Kent State DNP practicum hours: 500, 525 and 550 explained
Kent State's catalog requires at least 500 practicum hours from post-master's DNP students, and the three DNP project courses add up to 550. An older course description still says 525. Students entering from a BSN complete more, though Kent State publishes no single total for them. Here is what each figure measures and who confirms the one that applies to you.
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Four DNP hour figures, side by side
Search Kent State's pages for DNP hours and four different numbers turn up. Each has a real source; they simply measure different things.
| Figure | Where it appears | What it measures |
|---|---|---|
| 500 | 2026-2027 catalog graduation rule; DNP FAQ | The minimum for post-master's students |
| 550 | Catalog descriptions of NURS 72692, NURS 72792, NURS 72892 | Our sum of the three project courses: 150 + 250 + 150 |
| 525 | Catalog description of legacy NURS 70592 | Seven credits of the old DNP practicum at 75 hours each |
| 1,050-1,200 | A removed BSN-to-DNP web page, seen only in a search index | Unverified; the page now shows no content |
A search snippet of the MSN-to-DNP page also showed 525, but that page could not be opened to confirm it. The 2026-2027 catalog is Kent State's official document of record, so start there and treat the other figures as history to ask about.
The 550 project hours, course by course
Under the current DNP requirements, practicum time lives inside the scholarly project sequence. Every concentration takes the same three project courses, 3 credits each.
NURS 72692D.N.P. Project I: EBP Project Planning and Proposal, 150 hoursYou shape the evidence-based practice project with your site and write the proposal. The course ends when you pass the project proposal.NURS 72792D.N.P. Project II: Implementation and Evaluation, 250 hoursThe heaviest term. You carry out the project at the site and evaluate it, and the course includes IRB review with the site.NURS 72892D.N.P. Project III: Data Analysis and Interpretation, 150 hoursYou analyze and interpret the results, finish the scholarly writing and defend the project before a committee of your advisor and two doctorally prepared members. The work produces a publishable manuscript.
These courses break the standard 75-hours-per-credit pattern, since each carries 3 credits but 150 or 250 hours; the hours-per-credit guide explains the usual rule. IRB, proposal and defense detail is on the DNP project courses page.
Why 500, 525 and 550 all appear
The 500-hour figure is a floor. The catalog's graduation rule requires at least 500 practicum hours from post-master's students, and the DNP FAQ says the same. The project courses then add up to 550, clearing that floor by 50 hours. The two figures do not contradict each other: one is a minimum, the other is what the course plan delivers.
The 525 figure is older. It belongs to NURS 70592 Doctoral Nursing Practice Practicum, a repeatable 1-to-2-credit course graded Satisfactory or Unsatisfactory, whose description says a minimum of 7 credits equals 525 hours. Students under that model repeated the practicum every semester from the second one until the project was done. The course remains in the catalog's inventory but has left the DNP requirements.
If you started under an older plan of study, your hours may not match a new student's. Your DNP Project Chair and the Director of the DNP Program can tell you which figure governs your record.
The mistake to avoid: assuming MSN clinical hours carry into the DNP automatically. Kent State publishes no rule on how MSN practicum hours count toward the doctorate, so get the answer from the DNP program in writing.
Post-BSN routes: Practice Leadership and NAEL
For students entering from a BSN, the catalog says only that those admitted after a bachelor's degree owe extra hours that vary by concentration. Neither BSN-entry route has a published total.
Practice Leadership, BSN entry: you are also admitted to the MSN in one APRN concentration, and you must earn the MSN and national APRN certification before continuing DNP coursework. Your hours are that concentration's MSN practicums plus the 550 project hours. How many of the MSN hours count toward the doctorate is not published.
Nurse Administration and Executive Leadership (NAEL): the practicums are NURS 70292 (150 hours), NURS 74292 (150 hours), the NURS 74302 seminar with a practicum at a health care organization, and NURS 74692 Executive Leadership Practicum (3 credits, 10 contact hours a week, no hour total printed), then the three project courses. With a contact-hour estimate for NURS 74692, that comes to roughly 1,000 hours by our count. Kent State states no total.
The BSN-to-DNP guide covers both routes in full.
What counts as DNP practicum time
According to the DNP FAQ, DNP practicum hours at Kent State cover the work of building, running and assessing your scholarly project. That differs from MSN clinical hours, where patient care under a preceptor fills most of the log.
The FAQ lets you complete the project in your home state, where you hold APRN licensure, and it treats the preceptor search as mainly yours, backed by faculty. The 2026-2027 catalog, which now includes non-APRN concentrations such as Executive Nurse, requires just an RN license in the state of the practicum. The FAQ looks dated on this point, so confirm with the program.
Kent State's graduate handbook ties practicum hours to sites that hold an active affiliation agreement with the College of Nursing, arranged by the college with the facility. A new project site needs time for that step; see affiliation agreements. The post-master's DNP is also limited to the 16 states on Kent State's approved states list.
Planning project hours across five semesters
The post-master's DNP runs five semesters, part time and cohort based, in under two years. The project begins in your first semester and should be finished in the fifth, and each student gets a faculty advisor from the first semester.
Because the project is the practicum, the site decision comes early. Settle the organization, the practice problem and your preceptor before Project I, since the proposal you pass there is written for that site. Project II's 250 hours need the most time on site, so ask up front whether the site and preceptor can support that load in a single term.
Grades shape the plan too. Kent State expects a B or higher in every DNP course; anything lower has to be retaken before a course that builds on it, and a second grade under B can end in dismissal. The grades and probation page covers what follows a low grade.
Why Kent State DNP students choose us
A DNP project rises or stalls on its site. We locate practice settings and preceptors close to home that fit your Kent State concentration and project idea, and that can host a 250-hour implementation term. Your placement advisor plans around the whole sequence, so the site proposed for Project I can carry you through implementation and analysis as well.
We prepare the site details and preceptor credentials that your project chair and the DNP program review, and we put the affiliation agreement question on the table at the very start, giving the College of Nursing time to arrange it before Project I. If your site contact changes mid-project, we find a replacement fast. Tell us your concentration and start term on the contact page.
Questions Kent State students ask
How many practicum hours does Kent State's DNP require?
The 2026-2027 catalog requires at least 500 practicum hours from post-master's DNP students. Project I, II and III (NURS 72692, NURS 72792, NURS 72892) carry 150, 250 and 150 hours, for 550 in all. BSN-entry students add more hours by concentration, and Kent State prints no single total for them.
Why does a Kent State page say the DNP is 525 hours?
The 525 figure comes from NURS 70592 Doctoral Nursing Practice Practicum, whose catalog description says a minimum of 7 credits equals 525 hours. That course is still in the inventory but no longer part of the DNP requirements, which now use the three project courses. Ask your project chair which plan applies to your record.
Do my MSN clinical hours count toward the Kent State DNP?
No published Kent State rule says how many MSN practicum hours transfer to the doctorate. The catalog states the 500-hour minimum for post-master's students and says post-baccalaureate students add hours by concentration. Ask the Director of the DNP Program how your earlier hours are counted before you commit to a project site.
Can my DNP project happen at the organization where I work?
Nothing in Kent State's public DNP pages rules it out. The organization would still need an active affiliation agreement with the College of Nursing plus program approval, and the project has to meet the course requirements. Raise it with your faculty advisor early; the workplace practicum page covers what Kent State publishes on this.
How many hours is DNP Project II at Kent State?
NURS 72792 D.N.P. Project II: Implementation and Evaluation is a 3-credit course with a required 250-hour practicum, the largest block in the DNP sequence. It covers carrying out and evaluating your project at the site, including IRB review with the site. Project I and Project III carry 150 hours each.
Related pages
Last checked 2026-09-24
We check these pages against Kent State's own catalog, handbooks and program pages. Your MSN or DNP handbook, your syllabus, your practicum faculty and your concentration coordinator have the final word.
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