Best 4 Year Nursing Colleges

[mcwingo29]

I am an upcoming senior in high school and have been trying to find what the best 4 year nursing programs are but haven't had much success finding rankings except by NIH. What are some of the top nursing programs that you know of? I know University of Washington has a good reputation. Any insight into the school?

[mcs1505]

http://www.allnursingschools.com/faqs/schools.php

This is a good resource for helping you to choose a school. "Best" is kind of relative depending on who you are. Just because they have the highest NCLEX pass rate doesn't mean they'll help you acheive as much as, say, the school with 7th highest pass rate.

I attend UF, which apparently has the second highest pass rate in FL but it's the best school for me bc of it's location, its partnership with the local hospitals, the professors (the best! but of course I am horribly biased), and its accelerated program.

You want more from a school than just test scores.

[RhodyGirl, RN]

In my state, we only have 3 schools that offer a BSN.

1. Rhode Island College (Largest program in RI, and by far the cheapest tuition)

2. University of Rhode Island (I've heard great things about their program, but it's a huge school with tons of applicants)

3. Salve Regina University (Great school, but very expensive)

I guess the "best" is really a relative thing....depends on how much you want to spend (go into debt), where you want to be, NCLEX rates, etc...

[Angel@MyTable, RN]

Here is a link to University of Minnesota which has a great 4 year program, but you can also obtain your masters to doctoral degree.

http://www.nursing.umn.edu/Employment/Clinical/home.html

Good Luck!

[janis9799]

I just graduated from the University of Maryland SON at Baltimore, we are ranked consistently in the top ten of nursing schools, last year we were seventh. I absolutely loved my school, though I went to their satellite campus in Rockville, MD. Smaller classes so everyone was friends with everyone, didn't have to travel to Baltimore, professors were really great and didn't eat their young. Our school was founded by Louisa Parsons a student of Florence Nightengale. Pass rate is 90 or above. Hopkins is rated #3 but they are waaaaaaaaaayyyy more expensive than UMB.

[Jo Dirt]

A degree from a state college will get you the same thing a "pedigree" from an overpriced college will.

Unless you are riding on scholarships that will pay for everything or your parents have unending money to spend, it is not a good way to start off your young life owing your soul to SallieMae.

It's not worth it. Of all my mistakes, at least I don't have school debt. It was the local state college for me.

In fact, I do not believe most kids fresh out of high school should jump into college. Take a year off and test the waters. Go through an LPN program at the vocational school and see if you even like nursing enough to pursue it (then, you can even get a decent job to help put yourself through school rather than one of those crummy min. wage jobs at the pizza parlor!)

If I could only be 17 again, I know exactly what I would do...

[mcwingo29]

I just graduated from the University of Maryland SON at Baltimore, we are ranked consistently in the top ten of nursing schools, last year we were seventh. I absolutely loved my school, though I went to their satellite campus in Rockville, MD. Smaller classes so everyone was friends with everyone, didn't have to travel to Baltimore, professors were really great and didn't eat their young. Our school was founded by Louisa Parsons a student of Florence Nightengale. Pass rate is 90 or above. Hopkins is rated #3 but they are waaaaaaaaaayyyy more expensive than UMB.

What rankings are you looking at?

[janis9799]

US News and World Report

http://nursing.umaryland.edu/about/ranking.htm

[Spidey's mom, ADN, BSN, RN]

Azusa Pacific University in Southern California has an awesome nursing program.

steph

[RhodyGirl, RN]

Just to add to that, Rhode Island College had a 90% NCLEX pass rate last year.