School Earns Strong Rankings in ’25 U.S. News Best Grad School Guide

The School of Nursing had another strong showing in the latest U.S. News & World Report’s Best Grad Schools Guide for 2024-2025, and, for the first time earned a spot among the “Best Acute Care Nurse Practitioner” specialty ranking, in a tie for No. 7.

According to the new rankings:

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UVA's nursing graduate programs continue to be ranked Virginia's very best

• the School’s master’s programs are ranked the No. 11 public MSN in the nation (No. 18 overall) out of 169 ranked MSN programs and the 658 MSN programs in the United States
• The School’s Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP) program was ranked the nation’s No. 22 public DNP (No. 31 overall), out of 156 ranked DNP programs and 426 DNP programs in the United States
• The School’s six-way No. 7 tie for its “Best Acute Care Nurse Practitioner” specialty ranking is shared with Case Western Reserve, Columbia University, NYU, University of Michigan, and UNC Chapel Hill

"Rankings remain a single, often flawed metric, with lots of movement year to year based upon multiple and changing factors, but that we have held steady remains something to celebrate," said Dean Marianne Baernholdt, the Sadie Heath Cabaniss Professor and UVA Health's Dean of Professional Nursing. “I am incredibly proud of the environment we’ve built to nurture the next generation of skilled, resilient, compassionate nurses."

“These rankings represent the incredible work being accomplished by faculty, students, and others within the UVA School of Nursing,” said K. Craig Kent, MD, chief executive officer at UVA Health and executive vice president for health affairs at UVA. “I want to congratulate our faculty, students, and staff on these rankings, which acknowledge the outstanding contributions being made to patient care, research, healthcare education, and our community.”

UVA Provost Ian Baucom expressed pride in the School of Nursing’s national standing. “It is both the talent and dedication of our faculty and students in the School of Nursing that leads UVA to consistently achieve this level of national prestige,” said Baucom.

U.S. News & World Report ranks nursing schools based on factors that include peer assessments, research funding, faculty resources, program selectivity, and graduation rates.

Last year, the School also earned accolades as a “Best School for Men in Nursing” from the American Association for Men in Nursing.

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