Welcome to our 7th Annual RN Program Rankings – 2023 Edition!

We are firm believers in providing students with all the information possible to make the right choice when selecting a nursing school. With this in mind, we feel a great way to provide this transparency is through studying nursing programs and their students’ performance on the NCLEX-RN exam.

The NCLEX-RN exam is used by all state boards of nursing across the United States to help assess a student’s competency and is required for licensure. Many state boards of nursing use the total overall NCLEX-RN pass rates for a school as one of the main ways to approve a school’s ability to provide a nursing education in the state. This is why we feel the NCLEX-RN pass rates are one of the best ways to determine a nursing program’s student preparedness, and that is why we have chosen to rank them using this method.

Methodology

Our methodology began with obtaining NCLEX-RN exam pass rates for all RN programs (ADN, BSN, Direct-Entry MSN) state by state through several methods, including making a number of Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests. We requested the previous 5 years of information that is available.

Once this data was obtained, we filtered out the programs with the following characteristics:

  • Programs that have closed or will be closing at the time of data collecting
  • Programs with no pass rate data available for the previous 1 or 2 years, depending on the state and number of years of data available
  • Programs with only one year of pass rates

Once non-qualifying programs had been filtered, the ranking process began:

  1. NCLEX-RN pass rates were analyzed going back to the most recent years of data available up to 5 years, each state may have varying years, see the data table below for each state’s year range analysis.
  2. Schools’ pass rates were averaged together and weighted by the recency of the exam; for example, exam pass rates in 2021 count more towards overall rankings than scores from 2017. The weighting cofactor values table used:
Number Years of Data Available Weighting Cofactors (Most Recent First)
5 Years 0.37,0.27,0.17,0.12,0.07
4 Years 0.4,0.3,0.2,0.1
3 Years 0.45,0.35,0.2
2 Years 0.65,0.35
1 Year 1

Ranking Details By State

The table below lists information by state, including the years of NCLEX-RN pass rate data analyzed, the number of schools in each state, and the number of top-ranked programs.

State Years Rankings Based On Number Schools Analyzed Number Schools Ranked
Alabama 2017 - 2021 36 10
Alaska N/A 2 N/A
Arizona 2017 - 2021 33 10
Arkansas 2017 - 2021 30 10
California 2017 - 2021 131 20
Colorado 2017 - 2021 28 10
Connecticut 2017 - 2021 20 5
Delaware 2017 - 2021 7 3
Florida 2017 - 2021 149 20
Georgia 2017 - 2021 51 20
Hawaii 2016 - 2020 8 3
Idaho 2018 - 2021 11 5
Illinois 2017 - 2021 80 20
Indiana 2016 - 2020 48 20
Iowa 2017 - 2021 33 10
Kansas 2017 - 2021 32 10
Kentucky 2017 - 2021 49 20
Louisiana 2014 - 2018 26 10
Maine 2017 - 2021 12 5
Maryland 2017 - 2021 25 10
Massachusetts 2017 - 2021 42 20
Michigan 2012 - 2016 59 20
Minnesota 2017 - 2021 43 20
Mississippi 2017 - 2021 23 10
Missouri 2017 - 2021 53 20
Montana 2017 - 2021 14 5
Nebraska 2017 - 2021 16 5
Nevada 2017 - 2021 12 5
New Hampshire 2017 - 2021 15 5
New Jersey 2017 - 2021 49 20
New Mexico 2017 - 2021 20 5
New York 2017 - 2021 103 20
North Carolina 2017 - 2021 83 20
North Dakota 2017 - 2021 10 3
Ohio 2017 - 2021 94 20
Oklahoma 2017 - 2021 46 20
Oregon 2017 - 2021 27 10
Pennsylvania 2017 - 2021 77 20
Rhode Island N/A 5 N/A
South Carolina 2017 - 2021 31 10
South Dakota 2017 - 2021 11 5
Tennessee 2017 - 2021 47 20
Texas 2017 - 2021 121 20
Utah 2017 - 2021 19 5
Vermont N/A 3 N/A
Virginia 2017 - 2021 67 20
Washington 2017 - 2021 34 10
West Virginia 2017 - 2021 27 10
Wisconsin 2017 - 2021 38 10
Wyoming 2018 - 2021 9 3

LPN to RN & Paramedic to RN Ranking Details

Much of our main state ranking methodology above was used in coordination with the Online LPN to RN ranking. Other contributing factors weighted into this ranking include but not limited to:

  • Tuition cost
  • Average program length
  • Geo coverage
  • Further educational pathways and partnerships
  • # of cohorts annually

Referenced Rankings

Concerns, Questions, and Corrections

We understand there is much more in deciding which school best supports students on their path to becoming registered nurses, but providing this information for students can be another point to consider in choosing a school to attend. Our recommendation would be to use our rankings in addition to other factors in helping find the right school.

Please send comments, questions, or corrections to us via our contact form

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