor identified before you need one, and that backup is part of every search our placement desk runs.
The five-year limit on the MSN-FNP
The 2026-27 catalog requires the MSN-FNP to be finished within five years of admission to the program. The published 2019 plan runs five semesters over two years full time or eight semesters over three years part time, so by our arithmetic even a part-time student keeps about two years in reserve for a term out or a repeated course.
The same catalog entry still carries a seven-year limit for the MSN Administrator and MSN Educator programs. Both left the catalog after 2023-24, so that line is a leftover and has no bearing on FNP students. UTRGV publishes no completion time limit for the two post-master's certificates or the DNP, so ask your program coordinator if the question affects your plan. The full MSN sequence is in the MSN-FNP guide.
Deferment, readmission and returning after a break
The School of Nursing's Student Policies page is the live home for its deferment, readmission, technical standards and conduct policies, and it refers students to the School of Nursing Student Handbook for anything else. No current graduate handbook is posted, so check that page and your program coordinator before you step away.
One readmission requirement is public. The School's Readmission and Reinstatement policy, which covers every level, asks a returning student to submit all required documentation, such as immunizations, CPR and insurance, before coming back. Two other rules make a gap costly: the archived graduate guide honors a background check for the length of your enrollment only when there is no break in enrollment, and student liability insurance renews every September 1.
A pause resets the placement too. A preceptor who held a spring schedule for you may well have given it to another student by the time you return, so start the search for your return term as soon as the readmission date is settled. The compliance checklist lists what you may need to renew.
If a clinical grade is at risk
- Talk to faculty the same weekTell your course coordinator or clinical faculty as soon as a problem shows. They hold responsibility for the clinical grade and can approve schedule changes a preceptor cannot.
- Count what is leftSet the hours remaining against the weeks left, using the weekly load your syllabus sets (16 hours in
NURS 6612, 24 inNURS 6613). - Line up a replacement preceptorIf the preceptor is the problem, the way forward is a new approved site, and a site outside UTRGV's list needs an affiliation agreement first.
- Keep logs and signatures currentMissing signatures are the easiest points to lose and the easiest to fix while your preceptor is still beside you.
When hours are slipping, behind on clinical hours walks through the next steps, and our placement desk can run a replacement search that fits your course and UTRGV's rules.
Questions UTRGV students ask
Can I repeat NURS 6347 at UTRGV?
The 2026-27 catalog says NURS 6347, Role Development for the Nurse Practitioner, may be repeated for additional credit. It does not say how a repeat treats an earlier grade or your GPA, so ask your advisor before you plan on one. A repeat would still need its 45 hours with two master's-prepared NPs at two different sites.
What GPA do UTRGV's certificates and DNP require for admission?
The post-master's FNP certificate asks for a 3.0 or better on a 4.0 scale, and the PMHNP certificate asks for a 3.0 in the graduate program you already completed. The DNP lists an undergraduate GPA of at least 3.0. The catalog's 3.0 cumulative rule for enrolled students is written into the MSN-FNP entry.
Do clinical hours from an unfinished course carry over to a repeat?
UTRGV publishes no rule on carrying hours into a repeated course. What it does publish leans toward starting fresh: hours cannot count for two clinical courses at once, and the archived PMHNP FAQ said hours from any earlier program do not count. Ask your course coordinator before assuming any logged hours will transfer.
Is NURS 7302 graded with a letter grade?
No. The catalog lists NURS 7302, Practice Intervention Project, as an independent study graded credit or no credit. The project is presented both in writing and aloud to a chosen audience; the course is taken with or after NURS 6302 and lists no clinical hours.
How do BSN progression rules compare with the graduate rules?
The bar in the bachelor's program sits a letter lower: each BSN clinical semester requires a C in the previous semester's listed nursing courses, according to the 2026-27 undergraduate catalog. Graduate students work to a B in clinical courses and a 3.0 cumulative GPA. See BSN clinicals for the bachelor's sequence.
Related pages
Last checked 2026-09-27
We check these pages against UTRGV's own catalog, course syllabi, School of Nursing pages and Texas Board of Nursing rules. Your course faculty and the School of Nursing have the final word.
From the approved list or a brand-new site, we find the preceptor who fits.
Tell us your UTRGV program, where you live and when your next clinical course starts. We line up a willing preceptor who fits the course and UTRGV's rules, and hand you the details the Clinical Request Form, the affiliation agreement and the preceptor agreement ask for, well before the semester.
- Family practice preceptors for
NURS 6612andNURS 6613, and two NP sites forNURS 6347 - Board-certified psychiatric preceptors for
NURS 6476andNURS 6620, in your home state - Across the Valley and Texas, from McAllen and Brownsville to San Antonio, Houston and beyond
- A replacement lined up fast if a preceptor drops
Start your placement plan
Program, city and start date is all we need to begin.