The Nursing program at Highland Community College is ranked fourth out of 63 programs in Illinois for value, according to Nursing Explorer website. Number one in the ranking was Carl Sandburg College in Galesburg, Ill.
The published best value findings are explored and gathered about nursing programs available across the United States from different government organizations to make it available to students as part of a searchable database. According to Kim Carlson, Outreach Coordinator for Nursing Explorer, “We source general institutional information from the Department of Education and list of nursing programs from the state board of nursing and accreditation information from Commission on Collegiate Nursing Education and Accreditation Commission for Education in Nursing.”
“We are honored to receive this news,” said Dr. Jennifer Grobe, Associate Dean of Nursing and Allied Health. “We value the fact that Highland offers a high-quality education at an affordable price. Our faculty and staff strive to educate future nurses to be the best and the brightest and it is tremendous that Nursing Explorer is recognizing our hard work.”
This year Nursing Explorer gathered more than 3,000 nursing schools data and ranked 1,721 schools across 45 states. The ranking was based on a NCLEX (National Council Licensure Examination) formula for pass rate and net price. The formula gives a 70 percent weight to NCLEX pass rate and 30 percent weight to net-price. The result of the calculation is a score between one and 100 that reflects the quality of education offered at the school and the affordability. If a school has a nigh NCLEX pass rate and low tuition, then ranks will be higher.
From 2016 to 2019, HCC graduated 136 nurses and in 2019, with 44 nursing graduates, was one of the largest classes to date. In 2018, HCC had a 97 percent pass rate for its students.
For more information on Highland’s Nursing Program, visit highland.edu.