Eight routes, two prices, and one dividing line that matters.

Reading the completion figures properly

Every one of those percentages describes graduates. It tells you how quickly people who finished managed to finish; it says nothing about anyone who did not. So "62% within 37 months" is not a 62% success rate, and it should not be read as one — in either direction.

The useful inference is the remainder. On every route, roughly four graduates in ten needed longer than the stated window, and under a flat term fee "longer" has a price attached.

Choosing between the three non-clinical routes

They cost the same, run within a course of each other, and finish within a month of each other. So the decision is genuinely about the work, not the logistics.

• Leadership & Management points at charge, manager and director roles. The broadest route, and the safest if you are not yet sure where you are heading.
• Nursing Informatics is the most specialised and the most portable outside direct care. It is also the one whose subject matter changes fastest, which cuts both ways.
• Nursing Education is the route into faculty and staff development. Check the requirements of the institutions you would want to teach at before committing — some expect a doctorate for tenure-track posts.

Choosing between the two NP routes

These are not interchangeable, and the choice is a career decision rather than a scheduling one. Both cost $6,955 a term, both take a stated two and a half years, both require internships in your state of residence, and both are closed to residents of six states.

The practical question is which patient population you want, because the certification you sit at the end follows the track and switching later means starting a second one.