Multiple Nursing School Acceptances: Deposits

Multiple Nursing School Acceptances: Deposits

At the eight nursing programs we checked that publish a deposit rule, a seat costs $200 to $3,000, seven of the eight call the deposit nonrefundable, and Edgewood's nurse anesthesia program wants $2,000 within seven days of the offer. Pay one deposit, then decline every other seat the same day.

A nursing deposit is not a refundable hold. Seven of the eight programs call it nonrefundable, four credit it toward tuition, and the three programs below that publish a deferral rule allow one only for circumstances outside your control. So the choice between offers has to be made before the deposit deadline, using the few facts that actually differ between programs.

Every program page quoted below was checked on November 7, 2026. Amounts and windows change between cohorts, and your offer letter is the version that binds you.

Deposit rules at eight nursing programs

Our arithmetic: seven of the eight state an amount, from $200 (UNMC) to $3,000 (Villanova). Seven say nonrefundable; Otterbein's page is silent. Five of the eight are nurse anesthesia programs, which is where the largest amounts sit. CRNA requirements by program, including ICU and CCRN rules, are in the CRNA school requirements table.

How long you have to answer an offer

Two of the pages we checked set a window:

• Edgewood: seven days from the offer, with the $2,000 deposit.
• Ohio State BSN to DNP: "Accept offer Round 1: Four weeks post decision", and "Students who do not respond to their offer of admission by the deadline will have their offer cancelled." (Ohio State)

The rest state no window, so the offer letter sets it. Decision timing is published at a few: Duke's CRNA decisions are "typically released within 1-2 weeks of the interview", and Detroit Mercy's goal is "to notify all applicants of their decision within two weeks after the interviews."

Medical school applicants work under shared AMCAS traffic rules. None of the nursing program pages cited here refers to a shared rule like that. Each program's own deadline is the rule you work to.

Our view: pay one deposit, at the program you would choose if both offers were in hand today. If you cannot choose yet, email your first choice and ask when it will decide. That question is ordinary and costs nothing.

The countercase: if your second choice's deadline lands before your first choice decides, a second nonrefundable deposit buys you time. That is a reasonable purchase only if you can afford to lose the money, and none of the pages above forbids holding two seats. Read your offer letter for any condition it adds. Then release the seat you don't take the day your first choice answers.

Compare the offers on what differs

Prestige and tuition you already know. These four facts change what the next two or three years look like, and some programs publish them:

1. Who finds your clinical sites. Some programs arrange your sites and some only help you search; assisting is not the same as securing. The NP clinical placement guide quotes each program's policy.
2. When you start. UNMC's accelerated BSN starts in January. Duke's Master of Nursing releases decisions in "March for fall term admission" and "July for spring term admission."
3. What happens to the seat you release. Villanova tells waitlisted CRNA applicants their "numerical position". Emory announces waitlist decisions until orientation, and Otterbein calls from its on-call list until the program starts. A seat you give back goes to someone on that list. The nursing school waitlist guide covers that side.
4. Outcomes, where published. Otterbein's FAQ gives a first-time certification exam pass rate of 96% for the class of 2025 and a five-year average of 95% (2021 to 2025). If a program does not publish one, ask for it before you pay.

How to decline a nursing school seat

Send it the same day you pay a deposit elsewhere. Send it in writing, to the office that sent the offer, from the email address on your application. Detroit Mercy asks admitted applicants to confirm "in writing", so a decline in writing matches how the seat was taken. No page we checked here asks for a reason, so one sentence saying you accepted elsewhere is enough. (UMMC's acceptance-reply form, covered in the letter of intent guide, is an exception: it asks for one.)

Constructed example: a decline email

Constructed example, written by us, not a real applicant's email.

Subject: Declining my offer of admission, Nurse Anesthesia DNP, Jesse Avery

Dear Admissions Committee,

Thank you for offering me a seat in the Nurse Anesthesia DNP program. I have accepted a seat at another program and am declining this offer so it can go to another applicant. I am grateful for the time your faculty gave me on interview day.

Sincerely, Jesse Avery

Three sentences, and each does one job: thanks, decision, release. Don't ask for the deposit back if you already paid one; the table shows what the answer will be. Don't explain the other program's advantages. If your offer gives an applicant ID, put it under your name.

The same steps for medical school, with AMCAS rules attached, are in how to decline a medical school acceptance.

Can you defer a nursing school acceptance?

Three programs we checked publish a rule, and none allows a deferral because you would prefer a later start:

Mass General Brigham University is the school formerly named MGH Institute of Health Professions; its page says so.

Our view: a deferral request asks for an exception, so it names the circumstance, the date it arose, and the document that shows it. If your reason is a job offer, a wedding or a wish to work another year, it is not on any of these lists. Decline, then plan the next application with the nursing school reapplication guide.

Constructed example: a deferral request

Constructed example, written by us, not a real applicant's email. Context (invented): an admitted direct-entry applicant whose reserve unit receives deployment orders, the one exception Mass General Brigham's page lists.

Subject: Deferral request, military deployment, Direct-Entry MS in Nursing, Sage Ortega

Dear Office of Admissions,

I accepted my offer for the Direct-Entry MS in Nursing and paid my enrollment deposit on [date]. On [date] I received orders deploying my Army Reserve unit from [month] through [month], which overlaps the start of the program. I am requesting a deferral to the next available start under the program's military deployment exception, and I have attached a copy of my orders. Please tell me if you need anything else from me, and by what date.

Sage Ortega

It states the fact, gives dates, attaches proof and names the rule it relies on. It does not argue that the applicant deserves an exception.

Questions about nursing school deposits

Is a nursing school deposit refundable?

Not at seven of the eight programs in the table. Otterbein's page does not say, so ask before you pay.

Can I pay deposits at two nursing schools?

None of the pages we checked forbids it. You lose the deposit at the program you release, and the seat sits empty until you release it.

Do I have to give a reason when I decline?

None of the program pages on this page asks for one; UMMC's reply form does. One sentence saying you have accepted elsewhere is enough.

Will declining an offer hurt me if I reapply there later?

None of the pages we checked addresses it. Villanova's page does say, separately, "Previous applicants are welcome to reapply!"

Review the writing you send next

If you are waitlisted at a program you prefer, the next thing you write is a letter of continued interest or an update, as the waitlist guide shows; if the cycle ends without the seat you want, it is a new set of application essays. Get a free Quick Review of your nursing application essays against GradPilot's ABSN application essays rubric, which reads whether each answer fits its question and uses evidence suited to the task, or use the NP personal statement rubric for an NP application.

More nursing application guides are on the nursing essays hub.

Sources

Retrieved November 7, 2026, except where noted.

• Duke University School of Nursing, Nurse Anesthesia DNP admission (no cohort year stated): $1,000 nonrefundable deposit; decisions within 1-2 weeks of interview.
• Villanova University, Nurse Anesthesia Track admission (no cohort year stated): $3,000 nonrefundable seat deposit; numerical waitlist position; reapplication welcome.
• Edgewood University, DNP Nurse Anesthesia (no cohort year stated): $2,000 non-refundable deposit within seven days.
• University of Detroit Mercy, Nurse Anesthesia applicants (no cohort year stated): $1,000 non-refundable deposit; written confirmation; decision goal.
• Otterbein University, Nurse Anesthesia BSN to DNP (class of 2025 data): $1,000 deposit credited to tuition; on-call list; certification exam pass rates.
• Duke University School of Nursing, Master of Nursing (MN) admissions (the former ABSN admissions URL now redirects here): $500 non-refundable deposit; waitlist deposit; deferral rule; decision months.
• University of Nebraska Medical Center College of Nursing, How to apply: $200 non-refundable deposit; accelerated BSN January start.
• Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center, Second Degree BSN: deposits non-refundable.
• The Ohio State University College of Nursing, BSN to DNP (Autumn 2027 cycle): four-week acceptance window.
• Emory University Nell Hodgson Woodruff School of Nursing, Adult Gerontology Acute Care NP: waitlist decisions up to the first day of orientation.
• Duke University School of Nursing, MSN admissions: MSN deferral rule.
• Mass General Brigham University of Health Professions, Direct-Entry MS in Nursing: deferral only for military deployment; former name.