Listing the best nursing school in each state based on quality, affordability, convenience, satisfaction, and value.
What makes a good nursing school? For most lists of this nature, the word “best” refers to the schools with the highest test scores and whose students go on to achieve the most success in their careers after school. While those schools may be most prominent, rarely are they the best realistic option for a vast majority of individuals seeking a career in nursing. The fact is, attending the University of Pennsylvania or Johns Hopkins University – two of the top nursing schools in the country according to U.S. News – is not exactly within the realm of possibility for most students with nursing aspirations.
Sure, the quality of education is probably the single most important component of choosing a nursing school. Rarely are more practical matters such as price and functionality even considered during the construction of these lists. Thankfully, that’s not the case with the Nurse Journal’s list of America’s Best Nursing Schools & Colleges for 2015.
Nurse Journal ranks nursing schools using a methodology that is much more compatible with the average nursing student. The rankings are formulated by giving each school a score based on 5 different categories:
- Affordability (35 points)
- Quality (30 points)
- Convenience (25 points)
- Satisfaction (20 points)
- Value (20 points)
Those scores are then added up to a combined score out of 130 total points. You can find a full breakdown of their methodology here.
Another factor that plays a large role in most decisions regarding which school to attend is location. Some students value proximity to home, while some value schools in a specific state or region. Obviously, due to the disparity of students living in different areas, it’s impossible for lists that contain schools from across the nation to score each school on its particular location.
That’s why we wanted to break this list down even more by making it applicable on a state-by-state basis. We will also be breaking this up into three separate blog posts to correspond with three different regions: Eastern, Western, and Central.
Here are the best nursing schools in each state of the Eastern Region, along with their corresponding scores from all 5 categories:
Table of Contents
Alabama
University of Alabama
Location: Tuscaloosa, AL
- Quality Score: 27.77
- Affordability Score: 25.75
- Convenience Score: 25.00
- Satisfaction Score: 16.97
- Value Score: 4.34
- Overall Score: 99.83
Arkansas
Arkansas State University-Main Campus
Location: Jonesboro, AR
- Quality Score: 25.73
- Affordability Score: 28.49
- Convenience Score: 25.00
- Satisfaction Score: 15.16
- Value Score: 9.21
- Overall Score: 103.59
Connecticut
Yale University
Location: Orange, CT
- Quality Score: 29.30
- Affordability Score: 22.67
- Convenience Score: 20.00
- Satisfaction Score: 18.03
- Value Score: 6.96
- Overall Score: 96.96
Delaware
University of Delaware
Location: Newark, DE
- Quality Score: 27.66
- Affordability Score: 26.38
- Convenience Score: 20.00
- Satisfaction Score: 17.03
- Value Score: 6.01
- Overall Score: 97.08
Florida
University of Florida
Location: Gainsville, FL
- Quality Score: 28.39
- Affordability Score: 28.46
- Convenience Score: 25.00
- Satisfaction Score: 17.73
- Value Score: 8.04
- Overall Score: 107.62
Georgia
Georgia Regents University
Location: Augusta, GA
- Quality Score: 25.26
- Affordability Score: 30.09
- Convenience Score: 20.00
- Satisfaction Score: 14.23
- Value Score: 20.00
- Overall Score: 109.59
Kentucky
Northern Kentucky University
Location: Highland Heights, KY
- Quality Score: 25.70
- Affordability Score: 25.36
- Convenience Score: 25.00
- Satisfaction Score: 14.28
- Value Score: 9.15
- Overall Score: 99.49
Louisiana
University of Louisiana at Monroe
Location: Monroe, LA
- Quality Score: 26.31
- Affordability Score: 28.92
- Convenience Score: 20.00
- Satisfaction Score: 14.46
- Value Score: 11.55
- Overall Score: 101.24
Maine
Husson University
Location: Bangor, ME
- Quality Score: 25.29
- Affordability Score: 23.77
- Convenience Score: 25.00
- Satisfaction Score: 14.06
- Value Score: 4.34
- Overall Score: 92.46
Maryland
Coppin State University
Location: Baltimore, MD
- Quality Score: 22.41
- Affordability Score: 28.77
- Convenience Score: 25.00
- Satisfaction Score: 12.82
- Value Score: 8.56
- Overall Score: 97.56
Massachusetts
University of Massachusetts-Amherst
Location: Amherst, MA
- Quality Score: 27.35
- Affordability Score: 22.07
- Convenience Score: 25.00
- Satisfaction Score: 16.71
- Value Score: 4.33
- Overall Score: 95.45
Mississippi
Mississippi University for Women
Location: Columbus, MS
- Quality Score: 26.85
- Affordability Score: 28.46
- Convenience Score: 25.00
- Satisfaction Score: 15.79
- Value Score: 8.47
- Overall Score: 104.57
New Hampshire
University of New Hampshire
Location: Durham, NH
- Quality Score: 27.67
- Affordability Score: 21.13
- Convenience Score: 25.00
- Satisfaction Score: 16.48
- Value Score: 4.5
- Overall Score: 94.78
New Jersey
Rutgers University-Newark
Location: Newark, NJ
- Quality Score: 27.05
- Affordability Score: 24.35
- Convenience Score: 20.00
- Satisfaction Score: 14.74
- Value Score: 9.82
- Overall Score: 95.96
New York
CUNY Lehman College
Location: Bronx, NY
- Quality Score: 24.08
- Affordability Score: 29.42
- Convenience Score: 20.00
- Satisfaction Score: 15.50
- Value Score: 14.40
- Overall Score: 103.40
North Carolina
Fayetteville State University
Location: Feyettville, NC
- Quality Score: 26.60
- Affordability Score: 29.86
- Convenience Score: 25.00
- Satisfaction Score: 13.97
- Value Score: 13.99
- Overall Score: 109.42
Pennsylvania
University of Pennsylvania
Location: Philadelphia, PA
- Quality Score: 28.10
- Affordability Score: 18.68
- Convenience Score: 25.00
- Satisfaction Score: 17.76
- Value Score: 5.10
- Overall Score: 94.64
Rhode Island
University of Rhode Island
Location: Kingston, RI
- Quality Score: 26.83
- Affordability Score: 23.97
- Convenience Score: 20.00
- Satisfaction Score: 15.62
- Value Score: 5.99
- Overall Score: 92.41
South Carolina
Clemson University
Location: Clemson, SC
- Quality Score: 28.44
- Affordability Score: 26.09
- Convenience Score: 20.00
- Satisfaction Score: 17.19
- Value Score: 5.41
- Overall Score: 97.13
Tennessee
Middle Tennessee State University
Location: Murfreesboro, TN
- Quality Score: 26.40
- Affordability Score: 27.63
- Convenience Score: 25.00
- Satisfaction Score: 14.45
- Value Score: 8.88
- Overall Score: 102.36
Vermont
University of Vermont
Location: Burlington, VT
- Quality Score: 18.80
- Affordability Score: 25
- Convenience Score: 20
- Satisfaction Score: 16.37
- Value Score: 5.24
- Overall Score: 85.41
Virginia
Bon Secours Memorial College of Nursing
Location: Richmond, VA
- Quality Score: 23.00
- Affordability Score: 29.89
- Convenience Score: 15.00
- Satisfaction Score: 12.81
- Value Score: 20.00
- Overall Score: 100.70
West Virginia
West Virginia University
Location: Morgantown, WV
- Quality Score: 27.85
- Affordability Score: 28.27
- Convenience Score: 20.00
- Satisfaction Score: 15.63
- Value Score: 8.42
- Overall Score: 100.17
Additional "Best-Of" Nursing School Lists:
- The Best Nursing Schools To Get Your Master’s Degree From (State by State Guide)
- Top 50 Online BSN Programs in 2017
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