Troy University's academic calendar for nursing students
Troy University runs two calendars side by side: 16-week semesters and 9-week terms. Graduate nursing (the MSN, the DNP and the Accelerated MSN) is written in semesters, the online RN to BSN runs on terms, and every clinical hour has to fall inside the dates of a course you are enrolled in.
Work back from your next start date
Tell us your program and the semester or term your next clinical course begins.
Semesters or terms: which one you are on
Troy's Help Desk explains the split. Term courses run 9 weeks, five times a year, through the Montgomery and Dothan campuses, TROY locations and online. Semester courses run 16 weeks, three times a year, mainly on the Troy campus with a limited number offered elsewhere. Each nursing program sits on one side or the other.
| Program | Calendar | What Troy says |
|---|---|---|
| MSN (FNP, HINL) and post-master's certificates | Semesters: Fall, Spring, Summer | MSN manual; full time is 9 SH in Fall or Spring and 6 SH in Summer |
| DNP, every route | Semesters | DNP manual; planners for fall, spring or summer starts |
| Accelerated MSN (Dothan) | Four consecutive semesters | AMSN manual: Fall 2026, Spring 2027, Summer 2027, Fall 2027 |
| RN to BSN (online) | 9-week terms, five a year | RN to BSN page and 2025-26 degree map |
| BSN and ASN | Semesters | Degree planners; the BSN clinical sequence is five semesters |
One point Troy leaves open: its pages do not say outright which calendar online graduate NSG courses follow. The Help Desk calls semesters mainly a Troy-campus format, while the catalog's nursing wording is semester-based. Check your course's first and last days in Canvas and with course faculty before you give a preceptor any dates.
2026-27 semester dates Troy has posted
These are the semester dates listed on Troy's academic calendar page in late September 2026. Calendars can change, so recheck the page before you commit a preceptor to a date.
| Semester | Classes begin | Last day to register (full refund) | Last day to drop without academic penalty | Last official day |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fall 2026 | Under way | Passed | October 19, 2026 | December 9, 2026 |
| Spring 2027 | January 13, 2027 | January 19, 2027 | March 22, 2027 | May 12, 2027 |
| Summer 2027 | May 24, 2027 | June 1, 2027 | July 5, 2027 | July 21, 2027 |
| Fall 2027 | August 11, 2027 | Not yet posted | Not yet posted | Not yet posted |
Spring break starts March 15, 2027, and classes resume March 22, 2027, for semester courses and between Term 3 and Term 4. Commencement is listed for December 11, 2026 at Troy and December 14, 2026 at Montgomery; May 14, 2027 at Troy and May 24, 2027 at Montgomery; and July 23, 2027 at Troy for all locations.
2026-27 term dates for the RN to BSN
The online RN to BSN runs on 9-week terms, and each of its three preceptorships (NSG 3310, then NSG 4411, then NSG 4431) sits inside a single term. Nine weeks leaves little room to start a preceptor search after the term opens, so the program's own preceptor form, its Preceptor Information and Acknowledgement Form kept in Canvas and approved by lead faculty, is best settled before the first day.
| Term | Classes begin | Last day to register (full refund) | Last day to drop without academic penalty | Last official day |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Term 1 2026 | Under way | Passed | Passed | October 11, 2026 |
| Term 2 2026 | October 12, 2026 | October 19, 2026 | November 20, 2026 | December 13, 2026 |
| Term 3 2027 | January 11, 2027 | January 19, 2027 | February 19, 2027 | March 14, 2027 |
| Term 4 2027 | March 22, 2027 | March 29, 2027 | April 30, 2027 | May 23, 2027 |
| Term 5 2027 | May 24, 2027 | June 1, 2027 | July 5, 2027 | July 25, 2027 |
| Term 1 2027 | August 9, 2027 | Not yet posted | Not yet posted | Not yet posted |
The course order for each admission term is on the RN to BSN page.
When clinical courses run in the graduate programs
The MSN manual sets the FNP pattern: each FNP-specific course is offered once a year in a fixed order, clinical courses fill every semester but summer, and NSG 6619 belongs to Fall. A Fall start makes five semesters the minimum, a Spring or Summer start stretches it, and FNP students admitted conditionally follow a part-time plan with eight semesters as the stated finish. The likely full-time order of the four FNP practicums is laid out on clinical hours by program.
The DNP manual is less settled. For FNP-track students, one passage says clinical courses are taken every term except the first fall semester, which for a fall starter would push NSG 6619 to the second fall; another passage says clinical courses run every semester except summer. Nurse Leader clinical courses begin in the spring of the first year, full-time students are encouraged to start in fall, and post-master's students begin full-time enrollment in the fall.
Take the two DNP readings to the DNP Coordinator and compare them with the planner in the DNP Student Organization course in Canvas. MSN and DNP applications close on July 1 for a fall start, November 1 for spring and May 1 for summer.
Dates that decide your preceptor paperwork
The drop date on the calendar doubles as a preceptor deadline. Troy's MSN manual sets the NSG 6619 form deadline at the no-penalty drop date, and the DNP manual applies that same date to every clinical course. If your course follows the semester dates above, that is October 19, 2026 for Fall 2026 and March 22, 2027 for Spring 2027. Other MSN clinical courses allow one month from the first day of class; both rules are compared on form deadlines.
Registration dates matter as well. Troy wants a didactic course and its paired preceptorship entered in one Student Self-Service submission, and the calendar's last day to register for Spring 2027 is January 19, 2027.
Graduation applications are filed through Self-Service by the posted deadlines: November 6, 2026 for Spring 2027 or Term 3, January 15, 2027 for Term 4, and April 2, 2027 for Summer 2027 or Term 5. The last day to change an Incomplete also sits on the calendar, and those dates are on incompletes, withdrawal and time limits.
For NSG 6619 and for every DNP clinical course, the calendar's no-penalty drop date is also the day your preceptor forms are due.
Breaks and the edges of each course
Clinical hours count only inside the dates of the course you are enrolled in, and Troy's MSN manual allows no clinicals during semester breaks. For semester courses that makes the stretch between December 9, 2026 and January 13, 2027 dead time for clinicals, however willing your preceptor is.
Spring break is less clear-cut. Troy's manuals speak of semester breaks, not the spring break week inside a semester, so ask course faculty before you schedule preceptor days between March 15 and March 22, 2027.
Plan the end of the course too. Hours after the last official day fall outside the course, so a preceptor who goes on leave in the final weeks can leave you short with no time to recover. Build your clinical schedule form with a margin, tell faculty at once about any change, and see clinical schedule and site visits for how Troy handles both.
Why Troy students plan around the calendar with us
Every Troy clinical course has a first day, a form deadline and a last official day, and a preceptor has to fit between them. We start from those dates and work backward: when the preceptor must say yes, when the forms must reach your faculty advisor, and how many weeks of hours remain after clearance.
For semester students that means a confirmed preceptor well before the drop date or the one-month mark. For RN to BSN students on 9-week terms it means having the preceptor settled before the term opens. We prepare what the forms need, flag agencies that will need a new formal contract, and keep a replacement in view if a preceptor steps away late in the course.
Faculty at Troy decide on each preceptor and setting; we see to it that the paperwork they open is complete and right from the start. Tell us your next start date through the contact page or the form below.
Questions Troy students ask
When does Troy's Spring 2027 semester start?
Troy's academic calendar lists January 13, 2027 as the first day of 16-week Spring 2027 classes, with March 22, 2027 as the final day to drop with no academic penalty and May 12, 2027 as the last official day. The 9-week Term 3 begins a little earlier, on January 11, 2027. Check the calendar page again before you plan clinical days.
Does Troy's online MSN run on 9-week terms?
Troy's MSN and DNP manuals describe graduate nursing in semesters, with Fall, Spring and Summer and full-time loads set per semester. The Help Desk says online term courses run 9 weeks, but Troy's pages do not state outright which calendar online NSG courses follow. Your Canvas course and course faculty give the dates that apply to you.
Can I do clinical hours between semesters at Troy?
No. Under Troy's MSN manual, a clinical hour has to sit within a course you are registered in, and the weeks between semesters are off limits. Time in the Fall-to-Spring or Spring-to-Summer gap is not counted, however keen your approved preceptor is to host you. Plan your preceptor's schedule inside each course's dates.
What counts as full time in Troy's graduate nursing programs?
Troy's MSN manual defines full time as 9 semester hours in a Fall or Spring semester and 6 in Summer. The FNP's clinical courses also skip summer, so a full-time FNP student's summer carries non-clinical courses rather than a practicum. DNP planners exist for both full-time and part-time study, with fall, spring or summer starts.
Related pages
Last checked 2026-09-27
We check these pages against Troy's own 2026-27 MSN, DNP, AMSN and RN to BSN orientation manuals, program pages, degree maps and state authorization pages. Your faculty advisor, your course faculty and the School of Nursing have the final word.
Troy asks you to recruit your preceptor. We make that the easy part.
Tell us your Troy program, where you live and which semester your next clinical course starts. We find preceptors who meet Troy's rules for the course, check the setting against Troy's limits, and prepare everything the Preceptor Information Form and biosketch ask for, well ahead of the form deadline.
- Preceptors matched to the course: a graduate-prepared NP or physician for
NSG 6619, pediatrics and women's health forNSG 6666, adults and older adults forNSG 6668 - Preceptor Information Form details, a biosketch and a copy of the preceptor's license, ready for your faculty advisor
- In your own area, in Alabama or a state where Troy can offer clinicals, never in your own work setting
Start your placement plan
Program, city and semester is all we need to begin.