U.S. News and World Report ranked Georgia Southern University’s Masters of Science and Nursing- Family Nurse Practitioner program within the top 20 in the nation.

Other institutions to share this honor include Yale University, Johns Hopkins University and Columbia University, according to the press release.

“To be named among the top 20 in the country by U.S. News & World Report is a major honor, not only for our University, but for the state of Georgia,” Jean Bartels, dean of the College of Health and Human Science, said in a press release.

“Georgia Southern continues to be recognized as one of the top nursing schools in the country as a result of the hard work of our faculty and staff and the outstanding students that select Georgia Southern for their MSN degree,” Bartels said in the release.

Students in the College of Health and Human Sciences react to the news with no doubt that GSU deserves the honor.

“I tried to get into the nursing program twice,” Teidra Currence, senior health education and promotions major, said. “And it was so difficult I had to change my major. It must be an excellent program because of how limited the numbers are of students who are accepted. I just wish there was a way that they could help aspiring nursing students to prepare for the difficult major.”

Students currently in the nursing program are also unsurprised by the honor, due to the amount of hard work it takes to complete.

“In the nursing program it is a lot of hard work and you have to have good work ethic,” junior nursing major Staci Lewis said. “It is an extremely hard program to complete, so I agree with the ranking.”

Other GSU students are excited about the national ranking.

“I’m an arts major, so I know nothing about the nursing program. But, I was so excited to hear about the high ranking because my best friend is a nursing major at another school, and now she has a great reason to transfer here,” freshman graphic design major Anna Salin said.

The program also received top honors among all public and private universities in Georgia, according to the press release.

According to the press release, U.S. News and World Report also named GSU the fourth most popular school in 2011.