CRNA Programs in Georgia: Emory and Augusta Compared

Georgia's CRNA programs come down to two accredited entry-to-practice schools: Emory University and Augusta University. Both award a Doctor of Nursing Practice, but they handle admissions, applications and tuition very differently. Augusta's GRE policy is conditional, and you can finish its ICU minimum by enrollment. Emory wants a current, consecutive year of full-time critical care before it'll consider your application.

Which nurse anesthesia schools are in Georgia?

Program and profile	Location and degree	Training structure	Accreditation
Emory University	Atlanta area, DNP nurse anesthesia	Full-time, in-person, nine semesters/36 months, with clinical education in metropolitan and rural settings	COA continued accreditation
Augusta University	Augusta, DNP with nursing anesthesia concentration	Full-time, three years, nine semesters, 112 credits. Interactive hybrid coursework with in-person simulation and clinical education	COA continued accreditation

Sources: COA directory, Emory program and Augusta program.

That count is accredited entry programs, not the number of hospitals where students train. A clinical placement in another state doesn't add a Georgia school to the list. If you want a wider application list, use the national CRNA program directory.

How do GPA, ICU and testing requirements compare?

Requirement	Emory	Augusta
Nursing education	Bachelor's or master's degree from an accredited nursing program	Accredited prelicensure BSN or entry-level MSN pathway
GPA	Published minimum 3.0	Overall undergraduate GPA at least 3.0 and, if you have one, overall graduate GPA at least 3.0 on all attempted work
ICU experience	At least 12 consecutive months of current full-time critical care, not counting orientation. Two to three years preferred	One full-time critical-care year within the past three years. Preferred at application, required by enrollment
GRE	The school's admissions FAQ explicitly says standardized scores are no longer required for CRNA applications	Required below the published 3.6 GPA threshold or with a pass/fail prelicensure degree. Scores must be within five years
CCRN	Not on its admission requirements list. Its interview-prep advice tells you to prepare for and earn CCRN	AACN certification (adult, pediatrics or neonatal) preferred, but not required
Shadowing	At least 16 hours with a CRNA or anesthesiologist strongly recommended before you apply	At least 8 hours with a CRNA required before your interview

Sources: Emory program requirements, Emory admissions FAQ, Augusta admissions and the Augusta nurse anesthesia FAQ the program links to.

Pay attention to whether each item is required or recommended. When a program advises you to earn a certification, that's advice, not an entry requirement. But advice from the school you want to attend still deserves a spot on your plan.

Who needs the GRE at Augusta?

Augusta's admissions page says you need the GRE if your overall GPA from your prelicensure program is below 3.6, or if your prelicensure degree comes from a pass/fail institution. Pass/fail prelicensure graduates also have to earn an A in at least three graduate science credits. The school describes a competitive GRE score as 300 or higher, which isn't a guarantee of selection.

Augusta's nurse anesthesia FAQ also spells out how it calculates GPA. It counts every undergraduate and graduate course you've attempted, includes grades like I and W, and doesn't honor grade forgiveness or plus/minus adjustments. So if your number sits close to 3.6, ask admissions how it'll calculate yours before you plan on skipping the GRE. And if you're a pass/fail prelicensure graduate, don't expect a strong graduate GPA later on to cancel out the explicit pass/fail requirements.

Can NICU, PICU or emergency experience qualify?

At Augusta, pediatric and neonatal ICUs both appear among the qualifying examples. It may consider other areas if you can show you manage unstable patients, invasive monitoring, ventilation and critical-care pharmacology. But its current FAQ explicitly excludes emergency-room, step-down, preoperative and postoperative experience.

Emory's program page excludes telemetry, cardiac catheterization, operating-room, PACU/recovery, interventional radiology and emergency-department experience. If you work in a NICU or PICU, ask Emory to evaluate your patient population and responsibilities, and keep Augusta's policy with Augusta.

Timing matters too. If you'll finish your ICU year after the application deadline, check whether that plan meets each school's rule. Augusta explicitly separates preferred completion at application from required completion at matriculation. Emory's consecutive-year requirement may not work on that same timeline, so ask.

Which prerequisites should you check?

Augusta's admissions page requires a three-credit chemistry course with a lab and a three-credit statistics or biostatistics course, each with a B or better. Its FAQ says prerequisite courses don't expire and that you can finish them any time before you apply. If a course isn't in the transfer guide, the university will review equivalency from course descriptions or syllabi.

Emory's admission requirements center on your nursing degree, GPA, license, ICU experience and life-support certifications. The program encourages some applicants to think about graduate coursework as preparation, so ask Emory what it wants to see from you before you pay for a replacement course.

The CRNA prerequisite course guide can help you keep course names, credits, labs and grades organized. Let the school's written answer settle any equivalency or pass/fail question.

How much does CRNA school in Georgia cost?

Both schools publish tuition by the semester or the academic year, not as a whole-degree price. So compare them on the same basis before you decide one is cheaper.

Program	Published tuition	Additional costs and limits
Augusta	Fall 2026 through summer 2027: $9,324 in-state or $19,860 out-of-state per semester at 12 or more credits. At 1 to 11 credits: $777 or $1,655 per credit, respectively	The program-specific mandatory-fee table totals $675 per semester. Certain students enrolled exclusively at a distance pay the listed online fee instead. Insurance and other special charges are separate
Emory	2026-2027 CRNA tuition: $28,866 per semester for 12 or more credits, with a published hourly rate of $2,405	This is the CRNA rate, not the lower general-DNP rate. University and program fees, insurance, living expenses and summer enrollment all need their own lines in your budget

Sources: Augusta's nurse anesthesia tuition schedule and Emory's official 2026-2027 tuition and fee schedule.

As an illustration, one Augusta semester at 12 or more credits comes to $9,999 in-state or $20,535 out-of-state, including the listed $675 in mandatory fees. Those figures leave out insurance, special charges and living costs, and the listed fee exception could change your bill. They aren't nine-semester program prices.

Emory's financial-aid PDF labels its CRNA budget fall 2026 to spring 2027, with $57,732 tuition and $102,626 estimated total cost of attendance. That covers fall and spring only, not a full three-term academic year and not the whole DNP. Emory's nursing cost page shows the same $28,866 semester rate. Ask financial aid for a budget that includes your summer terms before you plan your loans. Emory CRNA budget PDF

Your residency classification can change Augusta's tuition significantly. Ask the university which classification applies to you, because moving to Georgia doesn't by itself make you eligible for resident rates. At either school, keep tuition, required fees, health coverage, clinical travel, housing and the RN income you'll give up in separate categories. Tuition for future years may change.

When are applications due?

Program	Current labeled cycle	Application process
Augusta	Fall 2027: applications August 7 to September 21, 2026, documents due October 5, 2026	Submit NursingCAS first. After verification, AU sends instructions for its supplemental application and portal
Emory	Fall 2027 CRNA rounds: June 1 and September 1, 2026	Interviews scheduled for July/August and October/November, respectively

Sources: Augusta admissions and Emory's apply-now calendar.

Augusta explicitly says nurse anesthesia doesn't accept late applications or defer admission. On Emory's shared calendar, the January 15, 2027 third round is perfusion only, so it isn't another CRNA deadline. And the general nursing December round isn't for CRNA applications either.

Are hybrid programs an alternative to relocation?

Not on their own. Augusta's hybrid label includes online coursework, but its first five semesters also include didactic instruction and human-patient simulation before the clinical phase starts. The program describes clinical sites in Georgia, Alabama, Florida and Tennessee. Ask which rotations require travel or temporary housing and how placements get assigned.

Emory calls its CRNA pathway in-person and full-time. It describes clinical learning in greater Atlanta and the surrounding areas, including major centers and rural sites. You might see distance-education language elsewhere on the nursing website, but that doesn't make this CRNA pathway online.

Sources: the official Augusta and Emory program pages. Before you accept an offer, ask for the cohort attendance schedule and an overview of clinical geography. Then budget for the training that's actually required, since rotations won't necessarily stay near your mailing address.

What do accreditation and board outcomes show?

Both programs hold COA continued accreditation. That tells you their accreditation status. It doesn't tell you which program fits you best.

Emory reports 93% first-time NCE passage for its 2025 class and 0% attrition. Augusta reports 86% first-time passage and 0% attrition for its most recent graduates. Emory outcomes Augusta outcomes

Ask both schools for several years of results, class sizes and the reasons behind any attrition. Keep eventual pass rates in a separate column from first-attempt performance.

How should you build a Georgia shortlist?

Start with your experience timing and the exact GPA calculation, especially if you're waiting on an Augusta GRE answer. Then compare your earliest realistic start date, how much on-site time each program needs and the same cost categories side by side. A cheaper semester won't settle the question if the other program sends you somewhere different for clinicals.

If neither Georgia school fits your background or your calendar, look at South Carolina, North Carolina, Florida, Alabama and Tennessee programs in the national directory. Confirm the degree-granting program and its full clinical footprint for each one.

With only two schools in the state, every detail you pin down makes the choice clearer. Save your shortlist in the free School Database, with the official source and entering year next to every requirement. And when you get to interviews, the CRNA interview question guide can help you practice explaining your clinical decisions and why a particular school fits your plan.