CRNA Schools in Oregon: OHSU and George Fox Compared

Your options for CRNA schools in Oregon are Oregon Health & Science University and George Fox University, the two nurse anesthesia programs in this comparison. Both award a Doctor of Nursing Practice. But they calculate GPA differently, set different credential deadlines, send students to different clinical sites and structure tuition their own way. Figure out whether you're eligible for the cohort you want first. Then compare the full attendance and money commitment.

Which CRNA schools in Oregon offer entry training?

OHSU is based in Portland. Ask where your cohort's immersions happen before you pick housing.

Program	Degree and curriculum	Attendance structure	Accreditation
OHSU	Three-year DNP, 129 credits, 2,000 clinical practicum hours	Portland-based education with assigned clinical sites across several states	COA continued accreditation
George Fox	Three-year DNP, 90 semester credits, 2,340 clinical hours	Hybrid online coursework, campus immersions each semester and five clinical residencies	COA initial accreditation

Sources: OHSU program, George Fox program and the COA directory.

The two schools count credits differently. OHSU's bigger credit number doesn't mean a longer degree, and you can't multiply its credits by George Fox's semester-credit rate to get a price. Each one describes a three-year plan with its own course and practicum accounting.

How do GPA and ICU requirements compare?

OHSU requires a cumulative GPA of at least 3.0 across your undergraduate and graduate coursework. George Fox requires at least 3.0 in your last 60 units/credits of nursing courses, plus its prerequisite grade requirements. Those two calculations look at different sets of grades.

Admissions item	OHSU	George Fox
Nursing degree	BSN or BS with a nursing major	Accepted pathways include BSN, post-baccalaureate BSN and entry-level nursing MSN
Experience	One critical care year before applying	One continuous ICU year, at least 1,800 hours, within the past three years. Orientation/residency doesn't count
CCRN	Not required, but you get additional consideration if you have it	Required by the application deadline, along with AHA-issued ACLS, BLS and PALS
GRE	Explicitly not required	Not on its CRNA admissions checklist
Oregon RN license	You can be admitted conditionally without one, but you need it by the time you start the program	Proof required by the application deadline

Sources: OHSU detailed requirements and George Fox admissions. Notice the license timing. George Fox wants proof of an Oregon license by the application deadline, months before OHSU needs it.

George Fox counts coronary, cardiac, burn, medical, surgical, trauma, neuro and pediatric ICU experience, and it excludes neonatal ICU, emergency room and progressive care. Its required competencies include routine management of adult ventilator patients and vasoactive titration. OHSU asks for one year of critical care nursing before you apply, so if your unit falls outside the usual ICUs, ask its admissions office how it'll count. And a hospital showing up on a clinical rotation list doesn't prove its nursing unit meets admissions criteria.

Illustrative eligibility comparison: Picture a nurse with a current Oregon license and only NICU experience. That experience runs straight into George Fox's explicit exclusion. At OHSU, it's a reason to ask an individual eligibility question, since there's no basis to assume the other Oregon program automatically accepts it. Bring your actual patient-care duties and experience dates when you ask.

Which prerequisite courses and shadowing records should you prepare?

George Fox requires a B or better in each listed prerequisite and at least a 3.0 overall GPA across those courses. The list includes chemistry with lab, two anatomy-and-physiology courses, another biology course and statistics. Your chemistry has to cover the specified foundational content and fall within ten years of the application deadline. Self-paced online courses don't meet its stated chemistry requirement.

George Fox also requires at least 20 hours shadowing a CRNA, two role-specific references and official records from every postsecondary school you've attended. Read its exact current checklist, because another school's shorter form won't necessarily cover the same tasks.

OHSU gives additional consideration for a biochemistry course taken within the last seven years. That's a plus, not a mandatory prerequisite. It also requires three references, including one from a supervisor, and describes a critical-care exam and writing assessment for selected applicants.

Before you buy a replacement course, get clear on why you need it. A course required for eligibility plays a different role from an optional one that shows you're prepared. Use the prerequisite guide to keep your transcript, syllabi and written program approvals organized.

When can you apply to the next Oregon cohort?

George Fox's admissions page listed August 6 to October 1, 2026. Your NursingCAS application had to be verified, with proof of your Oregon license, by October 1, and the school asks you to allow several business days for verification. So when the next cycle opens, plan to submit well before the deadline.

OHSU asks you to apply by October 12 for a summer start, and its program page says applications will reopen in August 2027. Get the next entering cohort's full calendar from OHSU admissions before you build your timeline.

Track four fields for each school: application opens, complete-file deadline, required verification status and class start. The application guide helps you connect those tasks to the rest of your application plan.

How much does nurse anesthesia school in Oregon cost?

OHSU and George Fox publish different kinds of cost figures. If you compare one school's tuition-only number with the other's tuition, fees and insurance estimate, you'll end up with a misleading range.

Official source	Current figure and scope	What still belongs in your budget
OHSU 2026-2027 nursing cost page	$906 resident or $944 nonresident per credit. Approximate program cost $149,833 resident or $154,735 nonresident	The table includes medical/dental insurance if required. Ask for the full cost-of-attendance estimate covering living, books and other expenses
George Fox 2026-2027 tuition page	$171,000 tuition, using 90 semester credits at $1,900. Listed average annual tuition $57,000	Books, course fees, insurance, program compliance and living expenses are extra, and charges are subject to change

George Fox separately estimates course fees at $1,560 per semester and books at $1,500 per semester. Its $150 annual DNP program fee and listed insurance cost are separate categories on top of that. So ask which charges apply to your cohort, and don't treat $171,000 as the full cost of attending.

OHSU lists nurse anesthesia among its Tuition Promise programs. The published conditions include staying enrolled and in good academic standing. Confirm the rate for your entering cohort and exactly which charges the promise covers. A guaranteed tuition rate doesn't automatically guarantee every fee or living expense.

OHSU also describes possible resident-rate eligibility for qualifying residents of selected border counties in neighboring states. Ask for an actual classification decision. Moving to Oregon, or living somewhere in a neighboring state, doesn't make you eligible by itself.

Where will you need to attend clinical training?

OHSU arranges its students' clinical placements and preceptors, and its official site list reaches beyond Oregon to locations in Washington, Idaho and Oklahoma. Ask which sites are required or elective for your cohort, how assignments get made and which travel or temporary-housing costs fall on you.

George Fox describes placements in Oregon or Washington, arranged by faculty. Its hybrid format includes in-person immersions every semester and five clinical residencies. The school describes low- or no-cost residency housing as a possibility, not a guaranteed benefit for every assignment.

A simple attendance worksheet keeps all of this straight. Put classroom/immersion dates in one column and clinical locations in another, then add when each assignment gets confirmed and what support comes with it. You'll end up with a far more realistic housing plan than if you assume "online" means finishing the whole degree from home.

What do accreditation and graduate outcomes show?

OHSU reports its 2026 class at 92.8% first-time NCE passage. Keep the cohort year attached to that figure.

George Fox has COA initial accreditation, with its next on-site visit scheduled for fall 2030. As a newer program, it has fewer graduating classes to report, so ask for its first-time pass results as each cohort finishes. The school separately describes its DNP's CCNE accreditation process, which is a different thing from nurse anesthesia COA accreditation.

For either school, ask about cohort size, multi-year outcomes, student support and what any graduation or attrition measure actually counts. Two schools with different histories and one available exam row won't support a "best Oregon program" verdict.

How should you narrow your Oregon shortlist?

Start with whichever difference decides your eligibility: the GPA calculation, the accepted ICU setting, the Oregon-license deadline or a required course. Next, confirm your earliest realistic cohort and the full attendance footprint. Only compare costs when they're clearly labeled and on the same basis.

Two schools means two very different sets of rules, and once you've matched your own transcript, unit and license dates against each, the right fit gets much easier to see. Save your comparison in the School Database. If Oregon leaves you with a specific mismatch, look at Washington, California and the national directory, then check each school's own location and admissions rules. Do the matching first. Trust.