The University of South Carolina College of Nursing's online graduate program has been named the top online nursing graduate program by U.S. News and World Report in their 2016 Best Online Education Programs rankings.
College of Nursing Dean Jeannette Andrews expressed excitement and pride over the news in a press release. “The No. 1 ranking validates the strength of our exemplary students, faculty, staff and alumni, as well as their commitment to quality, innovation and rigor in our graduate programs,” Andrews said in the release.
The online graduate program moved up two spots in the U.S. News and World Report rankings from 2015. In the previous year, they were tied for third with the online nursing program of Johns Hopkins University. The program itself has been in place for 15 years, and it currently has around 118 students enrolled.
Andrews noted that the ranking reflects well upon the university as a whole as well as the state of South Carolina.
“It is a high honor and privilege for the University of South Carolina College of Nursing and our state to achieve the top ranking in the nation,” Andrews said in the same release.
U.S. News and World Report considers a myriad of factors in their ranking system for online education programs. These factors include faculty credentials and training, student services, technology, admissions selectivity, peer reputation and student engagement.
The College of Nursing was not the only University of South Carolina program included in this year's set of rankings. The College of Education was ranked 22nd in online education graduate programs and the College of Engineering and Computing's online engineering graduate program, the only one in the state of South Carolina, was ranked 49th.