Graduate certificates in Nursing Education and Nursing Leadership at UofM
Alongside its NP certificates, the Loewenberg College of Nursing offers a Nursing Education graduate certificate of 15 credits and a Nursing Leadership certificate of 21. Each keeps its MSN concentration's two precepted immersions, together 360 hours, inside a plan of three or four terms. Whatever role UofM plays in your placement, each immersion gets a preceptor and site from us that meet the college's rules.
Plan your certificate immersions
Say which certificate, which start term and where you live. A placement advisor answers with preceptors and sites timed to your plan.
Two certificates, side by side
Coursework for both certificates is online, both admit students in fall and spring, and both reuse the exact immersion courses of the matching MSN concentration. The precepted work is therefore identical to the MSN's even though the credit load is lighter.
| Feature | Nursing Education | Nursing Leadership |
|---|---|---|
| Credits | 15 | 21 |
| Plan length | 3 terms from fall, 4 from spring | 3 terms from fall, 4 from spring |
| Immersion courses | NURS 7207 (120 hours) and NURS 7209 (240 hours) | NURS 7917 (120 hours) and NURS 7919 (240 hours) |
| First immersion | Term 2 after a fall start, term 4 after a spring start | Term 1 after a fall start, term 2 after a spring start |
| Season of the first immersion | Spring | Fall |
| Catalog grade wording | B in all clinical and lab courses | B in all courses |
The Leadership certificate's 21 credits match the size of the MSN's leadership block. The Education certificate's catalog entry adds a science requirement: advanced assessment, pharmacology and pathophysiology, met through NURS 7105 and NURS 7106 or the NP-track sequence NURS 7101 through NURS 7104. Ask admissions whether graduate coursework you already hold covers it.
The Education certificate and its crowded spring plan
From a fall start, the Education certificate keeps the MSN's rhythm: Immersion 1 in the spring of your first year, then the residency in a later term. The spring-start plan is unusual. It moves from a term labeled two to one labeled four, with no term three printed, and schedules NURS 7207 and NURS 7209 together in that last spring term.
Add the bulletin's bar on education students reusing an earlier clinical site for the residency, and a spring starter could owe 360 hours at two separate sites, with two separate educator preceptors, in a single semester. Before choosing a spring start, check with the track coordinator for Education and Leadership that this plan is still current and how the two immersions are meant to share the term.
Our education immersions guide covers what each immersion asks of a preceptor and why the second site has to be new.
The Leadership certificate: a fall immersion almost at once
On every published Leadership certificate plan, Immersion I (NURS 7917) is a fall course. A fall starter takes it in term one, the same semester classes begin; a spring starter takes it in term two. For a fall start, that means an approved preceptor, a cleared preceptor agreement form and current compliance items before the opening week.
The residency, NURS 7919, adds 240 hours later in the plan. Leadership students may return to a site they used before when the preceptor qualifications are met, so one well-chosen organization can host both immersions and the residency can build on relationships from the first 120 hours.
The leadership immersions guide explains what UofM says about a qualified leadership preceptor and how the two courses connect.
Hours: 360 on the course list, gaps in the tables
Each certificate's pair of immersions totals 360 hours, just as in its MSN counterpart. The LCON Academic Bulletin's hours tables are less consistent. In the current edition, the Leadership certificate table lists the same two courses as the MSN but leaves the total blank. The 2025-26 edition's MSN tables for both concentrations printed 500 as a program total beside 360 specialty hours.
UofM publishes nothing that explains the 500, and nothing that fills the Leadership blank. Work from the 360 your courses list, and settle any doubt with the Education and Leadership track coordinator before the first immersion term. The clinical hours overview sets these numbers beside every other UofM program. Because UofM's public pages name no hour-logging system, keep your own record of dates, sites and hours for each immersion as well.
Grades and re-entry: where certificates differ from the MSN
All of UofM's sources set a B as the floor for practicum courses, which makes it the safe rule for both certificates. The catalog words it differently for each: the Education certificate ties the B to clinical and lab courses, while the Leadership certificate applies it to every course.
Practicum rules carry straight over from the MSN. A practicum and its didactic companion are taken in the same semester and repeated together. A course's hours take seven weeks at the least, clinical faculty receive your schedule by Monday of the second week, and no clinical day happens without their prior approval.
One rule is kinder to certificate students. After an academic disqualification, UofM allows a new application to a graduate certificate after one year, against three years for the MSN. The grades and progression guide lists what triggers disqualification.
Applying and staying ready for clinicals
Certificate applicants work to the MSN's deadlines, July 1 ahead of fall and December 1 ahead of spring. UofM's pages disagree on when the fall window opens, so work to the deadline rather than the opening date.
Licensing follows the MSN rule: an RN license without restrictions, from Tennessee or from an approved state where the immersions happen, with California excluded from LCON's distance education reach. Ahead of each immersion term, finish your DISA Complio record and HealthStream myClinicalExchange items, among them the yearly background check and a drug screen taken in the 30 days leading up to that term. Our Complio guide walks through each requirement.
UofM's published on-campus intensive schedule is written for the nurse practitioner tracks and lists no session for these two certificates. Confirm with your advisor if you are unsure.
Why certificate students choose us
A three- or four-term certificate leaves little slack, and we plan to its calendar from the day you contact us. With or without UofM's help on placement, we deliver preceptors and sites that fit each certificate's rules.
- Education: two educator sites planned together, ready for a same-term spring plan if yours has one.
- Leadership: a nurse leader confirmed before your first fall term, with an early check on hosting the residency.
- Each preceptor's license, credentials and role written up for the preceptor agreement form, the site's details included.
- Complio and myClinicalExchange items tracked against each immersion term.
- A new preceptor sought at once if anyone withdraws.
Each preceptor and site is decided at UofM, by clinical faculty and the partnerships office. Our role is a complete file, built to LCON's rules, so their review can move straight to a decision. Start with the form below, or read our process first.
Questions UofM students ask
How is the Nursing Education certificate different from the MSN?
The certificate carries 15 credits against the MSN's 31, and both include the same two immersions, NURS 7207 and NURS 7209, for 360 hours. The MSN's larger total includes a 12-credit core shared by all five concentrations. Certificate plans run three or four terms, while the MSN takes four full time and five or six part time.
Do certificate immersions carry the same hours as the MSN's?
Yes. The certificates use the MSN's own immersion courses, so the hours match: 120 in the first immersion and 240 in the residency on either track. The approval steps match as well, starting with the preceptor agreement form, which LCON's partnerships office must clear ahead of day one.
Can I start the Nursing Leadership certificate in spring?
Yes. Both certificates take new students in fall and in spring; spring applications are due December 1. A spring starter on the Leadership plan reaches Immersion I in term two, which is a fall term, so the months in between give you room to find a nurse leader preceptor and clear compliance.
Can I reapply after being disqualified from a certificate?
Yes, after one year. For the MSN the wait is three years. Grounds for disqualification include a GPA that stays below 3.0 and a grade below B on a repeated course. Your advisor can explain how the rule would apply to your record.
Are UofM's Education and Leadership certificates approved in Tennessee?
The Tennessee Board of Nursing's school list shows UofM's MSN program tracks and post-master's certificates with full approval, and SACSCOC reaffirmed the university's accreditation in December 2025. CCNE's certificate listing covers post-graduate APRN certificates, the nurse practitioner kind. The accreditation guide sorts out which body covers what.
Related pages
Last checked 2026-09-27
We check these pages against UofM's 2026-27 catalog, the LCON Academic Bulletin, program pages and licensure disclosures. Your clinical faculty and your plan of study have the final word.
Whether UofM helps or you start alone, we find the preceptor.
Tell us your UofM concentration, your next practicum and the town you train near. We find preceptors and sites that fit the course and prepare what the preceptor agreement form needs, early enough for approval before the first clinical day.
- Preceptors matched to the rotation rules: an NP preceptor, family practice for FNP, inpatient and critical care for AG-ACNP
- License, certification and site details ready for the preceptor agreement form, with your Complio items in order
- Across the Mid-South, Tennessee and the states UofM serves
Start your placement plan
Your concentration, your town and your next clinical semester is all we need to begin.