Guide to Nursing School Rankings
By Jelise Balon
NursingSchools.com Contributing Writer
September 6, 2005
For some time, we have been asked "What are the best nursing schools?" If you've looked on the internet or through other resources, you may have noticed that there are few official sources that discuss this particular topic. The following article address the two sources best known for ranking nursing school programs - but be cautioned - many times, resources that rank schools or programs look at only certain types of information in their survey process. They may consider the statistical averages on things like class size, number of teachers with Ph.D. status, tuition and program costs, outside funding provided to the school, ethnic breakdown, and more when assessing the status of a school.
Different statistical combinations can produce varied results and, often, surveying authorities may construct their surveys to weigh various particulars that will elicit desired results. What does this mean to you as a student looking to select a solid nursing school or program? It means that you need to know what is important to you. Let say that you want to attend a nursing school that has the following:
- an affiliation with a major research hospital
- plenty of financial assistance
- an outstanding athletic department
- an urban location with low costs for on-campus housing
- a student-teacher ratio of less than 20:1
You'll have to begin by researching all of the ranking information, compiling the different results that you do find, and then sorting out the results to determine which school best meets your requirements.
We've provided some resources for you regarding the rating, review, and ranking of nursing schools and programs at the end of this article. We hope that they will be a useful to your in your search for the best school for you and your particular needs.
Good luck!
NursingSchools.com Staff
Nursing school rankings
Trying to choose a nursing school can be overwhelming, especially when you consider there are over 2,000 nursing programs nationwide. So it's not surprising that, to help with decision making, students often begin to seek out the “best” nursing schools by reviewing school rankings. Looking at these rankings can help you narrow your search, as long as you understand the methodology behind each ranking system, and weigh this information with the things that are important to you.
Surprisingly, there are only two nationally recognized rankings for nursing schools, and each of them ranks schools based on very different criteria.
U.S. News and World Report's rankings are perhaps the most widely known. The last batch of nursing school rankings was published in 2003. These included a Master's in Nursing degree program, as well as rankings for several nursing specialty programs such as nurse practitioner, nurse midwife, and clinical nurse specialist, to name a few.
The other nationally recognized ranking for nursing schools is the National Institutes of Health's (NIH) report on research grant funding. Each year the NIH report shows which nursing schools have been granted the most dollars for research projects.
The methodology behind the lists
When looking at each of these lists, it is very important to understand how the rankings were created - especially because they are often judging very different aspects of a school or its programs. U.S. News uses a peer-review process that surveys two or three deans, administrators and/or faculty members at each institution. These respondents evaluate schools on a scale of 1 (marginal) to 5 (outstanding) based upon the quality of the institutions academic programs (a.k.a. input measures) and how well the school prepares students for their profession (a.k.a output measures). This list only reviews NLNAC (National League for Nursing Accrediting Commission) accredited schools. The information compiled is done in January of the year published but is based on data from surveys sent out the previous year.
The NIH rankings are based solely on research dollars granted to an institution. This type of ranking is valued by academic and research institutions as a sign of the quality of research staff (often the same as the teaching staff) employed by the school. This may be used as an indicator to students about the type of faculty and areas of focus at a particular nursing school.
Barbara Happ, Ph.D., a nursing professor at the University of Maryland has some words of advice when looking at both of these rankings:
“If you are looking for an accredited school, review the U.S News and World Report list at the beginning of the process, and ensure that you are looking at current data. If you are interested in a research-based school (drawing scholars in a specific discipline), then consider the amount of awards over several years the institution has won to select from a list. Quality education is demonstrated by many qualitative and quantitative criteria. Many factors must be considered including the accreditation (NLNAC and CCNE) and research awards. These do not stand alone.”
When reviewing both of these rankings, ask yourself what matters most to you. Is it more important to you to attend a school highly ranked by academics as a quality institution, or are you more interested in a school that will provide ample opportunities for you to participate in hands-on research? If both are important factors, look to see which schools fall high on both lists.
The bottom line is that although school rankings can be a helpful guide, they are just one of many criteria to review when considering the right nursing school for you. Other important factors to consider include: school accreditation, location, class size, length of program, nursing board passing rates, and cost — just to name a few. All of these factors, in addition to school rankings, will help you make the most informed decision in choosing the right school for you.
Composite Table of Some Nursing Schools Rankings
| U.S. News: Nursing Master's program |
U.S. News: Family Nurse Practitioner program |
U.S. News: Nursing Anesthesia Master's program |
U.S. News: Nurse Midwifery program |
NIH research grants, total awards |
NIH grants, total dollars awarded for training nurses |
| University of Washington |
University of California, San Francisco |
Virginia Commonwealth University |
Oregon Health Science University |
University of California, San Francisco |
University of Washington |
| University of California, San Francisco |
University of Washington |
U.S. Army Graduate Program in Anesthesia Nursing |
University of Pennsylvania |
University of Washington |
University of Michigan |
| University of Michigan, Ann Arbor |
University of Pennsylvania |
Navy Nurse Corps |
University of Illinois, Chicago |
University of Illinois, Chicago |
University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill |
| University of Pennsylvania |
|
Rush University |
University of Michigan, Ann Arbor |
University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill |
University of Pennsylvania |
| |
|
|
University of Minnesota, Twin Cities |
University of Pennsylvania |
Johns Hopkins University |
| |
|
|
University of New Mexico |
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