On April 9, U.S. News and World Reportreleased its latest best nursing schools rankings, including ranking the best nursing schools for a master's degree and best nursing schools for a Doctor of Nursing Practice degree.
The nursing school rankings are part of the media company's annual best graduate schools rankings. For the rankings, U.S. News examined both master's and DNP in-person and hybrid graduate programs on their research activity, faculty resources, student excellence and qualitative ratings from experts.
In total, the media companies surveyed 651 nursing schools with master's or doctoral programs in fall 2023 and early 2024. More than 290 schools, all of which are accredited by either the Accreditation Commission for Education in Nursing or the Commission on Collegiate Nursing Education, reported data on at least one of the two programs.
More than 215 schools reported on their master's programs, and 169 among them were ranked based on data provided, according to U.S. News. For DNP, 188 schools responded and 156 were ranked. More information about the methodology is available here.
Note: The lists include ties.
The top 11 nursing schools for master's degrees, according to the rankings:
1. Emory University Nell Hodgson Woodruff School of Nursing (Atlanta)
1. Johns Hopkins University (Baltimore)
3. Duke University (Durham, N.C.)
4. Ohio State University (Columbus)
4. University of Pennsylvania (Philadelphia)
4. Vanderbilt University (Nashville, Tenn.)
7. University of Michigan-Ann Arbor
8. New York University Rory Meyers College of Nursing (New York City)
8. University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill
10. George Mason University (Fairfax, Va.)
10. University of Alabama at Birmingham
The 10 best nursing schools for DNPs, according to the rankings:
1. Johns Hopkins University (Baltimore)
2. George Mason University (Fairfax, Va.)
3. Duke University (Durham, N.C.)
3. University of Washington (Seattle)
5. Rutgers University-Newark (N.J.)
6. Emory University Nell Hodgson Woodruff School of Nursing (Atlanta)
6. Rush University (Chicago)
8. University of Maryland-Baltimore
8. University of Michigan-Ann Arbor
8. University of Minnesota-Twin Cities (Minneapolis)