South College offers 2 Adult-Gerontology Acute Care Nurse Practitioner tracks:
- BSN-MSN
- Post-Graduate Certificate
The programs prepare graduates to provide advanced nursing care to adults, older adults, and elderly patients with acute, chronic, and critical conditions in various healthcare settings.
Program Tracks Overview
| Program Name | Est. Tuition | Est. Duration | Credit Hours |
|---|---|---|---|
| BSN-MSN AGACNP | $47K | 21 months | 79 |
| Post-Graduate Certificate AGACNP | $$33.6K | Varies by pace | 53 |
Tuition figures are calculated rather than published, and the certificate duration is derived.
Both programs are offered online with asynchronous coursework designed to accommodate working nursing professionals, combining online didactic courses with hands-on clinical practice experiences.
Quick Facts
| Feature | Details |
|---|---|
| Program Types | MSN (BSN entry) and Post-Graduate Certificate |
| Population Focus | Adult-Gerontology Acute Care (AGACNP) for both tracks |
| Format | Online, asynchronous coursework |
| Campus Visits | None published |
| Clinical Hours | No clock-hour total published; 25 practicum-coded credits in each track |
| Clinical Placement | Student identifies sites and preceptors; South College supports placement and affiliation agreements |
| RN Experience | 800 acute care hours before the first practicum course (MSN) |
| Distinctive Coursework | NSG 5704, diagnostics and advanced procedures, with a hands-on lab component |
| License Requirements | Unencumbered RN license verified through Nursys; added licensure if practicum is out of state |
| Start Terms | Quarterly; South College defines a quarter as 10 to 12 weeks |
| Tuition | Banded by quarterly credit load; $5,775 per quarter at 8 to 20 credits |
| Certification | ACNPC-AG (AACN) or AGACNP-BC (ANCC) |
| Accreditation | CCNE for nursing; SACSCOC for the institution |
| State Restrictions | Licensure requirements not met in 16 states and DC |
Requirements Shared Across All Tracks
Both tracks run the same five practicum courses, the same placement model, and the same licensure map.
Clinical Requirements
- Practicum sequence: NSG 5343, 5711, 5712, 5713, and 5714, identical in both tracks
- Practicum credits: 25 quarter credits, which is 32% of the MSN and 47% of the certificate
- Clock hours: no total published for either track
- Site identification: applicants name potential clinical sites and preceptors as part of the application
- School role: South College supports the placement process and puts affiliation agreements in place; it does not state that it guarantees a placement
- Geography: practicum experiences take place at approved sites within the United States
- Added licensure: a practicum completed in a state other than the one where the student holds RN licensure may require licensure in that state
You Should Know: South College publishes no total clinical clock-hour figure for either AGACNP track. The AACN and ANCC acute care exams both require a documented minimum of supervised clinical hours, so applicants should confirm the figure in the current plan of study before enrolling.
State Licensure Eligibility
The licensure map is the largest filter on this program. South College’s professional licensure disclosure records a determination for every state and territory, and the MSN and post-graduate certificate carry a “Does Not Meet” finding in a substantial block of them.
- Does not meet: Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, California, District of Columbia, Louisiana, Minnesota, New Hampshire, New York, North Dakota, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Dakota, Washington, and Wyoming
- Approvals in progress: six of those jurisdictions are marked as pending registration and approval, namely DC, Louisiana, New Hampshire, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, and Wyoming
- Undetermined: American Samoa, Guam, the Northern Mariana Islands, Puerto Rico, and the US Virgin Islands
- Colorado condition: students in Colorado must be covered by workers’ compensation to participate in a practicum there
- Relocation: moving mid-program to a state where South College is not authorized can force rescheduled rotations or cost federal aid eligibility
Be aware: the licensure disclosure states that its determinations reflect requirements published as of May 2023. A state listed as “Does Not Meet” may have changed status, and a state listed as “Meets” may have changed in the other direction. Verify the current listing against the disclosure before applying.
RN Experience and Licensure
- MSN requirement: 800 hours of practice as a registered nurse, all of it in an acute care setting
- Qualifying settings: ICU, step-down units, trauma units, or the emergency department
- Timing: the hours are due before the first practicum course, not at admission
- Certificate requirement: no acute care hour figure is stated for the post-graduate certificate
- Licensure: a current unencumbered RN license, verified through Nursys or a state verification system
You Should Know: because the 800-hour gate falls before the first practicum rather than at admission, a nurse can be admitted without it and then stall at the practicum sequence. Quarterly starts limit the delay to a term or two rather than a full year.
MSN, Adult-Gerontology Acute Care Nurse Practitioner
The estimated tuition for the MSN AGACNP at South College is approximately $47,005 across seven quarters of enrollment. The program can generally be completed in about 21 months of full-time study.
MSN Curriculum
The degree totals 79 quarter credits: 36 in the MSN core and 43 in the AGACNP concentration.
- NSG 5140, 5240, 5340: Advanced Pathophysiology, Advanced Pharmacology, and Advanced Health Assessment Didactic (4 credits each)
- NSG 5110, 5120, 5210, 5220, 5310, 5320: foundations, theory, research and evidence-based practice, informatics, health policy, and leadership (4 credits each)
- NSG 5343: Advanced Health Assessment Practicum (4 credits)
- NSG 5700: Care of the Adult and Geriatric Patient (4 credits)
- NSG 5702: Acute Care of Adult-Geriatric Populations I (4 credits)
- NSG 5704: Diagnostics and Advanced Procedures in Acute Care (3 credits), covering hemodynamic monitoring, ventilation, defibrillation, and lab practice in suturing, intubation, and line placement
- NSG 5705: Acute Care of Adult-Geriatric Populations II (4 credits)
- NSG 5708: AG-ACNP Capstone Project (3 credits)
- NSG 5711, 5712, 5713: acute care practicums (5 credits each)
- NSG 5714: Adult-Gerontology Acute Care Residency Practicum (6 credits)
More curriculum details are available here.
You Should Know: NSG 5704 describes hands-on lab work in suturing, intubation, and line placement, but South College publishes no campus or immersion requirement for this program. How that lab is delivered in a fully online track is not stated.
MSN Admissions
- Degree: BSN from an accredited institution
- GPA: 3.0 or higher cumulative, maintained at 3.0 throughout the program
- Course grades: minimum 80% in every nursing course
- Experience: 800 acute care RN hours before the first practicum
- Personal statement: two typed pages on professional goals and objectives
- Clinical sites: identification of potential sites and preceptors with the application
- Application fee: $50
- Conditional admission: reviewed case by case by the Admissions, Progression, and Retention Committee
Post-Graduate Certificate, AGACNP
The estimated tuition for the Post-Graduate AGACNP Certificate is approximately $33,575 across five quarters of enrollment. South College does not publish a completion time, so the five-quarter figure assumes the same credit load per quarter as the MSN.
Certificate Curriculum
The certificate totals 53 quarter credits. It uses the same AGACNP specialty and practicum sequence as the MSN, keeps the three APRN core courses, and drops the leadership, policy, informatics, theory, and research courses.
- NSG 5140, 5240, 5340: Advanced Pathophysiology, Advanced Pharmacology, and Advanced Health Assessment Didactic (4 credits each)
- NSG 5343: Advanced Health Assessment Practicum (4 credits)
- NSG 5700, 5702, 5705: the adult-gerontology acute care didactic sequence (4 credits each)
- NSG 5704: Diagnostics and Advanced Procedures in Acute Care (3 credits)
- NSG 5709: AGACNP Capstone Review (1 credit), which replaces the MSN capstone project
- NSG 5711, 5712, 5713: acute care practicums (5 credits each)
- NSG 5714: Adult-Gerontology Acute Care Residency Practicum (6 credits)
More curriculum details are available here.
You Should Know: at 53 of 79 credits, the certificate is two-thirds the length of the MSN and carries every practicum course in full. South College does not describe a gap analysis that would reduce the published requirement for applicants who already completed the three APRN core courses.
Certificate Admissions
- Degree: MSN or higher from an accredited institution
- Licensure: current unencumbered RN license
- Clinical sites: identification of potential sites and preceptors with the application
- Transfer credit: a maximum of three graduate-level courses
- Academic history: applicants with transcripts showing failure from two nursing programs are not considered
- Application fee: $50
Tuition
The derived all-in cost is about $595 per quarter credit for the MSN at a full-time pace. South College does not charge per credit. It charges a flat rate per quarter based on credit load, so the per-credit figure is a byproduct of how quickly a student moves.
| Program | Credits | Estimated Tuition |
|---|---|---|
| MSN AGACNP | 79 | $47,005 |
| Post-Graduate Certificate | 53 | $33,575 |
Both estimates use the 2025-2026 online graduate nursing schedule revised in August 2026. A quarter at 8 to 20 credits costs $5,775 in tuition, plus a $245 nursing fee and a $695 technology and services fee, for $6,715 all in. The MSN figure is seven of those quarters; the certificate figure is five.
- Lower bands: $3,950 per quarter at 4 to 7.5 credits, and $2,100 at 1 to 3.5 credits
- Overload: $310 for each credit above 20 in a quarter
- One-time charges: $50 application fee and a $300 graduation fee
You Should Know: a student taking 6 credits a quarter needs 14 quarters for the MSN and pays $4,890 each time, or $68,460. That is $21,455 more than the full-time estimate for the same 79 credits, because the bill follows quarters rather than credits.
Financial aid
South College participates in Department of Veterans Affairs education benefits and offers military grants. Post-graduate certificate students should confirm federal aid eligibility separately, since non-degree study is treated differently from degree study. Details are on the financial aid page and the tuition and fees page.
Why Choose This ACNP Program?
- Acute care experience gate. All 800 required RN hours must come from ICU, step-down, trauma, or emergency settings. Applicants from medical-surgical or ambulatory backgrounds cannot count those hours toward the requirement.
- A procedures course with a named skill list. NSG 5704 covers hemodynamic monitoring, ventilation, defibrillation, suturing, intubation, and line placement as a standalone 3-credit course rather than as content folded into a management sequence.
- Pace controls price. Because tuition is banded by quarter, moving quickly is the single largest cost lever a student has. The same degree ranges from roughly $47,000 to $68,000 depending on load.
- Certificate keeps the full clinical sequence. All five practicum courses transfer intact from the MSN, so the shorter credential does not mean less supervised practice.
- A published licensure map. South College names a determination for every state, which is more disclosure than many online programs offer, and 17 of those determinations are negative.
This program suits a critical care or emergency nurse in a state where South College’s licensure determination is favorable, who can carry a full quarterly load and who already has a preceptor relationship in view. Nurses in the 17 listed jurisdictions, or those who need a program to arrange placement for them, should look elsewhere.
Accreditation and Certification
The South College School of Nursing holds accreditation from the Commission on Collegiate Nursing Education for its baccalaureate, master’s, Doctor of Nursing Practice, and post-graduate APRN certificate programs. The explicit inclusion of the certificate matters: certifying bodies require a post-graduate APRN certificate program to hold accreditation in its own right for graduates to be eligible to sit for an exam.
South College is institutionally accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges. Its nursing programs are also approved by state boards of nursing where its campuses operate, including Tennessee, Georgia, North Carolina, Florida, Indiana, and Pennsylvania.
Both tracks carry an adult-gerontology acute care population focus. That focus maps to two exams: the ACNPC-AG from the American Association of Critical-Care Nurses and the AGACNP-BC from the American Nurses Credentialing Center.
South College’s licensure disclosure names only the ACNPC-AG and attributes it to both bodies. The two organizations administer separate credentials, so graduates should confirm eligibility with the certifying body they intend to test through.
Accreditation
The Bachelor of Science in Nursing, Master of Science in Nursing, Doctor of Nursing Practice, and Post-Graduate APRN Certificate programs at South College are accredited by the Commission on Collegiate Nursing Education (CCNE).