COLUMBUS, Miss. – Mississippi University for Women’s highly regarded nursing program continues to garner recognition, with its recent ranking as one of the Top 100 minority degree producers among American undergraduate and graduate institutions of higher education.
Diverse Issues in Higher Education magazine ranked The W No. 7 among institutions in the United States that awarded bachelor of science in nursing degrees to African-Americans in the 2014-15 academic year. Thirty-one percent of BSN graduates were awarded degrees in academic year 2014-15--a 21 percent increase from 2013-14.
“Nurses are required to perform complex critical thinking activities and to utilize knowledge acquired in the educational and clinical settings in order to meet the complex healthcare needs of their clients,” said Dr. Tammie McCoy, chair of The W’s BSN program.
“Our W faculty are dedicated to student success in those critical nursing skills. The faculty realize that each student has unique learning needs and they make every effort to work with the student to help him/her achieve academic success. The recognition is a wonderful tribute to the success of both the students and the faculty,” she added.
According to Diverse Issues, the compiled data is the only national report on the ability of U.S. colleges and universities to award degrees to African-American, Hispanic, Asian American and Native American students. This is the 26th consecutive year that Diverse Issues (formerly Black Issues In Higher Education) has produced this original research.
Kelly M. Hill, a Southaven senior, transferred to The W in 2012 from Mississippi Delta Community College to further her studies. “I always wanted to go to The W because I always heard good things about The W.”
Due to family circumstances, Hill had to stop taking classes at The W. She said faculty members offered her words of encouragement and told her to make sure she finished what she started. She returned in 2016.
“Dr. Dana Walker believed in me,” Hill said. “She said, `I will fight for you if you fight for me.’” Hill graduated from The W’s BSN program Aug. 11 and works at Baptist Memorial Hospital in Desoto County. “It’s not just a program. It’s a family.” Walker is the Tupelo BSN coordinator.
The W’s commitment to diversity is also reflected in its overall student body. The university’s enrollment was 2,956 this past fall with 33.8 percent being African-American. In the last decade, African- American enrollment has been around 1,000 students per semester and ranged from 33.2-38 percent. Most degrees are awarded in the health professions with the highest being nursing.
Since 1984, Diverse: Issues In Higher Education magazine has been the nation’s premier publication covering the issues pertaining to underrepresented groups in American higher education. The magazine reaches more than 200,000 readers weekly in print and online.
A comprehensive presentation of Top 100 degree statistics can be found at: http://diverseeducation.com/top100.
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Aug. 17, 2017
Contact: Anika Mitchell Perkins
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