Guide to Nursing School Rankings
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Rankings attempt to measure the caliber of individual nursing schools through comparisons based on numerous factors. To our knowledge, there are only two sets of rankings of nursing schools: U.S. News & World Report, and NIH Research Funding. Each provides basic information on programs that can guide you to more selective searches as you find nursing schools.
How can I use nursing school rankings?
Ranking information complements the detailed research you should conduct on each school of interest. Most students will find schools with the specific programs they desire by focusing on a geographic area of their choice; subsequently, they will look at rankings information to understand some of the relative strengths and weaknesses of the schools. After learning more about each program, students Request Information from each school before selecting those to which they will apply.
How are nursing school rankings determined?
The system varies with each guide, but many are based upon the data collected from a survey designed by academic experts, including professors and advisors. This information is often a series of responses from a combination of students, alumni, school administrators, recruiters and executives. The information solicited can be factual (e.g., "What was the average GPA of incoming BSN students in Fall 2001?") or highly subjective (e.g., "Rate the effectiveness of the school's clinical rotation programs"). After the data is collected, the survey applies a complex formula that allows factors to carry more or less significance - the incoming GPA might be "worth" less than the job placement rate after graduation.
Other organizations use specific statistical information to evaluate schools. Read on to find brief summaries of each nursing school guide before you connect with schools that have the right programs for you.
US News & World Report
US News & World Report ranks master's programs and specialties in nursing schools that have received NLNAC accreditation. Health sciences programs, which include nursing, are reassessed every third year - the last evaluation was published in 2000 and surveyed 269 schools
US 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 predetermined criteria that indicate a school's overall quality.
The standards concentrate on two areas: "input" and "output" measures. Input measures gauge the quality of an institution's academic programs: factors can include academic preparation and student-to-faculty ratios. Output measures assess how well the graduate school prepares students for their professions: factors can incorporate postgraduate employment rates and starting salaries. Respondents can select a "don't know" option if they lack complete knowledge about schools on the survey.
NIH Funding
The National Institutes of Health rankings are based solely upon the total amount of research grant money allocated to individual nursing schools. Grants from NIH fund numerous areas of study; these include research projects, postdoctoral/predoctoral research and fellowships. During FY 2001, NIH awarded over $119 million in grants to 83 nursing schools and colleges.
NIH rankings are valued by research institutions, who believe they signify the high quality of school researchers, whose initiatives must be approved by a peer-review panel of experts. In order to develop superior research programs, many schools concentrate research efforts on a limited number of specific fields and recruit faculty members with experience in these areas.
The guidelines for NIH grants are complex and vary depending upon the type of award desired; to investigate research opportunities at your chosen schools, it is best to contact them individually. You can learn more about specific nursing schools by viewing our Featured Nursing Schools.
What are some of the potential problems with nursing school rankings?
If you do not have a short list of nursing schools in mind, ranking guides can provide useful starting points to compare programs. There are some questions about the validity of ranking information, however:
- Rankings tend to emphasize statistics, and it is hard to put numbers on subjective experience.
- Ranking systems base their final lists on formulas that may have subjective standards: should a school's student-to-faculty ratio count for more or less than 20%?
- There are many aspects of individual schools that ranking guides cannot rate, including quality of student life, professor instruction and campus activities.
- Even a guide that focuses specifically on nursing may not examine each individual department or specialty in depth.
- Your individual needs and desires as a student may be entirely different from the areas focused on by ranking guides. To learn more about how to evaluate a nursing school based on your preferences, read our section on Picking a Nursing School.
What questions should I ask when I look at school rankings?
Before consulting any ranking guides, be sure to evaluate its credibility. Questions might include:
- What criteria does the guide use to rank schools?
- Ranking systems base their final lists on formulas that may have subjective standards: should a school's student-to-faculty ratio count for more or less than 20%?
- Who judges the criteria: are they impartial third parties or schools and colleges that may have conflicts of interest?
- Are the evaluators aptly qualified to estimate the quality of nursing programs? A survey respondent may be knowledgeable about one or two schools, but she may not be well-informed about the dozens of programs on the list.
What else can I do to determine if a nursing school is right for me?
Familiarize yourself with detailed overviews of each nursing department, then request additional information from administrators. You can do each by browsing through our Featured Schools and filling out Information Requests that will be sent directly to their contacts.