AACC nursing claims top spot in regional rankings

This article was published by the Campus Current newspaper on March 6, 2022.

AACC’s nursing program is the best in the Northeast region, according to a 2023 ranking.

The associate degree program also topped all other community colleges in two additional statewide rankings last year.

According to?nursingprocess.org—which ranks nursing degree programs for students searching for the best colleges—AACC “prepares you for a promising career” in nursing. This site ranks programs nationwide divided by region.?

The other websites—rncareers.org?and?nursingschoolsalmanac.com—ranked AACC’s associate degree in nursing as the “best” in the state.

Scott Olden, AACC’s assistant dean of nursing, said the combination of “amazing” faculty and facilities are the reasons for the success, saying the Health and Life Sciences building gives the students the opportunity to have “real-time experiences” in an “extensive simulation of a clinical environment.”

The 175,000-square-foot Health and Life Sciences building is the largest building across AACC’s three campuses. It includes multiple lab spaces for nursing students to experience simulated emergency scenarios as part of their schooling.

Some students said part of the reason AACC ranks so high is because of facilities like HLSB.

First-year nursing student Lily Pastor, who lives in Baltimore city, said they chose to come to AACC instead of closer colleges like Johns Hopkins “because the facilities are really amazing.”

First-year nursing student Thais Gilligan said the program’s staff are very “helpful” because they “work individually with you.”