The Ashland University Schar College of Nursing and Health Sciences was recently ranked 93 overall in the top 100 private nursing schools in the nation by the Nursing Schools Almanac.

The almanac also gave AU a rank in the Great Lakes Region and Ohio, in which it placed 33 and fifth respectively

Carrie Keib, Dean of the college, was quoted in an AU press release saying that the award “reaffirms our commitment to educational excellence from our outstanding faculty as well as the opportunities and experiences we offer all of our students.”

“The experience is really what sets us apart from other programs,” third-year nursing student Isabella Myers said. “They put you in an environment to succeed because they have you go hands on from the start and teach you from the bottom up. The students in the program have always been very kind and helpful and we all seem to get along pretty well. The instructors push us to be better and it’s a great setting to be a nursing student.”

Myers has begun her second semester of clinical rotations through the program.

“Clinicals are hard but they teach you how to succeed because it is the real deal. You are in the hospital with real doctors, nurses and patients,” she said. “There’s not much room for error so you have to rely on what you have learned to help you through it all.”

Nursing student Elizabeth Weimer, also in her third year of the nursing program, was not shocked upon learning about the ranking of the program.

“I always knew the program here was really good,” she said. “When you tell someone you’re thinking about going to Ashland for school they normally mention the nursing program because it is such a big deal here.”

Weimer aspires to be a head floor nurse in her future career in nursing.

“It is a very long day, waking up early, going to class and taking your notes, going to clinicals, then coming home and doing your homework… normally going to bed late,” Weimer said. “It’s very rewarding because you have to have that drive to want to be great, or fall off in the competition and the stress of keeping up. You really have to expect the best of yourself because it is expected of you.This profession is great and that’s what this program has done is emphasize that for me.”

Ashland joins the top 6% of 3,000 schools that were ranked upon their academic prestige, depth and student success in the programs. All of the programs are offered online and in-person.