YSU's 7-week practicum terms: one practicum, one term, in order
At Youngstown State University, FNP and AGACNP students take their five practicums one at a time, one per 7-week term, and each opens only after a B or better in the one before. The graduate handbook also keeps didactic courses out of any term that holds a practicum. That turns the practicum stretch into a chain in which a late preceptor, a C or an Incomplete moves every later term, so here are the rules, what a setback does, and how to plan five preceptors in a row.
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Tell us your YSU program and where you live. A placement advisor replies with preceptor and site options in your community that fit your YSU course.
Four rules that shape each practicum term
YSU's catalog, graduate handbook and online FAQ each supply part of the structure. Together they fix the order of your practicums and what else you may take alongside them.
- One at a time. The FAQ says clinical practicum courses must be taken one at a time and completed in succession.
- In order. Each practicum's catalog prerequisite is the one before it with a B or better, from
NURS 7061throughNURS 7065and fromNURS 7071throughNURS 7075. - A B or better. Progress requires at least a B in each required MSN course under the handbook; the catalog adds that a grade of C or below means retaking the course, and only one retake is allowed.
- No didactic course alongside. Under the handbook, once you reach the specialty courses you carry one per term, which by itself makes you full time, and no didactic course may share a practicum's term.
The first practicum has its own gate. NURS 7061 requires NURS 7047 with a B or better, and NURS 7071 requires NURS 7037, NURS 7039 and NURS 7041, each with a B or better. Neither can start unless your compliance documents reached Exxat at least 30 days before and your preceptor carries YSU's approval. The acute care sequence is covered in the AGACNP practicums guide.
How the 7-week terms fall in 2026-27
YSU's accelerated online calendar splits each semester into two 7-week terms. The gaps between them are uneven, and one is a single day, which matters when one preceptor hands off to the next. Full dates, holidays and deadlines are on the academic calendar page.
| Term | Begins | Ends | Next term begins |
|---|---|---|---|
| Fall 2026, first 7 weeks | Aug 24 | Oct 11 | 8 days later (Oct 19) |
| Fall 2026, second 7 weeks | Oct 19 | Dec 6 | 29 days later (Jan 4) |
| Spring 2027, first 7 weeks | Jan 4 | Feb 21 | 15 days later (Mar 8) |
| Spring 2027, second 7 weeks | Mar 8 | Apr 25 | 15 days later (May 10) |
| Summer 2027, first 7 weeks | May 10 | June 27 | 1 day later (June 28) |
| Summer 2027, second 7 weeks | June 28 | Aug 14 | Next academic year |
The online program pages list four entry points, two each in fall and spring, and none in summer, while the catalog calendar includes two summer terms. Which terms your practicums land in is set by your curriculum plan, posted under Getting Started in YSU's graduate nursing orientation module on Blackboard.
When a practicum ends in a C, an Incomplete or a withdrawal
Earning a C or below sends you back into the same course, and because the next practicum needs a B in this one, every later practicum slides back at least one term (our reading of the prerequisites). Each required course can be retaken once, and the handbook allows no more than two such retakes in the MSN.
An Incomplete halts progress as well; under the handbook, an I in any required graduate nursing course keeps you out of the courses that follow it. The catalog allows an I only after more than 60 percent of a course is done with satisfactory work, when the delay stems from circumstances outside your control that the instructor accepts, and an I left unfinished becomes an F. Completion deadlines are March 1 for fall courses and October 1 for summer; for spring, the handbook says July 1 and the catalog September 1.
Older advice no longer applies. The 2022-23 handbook gave FNP students with unfinished hours a PR grade and seven more weeks to reach 600; the 2026-27 handbook has no such provision. Each term's calendar also sets a last day to withdraw with a W, and a withdrawn practicum must still be passed with a B before its successor can start. The grades and time limits guide has the full policies.
Longer gaps, loaned equipment and the clock
Stepping away costs more than a term. Miss two or more 7-week terms in a row and the handbook may require an individualized remediation plan before you resume. Stay out of practicum courses for longer than a year (the handbook's figure is 12 consecutive months) and every completed practicum has to be taken again, with the earlier hours no longer applied toward graduation.
Two smaller rules can also hold up the sequence. Equipment borrowed from a clinical site goes back on your last day there; if it does not, you cannot move on to the next practicum, and after the final practicum YSU places a graduation hold. Finally, the handbook gives you 48 months from first enrollment to finish the MSN (the graduate catalog allows six years), with a leave of absence not pausing the school's four-year clock.
Planning five preceptors back to back
YSU wants each preceptor's details two months before the practicum starts. With 7-week terms, the deadline for the next practicum arrives around the time the current one begins. The table shows one example, five practicums in consecutive 2026-27 terms starting in Fall 2. Your own terms may differ, and whether practicums run in the summer terms depends on your curriculum plan.
| Practicum | Term | Starts | Preceptor details due | Where that falls |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Fall 2026, second 7 weeks | Oct 19 | Aug 19 | Before the Fall 1 term opens |
| 2 | Spring 2027, first 7 weeks | Jan 4 | Nov 4 | Week 3 of Practicum 1 |
| 3 | Spring 2027, second 7 weeks | Mar 8 | Jan 8 | Week 1 of Practicum 2 |
| 4 | Summer 2027, first 7 weeks | May 10 | Mar 10 | Week 1 of Practicum 3 |
| 5 | Summer 2027, second 7 weeks | June 28 | Apr 28 | Between Practicums 3 and 4 |
Put simply, you are always at least one preceptor ahead of the practicum you are in. YSU's FAQ adds a 90-day notice to the Graduate Clinical Coordinator for any student still without a preceptor, which pulls the working deadline earlier still; the approval timeline counts it out.
How we keep the chain moving
- Map your terms at admissionFrom your curriculum plan we list the terms your five practicums fall in and count back to each two-month deadline, so every date is known before the first one arrives.
- Stay a preceptor or two aheadDuring each practicum, the preceptor for the following term gets confirmed and the search for the one after it is already open, each matched to what that course asks for.
- Fit each preceptor to the courseFNP courses get primary care preceptors and AGACNP courses acute care ones, never on your own unit or under your own supervisor, each with clinic days that can carry the term's hours.
- Cover a preceptor who dropsIf a preceptor steps away mid-term, a replacement search starts right away; the preceptor drop guide covers what to tell YSU.
Start with the form below: tell us your track and the term your next practicum opens.
Questions YSU students ask
Can I take two YSU practicums in one 7-week term to catch up?
No. YSU's FAQ says practicum courses are taken one at a time, and each practicum's catalog prerequisite is the previous one with a B or better, so the second cannot open until the first is graded. Catching up happens inside a term, through extra clinic days arranged with your preceptor.
Can I take the Capstone in the same term as my last practicum?
YSU's FNP page lets NURS 7005 share a term with NURS 7065 or follow it one term later, and the catalog lists the final practicum as a prerequisite or corequisite. The handbook's ban on combining practicum and didactic work in one term is worded differently, so confirm with your advisor; the Capstone guide weighs both options.
Can I skip one term between practicums?
YSU's public sources do not forbid a single-term pause, but they attach costs to longer ones: two or more consecutive 7-week terms away may bring a remediation plan, and more than 12 months away from practicum courses means repeating all of them. Any pause also uses part of the handbook's 48-month limit.
Do Nursing Education practicums follow the same one-per-term rule?
The rules above come from the NP context: the FAQ's one-at-a-time answer and a handbook enrollment section written around the NP programs' seven-week format. Nursing Education lists the same four 7-week starts, and the catalog gives NURS 7022 and NURS 7023 identical prerequisites. See the Nurse Educator practicums guide.
Related pages
Last checked 2026-09-26
We check these pages against YSU's own catalog, graduate handbook, online program pages and FAQ, and Ohio rules. Your clinical faculty, the Graduate Clinical Coordinator and your advisor have the final word.
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Tell us your YSU track, where you live and when your next practicum starts. We find preceptors near you who fit the practicum, check YSU's rules and hand you what the preceptor request needs, two months ahead, with the next term's preceptor already in view.
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NURS 7061toNURS 7065, acute care for AGACNPNURS 7071toNURS 7075 - Outside your own unit and away from your supervisor, in a state YSU accepts
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