FNP School Choices

mrspopeye · Mar 17, 2009

I graduated from St. Louis University, which was just ok, but very expensive. If I could do it all over again, I would have researched a little deeper and maybe found something less expensive.

Dr. Tammy, FNP/GNP-C · Mar 19, 2009

University of Southern Indiana is really good and the least expensive. Double check, though, as they are exp. a high volume of applicants. I heard they are now spacing tracks for 5 years.

CNM2B · Mar 21, 2009

A lot of people put stock in the U.S. New and World Report Rankings. Here is a list of the most recent rankings available. This ranks graduate programs in nursing.

http://grad-schools.usnews.rankingsandreviews.com/grad/nur/search

FRGnurse · Mar 21, 2009

Hi, I am enrolled at Frontier (almost done except for clinicals) and think it is a great program. It is distance but you are definitely connected to your classmates. The history of the school is a great inspiration as are the faculty. They are incredibly accessible and I don't think I could have picked a better school.

Jo Dirt · Mar 21, 2009

I'm going through RODP (Regents Online Degree Program) in Tennessee for the FNP degree. The total cost will be about 15k, which is pretty reasonable.

Dr. Tammy, FNP/GNP-C · Mar 21, 2009

A lot of people put stock in the U.S. New and World Report Rankings. Here is a list of the most recent rankings available. This ranks graduate programs in nursing.
http://grad-schools.usnews.rankingsandreviews.com/grad/nur/search

Not to be a wise guy, but a lot of people get their news from from The National Enquirer. Check out the methods section for how this tabloid news source generates their list.

CNM2B · Mar 21, 2009

Not to be a wise guy, but a lot of people get their news from from The National Enquirer. Check out the methods section for how this tabloid news source generates their list.

I think that US News holds a little more credence than the National Enquirer.

Sure, the rankings are arrived at from surveys taken by faculty. I wanted to pick a program where scholarly work is being produced--that was very important to me. Those programs with visible faculty and scholarly research are the ones who got higher rankings. The reputation that my program has among other nursing faculty was important to me.

You don't have to agree with the list or its methods, but many people (including a lot of physicians who hire APN's) think that the list holds merit.

Dr. Tammy, FNP/GNP-C · Mar 21, 2009

I think that US News holds a little more credence than the National Enquirer.
Sure, the rankings are arrived at from surveys taken by faculty. I wanted to pick a program where scholarly work is being produced--that was very important to me. Those programs with visible faculty and scholarly research are the ones who got higher rankings. The reputation that my program has among other nursing faculty was important to me.
You don't have to agree with the list or its methods, but many people (including a lot of physicians who hire APN's) think that the list holds merit.

Few things to remember about the US News and Sham Report:

First, no faculty from the school gives input that is measured by the US News and Snake Oil Report. Leaving out the oppinions of faculty who are charged with directing and administering the program, although could be considered biased, leaves out an essential critical element.

Second, the beneficieries of the education--ie the employer and ultimately the patient who recieves care as a result of the product of that education are completely left out of the mix. The US News and World Fen-phen Tabloid should take into account that product provided to students will ultimately benefit individuals in the market place. Those individuals are both employer and patient. To leave them out of the evaluation mix while calling this crap science is nothing less than neglegence.

Third only faculty who work for other schoos who have no emic perspective of the internal workings or insight on crafting, constructing or evaluating ciriculum give input, which is ultimately the bulk of and the main measurment of evaluating the program.

Lastly, and most importantly, there is no input from graduates--that is the primary consumer of the service. Again, the report purports to "rate" the schools. Lest we forget, schools provide services for a fee, and those services are for an education. The consumer is the student and graduates are uniquely qualified to give outcome oppinion, which is more valid, and just as reliable as faculty from other schools giving input on a school in which they have nothing to do with. Essentially, The US News and Globe Report completely blows off outcomes as quantified by the very consumer they claim they are rating the school for in the first place.

Don't get me wrong, I completely agree with you that many look at this junk science as product from legitimate scientific inquiry. What is surprising, however, is that those who have negotiated a basic research course such as all APRN's, and presumably physicians, still hold this garbage in high esteem.

ANPFNPGNP · Mar 22, 2009

Few things to remember about the US News and Sham Report:
First, no faculty from the school gives input that is measured by the US News and Snake Oil Report. Leaving out the oppinions of faculty who are charged with directing and administering the program, although could be considered biased, leaves out an essential critical element.
Second, the beneficieries of the education--ie the employer and ultimately the patient who recieves care as a result of the product of that education are completely left out of the mix. The US News and World Fen-phen Tabloid should take into account that product provided to students will ultimately benefit individuals in the market place. Those individuals are both employer and patient. To leave them out of the evaluation mix while calling this crap science is nothing less than neglegence.
Third only faculty who work for other schoos who have no emic perspective of the internal workings or insight on crafting, constructing or evaluating ciriculum give input, which is ultimately the bulk of and the main measurment of evaluating the program.
Lastly, and most importantly, there is no input from graduates--that is the primary consumer of the service. Again, the report purports to "rate" the schools. Lest we forget, schools provide services for a fee, and those services are for an education. The consumer is the student and graduates are uniquely qualified to give outcome oppinion, which is more valid, and just as reliable as faculty from other schools giving input on a school in which they have nothing to do with. Essentially, The US News and Globe Report completely blows off outcomes as quantified by the very consumer they claim they are rating the school for in the first place.
Don't get me wrong, I completely agree with you that many look at this junk science as product from legitimate scientific inquiry. What is surprising, however, is that those who have negotiated a basic research course such as all APRN's, and presumably physicians, still hold this garbage in high esteem.

Tammy,

I believe you gave this exact response in another post! Did you copy it off the internet? Why does it bother you so much that a lot of people want to attend the best schools they can afford?

Did you notice the most respected schools (Harvard, Duke, Yale, etc) in the U.S. are ranked among the top schools in the "U.S. News and World Report"?

BTW, where was YOUR school ranked?

Dr. Tammy, FNP/GNP-C · Mar 22, 2009

Tammy,
I believe you gave this exact response in another post! Did you copy it off the internet?

No, I like to do my own research. Perhaps you should do the same.

Why does it bother you so much that a lot of people want to attend the best schools they can afford?

Nothing about an individuals desire to attend the best school possible bothers me. Relying on Junk science reports such as in the US News and World Report to rate schools does bother me as it misleads consumers in that the methods employed to rate the schools are seriously flawed as I have pointed out. Perhaps you should revisit the basic fundamentals in performing a critique of methodology at the consumer level. Then re read my comments and perhaps you might understand.

Did you notice the most respected schools (Harvard, Duke, Yale, etc) in the U.S. are ranked among the top schools in the "U.S. News and World Report"?

BTW, where was YOUR school ranked?

I'm not sure where my school ranks with the US World and Sham Report, but then again there has never been a report that graduates from my school would not be considered for employment because of a poor reputation for producing substandard graduates. BTW, are there any reports about that regarding the reputation of your school? Do let me know if you need a reminder.

CNM2B · Mar 22, 2009

Few things to remember about the US News and Sham Report:
First, no faculty from the school gives input that is measured by the US News and Snake Oil Report. Leaving out the oppinions of faculty who are charged with directing and administering the program, although could be considered biased, leaves out an essential critical element.
Second, the beneficieries of the education--ie the employer and ultimately the patient who recieves care as a result of the product of that education are completely left out of the mix. The US News and World Fen-phen Tabloid should take into account that product provided to students will ultimately benefit individuals in the market place. Those individuals are both employer and patient. To leave them out of the evaluation mix while calling this crap science is nothing less than neglegence.
Third only faculty who work for other schoos who have no emic perspective of the internal workings or insight on crafting, constructing or evaluating ciriculum give input, which is ultimately the bulk of and the main measurment of evaluating the program.
Lastly, and most importantly, there is no input from graduates--that is the primary consumer of the service. Again, the report purports to "rate" the schools. Lest we forget, schools provide services for a fee, and those services are for an education. The consumer is the student and graduates are uniquely qualified to give outcome oppinion, which is more valid, and just as reliable as faculty from other schools giving input on a school in which they have nothing to do with. Essentially, The US News and Globe Report completely blows off outcomes as quantified by the very consumer they claim they are rating the school for in the first place.
Don't get me wrong, I completely agree with you that many look at this junk science as product from legitimate scientific inquiry. What is surprising, however, is that those who have negotiated a basic research course such as all APRN's, and presumably physicians, still hold this garbage in high esteem.

I'm not trying to split hairs over this, but I don't see anywhere in the US News ranking where they try to say this is a scientific study. They are very open with how they achieved these rankings. Also, faculty input is used in creating the list, but those faculty are all graduates of at least one (and probably 2 or 3) colleges of nursing--so a large number of graduates do get to provide input on schools of nursing.

I know that most of the faculty at my school are heavily involved in our professional organizations, accrediting organization and scholarly research journals. Many of them sit on a variety of committees and other groups that afford them the opportunity to work with faculty from many other programs. This is often how they become familiar with how different schools set up their curriculum and what opportunities they provide.

Again, I'm not saying that the list is perfect, but I'm not sure of a better system.