Duke Tops 2020 US News Ranking of Online Family NP Programs

In the US N ews and World Report rankings for best online nursing degree programs, the following schools have emerged at the top of the list for best online Family Nurse-Practitioner graduate programs:

1: Duke University (Private School, Durham, NC)

#1 in Family Nurse Practitioner Programs; #7 in Nursing Programs (tie)

2: Ohio State University (Public School, Columbus, OH)

#2 in Family Nurse Practitioner Programs; #4 in Nursing Programs

3: Rush University (Private School, Chicago, IL)

#3 in Family Nurse Practitioner Programs; #1 in Nursing Programs

4: Frontier Nursing University (Private School, Hyden, KY)

#4 in Family Nurse Practitioner Programs; #53 in Nursing Programs

#5 (four-way tie): Drexel University (Private School, Philadelphia, PA)

#5 in Family Nurse Practitioner Programs; #41 in Nursing Programs

#5 (four-way tie): Duquesne University (Private School, Pittsburgh, PA)

#5 in Family Nurse Practitioner Programs (tie); #45 in Nursing Programs

#5 (four-way tie): George Washington University (Private School, Washington, DC)

#5 in Family Nurse Practitioner Programs; #6 in Nursing Programs (tie)

#5 (four-way tie): Medical University of South Carolina (Public School, Charleston, SC)

#5 in Family Nurse Practitioner Programs; #14 in Nursing Programs (tie)

#9 (two-way tie): Gonzaga University (Private School, Spokane, WA)

#9 in Family Nurse Practitioner Programs; #91 in Nursing Programs (tie)

#9 (two-way tie): University of Alabama (Public School, Tuscaloosa, AL)

#9 in Family Nurse Practitioner Programs; #17 in Nursing Programs (tie)

#11 (two-way tie): Simmons University (Private School, Boston, MA)

#11 in Family Nurse Practitioner Programs; #91 in Nursing Programs (tie)

#11 (two-way tie): University of South Carolina (Public School, Columbia, SC)

#11 in Family Nurse Practitioner Programs; #2 in Nursing Programs (tie)

How US News Computed the Rankings

US News and World Report assesses five categories in ranking online graduate nursing programs:

Engagement (30% weight)—how well does the program retain students and keep them enrolled and completing their degrees in a “reasonable time?”

Faculty Credentials and Training (20% weight)—do faculty academic credentials “mirror those of instructors for campus-based programs?”

Expert Opinion (20% weight)—what do “high-ranking academic officials” have to say about the program?

Services and Technologies (20% weight)—does the program offer “strong support structures [that] provide learning assistance, career guidance, and financial aid resources commensurate with quality campus-based programs?”

Student Excellence (10%)—does the student body show that it can “handle the demands of rigorous coursework,” and does the program award degrees “judiciously?”

US News and World Report weighs each of these considerations in their rankings for online institutions, and provides a variety of sorting criteria for those seeking certain specialties, tuition fee levels, and enrollment sizes.

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Koren Thomas

Associate Editor at DailyNurse

Koren Thomas (pictured with Assistant) was the associate editor of DailyNurse from late 2019 through July, 2022—and she was not joking about the "issue postage stamps saluting US nurses" idea. Send your article ideas, submissions, Nurse of the Week suggestions, comments, and corrections to the current Editor in Chief at [email protected].