Kent State’s online Master’s in Nursing Program was ranked in the top half of public institutions by the U.S. News Best Online Programs of 2022.  

The online MSN has several concentrations, including adult-gerontology clinical nurse specialist, psychiatric mental health nurse practitioner and women’s health nurse practitioner.

Kent State was ranked 68 out of 179 based on the level of engagement, faculty credentials and training, expert opinion, services and technology and student excellence.

The level of engagement students receive from the faculty is wonderful, said Tracey Motter, the associate dean for undergraduate programs in the College of Nursing.

Students participate in practicums, seminars, synchronous classes, meet virtually with faculty and receive feedback from faculty. 

“Our master’s students rank us about 6.79 on a scale of seven for how engaged our faculty is and how well our overall satisfaction with our programs is,” she said. 

Each teaching faculty member has proper certification as well.

“We have faculty that are at least at a master’s level, and almost all of our faculty are doctorally prepared,” she said. 

The program also has an instructional designer to help build online courses. 

The courses are built based on the standards of Quality Matters, an online excellence review, Motter said. 

In addition, each program has a practicum requirement. Students are paired with individuals working in the field to earn a specific number of hours.

 “So, in a psych NP program, students would practice over 500 hours with a psychiatric NP that’s practicing,” Motter said. 

For students who work or have children, the online program is beneficial, Motter said. 

“It’s more convenient for the students and they can watch the presentations over and over again,” Motter said. 

Jordan Bryski is a reporter. Contact her at [email protected].