The Bachelor of Science in Nursing (BSN) program at the University of Tennessee Health Science Center’s College of Nursing is ranked as the best program in the state on two important new lists that measure quality.
The college has the highest-ranked BSN program in Tennessee on U.S. News & World Report’s list of undergraduate nursing programs in its Best Colleges 2022 list. Nationally, the college ranked No. 43 out of 694 BSN programs listed by U.S. News & World Report, placing it in the top 6% in the country. Other Tennessee BSN programs that ranked in the top 100 on that national list include the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, at 58, and the University of Memphis, at 96. This is the first year that the magazine has included undergraduate nursing programs in its list.
On another list, the “Nursing Schools Almanac” ranked UTHSC as No. 1 in Tennessee on its list of Best Prelicensure BSN programs. The Almanac ranked BSN programs by state based on the first-time pass rates of their BSN graduates on the National Council Licensure Exam for Registered Nurses, NCLEX®-RN, from 2011-2020. UTHSC had a 97.8%, the highest average first-time pass rate in the state for that time period. The average national first-time pass rate for BSN graduates was 90.29% in 2020.
“We are pleased with our rankings and attribute this to the excellence of our faculty and staff in preparing and supporting our students,” said Wendy Likes, PhD, DNSc, APRN-BC, FAANP, dean of the UTHSC College of Nursing. “At this time, in particular, it is important that we graduate nurses who can pass their national boards, so we can get them into the communities where they are critically needed.”
For U.S. News & World Report, the BSN program rankings were determined by the average of scores received from surveys of top academics and officials at nursing schools or departments. These officials rated the overall quality of undergraduate BSN programs they were familiar with on a 1-5 scale.
In the “Nursing Schools Almanac” listing, the ranking of BSN programs in Tennessee included several other nursing schools in the UT system. The University of Tennessee at Chattanooga’s BSN program ranked fourth on the list with a first-time NCLEX®-RN pass rate of 96.3%, and The University of Tennessee at Martin ranked fifth with a pass rate of 96%. UT-Knoxville ranked eighth with a pass rate of 94.4%.
In the Memphis area, the BSN program at the University of Memphis ranked 17th with a first-time pass rate of 90.1% in the “Nursing Schools Almanac” listing, and the Baptist University of Health Sciences ranked 19th with a first-time pass rate of 89.6%. Union University in Jackson ranked 10th on the list with a first-time pass rate of 93.8%.
The UTHSC College of Nursing currently has a 12-month, accelerated BSN option for students who have already earned a non-nursing bachelor’s degree. And the college is opening a two-year, traditional option for students who have completed prerequisites and want to complete their BSN degree in a dynamic health science center. Applications are open through December 22 for both BSN options, and more information is available at uthsc.edu/nursing.
The college’s Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP) program also received a high ranking earlier this year on the U.S. News & World Report’s list of Best Graduate Schools. The DNP program is ranked 26 among the 163 doctoral nursing programs in the United States on the 2022 edition of the list.