UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — The Penn State College of Nursing tied for 26th for on-site master’s degree programs in the recently released annual ranking of nursing graduate programs by U.S. News & World Report.
Penn State tied with Georgetown University for the No. 26 spot in U.S. News’ 2020 "Best Graduate Schools" rankings. The College of Nursing was evaluated on its Master of Science in Nursing degree program with the Nurse Practitioner option. Three Nurse Practitioner options — Adult Gerontology Acute Care, Adult Gerontology Primary Care, and Family/Individual Across the Lifespan — are offered across six Penn State campuses: Fayette, Hershey, Schuylkill, Scranton, Shenango and University Park.
“Our recognition as one of the top graduate schools for nurses is just one example of Penn State’s commitment to improving the health and well-being of all people,” said Laurie Badzek, dean of the College of Nursing.
U.S. News sought information from more than 500 accredited nursing schools with master’s degree programs, of which 253 provided the data the media outlet needed to calculate its rankings. The rankings are based on a weighted average of 14 indicators. Seven common factors include four research activity indicators, as well as faculty credentials, the percentage of faculty members with important achievements, and faculty participation in nursing practice. The other seven indicators use measures that are specific to each degree type. The rankings also take into account the ratings of academic experts, whereby deans of nursing schools and graduate programs were asked to rate academic quality on survey instruments.
The Best Nursing Schools rankings can be viewed at https://www.usnews.com/best-graduate-schools/top-nursing-schools.