WesternU's College of Graduate Nursing named Top 10 U.S. nursing school

The College of Graduate Nursing (CGN) at Western University of Health Sciences is one of the 10 best nursing schools in the country, according to a new report.

CGN ranked as the 10th best nursing program in the nation, according to the Graduateprograms.com Spring 2014 Rankings of Top Graduate Programs. The rankings are based on ratings and reviews from current or recent students’ rankings posted on GraduatePrograms.com.

"The CGN faculty, staff and administration are grateful for this external validation by our students. No one knows more about the graduate school experience than current or recent graduate students," said CGN Founding Dean Karen Hanford, EdD, MSN, FNP. "This achievement provides evidence of program quality and achievement of a student-centered culture that faculty and staff value to support our students as they complete their education."

Program rankings, compiled using data gathered between Sept. 1, 2012 and April 15, 2014, encompass reviews posted by more than 60,000 students participating in more than 1,500 graduate programs nationwide. Ratings are based on a 10-star system, with 1 being the worst and 10 being the best. Click here to view GraduatePrograms.com’s list of Best Nursing Schools.

Graduateprograms.com assigns 15 ranking categories to each graduate program at each graduate school. Rankings cover a variety of student topics such as academic competitiveness, career support, financial aid and quality of network.

For a given graduate program, rankings are determined by calculating the average score for each program based on the 15 ranking categories. These scores are then compared across all ranked schools for that program and are translated into a final ranking for that graduate program, i.e., "health and nursing." A given graduate program is not ranked until a minimum threshold of graduate student surveys is completed for that program.