University of Utah PMHNP Program

The University of Utah College of Nursing offers its psychiatric/mental health nurse practitioner emphasis as a post-BSN-to-DNP. The college's two master's specialties are nursing education and nursing informatics, so an applicant with a BSN who wants the PMHNP goes straight into the doctorate. The page lists the format as hybrid, "synchronous and asynchronous online learning with some on-campus activities required," completed in eight semesters.

That shapes who the program suits. A doctorate in eight semesters is a longer commitment than an MSN, and the on-campus component makes it a better fit for nurses in or near Salt Lake City than for distance students. Students also need an active, unrestricted Utah RN license before the program begins, which the admissions page lists alongside a 3.0 undergraduate GPA and three letters of recommendation.

The 900 direct patient care hours come in four practicum courses that grow as the program goes on. The first, PMHNP Practicum I (NURS 7951), carries 180 hours. Practicum II (NURS 7952) adds 120 and Practicum III (NURS 7953) 240. The program closes with PMHNP Practicum Immersion (NURS 7954), the largest block at 360 hours.

Nine hundred hours is well above the 500-hour floor that the ANCC sets for certification eligibility. Alongside the practica, the course sequence includes Psychiatric Care of Older Adults (NURS 7426) and a two-part Foundations of Psychotherapeutics, so therapy training is a named part of the curriculum, not only medication management.

Utah publishes a total cost estimate for the whole PMHNP program rather than a per-credit rate, and it gives three figures:

• Utah residents: $64,900
• Western Regional Graduate Program: $79,400
• Non-residents: $130,300

The estimates cover tuition and mandatory student fees on the 2025-26 College of Nursing tuition table, rounded to the nearest $100. Program and course fees, books, supplies and travel are extra. The middle figure is the one out-of-state applicants should check first: the Western Regional Graduate Program is the WICHE tuition agreement for residents of participating western states, and it puts the non-resident cost at roughly 60 percent of the full out-of-state price. The school also notes that it charges resident rates in summer semesters.

For comparison across schools, our cheapest PMHNP programs ranking lines up per-credit and total costs.

The program page describes a 12-month post-graduate PMHNP residency run by the College of Nursing with the Salt Lake City VA Medical Center, for new PMHNPs committed to serving veterans. Residents train across the VA's mental health services alongside psychiatric NPs, physicians, pharmacists, social workers and psychologists, with grand rounds, specialty rotations and tele-mental health training during the year.

The VA Salt Lake City residency takes three residents per track each year, and it ran its first psychiatric mental health cohort in 2016. A residency is optional, not a licensing step, but places like this are scarce. Our PMHNP residency directory lists the others nationwide.

The application for the fall cohort opens August 1, 2026 and closes December 1, 2026 at 11:59 p.m. Mountain Time. Admission asks for an earned or in-process bachelor's or master's degree in nursing from a regionally accredited institution, finished before the program begins, a cumulative undergraduate GPA of 3.0 or higher, and three letters of recommendation with the University Recommendation Form. An active, unrestricted Utah RN license is required before the program starts, and nurses relocating between Nurse Licensure Compact states must be licensed in their new home state within 60 days.

The University of Utah's Doctor of Nursing Practice holds CCNE accreditation with a current term running to December 31, 2026. Graduates of a CCNE-accredited PMHNP program are eligible to sit for national certification; our PMHNP certification guide covers the exams.