How Post's NP clinical rules have changed since 2021
Post University's precepted hour totals have not moved since its nurse practitioner tracks came over from American Sentinel University in 2021: 540 for the FNP and AGPCNP, 630 for the PMHNP. Almost everything around them has. N 522PE lost its practice hours in August 2024, the AGPCNP went to primary care only, the 3P exam rules were rewritten, and the list due by the end of Week 1 grew. This timeline helps you sort current rules from advice that dates from an older catalog.
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2021: the NP tracks arrive with American Sentinel
In March 2021 Post established the American Sentinel College of Nursing & Health Sciences at Post University by acquiring American Sentinel University, based in Aurora, Colorado, along with Sentinel U. The tracks themselves were older: American Sentinel's own FNP and AGPCNP pages in 2019 and its PMHNP page in 2020 already listed the same preceptorship courses and the same 540 and 630 hours. They moved onto post.edu that year: the earliest archived copies of the FNP, AGPCNP and PMHNP pages date from June 19, 2021, and the FNP page itself carries a May 27, 2021 date.
The 2021-22 catalog is the earliest one found that lists all eight MSN specializations, the three NP tracks among them. Those first program pages promised no campus visit and clinicals completed in the student's own area, and both still hold: nothing in the current catalog or program pages calls for time on the Waterbury campus.
The lineup of tracks has also held. Across every catalog from 2021 to 2026 the NP options are the FNP, the AGPCNP and the PMHNP, with no track added or retired. The American Sentinel College page covers the names you will still see from the merger, such as the my.americansentinel.edu registration site.
Hour totals, catalog by catalog
The precepted requirement is the one line that reads the same in every edition. The totals printed beside it are what shifted, and the table shows each readable catalog year.
| Catalog | FNP and AGPCNP precepted | PMHNP precepted | Total NP practice hours printed |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021-22 | 540 | 630 | 630-720, adding 45 practice hours each from N 515PE and N 522PE |
| 2022-23 | 540 | 630 | 630-720, same footnote |
| 2024-25 | 540 | 630 | 585-675, after N 522PE lost its practice hours |
| 2025-26 | 540 | 630 | 585-675 in the table; the unrevised footnote still says 630-720 |
| 2026-27 | Published | Published | Nursing pages could not be read for this guide |
The clinical hours guide owns the current figures and works through why the 2025-26 page carries two totals.
August 2024: N 522PE stops carrying practice hours
N 522PE Advanced Physical Assessment is one of the three 3P courses, and its 2021-22 description gave it 45 practice hours. The 2024-25 catalog added a one-line notice: "As of August 2024, N 522PE will no longer include PE hours." The table total dropped by 45 hours as a result, while the footnote below it kept the old math, which is where today's two competing totals come from.
Two things did not change. The course still sits in the 3P gate alongside N 512 and N 521, and your precepted hours did not shrink, since those core-course hours were never preceptor time. Some pages still disagree about course suffixes: 2024-25 program pages drop the PE from N 515 while the admissions page keeps it, so which core courses carry practice hours today is a question for the current catalog.
Primary care went from advice to requirement
The setting rule for the two primary care tracks tightened in two steps. In 2021-22, completing every FNP hour in primary care was recommended; the 2022-23 catalog made it required. The AGPCNP stayed looser for longer: the 2021-22 and 2022-23 catalogs let AGPCNP students spend a limited amount of time at sites outside primary care with approval.
The 2024-25 catalog ended that allowance, and AGPCNP students now complete all of their clinical hours in primary care, the same as the FNP. If an AGPCNP graduate tells you about a rotation in a specialty clinic, their catalog may simply have allowed it. The PMHNP rule, mental and behavioral health sites serving patients across the lifespan, has not changed. See primary care sites for how the current rule plays out when you choose a practice.
The Week 1 list got longer in 2024-25
Post removes a student from a clinical course term when the required items are missing at the end of Week 1, and the 2024-25 catalog changed what those items are. One requirement left the list: a final passing grade from the prerequisite didactic course. The grade still matters, since graduate nursing courses need a B or better to count, but it is no longer one of the documents checked at Week 1.
Four items arrived, and the first of them means gathering documents from the preceptor before the term opens rather than during it.
Added to the Week 1 list in 2024-25
- The preceptor's license report, certification and CV
- The student's own RN license report
- A student contact form
- An NP preceptor form for California students only
The preceptor agreement letter, the affiliation agreement, CastleBranch compliance and the NP Clinical Schedule were already required. The Week 1 deadline guide lists today's full packet.
The 3P exam, the schedule and course titles
The 3P rules were rewritten in the 2024-25 catalog. The APEA 3P exam now happens in Week 7 of the final 3P course, one skipped testing window is allowed, a 3P Workroom term gives another place to sit the exam, and a missed window scores zero. The passing mark is 67%, and the 3P exam guide covers the gate and why it doubles as the starting signal for a preceptor search.
Post's 2024 course schedule adds two wrinkles. It offered every NP course only in the odd-month terms (January, March, May, July, September and November) while the website advertised monthly starts; whether that pattern continues in 2026 is unconfirmed. It also used different titles for four preceptorships, including "Child and Adolescent" for N 563 and "Preceptorship Experience" for N 585. These guides use the catalog titles.
What to watch in the 2026-27 catalog
Post published its 2026-27 catalog by mid-September 2026, with its own Additional Nursing Information section and a set of 2026-2027a updates, but those nursing pages could not be read for these guides. The 2025-26b updates listed no nursing curriculum changes, so the 2025-26 rules are the most recent confirmed. The NP disclosure has moved as well: Kansas went from yes to no, and Maryland and Utah now include the PMHNP, as the disclosure by state page explains.
We plan each Post student's preceptorships against the rules as they stand now, flag anything the Clinical Coordinator should confirm for your catalog year, and update the plan when Post publishes a change. Tell us your track and your next course in the form below.
Questions Post students ask
Has Post ever required more than 540 precepted hours for the FNP?
Not in any catalog that could be read, from 2021-22 through 2025-26. The bigger numbers students sometimes quote, such as 585 or 630 for the FNP, are total practice hours that fold in core-course practice experiences, not extra time with a preceptor.
Could AGPCNP students ever train outside primary care?
Yes, for a while. The 2021-22 and 2022-23 catalogs let AGPCNP students spend a limited amount of time at non-primary-care sites with approval. The 2024-25 catalog removed that option, so current AGPCNP students keep every clinical hour in a primary care setting.
Why does older advice mention a passing grade as a Week 1 requirement?
Before 2024-25, a final passing grade from the prerequisite didactic course sat on the list of items due for a clinical course. The 2024-25 catalog took it off and added preceptor and license documents. You still need B or higher in nursing courses to progress.
Is American Sentinel University still a separate school?
No. It merged into Post in 2021 and now operates as the American Sentinel College of Nursing & Health Sciences at Post University. The older name survives in places such as the student registration site, which is why students see both names.
Has Post added any new NP specialty since 2021?
No. Every catalog from 2021 to 2026 lists the same three: Family, Adult Gerontology Primary Care and Psychiatric Mental Health. Post offers no acute care, pediatric or women's health NP track and no post-master's NP certificate in the 2025-26 program lists.
Related pages
Last checked 2026-09-27
We check these pages against Post University's own catalog, program pages and published nursing documents. Your course faculty and the Clinical Coordinator have the final word.
- Post University 2025-2026 Catalog: Additional Nursing Information
- Post University 2024-2025 Catalog: Additional Nursing Information
- Post University 2022-2023 Catalog: Additional Nursing Information
- Post University 2021-2022 Catalog: Additional Nursing Information
- Post University: American Sentinel College of Nursing & Health Sciences
Post asks you to select your own preceptor. We make the search the easy part.
Tell us your Post track, your city and your next preceptorship course. We line up preceptors who fit the course, collect the license report, certification and CV the Clinical Coordinator reviews, and start the affiliation agreement early so your Week 1 packet is complete before the term opens.
- Preceptors matched to the course: primary care for FNP and AGPCNP, mental and behavioral health for PMHNP, doctoral nurse leaders for DNP hours
- Preceptor agreement letter, license report, certification and CV ready for Post's approval
- Every preceptorship planned together, close to home in a state where you hold your license and Post's disclosure says yes
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