How Long is CRNA School

How long is CRNA School

How long is CRNA School depends on the type of CRNA program that you are enrolled in. Masters in Nursing at a CRNA School is 24 to 33 months long. On the other hand, a Doctors in Nursing CRNA School is 36 to 51 months long depending on CRNA program. In this page, we will discuss in detail the factors affecting how long is a CRNA program.

CRNA School Length Background

CRNA School Length

Back in the early 2000’s, most CRNA Schools were Masters of Nursing (MSN) programs which were 2 years or 24 months long. However, that all changed in 2007. The American Association of Nurse Anesthetists (AANA) had been facing increasing criticism of nurse anesthetists and pressure to increase the education requirements for all nurse anesthetists. Many different proposals were debated, some of which were very dramatic.

Ultimately, the AANA decided that Nurse Anesthesia needed to be a Doctors-level degree rather than just a MSN. To make things fair, they gave plenty of time till 2025 for all CRNA Schools to convert their programs for approval. With this change the CRNA School Length requirement changed from 2 years effectively to 3 years. Fast forward to today, nearly all CRNA Schools have converted to DNP programs in the past 5 years. In fact, there are now only twenty-five CRNA Masters Programs. Of the 25, four are 24-month CRNA programs and the remaining twenty-one are between 27 to 33 months in length. Therefore, as we get closer to year 2025, eventually there will be no more CRNA 24 month programs remaining.

In summary. of the 124 CRNA Schools as of year 2021, the average length of CRNA school is 34 months long. The average credit hours in CRNA School for MSN degrees is 69 hours. To compare, the average credit hours in CRNA School for DNP degrees is 98 hours.

List of How Long is CRNA School

List of How Long is CRNA School

In the table below, we provide the list of all CRNA Schools by Length. All the CRNA Schools have been approved by the Council on Accreditation of Nurse Anesthesia Educational Programs. Please click on the CRNA School name for more detailed information on the selected CRNA program. Lastly, you can also sort CRNA School length by Months and by Credit Hours.

For your CRNA School Length reference, MS, MSN and MSNA are 2-year Master of Science CRNA programs.  To compare, DNP, DNPA, DNPNA are 3-year Doctor of Nursing Practice of Nurse Anesthesia programs.

How long is CRNA School?Degree OfferedCRNA School Length in MonthsCRNA School Length in Credit Hours
Antillean Adventist UniversityMSN2465
La Roche CRNAMSHS2449
Newman CRNAMSNA2460
Wake Forest CRNAMSNA2464
Columbia University CRNAMS2762
Midwestern University CRNAMSNA27120
Minneapolis School of AnesthesiaMSNA2748
Saint Marys CRNAMSNA2764
Samuel Merritt CRNAMSN2766
UNE CRNA ProgramMSNA2754
University of Akron CRNAMSN2759
UTK CRNA ProgramMSN2785
Virtua Our Lady of LourdesMSN2794
Albany Medical College CRNA ProgramMS2868
ASU CRNAMSN2888
Drexel CRNAMSN2889
FSU CRNAMSN2895
Inter American UniversityMS2852
Lincoln Memorial University CRNA ProgramMSN2881
Lourdes University CRNAMSN2864
UPMC HamotMSN2848
University of Puerto RicoMSNSA2967
Westminster CRNAMSNA2964
Saint Joseph HospitalMSN3056
Bloomsburg CRNAMSN3368
AdventHealth CRNADNAP36127
Army CRNADNP36122
Augusta CRNA ProgramDNP36113
Barry University Nurse Anesthesia ProgramDNP3686
Baylor College of Medicine CRNADNP36132
Boston College CRNADNPNA36100
Bryan College CRNADNAP3690
Buffalo CRNA ProgramDNP36124
Case Western CRNADNP3671
Cedar Crest CRNADNP3695
Charleston Area Medical CenterDNAP36127
Clarkson College CRNADNP3689
Cleveland Clinic CRNA programDNP3671
Detroit Mercy CRNADNP3687
Duke CRNA ProgramDNP3683
ECU CRNADNP3690
Emory CRNADNP3690
Excela Health School of AnesthesiaDNAP3691
Fairfield CRNADNP3675
FIU CRNA ProgramDNP36107
Florida Gulf Coast University CRNADNP36112
FranU CRNADNP36100
Georgetown CRNADNAP3664
Goldfarb CRNADNP3691
Gonzaga CRNADNAP3688
Integrated Anesthesia AssociatesDNAP3683
Jefferson CRNA ProgramDNP3692
Johns Hopkins CRNADNP3688
Kaiser CRNADNPNA36110
Keiser University CRNADNAP3690
KU CRNA ProgramDNAP3681
LSU CRNA ProgramDNP36139
Marian University CRNADNP3687
Marquette CRNADNPNA3691
Mayo Clinic Health SystemDNP3677
Michigan State University CRNADNP3692
Middle Tennessee School of AnesthesiaDNAP36124
Military CRNADNP36107
Millikin CRNADNP3688
Missouri State University CRNADNAP36119
Mount Marty CRNADNAP3683
Murray State CRNADNP3684
MUSC CRNA ProgramDNAP36116
National University CRNADNAP36138
NKU CRNADNP36106
Northeastern CRNADNPNA3677
Northshore CRNADNP36110
Oakland University CRNA ProgramDNPNA3687
OHSU NursingDNP36129
Old Dominion University CRNADNP36103
Otterbein CRNADNP36101
Quinnipiac CRNA ProgramDNP3682
Raleigh School of Nurse AnesthesiaDNP36107
Rosalind Franklin CRNADNP36161
Rush University CRNADNP3689
Rutgers CRNADNP3685
Saint Francis CRNADNP3696
Samford CRNADNP3694
SIUE CRNADNP3680
St Elizabeth Health CenterDNP36100
TCU CRNADNPA3687
Texas Wesleyan University CRNADNAP3692
Truman CRNA ProgramDNP3673
U of M CRNA ProgramDNAP3692
UAB CRNADNP36114
UAMS CRNA ProgramDNP3695
UM CRNA ProgramDNP36124
UNC CRNA ProgramDNP3689
UND CRNA ProgramDNP3697
UNF CRNADNP36111
Union University CRNADNP3699
University of Arizona CRNADNP3685
University of Cincinnati CRNADNP36109
University of Iowa CRNADNP3680
University of Maryland CRNADNP3693
University of Minnesota CRNADNP36100
University of Pittsburgh CRNADNP3686
University of Scranton CRNADNP3683
University of South Carolina CRNADNAP36110
University of Tennessee Health Science CenterDNP36100
University of Tulsa NursingDNP3687
University of Wisconsin Oshkosh CRNADNP3674
UPenn CRNADNP36111
USC CRNA SchoolDNAP3680
USF CRNA ProgramDNP3694
USM CRNA ProgramDNP36114
UTC CRNADNP36118
UT Houston CRNADNP36112
VCU CRNA ProgramDNAP3693
Villanova CRNA programDNP3673
Wayne State CRNADNAP3687
Webster University Nurse Anesthesia ProgramDNAP36144
Western Carolina University CRNADNP3686
WVU CRNA programDNP3688
Yale CRNADNP3686
York College CRNADNP36102
Loma Linda CRNADNP39148
Mayo Clinic CRNADNAP42116
La Salle CRNA programDNP5186

2 Year CRNA School Length Programs

The final four 24-month CRNA programs are Newman CRNAAntillean Adventist UniversityLa Roche CRNA, and Wake Forest CRNA.

  • Newman CRNA is a Masters of Science in Nurse Anesthesia degree (MSNA) and is 24 months long.  This CRNA program is located in Wichita, Kansas and has a CRNA ranking of #119 in Best CRNA Schools.
  • Antillean Adventist University offers a Masters of Science (MSN) in Nursing CRNA program, which is 24 months.  The CRNA School is located in Mayaguez, Puerto Rico and is ranked #113 in Best CRNA Schools.  
  • La Roche CRNA offers Masters of Health Science in Nurse Anesthetist (MHSNA) program, which is 24 months in length.  The nurse anesthetist program is in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania and is rank #50 in Top CRNA Schools.
  • Wake Forest CRNA Program is a MSN in Nurse Anesthesia degree that is one of the 24 month CRNA programs.  The CRNA School is located in Winston-Salem, North Carolina and has a ranking of #8 in Best CRNA Schools.

3 Year CRNA School Length Programs

There are 99 CRNA Schools offering 3 year DNP degrees. Of the 99 CRNA DNP Programs, 96 Schools are 36 months long. The final 3 CRNA programs are longer in length as described below:

  • Loma Linda CRNA, ranked #65, is located in Loma Linda, California. The CRNA School offers a Doctor of Nursing Practice program that is 39 months long.
  • Mayo Clinic CRNA is a Doctor of Nursing Anesthesia Practice program that is 42 months long. The CRNA School is located in Rochester, Minnesota and is ranked #14 in Best CRNA Schools.
  • La Salle CRNA Program, ranked #43, is a Doctor of Nursing Practice degree that is 51 months long. This is the longest CRNA school length. The reason is because the first 24 months are only part-time with the program being online. With this, you can continue working in your current job. The remaining program is held at the La Salle campus in Norristown, Pennsylvania.

Best CRNA Programs

best crna schools

We spent hundreds of hours studying all CRNA schools and interviewing over 125 nurse anesthetists to create our exclusive list of Best CRNA Schools.  Although you may be overwhelmed by how long is a CRNA program, it’s a good idea to compare the CRNA program length with the best nurse anesthetist schools for you.  You’ll see which ones are the best fit in terms of the timeline you have to pursue your studies in nurse anesthesia.

Map of Nurse Anesthetist Programs by State

CRNA Programs by State

Finally, we have listed out all Nurse Anesthetist Schools by State in the map below to complement your research on how long is a CRNA program.

AL AK AZ AR CA CO CT DE FL GA HI ID IL IN IA KS KY LA ME MD MA MI MN MS MO MT NE NV NH NJ NM NY NC ND OH OK OR PA RI SC SD TN TX UT VT VA WA WV WI WY DC

Notes:
The darker the blue color equivocates to more CRNA Schools in the State.
Tier 1 = 6 or more CRNA Schools
2nd Tier = 3 to 5 CRNA Schools
Tier 3 = 1 or 2 CRNA Schools
White means no CRNA schools in the State.
Data source: everythingCRNA

Nurse Anesthetist Salary

CRNA Starting Salary

As you’re interested in how long is CRNA school, be sure to check out our CRNA Salary Guide and CRNA Starting Salary.  If you are still a student or if you’re wondering how much a fresh CRNA can make right out of nurse anesthesia school, this information will be especially helpful.  You might be surprised too!  We spent hundreds of hours researching salary information from the BLS, the AANA CRNA survey from over 5,000 actual nurse anesthetists as well as from my own CRNA job offers after I graduated.  In addition, different states have different demand and supply economics for nurse anesthetists, so our CRNA Salary by State Guide will help you see which States are the best fit for you.

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