Celebrating Our Rankings

UVA School of Nursing ascended in the 2023 U.S. News & World Report Best Grad School Guide rankings: its master’s programs shot up six spots overall to No. 13, its Doctor of Nursing Practice program leapt nine places to No. 15, and its Family Nurse Practitioner subspecialty earned a No. 10-in-the-nation spot. 

Among its public peers, the School's rankings are single-digit strong: it tied for the nation's No. 6 MSN, earned a No. 6 rank for its FNP, and tied for the nation's No. 9 DNP. The School remains Virginia's top-ranked graduate nursing school and nationally ranks among the top 2 percent of nursing schools with graduate programs.

top 2%

UVA's nursing graduate programs are ranked among the nation's top two percent

In the 2022 rankings, the School earned a No. 19 spot overall (No. 9 among public institutions) while its DNP program was ranked the nation's No. 24.  In the 2021 U.S. News & World Report ranking, UVA's Clinical Nurse Leader master's program earned a No. 1-in-the-nation spot.

In 2021, U.S. News & World Report ranked undergraduate programs for the first time. That year, UVA's BSN programs earned a No. 10-in-the-nation spot.

Of note in the 2023 graduate school rankings methodology is the use of an assessment score from healthcare professionals, which accounts for 10 percent of the score, alongside the previously used reputational score gleaned from the opinions of American nursing school deans and associate deans at peer institutions, which account for 30 percent of the master’s ranking score. Research activity accounts for one-quarter of ranked schools’ scores, faculty resources and credentials account for 24 percent, and program selectivity and size account for the remaining 10 percent of the master’s rankings.

"What really counts is where we are headed, both individually and collectively, as we continue our quest to be both great and good: as learners, educators, clinicians, scientists, helpers, and leaders."

Pam Cipriano, dean and Sadie Heath Cabaniss Professor of Nursing

While UVA's leap in the nursing rankings is "affirming," said Dean Pam Cipriano, "what really counts is where we are headed, both individually and collectively, as we continue our quest to be both great and good: as learners, educators, clinicians, scientists, helpers, and leaders."

Cipriano, two-term president of the American Nurses Association and the newly elected president of the International Council of Nurses, has repeatedly noted the pandemic's impact on healthcare workers and advocated for nurses' prominence, pay, leadership, and agency.

"As we mark two years into a pandemic that has challenged our profession as well as our colleagues and our community in powerful and profound ways," she said, "I join the chorus of voices celebrating and supporting nurses for the critical work they—we—do."  

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