USM CRNA Program

University of Southern Mississippi, located in the Show-Me State of Hattiesburg, Mississippi offers one of the top CRNA programs in the United States. The USM  CRNA program length is 36 months (114 credit hours) beginning in the calendar month of January each year.  This detailed summary will discuss the degree, course structure, class size, acceptance rates, admissions, tuition costs and other helpful information for the school.

#72 Best CRNA Schools – USM CRNA

We spent hundreds of hours interviewing nurse anesthetists to come up with the list of Best CRNA schools where we include real feedback on all CRNA schools from nurse anesthesiologists all over the US.  In our Best CRNA School survey, USM has a CRNA School Ranking of #72 out of 124 CRNA Schools. For more information on all CRNA schools, check out Best CRNA Schools and CRNA School Rankings.

USM DNP

Upon graduation from the CRNA program, you will receive a University of Southern Mississippi DNP (Doctor of Nursing Practice) degree.  Certainly, CRNA master’s degrees will no longer be offered by CRNA schools from 2022. Therefore, all degrees offered from CRNA schools will be Doctor degrees such as:

• DNP (Doctor of Nursing Practice)
• DNP-A (Doctor of Nursing Practice – Anesthesia)
• DNP-NA (Doctor of Nursing Practice – Nurse Anesthesia)
• DMPNA  (Doctor of Management Practice – Nurse Anesthesia)

For instance, many healthcare professions, like Pharmacy, are also moving towards the doctorate degree as the entry level to enter the profession.

USM CRNA Program Course Load

The USM DNP degree program is based on a front loaded course load.  In other words, an integrated CRNA degree is one where clinical experience begins in the first year with both clinical hours and classroom lectures throughout the program length. On the other hand, this is different than a front loaded CRNA degree where the first year is considered mainly academic with classroom education while the remaining years are focused on clinical rotations. In general, there is no right or wrong method of teaching – roughly 33% of schools have integrated course loads in the first year and 67% are front loaded. Therefore, the trend of more clinical hours in the first year has been increasing in recent years as CRNA schools realize the importance of practical experience and knowledge sooner rather than later.

University of Southern Mississippi CRNA Program Class Size

To sum up, the University of Southern Mississippi CRNA program class size is 20 students and considered average size.  To give a frame of reference, the average class size of CRNA programs across the nation is 24 CRNA students.

USM CRNA Acceptance Rate & Admissions

The application deadline for the USM CRNA program is on June 1. The USM CRNA program does not accept applications via NursingCas, which means applicants will have to apply directly to the school.  The program charges an application fee of US$160, which is on par with the average CRNA application fee of US$61. In summary, the USM CRNA acceptance rate is 40% and is deemed less competitive. As a comparison to other CRNA schools, the average CRNA school acceptance rate across the United States is 26%.

USM CRNA Program Tuition

In-State tuition is US$26,666, which is considered a bargain.  This is one of the cheapest CRNA Schools in the US.  The average In-State tuition for CRNA schools is US$89,490 in the United States. Out-of-State Tuition is US$31,898, which is nearly 70% cheaper than the average. The average Out-of-State tuition for CRNA schools is US$105,291 across the country. Above all, for both In-State and Out-of-State tuition, these tuition figures include the total cost of the entire program excluding living expenses.  Consequently, after one year of living in many States, you would be considered an ‘In State’ resident for tuition purposes.  In short, rules vary state by state.  Therefore, please do additional research on this if you are applying as an Out-of-State CRNA student. To conclude, you might have to leave a tuition deposit once you are accepted into the USM program.  This is usually a one-time deposit and off-set with your tuition bill. Most CRNA schools charge this reservation fee and the average across the nation is US$1,358.  The USM reservation fee is US$1,500. Always remember that CRNA Scholarship programs do exist to help students with tuition.

USM CRNA Program Additional Information

For your guidance, we have listed out additional information (GRE requirement, student attrition, first time test taker pass rate, etc.) that may be helpful to you on the nurse anesthesia program in the table below.

Best CRNA School Rating	US News Ranking	Name	State	City	Degree Offered	Program Length (Months)	Credit Hours	Application Deadline	NursingCas (Yes/No)	GRE	Acceptance Rate %	Student Attrition %	Test Taker Pass Rate %	In-State Tuition (US$000's)	Out-of-State Tuition (US$000's)
62	51	UTC CRNA	Tennessee	Knoxville	DNP	36	118	Dec	Y	Depends	23%	8%	92%	$87	$207

CRNA Salary in MS

Since you’ve shown interest in the CRNA Program at USM, you should definitely check out our CRNA Salary Guide and CRNA Starting Salary Guide. If you’re still a student or wondering how much a nurse anesthetist earns fresh out of school, this info is very useful. After all, it’s important to know how long it will take to pay off student loans and your payback period on time spent studying and tuition.  Hundreds of hours were spent analyzing CRNA salary information.  We go over data from BLS, the yearly AANA survey from +5,000 actual CRNAs in addition to my own nurse anesthetist job offers I received after graduating.  I strongly believe that you’ll find the information helpful in becoming a better and more informed nurse anesthetist!

Other Information on USM CRNA Program

Website: University of Southern Mississippi Click on the image gallery below for more information on CRNA Schools in MS and CRNA Salary in MS. Note: We have updated all the information for the 2021 academic school year.