UM School of Nursing programs among US News’ best graduate schools

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In the newly released 2022 edition of U.S. News and World Report’s “America’s Best Graduate Schools,” the University of Maryland School of Nursing (UMSON) has remained ranked among the best schools in the nation for its overall Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP) and Master of Science in Nursing (MSN) programs, out of 597 accredited nursing schools surveyed.

The Adult-Gerontology Primary Care Nurse Practitioner DNP specialty ranked No. 6 in the nation (No. 2 among public schools of nursing). The focus on gerontology, established at UMSON more than 45 years ago, continues to meet critical provider needs given today’s enormous strain on the physician-based primary care workforce in the United States, the lack of sufficient numbers of geriatricians, and a growing aging population. In 2019 and 2020, graduates earned a 100% pass rate on the American Academy of Nurse Practitioners Certification Board exam.

And the Family Nurse Practitioner DNP specialty ranked No. 8 in the nation (No. 2 among public schools of nursing). The specialty is offered both in Baltimore and at the Universities at Shady Grove in Rockville where the first cohort of students will graduate this May after the specialty was introduced at that location in 2017 in an effort to expand FNP education to better meet the needs of underserved areas in the western, more rural portion of the state.

Among public schools of nursing, UMSON’s DNP program ranked No. 15 (No. 33 overall), and its MSN program ranked No. 16 (No. 37 overall) in the nation. U.S. News is no longer ranking a number of categories in which UMSON’s programs have historically ranked among the best in the nation, including the MSN Clinical Nurse Leader option, which was ranked No. 1 or No. 2 for the entire period U.S. News ranked such programs; the Nursing Informatics master’s specialty, which was ranked No. 1 for the entire period U.S. News ranked such programs; and the previously top-ranked Nurse Anesthesia DNP specialty.

Rankings are based on a variety of indicators, including student selectivity and program size, faculty resources, and research activity, and on survey data from deans of schools of nursing that are accredited by the Commission on Collegiate Nursing Education or the Accreditation Commission for Education in Nursing.