Lourdes University CRNA School: Closure, Wayne State Teach-Out & Ohio Alternatives

Q: Is my Lourdes CRNA degree still valid if I graduated before the closure?

Yes. The Lourdes DNP Nurse Anesthesia Program held Continued Accreditation with the Council on Accreditation throughout its life. Every graduate is fully eligible to sit for the National Certification Examination through the NBCRNA and practice as a CRNA anywhere in the United States.

Last updated: April 20, 2026 | Published: April 18, 2026 | By Daniel Etheridge, CRNASchool.com

Lourdes University campus in Sylvania Ohio, home of the nurse anesthesia DNP program

🚨 Important Notice: Lourdes University is closing at the end of the 2025-26 academic year, and its DNP Nurse Anesthesia Program is ending with it. Current students have a formal teach-out path to Wayne State University, and the University of Toledo has approved launching a brand-new nurse anesthesia track to restore CRNA education in northwest Ohio. No new applications are being accepted at Lourdes. If you’re planning a CRNA career in Ohio, see our CRNA Schools in Ohio guide for all currently enrolling programs.

Program at a Glance (Final Years)

Here’s where the Lourdes nurse anesthesia program stands in its final chapter, based on the most recent public data from the Council on Accreditation:

Official Name: Lourdes University DNP Nurse Anesthesia Program
Location: 6832 Convent Boulevard, Sylvania, OH 43560
Degree: Doctor of Nursing Practice (Entry Level)
Program Length: 36 months, full time, 97 credit hours
Start / End Month: May / May
First DNP Graduating Class: May 2025
Average Class Size: 15-24 students per cohort
Average Qualified Applicants: 80 per cycle
NCE First-Time Pass Rate: 88%
Attrition: 0%
Employment Rate at Graduation: 100%
Average Cases per Graduate: 827
Clinical Sites: 10-11 (Level One Trauma, community, rural, and critical access)
Tuition (entire program): $106,215 (in-state and out-of-state)
Accreditation: Continued Accreditation through closure
Program Administrator: Dr. Angella Ruley, DNP, CRNA, NP-C
Phone / Email: (419) 517-8956 / aruley@lourdes.edu

Lourdes University Closure: What Actually Happened

On February 11, 2026, the Board of Trustees of Lourdes University and the Sisters of St. Francis jointly announced that the university would conclude operations at the end of the 2025-26 academic year. The decision came after what the Board described as careful deliberation around long-term financial sustainability and the challenges facing small, private Catholic institutions across the country.

Lourdes isn’t alone. A February 24, 2026 NPR/Ohio Statewide News story placed the Lourdes announcement inside a broader national trend of Catholic colleges closing in response to declining enrollment and tightening budgets. Inside Higher Ed also covered the announcement on the day it broke, and Ohio’s Department of Job and Family Services filed the required WARN Act notice the following month.

Classes will continue normally through the rest of spring 2026. The university has formally signed more than two dozen teach-out and transfer agreements to protect students across every program — and for the DNP-CRNA cohort, those agreements have very real, very actionable pathways.

CRNA student with laptop and stethoscope transitioning between nurse anesthesia programs

What Happens to the Lourdes CRNA Program Specifically

The nurse anesthesia program closes with the university. Here’s the key information for current students and recent graduates:

Class of 2026 (final cohort): Completes their degree at Lourdes on schedule before closure.
Class of 2027 and 2028: Will finish through the Wayne State University teach-out partnership (details below).
No new admissions: Lourdes stopped accepting applications after the closure announcement.
Accreditation: The program held “Continued Accreditation” with the COA throughout its life, right up to closure.
Graduate credentials: Fully valid. Every Lourdes DNP-CRNA alum is eligible to sit for the National Certification Examination and practice as a CRNA anywhere in the U.S.

If you’re a current student, your first call should be to Dr. Angella Ruley at Lourdes (aruley@lourdes.edu) to receive your official transition packet. The Toledo Blade reported in April 2026 that Lourdes’s closure leaves northwest Ohio without an in-region CRNA program — a gap that’s already being addressed.

Wayne State University: The Official Teach-Out Partner for Nurse Anesthesia

On March 17, 2026, Lourdes and Wayne State University signed a formal teach-out agreement specifically for the DNP Nurse Anesthesia Program. Wayne State’s Eugene Applebaum College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences in Detroit is an established, COA-accredited nurse anesthesia program — and it’s the closest full-service CRNA program to Sylvania, Ohio.

Wayne State at a Glance

Program: DNP in Nurse Anesthesia, Eugene Applebaum College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences
Location: Detroit, Michigan (roughly 60 miles from Sylvania, OH)
Accreditation: COA-accredited
Admissions Contact: fy9015@wayne.edu | (313) 577-9239
Program Website: applebaum.wayne.edu/nurse-anesthesia

How Lourdes Students Activate the Teach-Out

Contact Dr. Angella Ruley at Lourdes (aruley@lourdes.edu) for your official transition documentation.
Reach out to Wayne State’s nurse anesthesia admissions to start the transfer application.
Review Wayne State’s curriculum alongside your Lourdes transcripts to confirm credit equivalencies.
Lock in housing and clinical-site logistics for the Detroit metro area.

Additional Ohio-based options such as the University of Akron have also indicated they’re open to transfer conversations for impacted Lourdes CRNA students — it’s worth contacting multiple programs to compare transfer-credit outcomes.

University of Toledo’s New CRNA Track: A New Chapter for Northwest Ohio

Here’s the most encouraging piece of this story: the region isn’t losing CRNA education permanently. On April 8, 2026, the University of Toledo Board of Trustees voted to establish a brand-new nurse anesthesia track within UT’s existing Doctor of Nursing Practice program.

“The northwest Ohio region is losing its only nurse anesthesia program. The closest is the University of Detroit Mercy. In Ohio, there is a program at OSU and Otterbein University. We cannot afford to lose this program.”
— Mark Merrick, Dean, UT College of Health and Human Services (Toledo Blade, April 9, 2026)

What We Know About UT’s Track So Far

Degree: DNP with Nurse Anesthesia track
Status: UT Board approved April 8, 2026; launch details being finalized
Location: Toledo, Ohio (roughly 10 miles from Lourdes’s former Sylvania campus)
Significance: Restores CRNA education to the Toledo metro after Lourdes’s departure
Where to watch for updates: utoledo.edu/nursing

This is a meaningful win for Ohio nurse anesthesia education. Dean Merrick’s argument to the Board — that the region simply can’t afford to lose this program — was persuasive enough that UT committed to building it in the same semester the closure was announced. If you’re thinking about CRNA school in Ohio and you can wait a year for a brand-new program to open in Toledo, this is worth watching closely.

A Legacy Worth Honoring

Lourdes University was founded in 1958 by the Sisters of St. Francis of Sylvania, grounded in a Catholic, Franciscan educational tradition of service, scholarship, and personalized attention. The nurse anesthesia program launched as an MSN cohort in Fall 2011 and transitioned to a doctoral curriculum, graduating its first DNP-CRNA class in May 2025.

In its roughly 15-year run, the program built outcomes most CRNA programs envy. A 0% attrition rate over its most recent reporting period. A 100% employment rate at graduation. An average of 827 cases per graduate across a diverse clinical network spanning Level One Trauma Centers, community hospitals, rural facilities, CRNA-only practices, and critical-access sites — the kind of breadth most residency-style programs don’t match.

Small cohorts of 15 to 24 students allowed Dr. Angella Ruley and the Lourdes faculty to mentor every SRNA personally, and the Franciscan identity of the university shaped a distinct professional culture — one that emphasized compassionate patient advocacy alongside the technical demands of anesthesia practice. The program’s alumni now practice across Ohio, Michigan, and beyond, carrying that identity into every OR they work in.

7 Ohio CRNA School Alternatives Currently Enrolling

If Lourdes was on your list and you’d rather stay in Ohio, here are the seven accredited programs currently accepting applications. (Note: Otterbein University in Columbus is also closing its CRNA program effective June 1, 2026, so it’s not on this list.)

Map of Ohio showing remaining accredited CRNA schools and nurse anesthesia programs

The Ohio State University (Columbus) — Flagship Big Ten research university with a large, well-resourced DNAP program.
University of Cincinnati (Cincinnati) — Major academic medical center and UC Health system clinical sites.
Case Western Reserve University / Cleveland Clinic (Cleveland) — Top-ranked partnership drawing on Cleveland Clinic’s case volume.
University of Akron (Akron) — Collaborative DNAP with regional hospital partners in northeast Ohio.
Youngstown State University (Youngstown) — Eastern Ohio DNP option.
Ursuline College (Pepper Pike) — Small, private, Catholic program in suburban Cleveland.
Ohio University (Athens) — Southeast Ohio DNP program with a strong regional reputation.

For full admissions requirements, class sizes, tuition, and clinical details on each, see our complete CRNA Schools in Ohio guide.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is Lourdes University’s CRNA program still accepting applications?

No. Lourdes University is closing at the end of the 2025-26 academic year, and its DNP Nurse Anesthesia Program is ending with it. No new applications are being accepted.

Why is Lourdes University closing?

Lourdes announced its closure on February 11, 2026, after Board deliberation with the Sisters of St. Francis. The decision was driven by long-term financial sustainability challenges — a trend affecting small Catholic colleges across the country, as documented by Ohio Statewide News and Inside Higher Ed.

What happens to current Lourdes CRNA students?

The Class of 2026 completes their DNP at Lourdes on schedule. Cohorts who won’t finish before closure (Classes of 2027 and 2028) have a formal teach-out agreement with Wayne State University’s Eugene Applebaum College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences in Detroit, Michigan.

Is my Lourdes CRNA degree still valid if I graduated before the closure?

Yes. The Lourdes DNP Nurse Anesthesia Program held “Continued Accreditation” with the Council on Accreditation throughout its life. Every graduate is fully eligible to sit for the National Certification Examination through the NBCRNA and practice as a CRNA anywhere in the United States.

Where is the closest CRNA school to Sylvania, Ohio now?

In the short term, the closest full-service CRNA programs are the University of Detroit Mercy (about 60 miles north) and Wayne State University (also in Detroit). The Ohio State University in Columbus is roughly 125 miles south. Once the new University of Toledo nurse anesthesia track launches, it will be the closest in-state option — roughly 10 miles from Lourdes’s former Sylvania campus.

When will the University of Toledo CRNA program launch?

The UT Board of Trustees approved establishing the new DNP nurse anesthesia track on April 8, 2026. Launch timing, curriculum, and application details are being finalized by UT’s College of Health and Human Services. Bookmark utoledo.edu/nursing for the official launch announcement.

Can I transfer from Lourdes to a CRNA program besides Wayne State?

Yes, other programs may accept Lourdes transfer students on a case-by-case basis. The University of Akron has indicated openness to transfer conversations, and several other Ohio CRNA schools are worth contacting directly to discuss credit transfer. Each program evaluates transfers individually based on curriculum alignment, clinical hours completed, and cohort availability.