September 24, 2024
The 2025 US News Best Colleges ranked Ursuline College’s Bachelor of Science in Nursing as 7th in Ohio, tied with Ohio University. Nationally, the College jumped 34 places this year to tie with multiple schools at the 149th spot. The College, home to approximately 1000 students, is among the top 22 percent of nursing schools across the country. In the past two years, the College’s BSN program has moved up 98 spots.
“Our graduates enter the nursing profession incredibly prepared thanks to our dedicated faculty and staff,” states Patricia Sharpnack, DNP, RN, CNE, NEA-BC, ANEF, FAAN, dean of Ursuline College’s Breen School of Nursing and Health Professions. “We’ve had a 100% pass rate among first-time takers of the Next Generation NCLEX or NGN – the licensure exam to be a registered nurse--followed by a 100% employment rate of our graduates once they are licensed.”
“The Breen School with almost eight decades of producing some of the area’s most sought after nursing professionals is one of the many reasons why Northeast Ohio is known as a health care mecca to the world,” adds Ursuline College President David King EdD. “Equally as important The Breen School under Dr. Sharpnack’s direction continues to innovate to improve the health and well-being of our neighbors across the region.”
Examples of this innovation include its new nurse anesthesia track within its Doctor of Nursing Practice program which welcomed its first online cohort in January along with corporate partner SNAP (Somnia Nurse Anesthesia Program). This fall Breen offered its Master of Science in Nursing or MSN, online in addition to in person. The program was ranked 41st in the nation last spring by US News. It was also one of the first in the state to offer its accelerated BSN program or Second Degree Accelerated Program (SDAP) part-time to increase access to this popular program for people looking to change careers and become a nurse.
Other new health care offerings include a physician assistant program which will see its first graduates in December. Ursuline also recently added a bachelor’s degree completion program for respiratory therapists and a bachelor’s in nutrition.
“You can also see this spirit of innovation with the recent announcement to pursue a strategic partnership with Gannon University, notes Dr. King. “The strengths of the two institutions complement each other, especially in health care.
In the 2025 US News Best Colleges in the Midwest Regional Universities category, Ursuline College ranked 15thin the state and 109th overall in the region.
