Georgia State University’s Byrdine F. Lewis College of Nursing and Health Professions offers 2 Adult-Gerontology Primary Care Nurse Practitioner pathways:
- MSN
- Post-Master’s Certificate
Both pathways are taught online with required in-person sessions in Atlanta, and both charge every student the same per-credit rate regardless of where they live. Both require RN licensure. The MSN accepts a license from any U.S. state provided the applicant has applied to the Georgia Board of Nursing; the certificate requires an active Georgia RN license outright.
Program Tracks Overview
| Program | Est. Tuition | Est. Duration | Credit Hours |
|---|---|---|---|
| MSN AGPCNP | $22,272 | 2–3 years (FT) 3–4 years (PT) | 48 |
| Post-Master’s Certificate AGPCNP | $10,672–$18,096 | Not published | 23–39 |
Tuition estimates multiply Georgia State’s published rate of $464 per credit hour, which applies to online students in every state, by each pathway’s credit total. The certificate range runs from the 23 specialty credits no one can waive to the full 39 credits owed by a student who waives nothing. The $660 per-semester online learning fee is billed separately and depends on enrollment intensity.
- Why choose it: A flat $464 per credit for online students in every state puts the 48-credit MSN near $22,272.
- Trade-off: Required in-person sessions in Atlanta, Georgia licensure requirements, a 16-state exclusion list, and no published clinical placement commitment.
Quick Facts
| Program Types | MSN, Post-Master’s Certificate |
| Format | Coursework online; required on-campus components in Atlanta |
| Campus Attendance | MSN: face-to-face experiences attached to certain courses, dates announced in advance. Certificate: week-long on-campus experience at the start, plus in-person skills testing throughout |
| Clinical Hours | 500 minimum, identical in both pathways |
| Clinical Placement | Responsibility not clearly published; GSU maintains preceptor forms and a master’s program preceptor manual |
| Population Focus | Adults and older adults in primary care, ambulatory and specialty settings |
| Distinctive Coursework | NURS 7080 Ambulatory Care of Women, 6 credits and 140 clinical hours, required in an adult-gerontology track |
| Licensure Required | MSN: RN license in Georgia or another U.S. state with evidence of application to the Georgia Board of Nursing. Certificate: active Georgia RN license |
| Start Terms | Fall and Spring; no summer admission |
| Tuition | $464 per credit hour, same rate in every state |
| Accreditation | CCNE |
MSN AGPCNP
The MSN AGPCNP runs 48 semester hours and costs an estimated $22,272 in tuition. Georgia State publishes a completion window of two to three years full-time or three to four years part-time. The pathway is open to BSN-prepared RNs, and to RNs holding an associate degree or diploma through the R.N.-to-M.S. bridge, which adds substantial undergraduate prerequisite work before graduate coursework begins.
MSN Curriculum
The 48 credits split into a 22-credit advanced practice core and a 26-credit specialty block. Two features of the core are worth noting. Georgia State separates diagnostic reasoning and procedures into its own 2-credit course rather than folding it into health assessment, and it requires two courses most NP curricula do not: a 3-credit course on the culture of healthcare and a 3-credit interprofessional collaboration course shared across the college’s health professions.
The specialty block is weighted heavily toward one course. NURS 7340, Common Health Problems of Adults, carries 10 credits and 180 clinical hours, making it roughly a fifth of the degree on its own. The second largest specialty course is a 6-credit women’s health course carrying 140 clinical hours, which is a considerable commitment of adult-gerontology clinical time to ambulatory women’s care. Gerontological nursing sits in the specialty block rather than the core, and the degree includes a 3-credit free elective, which is uncommon in NP programs.
Required core courses (22 credits)
- NURS 7315 – Advanced Pathophysiological Concepts Across the Lifespan (3)
- NURS 7330 – Diagnostic Reasoning and Procedures (2)
- NURS 7500 – Advanced Health Assessment (3)
- NURS 7550 – Pharmacology for the Advanced Practice Nurse (3)
- NURS 7600 – The Culture of Healthcare (3)
- NURS 7940 – Advanced Professional Nurse Practice Issues (2)
- NURS 7950 – Theoretical Foundations and Research Methods for Advanced Practice Nursing (3)
- CNHP 7800 – Interprofessional Collaboration for Advanced Practice (3)
Required specialty courses (26 credits)
- NURS 7340 – Common Health Problems of Adults (10) – 180 clinical hours
- NURS 7080 – Ambulatory Care of Women for Advanced Practice Nurses (6) – 140 clinical hours
- NURS 7360 – Senior Practicum for the Advanced Practice Nurse (4) – 180 clinical hours
- NURS 7010 – Gerontological Nursing (3)
- Elective (3)
View the full M.S. in Nursing requirements in the Georgia State catalog.
MSN Clinical Requirements
- 500 clinical hours minimum, distributed across three specialty courses
- NURS 7340: 180 hours. NURS 7080: 140 hours. NURS 7360: 180 hours
- Settings: ambulatory care, primary care and specialty practice with adults and older adults
- Placement responsibility: not stated on Georgia State’s public program pages
- Geographic restrictions on clinical sites: not published
- Certain courses carry required face-to-face on-campus experiences, with dates announced in advance
Two things about this clinical model deserve attention before applying. The first is the hour count. At 500 hours, Georgia State sits at the floor rather than above it; 500 direct patient care hours is the standard national minimum for NP certification eligibility, so graduates finish with the least clinical exposure a certifying body will accept. Programs that build in 600 or 700 hours give graduates more supervised practice for the same credential.
The second is that Georgia State does not publish who is responsible for finding clinical sites and preceptors. The college publishes a preceptor information form and a master’s program preceptor manual, and links preceptors to Georgia’s preceptor tax incentive program, but nothing on the public pages states whether faculty place students or students recruit their own preceptors. For a program marketed to online students, that is the single most consequential unanswered question, and it is worth resolving before committing, particularly for an applicant outside metro Atlanta.
MSN Admissions
- Graduation from an accredited nursing program; BSN, or associate degree/diploma through the R.N.-to-M.S. bridge
- Cumulative GPA of 2.75 on a 4.00 scale across all undergraduate coursework
- RN license in Georgia or another U.S. state, with evidence of application to the Georgia Board of Nursing
- One to two years of RN clinical practice; practice in the specialty area preferred for clinical tracks
- Two letters of recommendation; one must come from a former faculty member if the applicant left nursing school less than five years ago
- Resume, statement of purpose, and a two-page APA-format position paper on a social or health issue
- Official transcripts from every college attended, plus immunization certificate and citizenship verification on admission
- Deadlines: May 15 for Fall, November 1 for Spring. No summer admission
The R.N.-to-M.S. bridge is the requirement most likely to change an applicant’s timeline. Associate and diploma RNs must complete Georgia State’s undergraduate core, including English composition, college algebra, two chemistry courses with labs, anatomy and physiology, microbiology, statistics and several social science courses, plus two bridge courses: NURS 6910 Caring for Families and Communities (5 credits) and NURS 6930 Leadership and Management in Nursing (3 credits). NURS 6910 has a trap attached. The clinical site must be arranged a full semester before registering, and a student who misses that window is not eligible to take the course, which can push graduation back a year.
The 2.75 GPA threshold is lower than the 3.0 most NP programs set, which makes Georgia State a realistic option for nurses whose undergraduate record would screen them out elsewhere.
Post-Master’s Certificate AGPCNP
The post-master’s certificate runs between 23 and 39 credits depending on how much of the core is waived, which puts estimated tuition between $10,672 and $18,096. Georgia State does not publish a completion time. Eligibility is narrow: applicants must already hold a master’s degree in nursing and an active Georgia RN license. Georgia State does not require existing APRN certification, so an MSN-prepared nurse in a non-APRN role, such as education or administration, can use this route.
Certificate Curriculum
The certificate is built from two blocks. The 23-credit specialty sequence is fixed and cannot be waived by anyone. The 16-credit core is subject to an equivalency review of the applicant’s prior graduate coursework, and any course judged equivalent to a Georgia State course is waived. That review is the single variable that determines both cost and length, and it happens after admission rather than before application.
The certificate core is narrower than the MSN core. It omits The Culture of Healthcare and Theoretical Foundations and Research Methods, and there is no elective. A certificate holder therefore completes the same clinical sequence and the same 500 hours as an MSN graduate, minus the theory, research and general coursework that make the MSN a degree.
Core courses (16 credits, waivable on equivalency review)
- NURS 7315 – Advanced Pathophysiological Concepts Across the Lifespan (3)
- NURS 7330 – Diagnostic Reasoning and Procedures (2)
- NURS 7500 – Advanced Health Assessment (3)
- NURS 7550 – Pharmacology for the Advanced Practice Nurse (3)
- NURS 7940 – Advanced Professional Nurse Practice Issues (2)
- CNHP 7800 – Interprofessional Collaboration for Advanced Practice (3)
Specialty courses (23 credits, not waivable)
- NURS 7340 – Common Health Problems of Adults (10) – 180 clinical hours
- NURS 7080 – Ambulatory Care of Women for Advanced Practice Nurses (6) – 140 clinical hours
- NURS 7360 – Senior Practicum for the Advanced Practice Nurse (4) – 180 clinical hours
- NURS 7010 – Gerontological Nursing (3)
View the post-master’s certificate requirements in the Georgia State catalog.
Certificate Clinical Requirements
- 500 clinical hours minimum, identical to the MSN
- NURS 7340: 180 hours. NURS 7080: 140 hours. NURS 7360: 180 hours
- Required week-long on-campus experience in Atlanta at the start of the program
- Required in-person skills testing at points throughout the program
- Settings: primary care and ambulatory practice with adults and older adults
- Placement responsibility and geographic limits: not published
The campus requirement is heavier here than on the MSN side and is stated more definitely. A week in Atlanta at the start is a planned, budgetable expense. The recurring in-person skills testing is harder to plan around, because Georgia State does not publish how many sessions there are or when they fall. A nurse flying in from out of state should treat travel as an open-ended line item rather than a one-time cost.
Certificate Admissions
- Master’s degree in nursing from an accredited program
- Active Georgia RN license
- One to two years of RN clinical practice, preferably related to the specialty track
- Application through SLATE with a $50 fee due by the deadline
- Entrance exam waived for post-master’s certificate applicants
- Two letters of recommendation; one from a former faculty member if the applicant left nursing school less than five years ago
- Resume, statement of purpose, and a two-page APA-format position paper
- Official transcripts from all graduate and undergraduate institutions attended
- Deadlines: May 15 for Fall, November 1 for Spring. No summer admission
The Georgia RN license requirement is stricter than the MSN’s and is the rule most likely to disqualify an otherwise strong applicant. The MSN accepts a license from any state as long as the applicant has applied to the Georgia Board of Nursing. The certificate page states a flat requirement for an active Georgia license, with no equivalent accommodation, so an out-of-state nurse should expect to obtain Georgia licensure before the certificate becomes available.
Tuition
Georgia State charges $464 per credit hour for its online graduate nursing programs, and the rate is identical for every student regardless of geographic location. Both the M.S. in Nursing page and the post-master’s certificate page publish the same figure, so there is no conflict between sources on the current rate. There is no separate resident or non-resident rate to compare, which removes the largest single cost variable at most public universities.
An online learning fee of $660 per semester applies when a student enrolls in six or more credit hours. That threshold creates a real planning decision: a student who stays at five credits or fewer in a given semester avoids the fee entirely but stretches the program out, while a student pushing to finish in two years pays it roughly six times, adding close to $4,000.
Estimated Total Tuition
| Pathway | Credits | Est. Tuition |
|---|---|---|
| MSN AGPCNP | 48 | $22,272 |
| Certificate, maximum coursework | 39 | $18,096 |
| Certificate, full core waived | 23 | $10,672 |
These totals are calculated from Georgia State’s published per-credit rate and credit requirements. Georgia State does not publish program totals.
The gap between the two pathways is narrower than it appears. A certificate applicant who waives nothing pays $18,096 against $22,272 for the MSN, a difference of roughly $4,200 for a credential rather than a degree. The certificate only becomes clearly the better financial choice when the equivalency review waives most of the 16-credit core.
Costs beyond tuition
- $660 online learning fee per semester at six or more credit hours
- $50 application fee for the post-master’s certificate, due by the application deadline
- Travel and lodging for the Atlanta on-campus requirements, which Georgia State does not cost out
Georgia State names three funding routes that apply directly to working nurses: employer tuition reimbursement, veterans’ educational benefits, and the University System of Georgia Tuition Assistance Program, which is open to eligible employees of USG institutions. A nurse already working for a University System of Georgia employer should check TAP eligibility before applying, since it can change the arithmetic entirely.
See Georgia State’s official tuition breakdown or run the numbers through the graduate cost calculator.
Why Choose This AGPCNP Program?
Best suited for: a Georgia-licensed RN, or one willing to obtain Georgia licensure, who wants the lowest-cost accredited route to AGPCNP certification and can travel to Atlanta for required in-person sessions.
The flat rate is the strongest argument
A 48-credit MSN at $22,272 is inexpensive for a nurse practitioner degree, and the absence of a non-resident rate is the part that matters most. At most public universities an out-of-state student pays a multiple of the in-state figure, which is why so many nurses end up at private online programs charging $50,000 or more. Georgia State removes that penalty. The 2.75 GPA minimum also sits below the 3.0 that is standard elsewhere, which widens the pool of nurses who can realistically apply.
Sixteen states where Georgia State says its APRN program falls short
Georgia State’s professional licensure disclosure lists its APRN program as not meeting educational or curricular licensure requirements in Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Idaho, Louisiana, Maryland, Mississippi, Nebraska, Nevada, Oregon, Tennessee, Texas and Washington. That covers a large share of the country by population, and it is a determination the university makes about its own program rather than a technicality. An applicant planning to practice in any of those states should resolve this before paying an application fee.
The certificate’s value rides entirely on the equivalency review
Georgia State waives certificate core courses judged equivalent to prior graduate work, which is genuinely useful for an MSN-prepared nurse whose pathophysiology, assessment and pharmacology coursework is recent and comparable. But the review happens after admission, the 23-credit specialty sequence is never waivable, and a nurse who waives nothing spends within about $4,200 of the full MSN. Applicants whose master’s degree was in administration, education or informatics, where the advanced practice core was never taken, should assume the high end of the range.
Minimum clinical hours, unpublished placement rules
Both pathways require 500 clinical hours, which meets the national certification minimum without exceeding it, and neither program page states who secures clinical sites and preceptors. For a nurse in metro Atlanta with existing hospital relationships, neither point is likely to be decisive. For a nurse several states away relying on the online format, the combination of an unstated placement policy and an unstated geographic limit is the biggest open risk in this program.
The Verdict
Georgia nurses have the strongest case for applying here. The price is difficult to beat, the Atlanta campus requirements are a short drive rather than a flight, licensure in Georgia is not in question, and the lower GPA floor makes the program accessible to applicants who would be screened out elsewhere. MSN-prepared nurses already practicing in Georgia who want a second population focus have an equally strong case, provided their prior coursework survives the equivalency review.
Nurses in the 16 states on Georgia State’s licensure exclusion list should look elsewhere first, and out-of-state applicants generally should weigh the flat tuition against repeated travel to Atlanta, the Georgia licensure requirement on the certificate side, and the absence of any published commitment on clinical placement. Nurses who want clinical volume above the certification floor, or a program that guarantees placement, will find both at schools that charge more for them.
Accreditation
The baccalaureate, master of science, post-master’s certificate and Doctor of Nursing Practice programs at Georgia State University are accredited by the Commission on Collegiate Nursing Education (CCNE). Georgia State states that AGPCNP graduates of both pathways are eligible to sit for certification through the American Nurses Credentialing Center and the American Academy of Nurse Practitioners. The university reports a 97% first-time APRN certification pass rate for 2024, averaged across all of its NP specialty tracks rather than reported separately for AGPCNP.
State licensure is the item distance applicants need to check. Georgia State publishes a licensure determination stating that its APRN program does not meet the educational or curricular requirements for licensure in 16 states: Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Idaho, Louisiana, Maryland, Mississippi, Nebraska, Nevada, Oregon, Tennessee, Texas and Washington.
One caveat about that list: Georgia State publishes a second, different list for its M.S. Family Nurse Practitioner track, which swaps Mississippi, Nebraska and Nevada for New York, Ohio and the District of Columbia. No AGPCNP-specific determination is published, so the general APRN entry is the closest applicable statement. Because the two published lists disagree and these determinations change, applicants outside Georgia should verify their own state against Georgia State’s current nursing licensure page before applying.
More AGPCNP Programs in Georgia
- Emory University - Atlanta
- Georgia Southern University - Statesboro
- Mercer University - Atlanta
- South University - Savannah