CWC In the News: Best Nursing Schools by State

Nursing profession advocate RegisteredNursing.org has ranked the best nursing licensing programs by their National Council Licensure Examination-RN pass rates.

Passage rates among all RN programs — associate’s, bachelor’s, direct-entry master’s — were assessed. The organization weighted each school’s pass rates by the recency of the exam between two and five years. Each school was graded on a 100-point scale.

The largest difference from its rankings in January is in Arkansas, with Southern Arkansas University replacing Harding University in Searcy for the No. 1 spot. 

The best nursing programs, and their scores, in each state:

Alabama: Auburn University — 98.6

Alaska: No ranking

Arizona: Eastern Arizona College (Thatcher) — 99.64

Arkansas: Southern Arkansas University (Magnolia) — 97.25

California: Sierra College (Rocklin) — 99.81

Colorado: Front Range Community College-Larimer (Fort Collins) — 98.91

Connecticut: Southern Connecticut State University (New Haven) — 96.86

Delaware: Beebe Healthcare (Lewes) — 94.64

Florida: College of Central Florida-Citrus (Lecanto) — 98.58

Georgia: Chattahoochee Technical College (Marietta) — 98.22

Hawaii: Kapi’olani Community College (Honolulu) — 97.75

Idaho: North Idaho College (Coeur d’Alene) — 94.21

Illinois: Trinity Christian College (Palos Heights) — 99.79

Indiana: Indiana University Northwest (Gary) — 98.01

Iowa: Graceland University (Lamoni) — 100

Kansas: Benedictine College (Atchison) — 94.63

Kentucky: Southcentral Kentucky Community & Technical College (Glasgow) — 100

Louisiana: Louisiana Tech University (Ruston) — 98.22

Maine: Kennebec Valley Community College (Fairfield) — 95.85

Maryland: Cecil College (North East) — 97.56

Massachusetts: Worcester State University — 97.36

Michigan: Wayne State University (Detroit) — 96.54 

Minnesota: Concordia College (Moorhead) — 93.41

Mississippi: Mississippi University for Women (Columbus) — 99.36

Missouri: College of the Ozarks (Point Lookout) — 99.53

Montana: Montana Technological University (Butte) — 97.32

Nebraska: Clarkson College (Omaha) — 96.21

Nevada: Great Basin College (Elko) — 97.91

New Hampshire: Plymouth State University — 98.80

New Jersey: The College of New Jersey (Ewing Township) — 95.95

New Mexico: University of New Mexico-Taos (Ranchos De Taos) — 100

New York: LaGuardia Community College (Long Island City) — 98.51

North Carolina: Western Carolina University (Asheville) — 99.03

North Dakota: Bismarck State College — 97.73

Ohio: Muskingum University (New Concord) — 98.68

Oklahoma: Carl Albert State College-Sallisaw — 97.77

Oregon: Chemeketa Community College (Salem) — 99.55

Pennsylvania: Messiah University (Mechanicsburg) — 98.32 

Rhode Island: No ranking

South Carolina: University of South Carolina-Columbia — 99.29

South Dakota: Augustana University (Sioux Falls) — 96.64

Tennessee: University of Tennessee at Chattanooga — 97.92

Texas: Laredo College — 99.23

Utah: Brigham Young University (Provo) — 96.75

Vermont: No ranking

Virginia: Radford University — 98.53

Washington: Big Bend Community College (Moses Lake) — 97.94

West Virginia: West Virginia University (Morgantown) — 98.54

Wisconsin: Maranatha Baptist University (Watertown) — 100

Wyoming: Central Wyoming College (Riverton) — 92.24