Georgia State University offers one acute care nurse practitioner track:
- Post-Master’s Certificate AGACNP
Program Tracks Overview
| Program | Est. Tuition | Est. Duration | Credit Hours |
|---|---|---|---|
| Certificate AGACNP | $10.7K–$17.2K | 1–2 years (3–5 semesters) | 23–37 |
Tuition, duration, and the credit range are calculated rather than published.
Georgia State awards the AGACNP only as a post-master’s certificate, and only to nurses who already hold a master’s degree as a family nurse practitioner or an adult-gerontology nurse practitioner. Its APRN programs do not meet the educational requirements for licensure in 16 states.
Quick Facts
| Feature | Details |
|---|---|
| Program Types | Post-master’s certificate only |
| Population Focus | AGACNP (adult-gerontology acute care) |
| Format | Mostly Online |
| Campus Visits | One week-long experience at program start, plus in-person skills testing throughout |
| Clinical Hours | 500, across three specialty courses |
| Clinical Placement | Not published for this certificate |
| Prior Credential | Master’s as family NP or adult-gerontology NP |
| RN Experience | One to two years in an area related to the specialty |
| License Requirements | Active Georgia RN license |
| Start Terms | Spring only, November 1 deadline |
| Tuition | $464 per credit, same rate regardless of location |
| Certification | ANCC AGACNP-BC examination |
| Accreditation | CCNE |
| State Restrictions | APRN programs do not meet licensure requirements in 16 states |
Post-Master’s Certificate – AGACNP
The estimated tuition for the Post-Master’s Certificate in Adult-Gerontology Acute Care Nursing at Georgia State University is approximately $10,672 to $17,168 (23 to 37 credits at $464/credit). The program can generally be completed in about one to two years.
Georgia State does not offer an MSN or DNP entry point to acute care. The four MSN nurse practitioner specialties are adult-gerontology primary care, pediatric primary care, family, and psychiatric mental health.
Certificate Curriculum
The certificate runs 37 credits with nothing waived, or 23 credits if all five core courses are exempted. Georgia State evaluates prior graduate coursework and experience to decide which core courses a student may skip.
- NURS 7315: Advanced Pathophysiological Concepts Across the Lifespan (3 credits, core)
- NURS 7330: Diagnostic Reasoning and Procedures (2 credits, core)
- NURS 7500: Advanced Health Assessment (3 credits, core)
- NURS 7550: Pharmacology for the Advanced Practice Nurse (3 credits, core)
- CNHP 7800: Interprofessional Collaboration for Advanced Practice (3 credits, core)
- NURS 7010: Gerontological Nursing (3 credits)
- NURS 7340: Common Adult Health Problems (7 credits, 135 clinical hours)
- NURS 7959: Adult-Gerontology Acute Care I (6 credits, 140 clinical hours)
- NURS 7960: Adult-Gerontology Acute Care II (7 credits, 225 clinical hours)
More curriculum details are available here.
You Should Know: Georgia State marks NURS 7340 as eligible for transfer credit from a previous master’s degree. That course carries 135 of the certificate’s 500 clinical hours, and 500 is also the ANCC minimum for AGACNP-BC eligibility. Confirm how a transfer affects your clinical hour total before requesting one.
Clinical Requirements
- Total clinical hours: 500
- Distribution: 135 hours in NURS 7340, 140 in NURS 7959, 225 in NURS 7960
- Settings: acute care, with adult and gerontology populations
- Direct patient care split: not published separately from the total
- Health clearances: immunization form, criminal background check, and drug screen before clinical activities
- Other requirements: American Heart Association CPR certification and student liability insurance, at the student’s cost
Be aware: Georgia State does not publish whether the school or the student locates clinical sites and preceptors for this certificate, nor any geographic limit on where rotations may occur. It also publishes no plan of study, so the duration above is derived from the credit range at the university’s own full-time threshold of nine semester hours.
Campus Requirements
- Program start: one required week-long on-campus experience at the Atlanta campus
- Ongoing: required in-person skills testing throughout the program
- Frequency: Georgia State publishes no count or cadence for the skills testing
Certificate Admissions
- Prior degree: a master’s in nursing as a family nurse practitioner or an adult-gerontology nurse practitioner
- Licensure: an active Georgia RN license at application
- Experience: one to two years of RN practice in an area related to the specialty
- Entry term: spring only, with a November 1 deadline
- Recommendations: two letters, one from a former faculty member if you left nursing school within five years
- Written materials: resume, statement of purpose, and a two-page APA position paper on a social or health issue
- Transcripts: official records from every institution granting a graduate degree or graduate coursework
- Application fee: $50
- Entrance exam: waived for post-master’s certificate applicants
You Should Know: the certificate requires a Georgia RN license outright. Georgia State’s master’s programs accept a license from any US state plus evidence of application to the Georgia Board of Nursing, so the certificate rule is the stricter of the two.
You Should Know: the acute care certificate appears only under spring admission in Georgia State’s deadline listing, while the other four certificate specialties admit in fall as well. Missing November 1 means waiting a full year.
The two published eligibility rules do not match. The program page says a master’s in another nursing specialty, naming primary care adult-gerontology and family nurse practitioner; the master’s FAQ states the applicant must hold one of those two credentials.
You Should Know: Georgia State discloses that its APRN programs do not meet the educational requirements for licensure in Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Idaho, Louisiana, Maryland, Mississippi, Nebraska, Nevada, Oregon, Tennessee, Texas, or Washington. Check the licensure disclosure against the state where you intend to practice.
Tuition
Graduate tuition is $464 per credit hour, charged at the same rate to every online student regardless of location.
| Program | Credits | Estimated Tuition |
|---|---|---|
| Certificate, all core waived | 23 | $10,672 |
| Certificate, no core waived | 37 | $17,168 |
Students enrolled in six or more credit hours also pay a $660 online learning fee each semester. Across the three to five semesters the credit range implies, that adds roughly $1,980 to $3,300 to the totals above.
See the official tuition page for more details here.
Financial aid
Georgia State points certificate students to Student Financial Services for aid, and to the University System of Georgia Tuition Assistance Program for eligible USG employees. Veterans and active duty applicants can apply military education benefits.
Why Choose This ACNP Program?
Residency-neutral pricing. The $464 rate applies to every online student, so an out-of-state nurse pays what a Georgia resident pays.
Core waivers can cut the bill by a third. A student whose prior master’s covered pathophysiology, assessment, pharmacology, and diagnostic reasoning drops from 37 credits to 23, and from $17,168 to $10,672.
Narrow entry gate. Only nurses already prepared as family or adult-gerontology nurse practitioners may apply, which makes for a cohort that arrives with an APRN credential and clinical practice behind it.
Campus time is real but bounded. One week in Atlanta at the start, then periodic in-person skills testing. Georgia State does not quantify the testing, so budget travel with that gap in mind.
This certificate suits a practicing FNP or adult-gerontology primary care NP moving from clinic to inpatient adult-gerontology work. Nurses without one of those two credentials, and BSN-prepared nurses seeking a first APRN degree in acute care, need a different school.
Accreditation and Certification
The Commission on Collegiate Nursing Education accredits Georgia State’s baccalaureate, master of science, post-master’s certificate, and Doctor of Nursing Practice programs. The post-master’s certificate is named in that accreditation, which matters because ANCC requires certificate holders to have completed an accredited post-graduate APRN program.
Georgia State University is accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges.
Completing the certificate makes a graduate eligible for the American Nurses Credentialing Center examination for adult-gerontology acute care nurse practitioner. Georgia State reports a 97 percent first-time APRN certification pass rate for 2024, averaged across all of its specialty tracks rather than reported for acute care alone.
Review ACNP Programs in Georgia
- Augusta University - Augusta
- Brenau University - Gainesville
- Emory University - Atlanta
- Georgia Southern University - Statesboro
- Mercer University - Atlanta
- Middle Georgia State University - Warner Robins