ECU graduate programs among best nationally in new ranking
East Carolina University’s College of Nursing and the Brody School of Medicine are among the best in the country, according to U.S. News & World Report’s 2026 Best Graduate Schools released Tuesday. ECU graduate programs in allied health sciences, business, education, arts and sciences and fine arts were also recognized.
ECU’s Doctor of Nursing Practice program was 25th of 154 ranked programs, placing it in the top 16% in the U.S. ECU is up 15 spots from last year and second highest of four UNC System schools ranked. Factors used for the ranking include faculty resources, peer assessment, research activity, program size and student selectivity.
ECU Doctor of Nursing Practice students take notes during an in-person lecture at the College of Nursing. (Contributed photos)
“We are humbled, and of course quite proud, that our Doctor of Nursing Practice program has been recognized for the quality of nursing professionals that graduate as Pirate nurses,” said Dr. Bim Akintade, dean of the ECU College of Nursing.
“Regardless of the specialty they pursue — nurse anesthesia, nurse midwifery, psychiatric-mental health, family nurse practitioner or health systems leader — our DNP graduates are all committed to serving rural and traditionally underserved populations.”
All December 2025 graduates from the adult gerontology primary care nurse practitioner, family nurse practitioner and the nurse anesthesia program passed their national certification exams on the first try, extending ECU’s tradition of excellence in preparing advance practice nurses to solve the challenges of health care, particularly in rural areas of North Carolina.
The first DNP class graduated in May 2017. Since then, the first-time pass rate for ECU graduates has been near 100%.
ECU programs in nurse midwifery and nursing anesthesia, ranked by peer assessment only in U.S. News, were No. 1 among UNC System schools. Midwifery ranked 14th of 39 programs, and nursing anesthesia was 20th of 147 programs, placing it in the top 15% nationally.
In medicine, U.S. News’ best medical schools for primary care are presented in evaluative Tiers 1-4 rather than ordinal rankings. The Brody School of Medicine again this year is a Tier 1 institution and one of two UNC System schools of 100 institutions listed in the highest-performing tier.
The primary care list focuses on graduates entering primary care fields along with faculty resources and the academic credentials of entering students. Also at the tier level, Brody was recognized for research. Factors consider research activity, student selectivity and faculty resources.
Brody is the top public university medical school in North Carolina in the following categories assigned an ordinal ranking by U.S. News:
- Most Graduates Practicing in Primary Care;
- Most Graduates Practicing in Rural Areas;
- Most Graduates Practicing in Medically Underserved Areas.
In the College of Allied Health Sciences, occupational therapy ranked 41st of 289 programs, in the top 15% of U.S. schools. ECU’s physical therapy doctoral program was in the top 20% in the country and second in UNC System schools ranked. ECU’s speech-language pathology track in communication sciences and disorders master’s program was in the top 25% of 285 programs nationwide. Graduate programs in audiology and rehabilitation counseling also achieved top spots in the rankings.
Several College of Business programs were recognized including its part-time MBA, accounting, finance, supply chain management, information systems, management and marketing.
Additional ECU graduate programs included in the 2026 rankings are:
Data for the graduate rankings of professional schools and programs come from statistical and peer assessment surveys sent to academics and professionals in those fields, along with third-party data for some disciplines, according to U.S. News.
Not all graduate programs are ranked every year. Several programs in the sciences and humanities are updated every two to four years.
Programs that are offered predominantly online are ranked and published by U.S. News at a different time of year.
Visit the website for more information.
(Benjamin Abel and ECU’s Office of Institutional Planning, Assessment and Research contributed to this story.)
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