Best Family Nurse Practitioner Programs in Tennessee: Top FNP Programs for Working RNs in 2026

Vanderbilt's MSN offers 13 specialties, and Family Nurse Practitioner is one of several advanced practice tracks students can choose within the Nurse Practitioner specialty, alongside options like adult-gerontology, pediatric, and psychiatric-mental health primary care. Admission requires a BSN and active RN license. The program runs online and hybrid, with brief on-campus sessions built into most tracks, and full-time students finish in 4 to 5 semesters, with a part-time option available. Vanderbilt describes hundreds of hours of clinical practice built into each specialty, arranged so students can train from where they live.

Vanderbilt's MSN is CCNE-accredited, and the school reports 97% of graduates employed in advanced practice nursing after graduation. Admission is competitive: about 6% of applicants are admitted, against a 94% overall graduation rate, and tuition is listed at $65,008. That combination of selective admission, high completion, and accredited status gives Vanderbilt a Hakia Score of 92.3, the basis for its #1 rank on this list. It fits an RN who wants a nationally recognized nursing school with the option to add a second specialty or continue directly into Vanderbilt's DNP.

Union's MSN Nurse Practitioner track offers two concentrations, Family Nurse Practitioner and Psychiatric Mental Health Nurse Practitioner, in a 16-month, full-time-only curriculum. The FNP curriculum covers acute management, chronic management, and health promotion for patients across the lifespan. Coursework blends online instruction with sessions at Union's Jackson, Germantown, or Hendersonville campuses. Admission requires an unencumbered Tennessee or compact-state RN license and a BSN from a CCNE or ACEN accredited program, and the school admits one fall cohort a year with rolling interview deadlines of October 1, December 1, and June 1.

Union prices the FNP track at $761 per credit hour plus $42 per hour in fees, which comes to $28,105 in total direct costs across the 35 credits the program requires. Weighed against the national BLS median of $132,300 a year for family nurse practitioners, versus $88,900 for a staff RN, that $28,105 cost is recovered in under eight months of the post-graduation pay increase. Union admits about 60% of applicants and graduates 66% of them, and its Hakia Score of 82.8 places it at #2 on this list. It fits a working RN who wants a fast, full-time timeline with in-person clinical support close to one of three Tennessee campuses.

Union's DNP program offers five tracks: Executive Leadership, Nurse Anesthesia, a CRNA-to-DNP bridge for licensed CRNAs, an MBA combination option, and Nurse Practitioner, which covers both Family and Psychiatric Mental Health specialties. The BSN-to-DNP path is cohort-based, starts every August, blends online coursework with campus sessions, and runs 36 months. It does not award a BSN or MSN along the way, only the DNP at completion. Nurses who already hold an MSN can instead pursue the Post-Master's DNP, offered full-time over five semesters or part-time over eight, to deepen clinical skill in their existing specialty rather than add a new one.

Union lists graduate tuition at $36,005, and admission for the DNP follows the same college-wide standards as its MSN programs: an unencumbered Tennessee or compact-state RN license and a BSN from a CCNE or ACEN accredited program. The university reports a 60% admit rate and a 66% graduation rate across its nursing programs. This DNP track carries a Hakia Score of 80.1, good for #3 on this list. It fits an RN who has already decided on family nurse practitioner practice and wants the terminal degree, either building from a BSN in one 36-month cohort or bridging up from an existing MSN.

Lincoln Memorial's MSN Family Nurse Practitioner concentration prepares RNs for advanced practice with competencies in family health promotion and clinical management of common conditions across the life span. The concentration takes 17 months and requires 43 semester hours, including a minimum of 750 clinical hours, a comprehensive exam in the final semester, and a directed scholarly project. Students can complete it online or seated, and up to 6 credit hours can transfer in. Nurses who already hold an MSN go through a gap analysis instead, with the concentration director reviewing transcripts to determine what coursework still applies.

Completing the concentration makes graduates eligible to sit for FNP certification through the ANCC or AANP, though LMU notes that RNs planning to practice outside Tennessee should confirm requirements with that state's board of nursing first. LMU lists tuition at $26,448, admits about 63% of applicants, and graduates 50% of them. Its Hakia Score of 75.8, built from those same numbers, places it at #4 on this list. The online-or-seated choice makes it a fit for a working RN who needs flexibility in how they attend rather than a single fixed format.

Lee University's DNP-FNP track (NGFNP.DNP) is built for BSN-prepared RNs, or MSN-prepared RNs without national APRN certification, who want to sit for board certification as a family nurse practitioner. Coursework runs mostly online, with annual on-campus intensive sessions for skill-building and simulation-lab immersion, and Lee helps arrange practicum placements near the student's home. The FNP track is currently open to residents of 22 states, including Tennessee, Florida, Illinois, and North Carolina.

Tuition runs $23,040, Lee admits 71% of applicants, and 63% of students graduate, feeding into a Hakia Score of 72.2. The DNP program carries accreditation from the Commission on Collegiate Nursing Education (CCNE), which keeps graduates eligible for national FNP certification and state licensure. It fits a working RN who wants a terminal DNP alongside FNP preparation rather than stopping at the master's level, and who can travel to campus once a year.

The math favors moving quickly: family nurse practitioners earn a national median of $132,300 a year versus $88,900 for a staff RN, a $43,400 annual jump. Against Lee's $23,040 tuition, that raise pays back the full cost of the DNP in about six months of FNP-level pay.

South College's MSN-FNP concentration runs fully online, with RN-MSN and BSN-MSN entry tracks for nurses who haven't finished a bachelor's yet or who already hold one. Core coursework covers advanced pathophysiology, advanced pharmacology, advanced health assessment, and evidence-based practice before the FNP concentration moves into primary care across the lifespan, with a stated emphasis on rural and underserved populations. Clinical practice experiences run alongside the online coursework, and graduates earn a postgraduate FNP certificate before pursuing specialty certification.

Tuition is $16,450, and 42% of South College students complete the program, factoring into a Hakia Score of 72.2. The program page doesn't list a formal admit rate or a specific CCNE or ACEN accreditation statement, so confirm current accreditation status directly with the school before applying, since it decides whether a graduate can sit for national FNP certification. At an enrollment of more than 11,500 students, South College fits an RN who wants maximum schedule flexibility and a fully online path from RN or BSN straight into FNP practice.

Set against $16,450 in tuition, the gap between a median $132,300 FNP salary and an $88,900 staff RN salary, $43,400 a year, would cover that cost in under five months of FNP-level pay, before counting South College's own scholarship and Yellow Ribbon options for veterans and military.

Carson-Newman's online MSN-FNP is a 46-credit program built around 660 to 690 total clinical hours, completed over about 32 months. Coursework is delivered online for the working RN, with a required three-day on-campus residency during the Health Assessment course and all other clinical experiences arranged locally, including placements in community nursing, women's health, pediatrics, and primary care. Carson-Newman also offers a Post-Master's FNP Certificate for nurses who already hold an MSN in another specialty.

Tuition is $34,700, Carson-Newman admits 90% of applicants, and 53% of students graduate, which feeds a Hakia Score of 69.7. The FNP program is accredited by the Commission on Collegiate Nursing Education (CCNE) and approved by the Tennessee Board of Nursing, keeping graduates eligible for national certification. Carson-Newman also states its tuition runs about $200 per credit hour below other FNP programs nationally and offers up to $20,500 a year in federal graduate loans, which it says covers the full cost of the program.

At $34,700 in total tuition, the gap between a median $132,300 FNP salary and an $88,900 staff RN salary, $43,400 a year, would repay that cost in about ten months of FNP-level pay, well within the program's 32-month timeline.

King University's MSN offers three concentrations, Nurse Leadership & Administration, Family Nurse Practitioner, and Psychiatric Mental Health Nurse Practitioner, and the FNP track is the only one of the three delivered in HyFlex format: a working RN can attend class in person, synchronously online, or asynchronously online in the same week. In-person sessions meet in Abingdon, Virginia, with one required in-person Intensive at the start of each semester, and the program builds in supervised clinical hours plus a service-learning project in a health clinic, school, or community program.

Tuition is $18,423, King admits 100% of applicants, and 48% of students graduate, producing a Hakia Score of 65.3. The FNP program page doesn't state a CCNE or ACEN accreditation status directly, so confirm it before enrolling, since accreditation decides whether a graduate can sit for national board certification. King's open admission and low student-to-faculty ratio suit a working RN who wants direct faculty access and maximum weekly scheduling flexibility rather than a fixed online-only cohort.

Against King's $18,423 tuition, the gap between a median $132,300 FNP salary and an $88,900 staff RN salary, $43,400 a year, would cover that cost in about five months of FNP-level pay.