CRNA Schools By State

CRNA School Search Made Simple

With 120+ accredited CRNA schools, we will help you find the schools that best fit your unique experience and educational background.

What are CRNA Schools / CRNA Programs?
They are highly specialized programs that train registered nurses to administer anesthesia to patients undergoing surgery. All students who begin such a program after January 1st, 2022 will be awarded a doctoral degree in nursing. Prior to this date, many CRNAs were awarded master’s degrees. Upon graduating the nurse anesthesia program, students must pass the NBCRNA before gaining the prestigious title of Certified Registered Nurse Anesthetist.

[convertkit_form form=”7173942″]

Why are CRNA Schools More Competitive than Before? 
There are more applicants to CRNA programs in 2022 than at any time in the last decade. Schools that had 100 applicants per year prior to Covid, now have 400, for the same number of spots in the program. There are three main factors that contribute to this:

1. 1. Low job satisfaction of bedside nurses (post-Covid nursing burnout)
   2. High job satisfaction of CRNAs
   3. High income of CRNAs. Annual salary of $202,470 (US Bureau of Labor Statistics, 2021)

To find CRNA Schools closest to you, click on a state below: 

 

CRNA Schools By State: Read This First

It shouldn’t be surprising to hear that CRNA programs are competitive. Some applicants are accepted into the first CRNA program they apply to, while others spend several years applying to 10+ schools before receiving their first acceptance letter.

But having the right information can give you an immense advantage when applying. You need to know what to look for in a program because they are not all the same.

Choosing the Right CRNA Schools

CRNA schools are similar enough that they each prepare you to administer anesthetics effectively to a wide range of patients. However, some distinctions are important to note. Here are the areas where their differences matter the most.

Acceptance Rate of CRNA Schools

The acceptance rate measures your likelihood of acceptance into a given program.

You may have heard by now about how competitive CRNA schools can be, and you may be surprised to learn how much it varies from school to school.

To find the acceptance rate of any school, divide class size by the number of qualified applicants (assuming the program only accepts one cohort per year). Keep in mind that when an applicant does not meet minimum requirements, their application is thrown out and does not count in this data.

So a school with 20 spots in the program and 100 qualified applicants would have an acceptance rate of 20% (20 / 100 = 20%), giving you a 20% or 1 in 5 chance of being accepted if you apply to this school.

The most competitive CRNA school in the US has an acceptance rate of 3%, while the least competitive CRNA school has an acceptance rate above 60%. The average acceptance rate for CRNA school prior to Covid was 20%. It is now lower than that. 

As you can imagine, which schools you apply to will significantly impact whether or not you are accepted. To find CRNA programs that are either most competitive or least competitive (depending on what you’re looking for) you can use our All CRNA Connect Search tool, the School Finder. 

Cost of CRNA Programs

Perhaps the highest cost of CRNA school is lost income. During the 36+ month program, you are either not allowed to work or discouraged from working. The programs are intense and demanding. Most people cannot handle the added stress of working at a job in addition to the 50-60 hours per week that is expected during a CRNA program.

The second-largest expense of CRNA school is the cost of tuition. For the sake of easy math and easy comparison, we’ve gone ahead and calculated the TOTAL tuition cost for every school; that way, you’re comparing apples with apples. The result? The average cost for a DNP degree in anesthesia in 2022 is $100,000.

For more information, check out CRNA Schools by Cost.

Attrition Rate at CRNA Schools

The CRNA school attrition rate shows the percentage of students who did NOT finish/graduate from the program. These students worked for five to ten years to become CRNA and never became CRNAs. They are still responsible for paying back their student loans, but they will do so on an RN salary, not a CRNA salary.

Some of these students leave their program voluntarily (because they changed their minds and no longer want to become CRNAs), but many go because they could not keep their grades high enough.

We see the attrition rate as a metric of how dedicated each program is to helping its students succeed and how careful the school is in selecting qualified applicants.

Attrition rates range from 0 to 28%. The average attrition rate at CRNA schools is 4%. Thankfully, more than 1/3 of CRNA programs have an attrition rate of zero.

Nurse Anesthetist Programs & NBCRNA First Time Pass Rate

At the end of CRNA school, there is a certification exam called the NBCRNA. It is to CRNA what the NCLEX is to RN. The test costs close to $1,000 and can be taken as many as four times a year. Since most who take the test eventually pass (even on their second or third try), we evaluate schools based on how many students pass the test on their first attempt.

First-time pass rates are a good indicator of how well each nurse anesthesia program prepares its students academically. By choosing a program with a higher first-time pass rate, you are more likely to feel confident in your knowledge of pharmacology, pathophysiology, and other anesthesia-related subjects by the time you graduate.

First-time pass rates range from 60% to 100%, and the average pass rate for the NBCRNA hovers around 85% from year to year.

CRNA Schools Accreditation

For a university or college to offer its students a degree in anesthesia, it must undergo a rigorous certification process through the COA (Council On Accreditation).

The COA provides a system of checks and balances so that students can graduate from any program in the US and have a reasonable expectation that they will have mastery of the skills needed to administer anesthesia safely to their patients throughout their careers.

Most programs are evaluated by the COA every ten years, which is the maximum amount of time given between reviews and signifies stable and fully-compliant programs. The range of years between evaluations is 4-10 years, with 9 being the average. 78% of CRNA programs are given the full ten years between assessments.

When a program is either new or struggling to maintain COA standards, the COA reviews it more frequently.

Comparing schools by the time between their accreditation reviews, you can quickly identify stable programs and those that may be struggling or new.

Eligibility Criteria for CRNA Schools

The standards for CRNA school admission are high. Before applying to a nurse anesthesia program, you must meet the following minimum requirements: 

1. BSN or MSN from an accredited college or university 

In place of a BSN, an ADN + BS in a related science is acceptable at 30+% of programs.

2. Minimum cumulative GPA of 3.0 

Exceptions: one program has a minimum requirement of 2.75 GPA, and ten students each year are accepted into a LEAP program, which allows for a 2.7 GPA and guarantees a spot in one of 5 specific CRNA programs. 

Additionally, there are some programs that look at overall GPA (rather than cumulative), so that if you have a recent graduate degree with a high GPA, that will be factored in and will favorably affect your chances of acceptance.

3. Current RN license in good standing

4. One year of recent critical care experience as an RN 

This experience should be in an ICU setting (large hospital/ level one or level two trauma center preferred). ER experience meets this critical care requirement at only 4% of programs and is not competitive on an application.

Additionally, most applicants have 2-3 years recent ICU experience, so the minimum of one year is often not competitive on an application.

5. CCRN (critical care registered nurse certification) is required or recommended by 70% of programs and is an essential step toward being a competitive applicant. 

6. Specific prerequisite classes:

Each program requires a different combination of prerequisite classes, and some programs require no prerequisites. The most commonly required courses are statistics and chemistry. 

Here is the complete list of classes which are required 95% of the time: Statistics, Chemistry (general, organic, inorganic, or bio), Anatomy, Physiology, Pathophysiology, Pharmacology, Physics, Microbiology, Research, Health Assessment.

If you’ve been out of school for 10+ years, you’re still eligible for 80% of the programs, as only 20% have a time limit on prerequisite classes. 

7. A GRE score is required by roughly 50% of programs, and an acceptable score tends to be at roughly the 50th percentile. 

8. Along with your application, you will need to submit: 

A personal statement essay about why you want to be a CRNA

2-3 letters of recommendation

Resume or CV

Transcripts from every college or university you’ve ever attended in the US

PALS, BSL, and ACLS as well as CCRN and any other relevant certificates 

RN license

GRE scores where required

Online CRNA Programs

Unlike most other advanced degrees, there are zero nurse anesthetist programs that are 100% online. This is due to the highly hands-on nature of the clinical education. However, when you know how the parts of your CRNA education break down, you’ll be able to choose a program that’s as close to online as possible.

1. 1. Didactic CRNA training (classroom/ book learning)
   2. DNP curriculum (classroom/ book learning)
   3. Clinical Education (simulation labs and in-person hospital training)

Each of these sections (if separated from one another) is roughly 12 months. However, most programs integrate these segments to create a balanced course load.

Knowing this, you can know with certainty that at least 12 months of your education will be in person, regardless of which school you choose. As for the remaining 24 months, you will find programs that offer a combination of face to face, distance learning, online learning, and a hybrid of all three.

If you’re looking for programs where you can complete the didactic (classroom) portion in your slippers, you’ll want to look for distance learning. Why?

Distance learning = programs you can complete from a distance (not on campus)

Online learning = is often used as a tool to supplement in-class learning

 

A little over 10% of programs do not include Face to Face learning in their didactic portion. These are the programs you’d want to look into if you’re looking for an online CRNA program.

List of CRNA Schools by State