Middle Georgia State University offers 2 acute care nurse practitioner tracks:
- MSN AGACNP
- Post-Master’s Certificate AGACNP
Program Tracks Overview
| Program | Est. Tuition | Est. Duration | Credit Hours |
|---|---|---|---|
| MSN AGACNP | $13.3K | 2 years (5 semesters) | 45 |
| Certificate | $7.2K | 2 years (3 semesters) | 24 |
Tuition and duration are both calculated rather than published.
The acute care content sits in three 8-credit courses that carry 24 of the MSN’s 45 credits and the entire certificate. Each requires a B or better, grades are not rounded, and two grades below B end enrollment permanently.
Quick Facts
| Feature | Details |
|---|---|
| Program Types | MSN, post-master’s certificate |
| Population Focus | Adult-gerontology acute care (AGACNP) |
| Format | Mostly Online |
| Campus Visits | About two immersion days per semester: roughly 10 days for the MSN, 6 for the certificate |
| Clinical Hours | 855 for the MSN; certificate hours set by gap analysis |
| Clinical Placement | Atrium Health Navicent or a Georgia facility the student selects, with coordinator approval |
| RN Experience | One year, stated as required on the program pages and preferred in the catalog |
| License Requirements | Unrestricted Georgia RN license; certificate also requires a Georgia APRN license |
| Start Terms | MSN fall only, July 15 priority deadline; certificate spring only, November 15 |
| Tuition | $269 per credit for online graduate courses, plus a $239 per-semester online learning fee |
| Certification | ANCC or AACN AGACNP examination |
| Accreditation | ACEN, covering the master’s program and the post-master’s certificate option |
| State Restrictions | Clinical hours must be completed in Georgia |
Requirements Shared Across All Tracks
Both tracks run through the same three acute care courses, the same immersion schedule, and the same Georgia licensure and placement rules.
Clinical Requirements
- MSN total: 855 clinical practice hours
- Certificate total: not published; hours are set by a gap analysis of prior APRN education and experience
- Clinical courses: NURS 5400, NURS 6400, and NURS 6500, taken in sequence
- Weekly lab hours: 15 for NURS 5400, 18 each for NURS 6400 and NURS 6500
- Supervision: certified nurse practitioners supervise the acute care courses
- Sites: Atrium Health Navicent, or another Georgia healthcare facility the student chooses with MSN Program Coordinator approval
- Clearances: health history and physical, immunizations, TB screening, criminal background check, drug screen, AHA CPR certification
- Insurance: MGA provides professional malpractice coverage during required clinical experiences
You should know: every clinical hour must be earned in Georgia. MGA names Atrium Health Navicent as the anchor site and otherwise leaves site selection to the student, subject to approval. A denial by a clinical affiliate can stop progression.
Campus Requirements
- Cadence: approximately two on-campus immersion days each semester
- MSN total: about 10 immersion days across five semesters
- Certificate total: about 6 immersion days across three semesters
- All other coursework: online and asynchronous
RN Experience and Licensure
- MSN experience: one year of RN experience, listed as a qualification on the program page and as preferred with adult populations in the catalog
- Certificate experience: one year of advanced practice nursing experience
- MSN licensure: unrestricted Georgia RN license at application
- Certificate licensure: unrestricted Georgia RN license and Georgia advanced practice license at application
- Progression standard: a grade of B or 80 or higher in every nursing course, with no rounding
- Dismissal rule: two grades of C, D, or F in graduate nursing courses end enrollment with no re-entry
- Course currency: completed courses remain valid for 60 months
You should know: the dismissal rule also works as an admissions bar. Applicants who have already earned a C, D, F, or WF in two or more graduate nursing courses anywhere are ineligible.
Be aware: MGA’s state authorization page states that none of its online programs lead to state licensure, and the university publishes no state-by-state determination for APRN licensure. Both tracks require a Georgia license at entry, so out-of-state applicants have nothing published to check their own board against.
MSN AGACNP
The estimated tuition for the MSN in Adult/Gerontology Acute Care Nurse Practitioner at Middle Georgia State is approximately $13,300 (45 credits at $269/credit, plus five semesters of the online learning fee). The program can generally be completed in about 2 years.
MGA publishes the length as five consecutive semesters rather than in years. From the fall-only start, that runs fall, spring, summer, fall, spring.
MSN Curriculum
- NURS 5000: Advanced Pathophysiology (3 credits)
- NURS 5100: Professional Concepts (2 credits)
- NURS 5200: Advanced Health Assessment/Diagnostic Reasoning (3 credits)
- NURS 5300: Advanced Pharmacology/Therapeutic Interventions (3 credits)
- NURS 5400: Adult/Gerontology Acute Care I (8 credits, Year One, co-requisite lab NURS 5400L)
- NURS 6400: Adult/Gerontology Acute Care II (8 credits, Year Two)
- NURS 6500: Adult/Gerontology Acute Care III (8 credits, Year Two)
- Supporting coursework: NURS 5500 Research and Evidence Based Practice (3), NURS 5600 Quality/Safety/Improvement Processes (2), NURS 6200 Leadership/Management and Healthcare Policy (2), NURS 6600 Project Management in Health Care (3)
Year One carries 24 credits and Year Two carries 21. More curriculum details are available here.
MSN Admissions
- Degree: BSN from a CCNE- or ACEN-accredited program
- GPA: 3.0 undergraduate minimum
- Prerequisite grades: C or better in undergraduate statistics and in a 3000- or 4000-level physical/health assessment course
- Interview: listed in the catalog admission requirements
- Recommendations: three, submitted through MGA’s online form only
- Statement of purpose: 500 words minimum, APA format, assessed as evidence of writing competence
- Transcripts: sent by each institution directly; MGA does not accept applicant-forwarded copies
- Deadline: July 15 priority deadline for fall entry, the only intake
You should know: a single failed acute care course costs 8 credits and roughly $2,150 in tuition. Because cohorts start once a year, repeating one delays graduation by a full year rather than a term.
Post-Master’s Certificate AGACNP
The estimated tuition for the Post-Master’s Certificate in Adult Gerontology Acute Care Nurse Practitioner is approximately $7,173 (24 credits at $269/credit, plus three semesters of the online learning fee). The program can generally be completed in about 2 years.
The certificate is the MSN’s acute care sequence taken on its own, so the clinical, immersion, and progression rules in the shared section apply unchanged. MGA’s catalog describes it as a three-semester program while the Graduate School page lists it as a two-year program.
Certificate Curriculum
- NURS 5400: Adult/Gerontology Acute Care I (8 credits)
- NURS 6400: Adult/Gerontology Acute Care II (8 credits)
- NURS 6500: Adult/Gerontology Acute Care III (8 credits)
Courses must be taken in sequence. More curriculum details are available here.
Certificate Admissions
- Degree: MSN from an accredited nursing program
- Certification: designed for APRNs already certified in another population focus
- GPA: 3.0 undergraduate minimum
- Prerequisite grades: C or better in undergraduate statistics and in a 3000- or 4000-level physical/health assessment course
- Recommendations: one, per the Graduate School page and the catalog
- Statement of purpose: 500 words minimum, APA format
- Deadline: November 15 for spring entry, the only intake, with all documents due by that date
You should know: the certificate’s clinical hour total is not published, and NURS 5400 lists NURS 5000, 5100, and 5200 as prerequisites. How a prior master’s satisfies those, and how many hours a gap analysis produces, both stay open until MGA reviews an individual transcript.
Tuition
Graduate online courses are billed at $269 per credit hour for 2026-27, with a $239 online learning fee charged each semester in place of the on-campus mandatory fees. There is no tuition cap on the fully online rate and no residency surcharge on it.
| Program | Credits | Estimated Tuition |
|---|---|---|
| MSN AGACNP | 45 | $13,300 |
| Post-Master’s Certificate | 24 | $7,173 |
Both figures are estimates: credits multiplied by the per-credit rate, plus the online learning fee for each enrolled semester. A student in on-campus housing taking only online classes is billed the on-campus mandatory fees instead.
You should know: MGA’s own note beneath the 2026-27 graduate rate table still reads $261 per credit hour, the 2025-26 figure. The table it sits under bills $269, and every row in that table is a multiple of $269.
See the official graduate tuition page for more details.
Financial aid
MGA lists graduate assistantships through the Graduate School and general institutional scholarships. Certificate students are not degree-seeking, which limits federal aid eligibility. Details are on the financial aid page.
Why Choose This ACNP Program?
Online graduate courses bill at $269 per credit with no residency surcharge, putting the full 45-credit MSN near $13,300 including fees.
The MSN’s 855 clinical hours sit in three courses carrying 15 to 18 weekly lab hours each, supervised by certified nurse practitioners.
An APRN changing population focus takes that identical three-course sequence as the certificate, at roughly 54 percent of the MSN’s cost.
Atrium Health Navicent anchors the clinical side, and students may substitute another Georgia facility with coordinator approval. Nothing outside Georgia counts.
Progression is the constraint. Every nursing course requires a B or 80 with no rounding, and two sub-B grades end enrollment permanently.
This suits a Georgia-licensed nurse who wants a low-cost, largely online AGACNP credential and can absorb the risk of 8-credit courses with annual intakes and no second chances.
Accreditation and Certification
The master’s nursing program at Middle Georgia State University is accredited by the Accreditation Commission for Education in Nursing. MGA reports the most recent ACEN action for the master’s program, including the post-master’s certificate option, as continuing accreditation, with the program last reviewed in February 2022 and reaccreditation scheduled for 2030.
The certificate option’s inclusion in that accreditation matters, because ANCC requires certificate holders to have completed an accredited post-graduate APRN program. MGA also records an ACEN substantive change approval for the AGACNP program.
Middle Georgia State University is accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges.
Graduates of either track are eligible to sit for the adult-gerontology acute care nurse practitioner examination through the American Nurses Credentialing Center or the American Association of Critical-Care Nurses.
Research More Acute Care NP Programs in Georgia
- Augusta University - Augusta
- Brenau University - Gainesville
- Emory University - Atlanta
- Georgia Southern University - Statesboro
- Georgia State University - Atlanta
- Mercer University - Atlanta