Georgia Southern University offers 2 acute care nurse practitioner tracks:
- Post-BSN to DNP AGACNP, with an MSN exit at 43 credits
- Post-Master’s Certificate AGACNP
Program Tracks Overview
| Program | Est. Tuition | Est. Duration | Credit Hours |
|---|---|---|---|
| MSN Exit AGACNP | $12.3K | About 2 years (6 semesters) | 43 |
| BSN-DNP AGACNP | $23.0K | About 4 years (12 semesters) | 80 |
| Certificate | $5.5K | 1 year (3 semesters) | 19 |
Tuition is calculated rather than published, and the two DNP durations are derived.
The Post-BSN to DNP builds in an MSN exit at 43 credits that carries national certification eligibility, and students who take it have four years to return for the doctoral courses. Georgia Southern cannot enroll residents of 14 states, and clinical rotations happen only in Georgia or South Carolina.
Quick Facts
| Feature | Details |
|---|---|
| Program Types | Post-BSN to DNP with MSN exit; post-master’s certificate |
| Population Focus | Adult-Gerontology Acute Care (AGACNP) |
| Format | Mostly Online |
| Campus Visits | None published; selected online courses schedule live sessions |
| Clinical Hours | 720 in the specialty sequence; 1,350 total for the full DNP |
| Clinical Placement | Student-secured preceptors, Georgia or South Carolina only |
| RN Experience | One year of critical care employment, required on both tracks |
| License Requirements | Active Georgia or South Carolina RN license, or eNLC compact license |
| Start Terms | Fall only, March 1 deadline |
| Tuition | About $287 per credit, same rate for residents and non-residents |
| Certification | ANCC AGACNP-BC |
| Accreditation | CCNE, covering the DNP and the post-graduate APRN certificate |
| State Restrictions | Residents of 14 states cannot enroll |
Requirements Shared Across All Tracks
Clinical Requirements
- Specialty clinical hours: 720, made up of 180 hours in each of the three acute care clinical courses, 90 in the capstone, and 90 in the advanced health assessment clinical
- Doctoral practice hours: 630 applied clinical hours in the doctoral sequence, for 1,350 hours post-BSN
- Certificate hours: no clock-hour total published; the gap analysis sets the requirement
- Placement states: Georgia or South Carolina only, because the School of Nursing supervises placements in no other state
- Certificate radius: preceptors within 250 miles of the Statesboro campus in Georgia, while the licensure disclosure separately allows Georgia or South Carolina sites
- Preceptor sourcing: students locate and secure their own preceptors
- Insurance: RN malpractice coverage at $1 million per incident and $3 million aggregate, plus student NP coverage before any clinical course
- CPR: American Heart Association or Red Cross Level C two-person BLS
You should know: Georgia Southern publishes no clock-hour total for the certificate. Hours depend on which specialty courses the gap analysis leaves in place, so a candidate cannot confirm the clinical load before the program director reviews the transcript.
Campus Requirements
- Campus visits: none published for either track
- Live sessions: most coursework is asynchronous, with real-time meetings scheduled in selected online courses
RN Experience and Licensure
- General experience: one year of full-time RN clinical employment before starting Advanced Health Assessment
- Critical care experience: one year required for the AGACNP track on both pathways
- Recency: the certificate requires that critical care year to fall within the last three years; the DNP requirements state no recency limit
- License at application: Georgia or multistate license for the DNP, proof of Georgia licensure for the certificate
- License at enrollment: active Georgia or South Carolina license, or an eNLC compact license
Be aware: Georgia Southern cannot enroll students residing in Alabama, Arizona, Colorado, Idaho, Louisiana, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, South Dakota, Tennessee, or Washington.
Students elsewhere outside Georgia and South Carolina may take only the didactic portion. They must attest before enrolling that they will complete clinical hours and seek initial APRN licensure in Georgia or South Carolina.
Post-BSN to DNP AGACNP
The estimated tuition for the Post-BSN to DNP AGACNP program is approximately $22,960 (80 credits at $287 per credit). The program can generally be completed in about four years of year-round study.
The 43-credit MSN exit is reached at roughly two years and costs approximately $12,341. Both durations are derived from the 43-credit and 80-credit totals at a year-round pace of about seven credits per semester; the doctoral portion is published as a six-semester sequence.
DNP Curriculum
- NURS 8431: Adult and Gerontology Acute Care I (3 credits)
- NURS 8727: Adult and Gerontology Acute Care Clinical I (2 credits, 180 hours)
- NURS 8432: Adult and Gerontology Acute Care II (3 credits)
- NURS 8728: Adult and Gerontology Acute Care Clinical II (2 credits, 180 hours)
- NURS 8433: Adult and Gerontology Acute Care III (3 credits)
- NURS 8729: Adult and Gerontology Acute Care Clinical III (2 credits, 180 hours)
- NURS 8520: Capstone Practice and Professional Issues (2 credits, 90 hours)
- NURS 7710: Advanced Health Assessment Clinical (1 credit)
- Core coursework: 16 graduate core credits and 10 advanced practice core credits
- Doctoral sequence: 37 credits over six semesters, including three clinical project courses and 9 elective credits
More curriculum details are available here.
You should know: Georgia Southern’s program page states 80 credit hours to completion, which matches 43 specialty credits plus the current 37-credit doctoral sequence. A figure of 77 credits circulates on third-party listings and reflects an older 34-credit doctoral core.
The MSN exit carries certification eligibility on its own. Students may leave after the specialty courses with an MSN and sit for national certification. Those who opt out have four years to return and finish the doctoral courses.
DNP Admissions
- Degree: BSN with a minimum 3.0 undergraduate GPA
- Prerequisite coursework: undergraduate health assessment and statistics, each with a C or better
- Application: College of Graduate Studies application with a $50 fee and three professional recommendations
- Interview: a phone interview may be required
- Testing: the admission requirements do not list the GRE, though the general application instructions on the same page mention GRE scores
- Deadline: March 1 for the fall cohort, the only entry term
- Health compliance: Georgia Southern Health Services form and School of Nursing health appraisal forms
Post-Master’s Certificate AGACNP
The estimated tuition for the Post-Master’s Certificate AGACNP program is approximately $5,453 (19 credits at $287 per credit). The program can be completed in as few as three semesters.
Certificate Curriculum
The graduate program director performs a gap analysis of the applicant’s master’s coursework and builds an individualized plan of study. The specialty courses and clinical requirements are the same AGACNP sequence used in the DNP pathway.
You should know: 19 credits is the published minimum, not a fixed total. An applicant whose master’s degree lacks recent pharmacology, pathophysiology, or advanced assessment content will be assigned those courses on top of the specialty sequence.
Certificate Admissions
- Degree: MSN from an NLN- or CCNE-accredited program with a minimum 3.0 GPA
- Current credential: national certification as a nurse practitioner, clinical nurse specialist, CRNA, or nurse midwife
- Pharmacology recency: the prior pharmacology course cannot be more than five years old
- Prerequisite coursework: undergraduate statistics and health appraisal or physical assessment, each with a C or better
- Licensure: proof of Georgia RN licensure submitted with the application
- Testing: neither the GRE nor the MAT is required
- Application: $50 application fee, three recommendations, and a resume or CV
- Deadline: March 1 for the fall cohort
You should know: graduates of non-APRN master’s programs cannot enter the certificate or the Post-MSN DNP at all. Their route is transfer credit into the Post-BSN to DNP, which is a substantially longer and more expensive path to the same certification.
Tuition
Fully online graduate students pay approximately $287 per credit hour, and the rate is identical for Georgia residents and non-residents. That figure is derived from the published 2026-2027 fully online graduate tuition of $6,888 for two semesters at 12 credits each.
| Program | Credits | Estimated Tuition |
|---|---|---|
| MSN Exit AGACNP | 43 | $12,341 |
| BSN to DNP AGACNP | 80 | $22,960 |
| Post-Master’s Certificate | 19 | $5,453 |
Mandatory university fees run $1,448 per academic year for fully online Statesboro graduate students. Those fees are billed by term rather than by credit, so a student stretching a pathway over more semesters pays more of them. The application fee is $50.
The certificate estimate assumes the published 19-credit minimum. Current rates are on the Bursar’s tuition and fees page.
Financial aid
The School of Nursing lists nursing-specific scholarships alongside general graduate aid, and Georgia Southern publishes no acute-care-specific award. Details are on the financial aid page.
Why Choose This ACNP Program?
- MSN exit at 43 credits. A student can leave with a master’s degree and certification eligibility, then take up to four years to come back for the doctoral courses.
- One rate for everyone. The fully online graduate tuition rate does not change with residency, so an out-of-state applicant pays what a Georgia resident pays.
- Critical care employment is a hard entry condition on both pathways, which means cohorts arrive with ICU or comparable background rather than building it during the program.
- Clinical geography. Rotations happen in Georgia or South Carolina only, and certificate students are further limited to sites within 250 miles of Statesboro.
The certificate suits an already-certified APRN adding acute care. The Post-BSN to DNP suits a critical care RN who wants the doctorate but values a certification-eligible exit at the midpoint. Either path works only for someone who can reach a Georgia or South Carolina clinical site.
Accreditation and Certification
The baccalaureate, master’s, and Doctor of Nursing Practice programs at Georgia Southern University are accredited by the Commission on Collegiate Nursing Education, and so is the post-graduate APRN certificate program. That last item matters for certificate applicants, because ANCC requires the certificate program itself to hold accreditation for the graduate to sit the exam.
Georgia Southern University is institutionally accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges.
The population focus on both tracks is adult-gerontology acute care. Graduates sit for the ANCC Adult-Gerontology Acute Care Nurse Practitioner exam and are credentialed AGACNP-BC.
The School of Nursing states that its coursework qualifies graduates for the AGACNP board examinations used in all 50 states, the District of Columbia, and five U.S. territories. That statement addresses exam eligibility, not APRN licensure in any particular state.
Review More Acute Care NP Programs in Georgia
- Augusta University - Augusta
- Brenau University - Gainesville
- Emory University - Atlanta
- Georgia State University - Atlanta
- Mercer University - Atlanta
- Middle Georgia State University - Warner Robins