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Here Are This Year's Top Graduate Nursing Programs

U.S. News moves ahead with nursing rankings despite medical school drama

MedpageToday
A photo of two recently graduated nurses posing for a photo in their gowns and mortar boards.

U.S. News & World Report Tuesday, including those for graduate degrees in nursing, even though its annual medical and law school listings remain in flux.

Emory University in Atlanta took the top spot on this year's , followed by Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore in second place, and the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia in third.

Johns Hopkins placed first on the . There was a four-way tie for second place between Columbia University in New York City, Duke University in Durham, North Carolina, Rush University in Chicago, and the University of Washington in Seattle.

Last year, Johns Hopkins topped both the master's and DNP rankings, as previously reported by ľֱ.

A number of top medical schools publicly announced that they would no longer take part in the the U.S. News rankings. Amid an ongoing delay in the release of this year's medical school rankings, a preview of top schools was recently pulled from the media outlet's website. A number of decamped from the ranking system in 2022.

U.S. News surveyed 648 nursing schools with master's or doctoral programs that are accredited by the Accreditation Commission for Education in Nursing or the Commission on Collegiate Nursing Education. Just under 300 nursing programs responded to a data collection survey, according to the outlet, and of those, 184 provided enough data to be included in the master's programs rankings, while 169 were eligible for inclusion in DNP programs list.

Many institutions were ranked in both lists using some overlapping data, U.S. News said. A new element to this year's rankings was that a school with an active program that did not report data for the most recent edition, but did for the previous edition, was ranked using the older statistical data.

Each school's ranking was determined using 15 ranking factors, U.S. News said. This year's rankings had an increased emphasis on program size, research, and faculty resources, but a reduced emphasis on reputation.

"A school's Best Nursing Schools rank should be one consideration and not the lone determinant in where a student applies," the outlet stated. "The rankings assess academic quality and research success -- factors that are universally important to prospective students. But personal considerations involving location, environment, strength in different specialties, and cost after tuition and financial aid are also very important."

2023-2024 Best Nursing Schools: Master's

1. Emory University

Overall score: 100/100

2022 master's acceptance rate: 47.1%

2022 mean full-time average undergraduate grade point average (GPA): 3.49

2022 master's program enrollment: 846

Tuition: $2,022 per credit (full-time)

2. Johns Hopkins University

Overall score: 99/100

2022 master's acceptance rate: 71.1%

2022 mean full-time average undergrad GPA: 3.53

2022 master's program enrollment: 535

Tuition: $1,826 per credit (full-time)

3. University of Pennsylvania

Overall score: 94/100

2022 master's acceptance rate: 69.6%

2022 mean full-time average undergrad GPA: 3.79

2022 master's program enrollment: 388

Tuition: $48,784 per year (full-time)

4. University of Washington (tie)

Overall score: 93/100

2022 master's acceptance rate: 92.6%

2022 mean full-time average undergrad GPA: 3.62

2022 master's program enrollment: 122

Tuition: $18,471 per year (in-state, full-time)

4. Duke University (tie)

Overall score: 93/100

2022 master's acceptance rate: 62.1%

2022 mean full-time average undergrad GPA: 3.56

2022 master's program enrollment: 458

Tuition: $1,984 per credit (full-time)

6. Vanderbilt University, Nashville, Tennessee (tie)

Overall score: 92/100

2022 master's acceptance rate: 48.3%

2022 mean full-time average undergrad GPA: 3.58

2022 master's program enrollment: 665

Tuition: $1,883 per credit (full-time)

6. Columbia University (tie)

Overall score: 92/100

2022 master's acceptance rate: 30.6%

2022 mean full-time average undergrad GPA: 3.62

2022 master's program enrollment: 339

Tuition: N/A

8. University of Michigan, Ann Arbor (tie)

Overall score: 91/100

2022 master's acceptance rate: 65.6%

2022 mean full-time average undergrad GPA: 3.61

2022 master's program enrollment: 130

Tuition: $1,439 per credit (in-state, full-time)

8. The Ohio State University, Columbus (tie)

Overall score: 91/100

2022 master's acceptance rate: 81.5%

2022 mean full-time average undergrad GPA: 3.45

2022 master's program enrollment: 436

Tuition: $973 per credit (in-state, full-time)

10. University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (tie)

Overall score: 89/100

2022 master's acceptance rate: 60.5%

2022 mean full-time average undergrad GPA: 3.67

2022 master's program enrollment: 110

Tuition: $964 per credit (in-state, full-time)

10. University of Alabama at Birmingham (tie)

Overall score: 89/100

2022 master's acceptance rate: 68.2%

2022 mean full-time average undergrad GPA: 3.37

2022 master's program enrollment: 919

Tuition: $682 per credit (in-state, full-time)

10. University of California San Francisco (tie)

Overall score: 89/100

2022 master's acceptance rate: 25.4%

2022 mean full-time average undergrad GPA: 3.58

2022 master's program enrollment: 335

Tuition: $12,852 per year (in-state, full-time)

2023-2024 Best Nursing Schools: DNP

1. Johns Hopkins University

Overall score: 100/100

2022 DNP acceptance rate: 53.9%

2022 mean full-time average undergrad GPA: 3.44

2022 DNP program enrollment: 624

Tuition: $1,901 per credit (full-time)

2. Columbia University (tie)

Overall score: 91/100

2022 DNP acceptance rate: 35.1%

2022 mean full-time average undergrad GPA: 3.62

2022 DNP program enrollment: N/A

Tuition: N/A

2. Duke University (tie)

Overall score: 91/100

2022 DNP acceptance rate: 49.2%

2022 mean full-time average undergrad GPA: 3.45

2022 DNP program enrollment: 337

Tuition: $1,984 per credit (full-time)

2. Rush University (tie)

Overall score: 91/100

2022 DNP acceptance rate: 66.9%

2022 mean full-time average undergrad GPA: 3.52

2022 DNP program enrollment: 765

Tuition: $1,286 per credit (full-time)

2. University of Washington (tie)

Overall score: 91/100

2022 DNP acceptance rate: 56.6%

2022 mean full-time average undergrad GPA: 3.71

2022 DNP program enrollment: 328

Tuition: $30,636 per year (in-state, full-time)

6. Emory University (tie)

Overall score: 89/100

2022 DNP acceptance rate: 28.2%

2022 mean full-time average undergrad GPA: 3.50

2022 DNP program enrollment: 180

Tuition: $1,721 per credit (full-time)

6. Rutgers University, Newark, New Jersey (tie)

Overall score: 89/100

2022 DNP acceptance rate: 34.6%

2022 mean full-time average undergrad GPA: 3.59

2022 DNP program enrollment: 514

Tuition: $1,000 per credit (in-state, full-time)

6. University of Michigan (tie)

Overall score: 89/100

2022 DNP acceptance rate: 82.7%

2022 mean full-time average undergrad GPA: 3.63

2022 DNP program enrollment: 157

Tuition: $1,439 per credit (in-state, full-time)

6. University of Minnesota, Twin Cities (tie)

Overall score: 89/100

2022 DNP acceptance rate: 48.4%

2022 mean full-time average undergrad GPA: 3.51

2022 DNP program enrollment: 362

Tuition: $28,431 per year (in-state, full-time)

10. University of Pittsburgh

Overall score: 88/100

2022 DNP acceptance rate: 34.5%

2022 mean full-time average undergrad GPA: 3.62

2022 DNP program enrollment: 197

Tuition: $978 per credit (in-state, full-time)

  • author['full_name']

    Jennifer Henderson joined ľֱ as an enterprise and investigative writer in Jan. 2021. She has covered the healthcare industry in NYC, life sciences and the business of law, among other areas.