Updated June 2026 · 9 min read

CRNA Programs in Nebraska

Part of the CRNA Career Hub — browse every related guide in one place.

Nebraska has two accredited nurse anesthesia programs today — Clarkson College in Omaha and Bryan College of Health Sciences in Lincoln — and a third from Creighton University is working its way through initial accreditation. For in-state applicants, that means two solid doors now and potentially a third within a couple of cycles.

The Nebraska Programs

Clarkson College

Clarkson College in Omaha runs a 36-month Doctor of Nursing Practice in nurse anesthesia accredited by the Council on Accreditation of Nurse Anesthesia Educational Programs (COA). Its structure is worth understanding before you apply: roughly the first 20 months are didactic, beginning with about eight months delivered online and then twelve months on campus, after which students move into roughly sixteen months of full-time clinical practicum. That front-loaded classroom phase lets some applicants keep working part-time early on, but the clinical year is full-time and all-consuming, so plan your finances and life around it.

Bryan College of Health Sciences

Bryan, in Lincoln, offers a 36-month Doctor of Nurse Anesthesia Practice with cohorts that start each May. A distinctive feature is that students are assigned a "home hospital" — in Lincoln, Omaha, or Kearney — which anchors the bulk of their clinical training and shapes the kind of cases they see. Applicants who care about staying in a specific part of the state, or about training in a particular hospital system, should weigh that placement model carefully when comparing Bryan to Clarkson.

How to Choose

With only two fully accredited Nebraska programs today, residents shouldn't treat either as a safety. Clarkson's online-then-on-campus didactic phase appeals to applicants who want some early flexibility; Bryan's home-hospital model appeals to those who value a defined clinical base and a May start. Both confer a doctorate and lead to the same NBCRNA certification exam, so let format, location, cost, and clinical geography drive the decision rather than prestige.

Application Strategy for Nebraska

Two accredited seats in-state is a thin field, so apply to both Clarkson and Bryan if you reasonably fit, and seriously consider adding out-of-state programs in Kansas, Missouri, or Colorado to widen your odds, since CRNA cohorts are small and competitive everywhere. Both Nebraska programs expect a strong GPA and at least a year of adult ICU experience, and most CRNA programs prefer or require the CCRN — address that early with the CCRN guide. Keep an eye on Creighton for future cycles.

Bottom Line

Nebraska offers two accredited doctoral CRNA programs today — Clarkson College's DNP in Omaha and Bryan's DNAP in Lincoln — with Creighton's DNP-NA on track for a possible third by 2027. Apply to both current programs, hedge with neighboring states, verify each program's figures, and treat Creighton as a future option until COA confirms its accreditation. For the bigger picture, see CRNA acceptance rates and the CRNA job outlook.