CRNA Programs in Illinois: Six Schools, Costs & Admissions

There are six CRNA programs in Illinois on the COA's list of entry nurse anesthesia programs: SIUE, Rush, Rosalind Franklin, Endeavor Health/DePaul, Millikin/Decatur Memorial Hospital and the University of Illinois Chicago. They differ on campus, prerequisite courses, GRE policy and how long you wait between applying and actually starting. So begin with the programs whose requirements and attendance commitments fit your life, and only then compare cost estimates on the same basis.

A statewide list only helps if it keeps those differences in view. An April 2027 deadline might put you in a 2028 class, while another school's December 2026 deadline leads to May 2027 entry. And a published 3.0 GPA could be a minimum nursing GPA, a preferred benchmark or one piece of a conditional test policy. Which one it is changes your plan.

Which nurse anesthesia programs are located in Illinois?

Six distinct Illinois-based programs make up this comparison. University partners and clinical sites belong to the program they serve, so they aren't extra schools.

Program and official source	Main Illinois location	Degree and training structure	Distinction to investigate first
Southern Illinois University Edwardsville	Edwardsville	DNP, full-time, nine semesters/36 months	Physics and chemistry prerequisites, nursing GPA and clinical licensing rules. This is SIUE. It isn't a program at SIU Carbondale.
Rush University	Chicago	DNP, full time, up to nine semesters, with hybrid coursework and in-person clinical training	No undergraduate prerequisite courses required to apply. The current advertised admissions cycle is for fall 2028.
Rosalind Franklin University	North Chicago, with Huntley simulation activities	DNP, 36 months, an 18-month didactic phase followed by an 18-month clinical residency	One program offers Illinois and Colorado didactic locations. Even Colorado-based students have required Illinois events.
Endeavor Health/DePaul University	Evanston	DNP, 36-month, full-time integrated program	Former NorthShore name, conditional GRE policy, two-year critical care rule and separate DePaul billing.
Millikin University/Decatur Memorial Hospital	Decatur	DNP, 36 months, 88 credits, with online core nursing courses and face-to-face anesthesia instruction	Chemistry with lab before application, graduate statistics before enrollment, January start.
University of Illinois Chicago	Chicago only	DNP, three years, full time, hybrid, 112 credits	Two years of current critical care experience. First graduating class anticipated in 2028.

The COA directory lists UIC with initial accreditation and the other five with continued accreditation. Initial accreditation is an accredited status. It doesn't mean the program is unapproved. Millikin's listed next-review date is October 2026, and a review date on its own isn't an automatic expiration. Check the current COA entry, plus any later decision, before you apply.

How do GPA and critical care requirements differ?

They differ in which GPA each school names and in when your experience has to be complete, so compare both. Averaging different GPA definitions into one statewide admission target won't tell you much.

SIUE's requirements call for at least a 3.0 undergraduate nursing GPA and list higher nursing and science GPAs as preferred benchmarks. You need at least one recent full-time critical care year, or the stated part-time equivalent, before enrollment. Two years of high-acuity adult ICU experience is preferred.

Rush lists GPAs of 3.0 or higher and at least one recent full-time ICU year by the application deadline, with two years strongly preferred. So a year you'd pick up between applying and starting doesn't automatically count toward that application-stage rule.

Rosalind Franklin describes overall, science and nursing GPAs of 3.0 as preferred. Its critical care minimum is one full-time year or the equivalent. The program names PICU and NICU among its examples and leaves room to consider other areas when applicants show the specified competencies. That still isn't a blanket rule that every unit or transport role qualifies.

Endeavor requires two years of critical care experience before matriculation, along with current, continuing critical care employment. Its academic policy separates a 3.5 nursing GPA from a 3.5 compiled GPA based on the last 40 semester/60 quarter hours. A science GPA of 3.0 is described as desirable. And if your specified GPAs come in lower, its conditional GRE instruction comes into play.

Millikin asks for at least one year of adult critical care, with two or more preferred. Its FAQ specifies independent nursing experience, excluding orientation/preceptorship. UIC requires two years of current critical care experience and a compiled GPA of 3.0, and its examples include pediatric and neonatal ICU. Keep each school's unit definition right next to your actual responsibilities and dates.

Which GRE and CCRN rules should you verify?

Verify every one of them, because Illinois isn't six programs with the same no-GRE policy. Two programs tie the GRE to your GPA, and only one requires the CCRN to apply.

Program	GRE policy	CCRN policy
Rush	Not required. Applicants may submit scores if they strengthen the application	Highly recommended
Rosalind Franklin	Explicitly not required	Not required. The official common-questions page lists it as part of a strong application, alongside two or more years of critical care
Endeavor/DePaul	Required when compiled and/or nursing GPAs fall below the 3.5 minimums, with a minimum GRE of 300 in that case	Not required, highly encouraged. Certified applicants provide exam scores
Millikin/Decatur	Not required when your undergraduate GPA is 3.0 or higher. Below 3.0, the admission criteria ask for GRE scores, and the FAQ recommends the GRE if your nursing GPA is under 3.0 or you want to be more competitive	Required. The FAQ specifies certification by the application deadline, and your proof must include the license number and score
SIUE	Not listed among the admission requirements	CCRN or TCRN isn't required but is highly recommended
UIC	Not listed among the admission requirements	Not listed among the admission requirements

A test that's missing from a requirements list isn't the same thing as a written waiver. If you're counting on skipping the GRE at SIUE or UIC, confirm it on the application checklist for your entry term, and ask a specific question about your transcript if you're near one of the GPA cutoffs above.

Which prerequisite courses create the biggest differences?

The biggest gaps come from each school's exact course policy, and there's no universal Illinois science checklist to lean on.

SIUE requires undergraduate physics and qualifying organic chemistry/biochemistry coursework, each at least three credits with a B or better and no lab required, plus statistics with a C or better. Millikin looks very different. Its main criteria require organic chemistry or biochemistry with lab (yes, it matters), C or better, before application, and graduate-level statistics with a B or better before enrollment. Millikin also says outright that general chemistry and undergraduate statistics can't substitute for those requirements.

Endeavor specifies college organic chemistry at the 200 level or above, taken within five years of matriculation, with no lab requirement. Its current page also says Portage Learning courses aren't accepted. Send the exact course and syllabus, because a course another school accepted won't necessarily count here.

Rush says plainly that you don't need any undergraduate prerequisite courses to apply. Rosalind Franklin also lists no required prerequisite courses and highly recommends recent biostatistics. Those policies leave it to you to judge whether you're prepared for the curriculum.

Worked comparison: a three-credit lecture-only organic chemistry course might match a no-lab policy after a level and recency review, but it would leave Millikin's published lab requirement unresolved. In the same way, an undergraduate statistics course might satisfy one school's statistics requirement and still miss Millikin's graduate level. Run your courses through the course-verification worksheet before you enroll in anything.

Which application deadlines correspond to which entering classes?

Each deadline below lines up with its own entering class, and the current official announcements vary a lot. Keep submission, verification, processing-fee and program-start dates in separate columns so they don't blur together.

Program	Published deadline or window	Entry cycle and caveat
Rush admissions	Early decision December 28, 2026, final April 1, 2027	Fall 2028 entry, and the term begins September 5, 2028. NursingCAS verification must be complete by the deadline.
Rosalind Franklin application	August 6 to December 1, 2026, received and verified by NursingCAS	May 2027 entry. Separate processing-fee instructions name December 7, which doesn't extend the December 1 application deadline.
Endeavor/DePaul	Opens January 15, 2027, closes April 15, 2027	Class of 2031, with the term starting September 7, 2028.
Millikin/Decatur	August 8, 2026 to January 15, 2027	January 2028 start. Interviews take place in early April.
UIC	November 1	Applications are due November 1 to start the following fall term, so the November 1, 2026 deadline is for fall 2027.
SIUE admission requirements	April 1	The program generally interviews in July and sends notifications in August for enrollment the following May. Confirm the deadline for your cycle with the School of Nursing.

Notice how far apart some of these are. A Rush or Endeavor application in spring 2027 leads to a fall 2028 start, while a Rosalind Franklin application in fall 2026 leads to May 2027. Map each deadline to its start date before you decide which cycle you're really applying in.

How much does CRNA school in Illinois cost?

It depends on the program and on what each estimate includes, so keep full-program estimates and current per-credit rates in separate piles. The figures below cover different items and different price years, and lining them up cheapest to most expensive would mislead you.

Official cost source	Published amount and basis	What to confirm
SIUE program estimate	$84,652 estimated tuition and fees for 80 credits/nine semesters, using the page's 2026-27 schedule	Future rates beyond summer 2027 aren't approved yet and can change. Living costs are extra. Specialized DNP tuition applies regardless of residency.
Rush program page	$1,508 per credit, plus a $644 clinical administrative fee in fall and spring	The credit plan that applies to you, future rates and total fees. A rate isn't a guaranteed program total.
RFU budget guide	2026-27 per-credit rates shown as $1,041, $926 and $884 for program years one, two and three	Credit loads and quarter-based budgeting, separate fees, living allowance and insurance.
Endeavor/DePaul program page	2026-27 school tuition of $1,050 per credit	DePaul tuition is billed separately, so ask for a combined estimate covering both institutions and fees.
Millikin graduate tuition	Fall 2026 to spring 2027 nurse anesthesia rate of $1,195 per credit	Entering-cohort rates across the 88-credit program, required fees and living costs.
UIC specialty page	$1,368 per credit for both resident and nonresident students	The 112-credit plan, the rate year that applies and fees. This full-cost-recovery program isn't eligible for University of Illinois employee tuition waivers.

If two programs are still on your list, ask both for itemized estimates for the same entering year. Include the full sequence, separate university or hospital charges, clinical travel and living expenses. Subtract a credited deposit only once. And any tuition support tied to future employment deserves its own look at eligibility and service terms. Rush, for example, offers tuition forgiveness to eligible students through its SRNA Tuition Support and Service Agreement Program, in exchange for a two-year service commitment with Rush after graduation.

Where will you need to attend classes and clinicals?

That depends on the phase, and a hybrid label doesn't give you permission to live anywhere. Ask what each phase actually requires in person before you choose housing.

Rosalind Franklin describes mostly distance-delivered coursework in the first nine months, with limited in-person sessions, followed by regular in-person teaching and simulation. It offers Illinois and Colorado locations within one program and requires five key Illinois events across the cohort. Count those commitments even if Colorado is your main didactic location.

Endeavor's school is based at Evanston Hospital and runs with DePaul. Its clinical list includes Illinois and Indiana sites, and the school reserves the right to change assignments. Rush's published network includes urban and rural settings, and its initial clinical experiences happen at Rush and satellite locations. Millikin pairs online DNP core work with face-to-face anesthesia courses, and its clinical schedules include call and weekends.

UIC's nurse anesthesia specialty is Chicago only, even though the College of Nursing has other campuses. SIUE's program is based in Edwardsville, and its Illinois/Missouri licensing instructions reflect where clinicals happen. Confirm the licenses you'll need and how far placements will take you. A budget built around the university's mailing address alone won't cover it.

What do comparable outcome data show?

Outcome data only compares cleanly when the graduation year and the definition match. A recent graduating class, a report date and a future first cohort are three different labels.

Program/report	First-time NCE result	Context
Rush, 2025 cohort	86%	The same page reports 0% attrition.
Endeavor/DePaul, Class of 2025	96%	0% attrition.
Millikin, 2025 graduating class	100%	2025 graduating class.
SIUE, reported June 29, 2026	96%	Reported for the most recent graduating class. Attrition 3%.
UIC	Not yet reported	UIC anticipates its first graduating class in 2028 and will post attrition, first-time pass and employment rates after that. A program without graduates yet has no score to compare, good or bad.

This selected comparison isn't an all-program ranking. Get current multi-year results for each finalist, including cohort sizes and attrition definitions, and ask about student support. One school's higher percentage in one year doesn't tell you which program fits your education or your circumstances best.

How should you narrow your Illinois list?

Give each viable program its own row and record the GPA type, your ICU dates, required courses, the verification deadline, the entering year and where you'd actually attend. Sort out the deal-breakers before you spend money on application fees. Then compare itemized costs and educational support among the programs still standing.

If Illinois leaves you with a specific mismatch, look at programs in Wisconsin, Indiana, Iowa and Missouri. A neighboring state still needs campus- and clinical-specific planning. Build your list in the program directory, then take whatever questions are left straight to the schools. Six programs is a short enough list that you can give every one of them a real look.