Part of the CRNA Career Hub — browse every related guide in one place.
For ICU nurses across the South, Texas Wesleyan and Samford are two of the most commonly shortlisted private CRNA programs — and they represent nearly opposite bets. Texas Wesleyan in Fort Worth runs one of the largest nurse anesthesia programs in the country, with a hallmark front-loaded design and clinical sites spread across multiple states. Samford in Birmingham runs a regionally rooted doctoral program embedded in one of the Southeast's densest medical cities. Same degree destination, very different three years.
Texas Wesleyan trades geographic stability for scale and network reach; Samford trades national sprawl for a stay-in-one-city Southeastern home base. At Texas Wesleyan you complete front-loaded didactics in Fort Worth, then disperse to a clinical site that may be several states away. At Samford, Birmingham's hospital systems are the training ground, and most residents plant themselves in one metro for the duration.
| Factor | Texas Wesleyan | Samford |
|---|---|---|
| Location | Fort Worth, Texas (didactic phase) | Birmingham, Alabama |
| Degree | Practice doctorate | Practice doctorate |
| Scale | Among the largest CRNA programs in the U.S.; large cohorts, huge alumni network | Regional cohort size; strong Southeast footprint |
| Structure | Front-loaded didactics, then clinical phase at sites across multiple states | Front-loaded curriculum with Birmingham-area clinical training |
| Relocation risk | High — plan on moving for clinicals, possibly twice | Low — one city can carry you through |
| Institutional identity | Private university, long anesthesia track record, high volume | Private, faith-based mission; regional reputation |
| ICU experience | ~1 yr adult critical care minimum; more and higher-acuity is stronger | ~1 yr adult critical care minimum; more and higher-acuity is stronger |
| CCRN | Effectively expected | Effectively expected |
Be brutally honest about this one variable before anything else. Texas Wesleyan's distributed clinical network is a genuine strength — varied practice environments, exposure to different anesthesia care models, and sites that sometimes include high-autonomy rural placements that independent-practice-minded residents covet. But it can mean two moves in three years (to Fort Worth, then to your clinical site), which is a completely different proposition for a single nurse with a paid-off car than for a nurse with a working spouse, a mortgage, and kids in school. Samford's one-city model is the family-stability play: Birmingham is a major Southeastern medical hub with substantial surgical volume and acuity, and you can sign a three-year lease and be done with logistics.
Texas Wesleyan's size cuts both ways. A large cohort means a massive alumni network — useful for jobs in nearly every state — plus mature systems, deep faculty benches, and a program that has seen every problem before. It also means you're one of many, and your clinical experience depends heavily on which site you land. Samford's smaller regional footprint means more predictable training and tighter faculty relationships, with a network that is densest in Alabama and the surrounding Southeast. Match the network to where you actually want to work: national-anywhere favors Texas Wesleyan's reach; Alabama/Georgia/Tennessee/Florida panhandle favors Samford's regional gravity.
Both are private universities, so neither competes on sticker price — pull current tuition from each program and budget the full three years, including the cost of any relocations (moving twice is a real, four-figure line item most applicants forget). Living costs in Fort Worth and Birmingham are both moderate by national standards; the wildcard is Texas Wesleyan's clinical phase, where your cost of living depends on the site you draw. One more soft factor: Samford is an explicitly faith-based institution, which some applicants actively seek and others should at least be aware of when reading the program's culture. Run the numbers with our cost guide and funding guide.
Both expect an accredited BSN, unencumbered license, competitive overall and science GPA, at least a year of adult critical care (with high-acuity depth mattering more than raw months), CCRN, shadowing, and a selective interview. Texas Wesleyan's volume means it reviews an enormous applicant pool — polish and differentiation matter; Samford's regional identity rewards applicants who can articulate why the Southeast, and why a mission-driven program. Prep with our interview guide and personal statement examples.
Deep-dive each program: Texas Wesleyan CRNA guide and Samford CRNA guide. Understand the structural tradeoff in front-loaded vs integrated programs, compare the national field in Best CRNA Schools 2026, and see the East Coast matchups in Duke vs Georgetown and Duke vs VCU.
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