What Every NP Applicant Should Ask Before Choosing a Program

Choosing a nurse practitioner program is one of the most significant decisions you will make in your career. I have worked with thousands of NP students over the years, and I can tell you that the ones who struggle most in clinical are often the ones who picked a program without asking the right questions first. Not questions about tuition or campus location, but the real questions that reveal whether a program will actually prepare you to practice.
​Before you fill out a single application, here is what you need to ask.

​Does the Program Have a Structured Clinical Placement Process?

This is the first question I would ask, and I would not move on until I got a clear, specific answer.
Some programs hand you a list of site names and wish you luck. Others have dedicated placement coordinators, established relationships with clinical sites, and a structured process for matching students to preceptors. The difference between those two approaches can make or break your entire NP education.

Ask the program directly: Who is responsible for securing my clinical placement? Do students find their own preceptors, or does the program do it? How far in advance are placements confirmed before a rotation begins?
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If the answer involves phrases like "students are encouraged to reach out to local providers," go in knowing that you are finding your own preceptor. Finding your own preceptor can be time-consuming, stressful, and often results in delays that push back your graduation date. If you go in knowing this ahead of time and have a list of willing and available preceptors in hand (who you know your school will approve), you are good to go! Do whatever works for you, but go in eyes wide open. 

What Is the Student-to-Faculty Ratio?

This question matters more than most applicants realize. A small student-to-faculty ratio means more individualized feedback, more accessible instructors, and a better learning experience overall.
When faculty are stretched thin across hundreds of students, things fall through the cracks. Clinical evaluations get delayed. Emails go unanswered for days. Students who are struggling do not get the support they need until the situation becomes serious.
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Ask how many students each faculty member advises and whether clinical faculty are different from didactic faculty. Ask how quickly faculty typically respond to student concerns. These details tell you a great deal about how the program operates day to day.

Is the Program Accredited, and by Which Body?

Accreditation is non-negotiable. You want a program accredited by either the Commission on Collegiate Nursing Education (CCNE) or the Accreditation Commission for Education in Nursing (ACEN). Both are nationally recognized and meet the standards required by most state boards of nursing and employers.

Some programs are in candidacy status, meaning they are working toward accreditation but have not yet achieved it. Graduating from a program that is not fully accredited can create significant problems when you apply for licensure or seek employment, so verify the current accreditation status directly on the CCNE or ACEN website rather than taking the program's word for it.
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Also, ask whether the program's accreditation covers your specific track. A program may be accredited for family practice but not for psychiatric mental health, for example.

What Are the ANCC and AANPCB Pass Rates for Recent Graduates?

Certification board pass rates are one of the clearest indicators of how well a program prepares its students. The American Nurses Credentialing Center (ANCC) and the American Association of Nurse Practitioners Certification Board (AANPCB) both publish pass rate data.

Ask the program for their first-attempt pass rates for the last two to three years, not just their overall pass rates. A program may boast a high cumulative pass rate while quietly struggling with recent cohorts.
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If a program is reluctant to share this information or only provides vague answers, that tells you something important. Strong programs are proud of their board pass rates and share them readily.

How Many Clinical Hours Are Required, and How Are They Distributed?

NP programs require a minimum of 500 clinical hours, but that is going up to 750 hours. (A good thing, in my opinion. We need more clinical experience to be prepared after graduation.) This standard is set by accrediting bodies. However, some programs exceed that requirement, and those extra hours often translate into better clinical confidence and preparation.

Beyond the total number, ask how those hours are distributed. Are they concentrated in one or two clinical areas, or do students get exposure across multiple specialties? For family practice students, for example, rotations in pediatrics, women's health, and geriatrics should all be included. Can you do virtual telepsych for at least some of your psych rotations? Do you need OB, or will women’s health suffice? Is there a certain number of patient encounters out of the total hours for each rotation?
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Also, ask how the program handles situations where a student has not completed their required hours by the end of a rotation. What is the process? What support is provided? Programs that have clear answers to these follow-up questions have clearly thought through their clinical training process.

What Support Is Available If My Clinical Placement Falls Through?

This question separates good programs from great ones. Clinical placements fall through. Preceptors get sick, change jobs, or simply become unavailable. How a program responds in those moments matters enormously.

Ask whether the program has backup preceptors or contingency placement options. Ask how quickly the program has historically resolved placement issues for students. Ask whether there is a dedicated staff member students can contact when a placement problem arises.
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This is actually one of the reasons services like PreceptorLink exist. When a placement falls through, and a program cannot resolve it quickly, students need somewhere to turn. But ideally, your program should have enough infrastructure that you are never left scrambling in the first place. Ask the question upfront so you know what backup looks like before you ever need it. 

​Are Faculty Clinically Active?

This one might surprise you, but it makes a real difference. Faculty who are actively practicing as nurse practitioners bring current, real-world clinical knowledge into the classroom. They can speak to what is actually happening in practice settings today, not just what was happening when they last saw patients years ago.

Ask whether faculty maintain clinical practice in addition to their teaching roles. Ask what specialties they practice in and how recently they have worked in a direct patient care setting. This is not about doubting anyone's credentials. It is about making sure the people teaching you understand the clinical environment you are about to enter.
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What Does the Curriculum Look Like for My Specialty Track?

Not all NP curricula are created equal. Request a detailed course list for your specific track and look at it carefully. The 3-Ps, pharmacology, pathophysiology, and advanced physical assessment, are requirements for every program. Will the school allow you to include prior courses you have taken? Are they included as stand-alone courses or integrated into other content? Are there simulation lab requirements? Do they have Standardized Patients before clinicals? OSCEs? (OSCE stands for Objective Structured Clinical Examination.- you think you don’t want this. Trust me, you want this!! Walk into clinicals better prepared.) Is there a dedicated course on clinical reasoning or differential diagnosis?

Also, ask how the program has updated its curriculum in the last few years. You don’t want to be learning from outdated textbooks. Medicine evolves, and a program that has not revisited its curriculum recently may be teaching outdated clinical guidelines. 
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If you can, speak with current students or recent graduates about their experience with the curriculum. Their honest feedback will tell you more than any program brochure.

What Is the Graduation and Completion Rate?

A program's graduation rate reflects how well it supports students from enrollment through completion. A low graduation rate can indicate inadequate academic support, poor clinical placement systems, or a curriculum that is not designed for the students the program is enrolling.
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Ask for the most recent data available, and ask what the most common reasons are that students do not complete the program. A program that understands its own retention challenges and has taken steps to address them is one that takes student success seriously.

Final Thoughts

Picking an NP program should never be a rushed decision, and it should never be based on convenience alone. The program you choose will shape how prepared you feel on the day you see your first patient independently, and that preparation matters far beyond graduation.

Ask hard questions. Compare answers across programs. And pay attention not just to what programs say, but to how they say it. Confidence, transparency, and genuine investment in student outcomes are qualities that come through clearly when you know what to look for.

You are building a clinical career that will impact real patients. Choose the program that takes that responsibility as seriously as you do.

At PreceptorLink/AMOpportunities, we have spent years helping NP students find the clinical placements they need to move forward in their programs. If your program has left you without a preceptor or your placement has fallen through, do not wait. Contact today and let us match you with a qualified preceptor near you. 

About The Author

Lynn McComas is the Chief Nursing Officer at AMOpportunities and Founder of PreceptorLink. She is a recognized expert in precepting nurse practitioners and advanced practice provider students and has been matching preceptors since 2014.

With over two decades in primary care, Lynn has served as a coach, advisor, mentor, and preceptor for countless healthcare professionals, including NPs, nurses, and medical assistants. She co-founded a successful skills and procedures business and speaks nationwide on NP-related issues.

Lynn is also a regular contributor on LinkedIn, KevinMD, Facebook, YouTube, Instagram @preceptorlink, X @LynnMcComas, and her blog, where she addresses the growing NP and PA professions and the urgent need for preceptor sites.

​Her unique perspective, shaped by her business, clinical, and educational experiences, positions her as a key voice in tackling preceptor shortages. Lynn is committed to driving change—through a paradigm shift in NP education, reducing barriers, offering preceptor incentives, and advocating for reforms within the profession.​