The Georgia Southwestern State University School of Nursing was recently ranked 38th in the nation on a list of the “Best Online Nursing Programs” by AffordableCollegesOnline.org in its third annual ranking. Georgia Southwestern was among five universities in Georgia that made the list.

According to AC Online’s press release, nursing has become such a popular degree that it is now the nation's largest health care profession, with more than 3.1 million registered nurses nationwide.

“Practicing nurses are returning to school in greater numbers and experience many barriers to obtaining the BSN while working full time,” said Sandra Daniel, Ph.D., dean of the School of Nursing. “Our online RN-BSN program reduces these barriers while maintaining program excellence at an affordable cost. We are pleased that our success is recognized nationally.”

“The GSW School of Nursing has done an excellent job creating a program that is flexible to the needs of working students,” said GSW Interim President Charles Patterson, Ph.D. “More importantly, the nursing faculty are committed to student success. This is illustrated by the recent Affordable College Online ranking and by the achievement of our nursing graduates.”

Ranked schools met a number of criteria and metrics, including:
 
- Must be a public or private, not-for-profit institution
- Must offer at least one fully-online bachelor’s degree program
- Academic and career counseling services
- Job placement for graduates
 
Affordable Colleges Online’s ranking scale is highlighted by the use of Peer-Based Value, or PBV. The PBV score compares the cost of each program to the cost of similar programs with the same qualitative score.

“We made sure to highlight schools across the nation that are leading in academic excellence for online nursing programs," said Dan Schuessler, CEO and founder of AC Online. “These schools are ensuring quality nurses are entering a workforce that will need at least a million registered nurses nationwide by 2018."