Scrubsandbeyond.com ranks SDSU No. 15 in nation

Story written by: Matthew Schmidt

South Dakota State University has been named one of 2022’s best colleges for nursing by the website Scrubs and Beyond. SDSU was ranked No. 15, climbing 24 spots from its ranking in 2021.

"South Dakota State University was recognized as a top 15 school for nursing students based on an analysis of graduation rate, annual cost, employment rate and postgraduation earnings across over 700 schools nationwide. The goal was to identify undergraduate programs that offer strong education and career outcomes at an affordable cost,” said Drew Walters, community outreach manager for Scrubs and Beyond. 

The entire rankings.

SDSU’s recognition comes at a time when students across the country are taking more of their courses either fully or partially online.

“These rankings provide validation of the high level of quality and value we are able to provide our students,” said Mary Anne Krogh ’85/’11 Ph.D., the College of Nursing’s dean. “As a result of several renovations to mimic the clinical environment at our Brookings site and other ones in the works at our sites in Rapid City and Aberdeen, the goal is to have our students in a comfortable environment when they start in the real world after having multiple semesters of practice in a simulated working environment.”

South Dakota State uses the CareSpan platform in its nursing classrooms in Brookings, Rapid City and Sioux Falls. This partnership is the first of its kind, and SDSU is the only college of nursing currently using it for instructing students.

To gain a better understanding of the best nursing programs in the U.S, scrubsandbeyond.com tapped into data from the Department of Education's College Scorecard and the National Center for Education Statistics. Leveraging this data, it compared over 750 colleges and universities across three main categories. They were:

• School Factors: Graduation rate (the higher the better) and total annual cost (the lower the better).
• Nursing Programs: The ratio of nursing graduates to the student population. The larger the better.
• Career Potential: Average earnings six years post-entry (early career), average earning 10 years post-entry (mid-career) and employment rate six years post-entry.