Herzing University Online: Cost and Outcomes (2026)
Jump to a section 10 sections
- Herzing’s online RN to BSN and MSN-FNP classes are 100% online
- Herzing Online reports its federal data under the Madison campus ID
- Herzing’s online RN to BSN is $450 a credit and its MSN-FNP $770
- The Madison ID’s net price counts living costs, so it sits above tuition
- 32% of the Madison ID’s 2017-18 starters earned an award in eight years
- Nursing master’s and bachelor’s degrees lead the Madison ID’s fields
- Graduate students outnumber undergraduates in the Madison ID
- Herzing University is accredited by HLC, and CCNE accredits its Madison bachelor’s and graduate nursing programs
- Who Herzing Online fits, and the watch-outs
- Check your own aid before you apply to Herzing
Herzing University-Madison, the federal school ID that holds Herzing University Online, had an average net price of $20,293 for 2024-25, and 32% of its students who started in 2017-18 earned an award within eight years (College Scorecard, October 15, 2026). That net price covers 105 full-time, first-time students with federal aid and includes living costs.
Recommended next step
Check your aid before you choose Herzing
About two minutes, no name, email or phone asked, with the rules for the year you start (2026-27 or 2027-28). No bachelor's yet: Pell and state grants. Have a BSN: no Pell, and the standard graduate loan limit. Herzing's financial aid office sets your actual offer.
Check my aid58% of the Madison ID’s undergraduates studied part-time in fall 2024.
Herzing prices its online programs by the credit: $450 for the RN, Registered nurse. A nurse licensed by a state board after passing the NCLEX-RN exam. to BSN, Bachelor of Science in Nursing. A bachelor’s degree in nursing. Registered nurses can earn it in an RN-to-BSN program. and $770 for the family nurse practitioner MSN, Master of Science in Nursing. A graduate nursing degree, the usual route to advanced roles such as nurse practitioner. (MSN-FNP). Herzing says “current tuition rates for all programs are effective through the Summer 2027 semester.”
If you are investing your own hard-earned money this time, check which Herzing a figure describes. College Navigator lists 12 Herzing results, each under its own ID, and Herzing says its online division “is considered to be part of” the Madison campus “for reporting purposes.” Every federal figure on this page is for the Madison ID.
How many terms until you finish?
Tell us what you're working toward and the credits you have. You'll see an estimate right here, nothing to sign up for.
Herzing’s online RN to BSN and MSN-FNP classes are 100% online
Herzing’s online RN to BSN has “100% online classes,” with full-time and part-time options. Classes run in 8-week sessions with six start dates a year, and there are “no traditional clinicals”: you complete a 45-hour community health project instead.
The MSN-FNP has “100% online classwork” and 585 practicum hours. Herzing says it “pledges clinical placement” for the program and posts the pledge’s terms on its own page.
The federal data points the same way. In fall 2024, 85% of the Madison ID’s undergraduates and 98% of its graduate students were “enrolled exclusively in distance education courses,” College Navigator says.
Herzing Online reports its federal data under the Madison campus ID
| Fact | Herzing University-Madison, the ID that holds Herzing Online |
|---|---|
| Control (College Scorecard) | Private nonprofit |
| Nonprofit since | January 1, 2015, by Herzing’s own release |
| Institutional accreditor | Higher Learning Commission (HLC) |
| Federal school ID (UNITID) | 240392 |
| Other Herzing IDs in College Navigator | 11 campuses, each with its own ID |
| Undergraduates studying fully online (fall 2024) | 85% |
| Graduate students studying fully online (fall 2024) | 98% |
| Degree-seeking undergraduates (fall 2024) | 2,494 |
| Graduate students (fall 2024) | 2,753 |
| Undergraduates studying part-time (fall 2024) | 58% |
| Undergraduates 25 or older (fall 2023) | 80% |
| Admission rate (fall 2024) | 94% |
Herzing was founded in Milwaukee in 1965. It became “a 501(c)(3) nonprofit tax-exempt educational institution” on January 1, 2015, when its operating company merged into the Herzing Educational Foundation, by Herzing’s own release.
Herzing’s online RN to BSN is $450 a credit and its MSN-FNP $770
These are the two online nursing programs whose rates we read on Herzing’s pages on October 28, 2026.
| Program (online) | Per credit | Credits | Length, Herzing says |
|---|---|---|---|
| RN to BSN | $450 | 120 in all, up to 90 transferred | As little as 12 months |
| MSN-FNP | $770 | 48, plus 585 practicum hours | Twenty months (5 semesters) full-time |
Fees come on top. Herzing charges a $555 learner resource fee, books and materials included ($185 if you opt out of them), each semester you take more than two credits, and an $850 program fee each semester in its nurse practitioner MSN programs. Herzing gives each student “the estimated program length and cost at the time of enrollment, which is based on a full-time course schedule.”
For the MSN-FNP, 48 credits at $770 come to $36,960. Over the five full-time semesters Herzing lists, the two fees add $7,025, for $43,985 before any discount or scholarship, by our math from Herzing’s posted rate and fee schedule.
The MSN-FNP asks for a BSN with at least a 3.0 GPA, and you must live in a state where Herzing is authorized to offer it.
The Madison ID’s net price counts living costs, so it sits above tuition
College Scorecard lists the Madison ID’s tuition and fees at $13,820 for 2025-26, the same in-state and out-of-state. Its net price is higher because net price is the full cost of attendance minus grants and scholarships. College Navigator counts tuition and fees, books and supplies, food and housing and other expenses in that cost.
Herzing’s 2026-27 aid budget for students living off campus adds $1,091 a month for food and housing, $222 for transportation and $707 for personal expenses. Herzing says these “are not fees or charges that Herzing University assesses, but rather estimates of cost-of-living figures to be used when calculating financial aid eligibility.”
Scorecard’s $20,293 average for the Madison ID covers 105 full-time, first-time undergraduates with federal aid in 2024-25. By family income it ran from $17,812 ($48,001 to $75,000) to $24,057 ($110,001 and up). 58% of the Madison ID’s undergraduates studied part-time in fall 2024, so a part-time or transfer student’s cost can differ.
75% of the Madison ID’s undergraduates had a Pell Grant in 2024-25. For 2026-27, the maximum Pell Grant for a full-time year is $7,395 (Federal Student Aid’s scheduled award). Herzing’s FAFSA, Free Application for Federal Student Aid. The free federal form for grants, federal student loans and work-study. Most states and schools use it for their own aid too. school code is 009621.
32% of the Madison ID’s 2017-18 starters earned an award in eight years
| Measure, Madison ID | Value |
|---|---|
| Earned an award within 8 years (all students who started in 2017-18) | 32% |
| Graduated within 150% of normal time (first-time, full-time, fall 2019 cohort) | 29% |
| Median earnings 6 years after starting (entered 2015-16 and 2016-17) | $42,105 |
| Median earnings 10 years after starting (entered 2011-12 and 2012-13) | $44,255 |
| Graduates' median earnings 4 years after finishing (2017-18 and 2018-19 finishers) | $58,575 |
| Graduates' median federal loan debt (entered repayment in fiscal 2024 and 2025) | $17,676 |
| Undergraduates with a Pell Grant (2024-25) | 75% |
| Undergraduates with a federal loan (2024-25) | 78% |
The two rates count different groups. The 8-year rate counts all students who started in 2017-18. The 150% rate counts only students who started college for the first time, full-time, in fall 2019.
If you are an RN coming back with credits, College Navigator’s outcome measures fit you better. Of students who had attended college before and entered the Madison ID full-time in 2016-17, 70% earned an award within eight years, by our math from Navigator’s figures. Of those who entered part-time, 37% did.
These are medians for the whole Madison ID, nursing and other programs together. Your payoff depends on the program, the job you aim for and what you pay.
Nursing master’s and bachelor’s degrees lead the Madison ID’s fields
These are the Madison ID’s eight largest fields by awards in 2023-24, from Scorecard’s field-of-study file. Scorecard marks every row as having some credentials fully online.
| Field and credential | Awards, 2023-24 | Median earnings, 4 yrs after | Median federal debt |
|---|---|---|---|
| Registered nursing (master's) | 375 | $120,338 | $39,192 |
| Clinical/medical laboratory science (undergraduate certificate) | 341 | Not published | $8,305 |
| Registered nursing (bachelor's) | 196 | $91,010 | $28,468 |
| Registered nursing (graduate certificate) | 149 | Not published | $25,787 |
| Allied health and medical assisting (undergraduate certificate) | 146 | $36,188 | $8,123 |
| Health and medical administrative services (undergraduate certificate) | 69 | $37,853 | $9,500 |
| Health and medical administrative services (associate) | 62 | $38,352 | $22,487 |
| Allied health and medical assisting (associate) | 35 | $44,890 | $18,164 |
“Registered nursing” is Scorecard’s Registered Nursing, Nursing Administration, Nursing Research and Clinical Nursing.
To set Herzing’s nursing degrees beside other schools’ programs, read online RN-to-BSN and MSN programs compared. For money you do not repay, see grants for nursing school.
Graduate students outnumber undergraduates in the Madison ID
The Madison ID had 2,753 graduate students and 2,494 degree-seeking undergraduates in fall 2024. College Navigator puts the Madison ID’s average graduate tuition at $8,280 for 2024-25, plus $1,090 in fees.
During “the District of Columbia Court’s stay and the District of Oregon Court’s preliminary injunction,” Federal Student Aid treats registered nursing MSN programs (CIP 51.3801) and DNP programs (CIP 51.3818) as professional degrees, with a higher limit of $50,000 a year, “for the duration of the Courts’ stay and preliminary injunction.”
Ask Herzing’s aid office which limit applies to your program; our guide to nursing master’s loan limits explains why it may change.
The Madison ID’s nursing master’s graduates of 2022-23 and 2023-24 had a median $39,192 in federal debt. The grad loan gap check shows what federal loans leave uncovered year by year.
Herzing University is accredited by HLC, and CCNE accredits its Madison bachelor’s and graduate nursing programs
Herzing “is accredited by the Higher Learning Commission,” its accreditation page says, and College Navigator lists the Madison ID as accredited by HLC since October 18, 2002. For nursing, Navigator lists CCNE accreditation at the bachelor’s level since 2018, the graduate level since 2011 and the doctorate since 2024.
Herzing’s own rule for everything else: if a program “does not state it has programmatic accreditation in writing, students should assume the program does not have programmatic accreditation.” Its Bachelor of Social Work has CSWE candidacy, which Herzing says “does not guarantee” initial accreditation.
Not every online program is open in every state. Herzing tells nursing applicants to “check with their applicable state board of nursing before enrolling in any online nursing program.”
Who Herzing Online fits, and the watch-outs
It fits if
- You are an RN with an associate degree or diploma. The RN to BSN has no traditional clinicals, runs in 8-week sessions, and Herzing’s own estimate with 90 credits transferred is $15,720.
- You hold a BSN and aim to be a family nurse practitioner. The MSN-FNP is 48 credits at $770, with 585 practicum hours. The Madison ID’s nursing master’s finishers of 2017-18 and 2018-19 earned a median $120,338 four years later; that is the whole nursing master’s field, all concentrations together, not an FNP figure.
Watch-outs
- 68% of the Madison ID’s 2017-18 starters had no award after eight years, by our math from Scorecard’s 32%. If it is your own money, that is the risk to weigh first.
- Transfer credit and finish time are not promised. “Up to 90” credits and “as little as 12 months” are Herzing’s words, and its cost page says actual semesters “are dependent upon university approved transfer credits and program mapping.” Ask for a written credit evaluation before you enroll.
- Part-time transfer students finished less often. Of the Madison ID’s 2016-17 entrants who had attended college before, 70% of full-time and 37% of part-time students earned an award within eight years (College Navigator, by our math).
- Clinical placement is a pledge with terms. Herzing “pledges clinical placement” for the MSN-FNP; read the terms on its pledge page before you count on it.
- Nursing master’s debt is the highest in the fields table. The Madison ID’s 2022-23 and 2023-24 finishers had a median $39,192 in federal debt, and new federal graduate loan limits apply from July 1, 2026.
Check your own aid before you apply to Herzing
The Madison ID’s averages describe what other students paid. Herzing’s financial aid office sets your actual offer.
The aid check applies the federal rules for the year you start (2026-27 or 2027-28) to your answers. It takes about two minutes and shows Pell, state or campus grants, Work-Study and federal loans without asking your name, email or phone. With a BSN already, it shows no Pell and the standard graduate loan limit; the grad loan gap check above covers the MSN’s professional limit.
To compare on the same measures in College Scorecard’s October 2026 data, see Indiana Wesleyan University, a nonprofit (45% eight-year rate for its National & Global ID’s 2017-18 starters, $23,375 median debt for graduates entering repayment in fiscal 2024 and 2025).
Or see Chamberlain University, a for-profit (74% for its Chamberlain University-Illinois ID’s 2017-18 starters, $19,746 for graduates entering repayment in fiscal 2024 and 2025).
Degree Sources may refer readers to schools through partners. School matching is optional, comes after your aid result, and is not an application or admission to Herzing or any school. The figures here come from federal data and Herzing’s own pages, and this profile does not rank schools.
See your aid stack before you apply to Herzing
About two minutes, with the federal rules for the year you start. No name, email or phone asked. Herzing's financial aid office sets your actual offer; school matching is optional after your result.
See my aid stackWant your finish-line plan by email? Go to the quick check
Sources
Every figure in this guide comes from one of these pages. How we check sources
- U.S. Department of Education, College Scorecard: Herzing University-Madison (UNITID 240392)
- College Scorecard data files, October 15, 2026 release
- College Scorecard data dictionary: field definitions and cohort years
- NCES College Navigator: Herzing University-Madison (enrollment and distance education fall 2024, age fall 2023, graduate tuition 2024-25, outcome measures for 2016-17 entrants, accreditation, net price definition)
- NCES College Navigator: search results for Herzing (12 Herzing University IDs)
- Herzing University, College Navigator (which campus reports the online division)
- Herzing University, Accreditation
- Herzing University, Online RN to BSN Program
- Herzing University, RN to BSN Tuition and Cost (rates through the Summer 2027 semester)
- Herzing University, MSN-FNP Online Program
- Herzing University, Fee Schedule
- Herzing University, Tuition and Cost (2026-2027 living expenses for financial aid)
- Herzing University, Cost of Attendance
- Herzing University, Loan Options (school code, Grad PLUS from July 1, 2026)
- Herzing University, Herzing University Announces Nonprofit Status (2015)
- StudentAid.gov, One Big Beautiful Bill Act: Important Definitions (graduate loan limits)
- Federal Student Aid, GENERAL-26-42: professional degree programs under the court order (updated Oct. 23, 2026)
- Federal Student Aid, 2026-27 Federal Pell Grant maximum and minimum award amounts
Related Resources
Chamberlain University Online: Cost and Outcomes (2026)
Chamberlain's online RN-to-BSN is $635 a credit and its MSN $750 to $760 (2026). 74% of undergrads who started in 2017-18 earned an award in 8 years.
Best Online Nursing Programs 2026: RN-to-BSN and MSN
Six accredited online RN-to-BSN and MSN programs, from WGU to Duke, compared on Scorecard outcomes. RNs earned a $97,550 median in May 2025 (BLS).
Grants for nursing school in 2026: what actually pays
Pell is a grant you don't repay. Nurse Corps and the state nursing scholarships we checked pay for school in return for work, and each 2026 window has closed.