The University of Akron is expanding one of its most successful graduate programs, raising tuition to help cover the costs of its growth.
The university’s nurse anesthesia program, which now accepts 36 to 40 students each year, will grow to admit as many as 45 students annually, said Tim Meyers, the associate dean of the College of Health and Human Sciences and the executive director of the School of Nursing. That number could rise to 50 in the coming years, he said.
To manage the increase, the department has already added a faculty member and will be hiring a second, bringing the total number to five. And while students are able to use equipment in classrooms to practice intubations and other skills, the addition of a replica operating room will help prepare students for the environment they’ll be working in.
“You can make it like the moment it happens,” Meyers said of a dedicated practice space for students. “We want the operating room setting so they can have all the feels.”
That’s valuable for students, said Paige Bidinotto, a student registered nurse anesthesiologist in her first year in the program. She also works as a surgical intensive care nurse for the Cleveland Clinic.
“The OR’s just totally different,” she said, referring to the operating room. “Making it as realistic as possible will really help.”
Some of the program’s current equipment is outdated, she said, and now, students must divide their practice sessions into separate sections to work on airways, spinal cords and other body parts. The replica operating room will allow students to combine the tasks they’ll have to do day in and day out.
“The whole picture will come together,” she said. “You’ll get your flow down before you’re even in the OR.”
Bidinotto said having access to more instructors will be valuable as well. While she said no one wants tuition to increase, she’s glad to see the ways in which the benefits will be coming back to students. And she said the program, and career, are still clearly worth the cost.
Cost going up, but still the cheapest in Ohio
The degree will cost a total of $60,438 for the three-year program, up from $44,940. Even with a price increase of more than 30%, Meyers said Akron’s nurse anesthesia program is still the most affordable in Ohio — seven similar programs cost between $70,000 and $167,000, he said, based on research.
“It’s still the cheapest in the state,” he said. “We’re providing a good service.”
Part of the increase, too, comes from a recent accreditation change that required the school to expand its program to the doctoral level, adding more credits for students to complete.
“I don’t think, in general, any student likes to see their tuition go up,” said Jessica Sparks, a student registered nurse anesthesiologist in the program who’s also a registered nurse in the intensive care unit at Cleveland Clinic Akron General. Still, she said, “I think it’s going to exactly where it needs to go.”
She called the new OR “super exciting” and said it will give students the opportunity to practice their skills outside of class time too.
The improvements, including the addition of new instructors, will help make the program “really desirable” for new students, she said.
Nurse anesthetists can make about $180,000 per year, Meyers said, so the degree can allow for the type of generational wealth that can change peoples’ lifestyles. The program accepts students who have already worked as intensive-care nurses for at least two years and values those who have a proven ability to multitask.
Grads say program prepped them well for careers
The university’s nurse anesthesia program has a 99% retention rate, and 99% of students pass licensing tests on their first try, Meyers said. That compares to an 88% rate nationally. He said students are seeing good success with few resources, but more support can only improve the program.
Wilson Vladic, the chief certified registered nurse anesthesiologist at Akron General and a 2003 graduate of the university’s program, said his time at Akron did a great job of preparing him for his career. He said with high demand for graduates, a larger class size will be beneficial to hospitals.
At Akron General, Vladic said, more than 80% of his nurse anesthesiologist colleagues are Akron graduates. With students rotating through the hospital, he said, it’s easy to hone in on students the department might want to hire — and there are many.
“What Akron is doing seems to be working,” he said.
Vladic said rising tuition costs make sense as instruction transitions to a doctoral program from a master’s program. The tuition hike will also help raise the salaries for existing faculty, what Meyers called a market correction to retain professors at the school. He said he doesn’t expect to see similar increases again for quite some time.
Meyers said University of Akron President Gary Miller has said he wants to reward successful programs like this one in the nursing school.
“They’re rewarding programs that are financially stable,” Meyers said. “It just makes logical sense to support the program more.”
The increase didn’t change Tom Watral’s mind about participating in the program. Watral, an incoming first-year student and a coronary intensive care nurse at the Cleveland Clinic, said he knew costs were rising before he decided to go to Akron. The earlier tuition cost, he said, felt too good to be true.
“It didn’t make sense that it was that affordable,” he said. “Even after the increase, it’s $10,000 more affordable than the next most-affordable program.”
Watral said after four years in nursing, he’s looking forward to a degree that will let him have one-on-one time with patients.
“The job seems like what I would love to be doing,” he said. “I’m obviously excited. I can’t wait to get started.”