The biggest levers at a per-credit school are the credits you never pay for and the aid you actually qualify for. Herzing accepts up to 75 percent of a degree in transfer credit, which is up to 90 credits on a 120-credit bachelor's, plus the RN-to-BSN block transfer of up to 70 nursing credits, credit by exam through AP, CLEP, and DSST, and its own proficiency exams that let you test out at 85 percent. Domestic applicants pay no application fee, and Herzing periodically waives the enrollment fee as a start-date promotion. Employer partnerships and military benefits cut tuition directly, and a long list of institutional scholarships turns mostly on who qualifies rather than a fixed amount, so the move is to ask the aid office which ones your situation opens. Graduate students have fewer credit levers, up to 12 transfer credits and no prior-learning credit, which makes the scholarship and employer routes matter more there.
Credit you never pay for is the first lever
On a per-credit bill, every accepted credit is money kept, and Herzing has more inbound-credit routes than most students use. Transfer credit from accredited institutions counts at a grade of C or better, up to the 75 percent ceiling. Beyond straight transfer, the undergraduate prior-learning policy adds three more lanes: national exams, training evaluated by the American Council on Education, and work or life experience evaluated by Herzing or CAEL.
| Credit lever | What it covers | The ceiling |
|---|---|---|
| College transfer credit | Accredited coursework, C or better | Up to 75% of the degree |
| RN-to-BSN block transfer | Associate or diploma nursing credit | Up to 70 credits within the 90 cap |
| Credit by exam | AP, CLEP, DSST plus Herzing proficiency exams | Proficiency exams need 85%, with a fee |
| ACE and CAEL prior learning | Military and industry training, life experience | Undergraduate only; graduate accepts none |
The full order-of-operations for capturing the most credit is in the transfer credit maximizer; the point here is simply that this lever is the largest and the one students most often leave on the table.
Fee waivers at the door
Two small savings sit right at admission. Herzing charges no application fee for domestic students, so applying costs nothing, and it runs a recurring waived-enrollment-fee promotion tied to specific start dates. Because there are six starts a year, timing an application to a start that carries the waiver is a legitimate, if modest, saving. Neither lever is large on its own, but both are free to use and there is no reason to pay a fee that a waiver would have covered.
Employer and military levers
Two affiliations can move real money. If you work for a business in Herzing's partnership network, the Partnership Grant reduces tuition on proof of employment, and separately many employers reimburse tuition through their own HR programs, so check your handbook before assuming anything. Military and veteran benefits stack on their own track: Herzing recognizes ACE-evaluated military training through the Joint Service Transcript, awards credit for military occupational specialties, and offers appreciation grants for service members, veterans, and first responders alongside Yellow Ribbon matching for those at full Post-9/11 entitlement. These are direct tuition reductions, not loans, which makes them the highest-value levers for anyone eligible.
Scholarships, read by mechanism
Herzing awarded more than 19 million dollars in scholarships and grants in a recent year, and the useful way to approach the list is by qualifying rule, since amounts and deadlines move.
- The Nurses Circle of Achievement rewards nursing students who meet entry thresholds and hold their GPA
- Merit awards recognize Dean's and President's List standing in undergraduate programs
- The Lifelong Learning Alumni Scholarship supports Herzing graduates returning for a further degree
- Completion, crisis, and closed-school grants act as need and emergency backstops
- Mission-tied awards exist for specific fields, such as psychiatric-mental-health students serving underserved communities
Ask the aid office which of these your standing, field, and situation open, and read the aid mechanics in full on the financial aid guide. Chasing a headline dollar figure is less useful than matching your profile to the rule that awards it.
The timing rules that decide it
Send transcripts at enrollment, not later
Unofficial transcripts are accepted for the initial credit review at enrollment, with official copies needed to post the credit, generally within the first eight weeks. Credit that arrives after a course is scheduled is credit you may pay for anyway.
Time the application to a fee-waiver start
With six starts a year, aligning your application to a start that carries the enrollment-fee waiver costs nothing and saves the fee.
Line up aid before term one
File the FAFSA, ask which scholarships your profile opens, and confirm employer or military benefits early, so the packaging is settled before the first bill rather than after.
The cheapest credit is the course you pass once
Saving at the door helps; not repeating a course helps more. Send a course and its rubric, and a nurse-written draft comes back in 24 to 48 hours. First sample free.
Sources and verification
Facts on this page come from official and independent sources, and anything that matters is worth checking against the originals:
- herzing.edu/scholarships-grants: the institutional scholarship and grant list, with each award's qualifying rules
- catalog.herzing.edu: the official catalog, where transfer, prior-learning, and proficiency-exam policies live
- www.herzing.edu/military/tuition-education-benefits: military and veteran benefit programs
- www.herzing.edu/fee-schedule: the fee schedule, including application and enrollment fees
- www.hlcommission.org: Higher Learning Commission, the institutional accreditor