For the second year in a row, Salina Area Technical College’s Associate Degree Nursing (RN) program has been named one of the top 5 in Kansas by RegisteredNursing.org, a nationwide organization promoting excellence in nursing education and the Registered Nursing profession.

According to the school, to get its rankings, RegisteredNursing.org looked at current and historical passing rates on the National Council Licensure Examination for Registered Nursing (commonly called the NCLEX-RN) at each of the 32 colleges in the state.

Salina Tech scored a 92.19, putting it slightly behind Benedictine College, with a score of 94.63; Johnson County Community College, with a score of  93.22; Baker University, with a score of 92.79 and Labette Community College, with a score of 92.46.

The overall statewide average score was 78.77.

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The full list of rankings for Kansas nursing programs can be found at:
https://www.registerednursing.org/state/kansas/#show

Salina Tech started a nine-month Practical Nursing program in the fall of 2018, in response to the need for more nurses in the area following the closure of Brown-Mackie College, and the Associate Degree Nursing program launched a year after that. Since then, 115 students have graduated from the Practical Nursing program, and 74 from the Associate Degree program. In May, the college expects to graduate another 29 Practical Nursing students and another 23 Associate Degree students.

To help make the program available to more students, Salina Tech is starting a part-time Practical Nursing program this fall, and plans to start a part-time Associate Degree program in the fall of 2025.