Nursing profession advocate RegisteredNursing.org has ranked the best nursing licensing programs by their National Council Licensure Examination-RN pass rates.
Passage rates among all RN programs — associate's, bachelor's, direct-entry master's — were assessed. The organization weighted each school's pass rates by the recency of the exam between two and five years. Each school was graded on a 100-point scale.
The largest difference from its rankings in January is in Arkansas, with Southern Arkansas University replacing Harding University in Searcy for the No. 1 spot.
The best nursing programs, and their scores, in each state:
Alabama: Auburn University — 98.6
Alaska: No ranking
Arizona: Eastern Arizona College (Thatcher) — 99.64
Arkansas: Southern Arkansas University (Magnolia) — 97.25
California: Sierra College (Rocklin) — 99.81
Colorado: Front Range Community College-Larimer (Fort Collins) — 98.91
Connecticut: Southern Connecticut State University (New Haven) — 96.86
Delaware: Beebe Healthcare (Lewes) — 94.64
Florida: College of Central Florida-Citrus (Lecanto) — 98.58
Georgia: Chattahoochee Technical College (Marietta) — 98.22
Hawaii: Kapi'olani Community College (Honolulu) — 97.75
Idaho: North Idaho College (Coeur d'Alene) — 94.21
Illinois: Trinity Christian College (Palos Heights) — 99.79
Indiana: Indiana University Northwest (Gary) — 98.01
Iowa: Graceland University (Lamoni) — 100
Kansas: Benedictine College (Atchison) — 94.63
Kentucky: Southcentral Kentucky Community & Technical College (Glasgow) — 100
Louisiana: Louisiana Tech University (Ruston) — 98.22
Maine: Kennebec Valley Community College (Fairfield) — 95.85
Maryland: Cecil College (North East) — 97.56
Massachusetts: Worcester State University — 97.36
Michigan: Wayne State University (Detroit) — 96.54
Minnesota: Concordia College (Moorhead) — 93.41
Mississippi: Mississippi University for Women (Columbus) — 99.36
Missouri: College of the Ozarks (Point Lookout) — 99.53
Montana: Montana Technological University (Butte) — 97.32
Nebraska: Clarkson College (Omaha) — 96.21
Nevada: Great Basin College (Elko) — 97.91
New Hampshire: Plymouth State University — 98.80
New Jersey: The College of New Jersey (Ewing Township) — 95.95
New Mexico: University of New Mexico-Taos (Ranchos De Taos) — 100
New York: LaGuardia Community College (Long Island City) — 98.51
North Carolina: Western Carolina University (Asheville) — 99.03
North Dakota: Bismarck State College — 97.73
Ohio: Muskingum University (New Concord) — 98.68
Oklahoma: Carl Albert State College-Sallisaw — 97.77
Oregon: Chemeketa Community College (Salem) — 99.55
Pennsylvania: Messiah University (Mechanicsburg) — 98.32
Rhode Island: No ranking
South Carolina: University of South Carolina-Columbia — 99.29
South Dakota: Augustana University (Sioux Falls) — 96.64
Tennessee: University of Tennessee at Chattanooga — 97.92
Texas: Laredo College — 99.23
Utah: Brigham Young University (Provo) — 96.75
Vermont: No ranking
Virginia: Radford University — 98.53
Washington: Big Bend Community College (Moses Lake) — 97.94
West Virginia: West Virginia University (Morgantown) — 98.54
Wisconsin: Maranatha Baptist University (Watertown) — 100
Wyoming: Central Wyoming College (Riverton) — 92.24