UW News

April 4, 2003

University of Washington School of Nursing again No. 1 in U.S.News’ rankings of America’s Best Graduate Schools

The University of Washington School of Nursingtakes the top honors again as the best nursing school in the nation, according to U.S.News & World Report’s annual ranking of graduate programs in health care.

The magazine’s latest survey of graduate and professional schools will be published in a special guide, “America’s Best Graduate Schools.” Select rankings will be listed in the April 14 edition of the magazine. Both publications will be available on newsstands April 7. The rankings will also be available at www.usnews.com.

This is the eighth time the UW has been ranked No. 1 in the U.S.News rankings of nursing schools. The school was first ranked No. 1 in 1984 in a first-ever national poll of schools of nursing conducted by the journal Nurse Educator.

“The ranking is a tribute to the creativity and commitment of our outstanding faculty, staff and students,” Dean Nancy Fugate Woods said. “We have a strong commitment to quality and innovation in everything we do, and we’re really pleased that this has been recognized.”

In this year’s results of the magazine’s peer assessment survey of deans, other administrators and faculty of the nation’s accredited nursing schools with master’s degree programs, U.S.News ranked the UW No. 1 in its clinical nurse specialist: adult/medical–surgical nursing program, as well as in community/public health nursing and psychiatric/mental health nursing. The UW ranked among the top five in four other nursing specialties, including nurse practitioner: family; nurse practitioner: adult; pediatric nursing and nursing service administration. The UW ranked No. 7 in the country among nursing-midwifery schools. The UW program in gerontological/geriatric nursing was ranked at No. 6.

The UW School of Nursing’s national reputation for excellence has earned it more research grants than any other school in the nation. It also has the highest number of fellows in The American Academy of Nursing and in the Institute of Medicine.

Other top nursing schools, in the order listed, were University of California — San Francisco, University of Michigan — Ann Arbor, University of Pennsylvania, University of North Carolina — Chapel Hill, Johns Hopkins University, Oregon Health Sciences University, University of Illinois — Chicago, University of Iowa and University of California — Los Angeles.

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