US News & World Report, in its survey of the Best Nursing Schools for 2016, has ranked the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) School of Nursing 13th in the nation. This represents a significant leap for the School, which was listed 21st in the 2012 rankings, the last time Schools of Nursing were included in the Best Graduate Schools edition.
Additionally, three of the School's specialties were ranked on reputation -- Nursing Administration is listed 9th, Adult-Gerontology Acute Care Nurse Practitioner 12th and Family Nurse Practitioner 14th.
UAB School of Nursing Dean and Fay B. Ireland Chair Doreen Harper, PhD, RN, FAAN, says she is thrilled with the ranking and the new methodology U.S. News is using.
The overall ranking for Schools of Nursing is based on new metrics and methodology that is focused on reputation /quality assessment, student selectivity and achievement, faculty resources, and research activity, similar to the methodology used for Law and Medicine. She added that this ranking is a compilation of the School's data and accomplishments, and all of our constituents – faculty, staff, students and alumni – have been mission critical to the School's progress.
"As Dean, I appreciate all everyone in the school and affiliated with the school has done, and all we will continue to do together, to support our students, alumni, faculty teams, the University, the state of Alabama and beyond, and most importantly the people we serve," she says.
For the newly expanded U.S. News Best Nursing Schools rankings, 503 nursing schools with master's or doctoral programs accredited by either the Commission on Collegiate Nursing Education or the Accreditation Commission for Education in Nursing were surveyed.
Of those, 273 responded, and 246 were eligible to be included in the U.S. News rankings of master's programs. U.S. News chose to rank master's programs because they account for the largest graduate enrollment in nursing, with nearly 500 accredited programs. Nurses with master's degrees play a vital role in administration, education and management.
Starting with the rankings published next year, U.S. News plans to separately rank both master's and Doctor of Nursing Practice programs. DNP programs prepare graduates for the highest level of clinical practice and are rapidly growing, with 150 accredited programs nationally.
The U.S. News rankings of master's programs are based on a weighted average of 13 indicators, including peer assessment, number of degrees awarded in 2013, student to faculty ratio, faculty credentials and percentage of faculty with important academic achievements in the nursing field. Data were collected in fall 2014 and early 2015. All schools are listed in the online directory.
