2026 Most Affordable Online Family NP Programs (FNP)

Jobs in the nurse practitioner market are exploding and are expected to increase by 40 percent in the U.S. between 2024 and 2034, adding 128,400 jobs (BLS 2025). Family nurse practitioners must have at least an MSN to practice, and the requirement is moving toward a DNP.

Yet to access the expanded opportunities for practice and higher wages, nurses need to attend graduate programs, which can be costly, leading to increased student debt. To help avoid such high tuition costs, HealthcareDegree.com has compiled a list of the most affordable online family nurse practitioner programs, both by in-state and out-of-state tuition prices.

These rankings are based on tuition data HealthcareDegree.com collected from its sister site NPSchools.com in late 2025 from over 1,000 online nurse practitioner programs. Each list is ordered by the lowest in-state or out-of-state tuition price. Tuition information is as current as possible, being taken from the 2024-2025 or 2025-2026 school years as published by each school.

These family nurse practitioner program graduates are eligible to take the FNP certification exams through the American Nurses Credentialing Center (ANCC) or the American Association of Nurse Practitioners (AANP).

Check out the most affordable online FNP programs by the total cost of in-state tuition in 2026. All of this data was collected in late 2025 for our sister site, NPSchools.com. A list of the most affordable online FNP programs by the total cost of in-state tuition follows.

Following is a listing of the 20 most affordable out-of-state online FNP programs in 2026. For this listing, only out-of-state tuition is included.

Whether it’s the rising costs of education or the lack of time due to work and life responsibilities, earning a family nurse practitioner graduate degree may have seemed too expensive or a daunting proposition. These online FNP programs ranked by affordability can open up opportunities you might not have considered. Many are specifically designed so that working professionals can continue to work while advancing their education.

These online FNP programs can be convenient, affordable, and completed in 2.5 to three years on a part-time basis. Those attending full-time can even complete the programs more quickly. Note that DNP programs take about four years to complete part-time. With the tremendous need for nurse practitioners, these FNP programs can provide a career pathway without the burden of more expensive tuition.

Bernd Geels

Writer

Bernd Geels is a Berlin, Germany-based freelance writer and artist. He holds an undergraduate degree in atmospheric science and two graduate degrees. He completed his most recent graduate degree in international environmental studies at the Monterey Institute of International Studies in 2011. He is interested in healthcare, climate change, marine conservation, indigenous science and refugee issues.

Farheen Gani

Writer

Farheen Gani is a writer and research expert in healthcare degrees. She has written about healthcare career scholarships, audiologists, speech-language pathologists, and reproductive health specialists, among other topics, since 2019. She writes about healthcare, technology, education, and marketing. Her work has appeared on websites such as Tech in Asia and Foundr, as well as top SaaS blogs such as Zapier and InVision. You can connect with her on LinkedIn and Twitter (@FarheenGani).