Capella vs Walden MSN Education

[HOPEforRNs, ADN, BSN, MSN]

I have been accepted to Walden University to start next month in their MSN Nursing Education track. I coworker graduated from the same program and had great things to say about it. My biggest concern is that they group physiology, pathophysiology, and pharmacology into one class so if I decide to do a post-masters FNP, I'll have to retake those classes separately. I did petition to be able to do them separately for the Nursing Education track but I was denied. The biggest pro is that one clinical rotation is education, but the other is clinical based in an outpatient setting of your choosing learning to perfect your advanced assessment and diagnostic reasoning skills which sounds awesome.

I recently looked into Capella University. They too are regionally and CCNE accredited. They do separate out physiology/pathophysiology and pharmacology which will make going on easier. They have less clinical hours and I'm able to do them at my current place of employment (as I am a faculty member at a University already) just not with my direct report.

Does anyone have one strong opinion for one school over the other? Walden University is going to be around $23,500 for the whole program where Capella is only $15,500 for the whole program. Is Walden worth the extra money? Both start around the same time and lead to the same degree. I just want to ensure I am getting a quality education.

[HikingNinja, BSN, MSN, DNP, RN, APRN, NP]

I have experience with Capella. Did my MS in Psychology with them years ago, great program, loved the instructors and class format. I am currently attending Western Governor's University for my MSN (almost done, 6 months to go, Yay!). I love WGU because its self paced and no group work, one class at a time format. I have a friend who graduated from Walden and says nothing but good things. Have you talked to both? Which "feels" like a good fit for you. Sometimes that's more important than the tuition or format. Good luck!