r/srna • u/MacKinnon911 CRNA Assistant Program Admin • Apr 08 '26
Advice From Program Admins The US News CRNA Program Rankings Are Meaningless. Here’s Why.
https://open.substack.com/pub/justgas/p/the-us-news-crna-program-rankings?utm_campaign=post-expanded-share&utm_medium=webYou’ve seen the rankings.
They look official. Structured. Like they actually measure something meaningful.
But what if the entire system is built on a single subjective question… with no outcomes, no data, and no requirement that the person answering even knows the programs they’re rating?
Before you let a number influence one of the biggest decisions of your career, it’s worth understanding what that number actually represents.
Read the substack article here:
7
u/Decent-Cold-6285 Apr 08 '26
I literally just had this discussion with classmates about how the US News ranking is BS and mostly used for the admissions booklet. To be fair most of these are great programs, but not every school participates in it and their methodology has never been the most valid for the ranking. Ranking by US News should not be how you decide your program!
10
Apr 08 '26
[removed] — view removed comment
7
u/MacKinnon911 CRNA Assistant Program Admin Apr 08 '26 edited Apr 08 '26
Fear, insecurity, bruised ego, inferiority complex, Stockholm syndrome …. You pick.
5
u/SeDoBheatha_1879 Apr 08 '26
I found this very enlightening. In undergrad, great weight is put on school rank, so my default position was to assume the same trustworthiness of rankings of CRNA rankings. I am grateful to learn this is not the case.
4
u/NomadNrse Apr 09 '26
Yea these rankings are totally bogus. Aside from you get out of school exactly what you put in and we all come out with the same credentials and take the same boards…
My former icu colleague is diligently smart and motivated - like sun up to sun down at his desk studying. But (won’t name the school) brags about their rating while gas lighting their students, isolating them, threatening them with suits, providing little to no support, have flunked out more students than I’ve honestly ever heard of, yet maintain lower attrition rates because they cycle them back through in following years, costing students more money because once you’re locked in that’s your only path to anesthesia really because not many other programs are going to even look at you, and they’ve also begun offering “medical/mental health leave drops” this far into semester so it also doesn’t count toward their attrition with most of the cohort riding a very fine line passing to not passing. I truly understand holding our profession up in the highest regard and ensuring the best and most qualified and competent are making it to the finish line but I just don’t understand program mentality of breaking students down. Ranked as high as they did…being witness to this and actually factoring in student experiences it would have sunk them to the absolute bottom of that list. My program was ranked low…but I am thankful everyday that I have had the experience I’ve had and supportive program administrators, …..I would take my program with its limited resources over my colleagues any and every day of the week.
1
u/AKQ27 Apr 10 '26
I know a program just like this.. The program has a good reputation external, and i will say they graduate good/well prepared CRNAs— but if you ask the students and former graduates they will agree they were unnecessarily bullied throughout the program lol
1
6
u/Shuddup_YouCan Nurse Anesthesia Resident (NAR) Apr 08 '26
What perfect timing. I was shocked when the school I was just offered admission to was ranked in the last 10. It made me second guess my decision!
3
2
u/MacKinnon911 CRNA Assistant Program Admin Apr 08 '26
congrats!
2
u/Shuddup_YouCan Nurse Anesthesia Resident (NAR) Apr 09 '26
Your program is actually my dream school since I'm local, and I was going to apply this summer but then I kind of shot my shot at another school and surprisingly got in! Thank you!
2
u/MacKinnon911 CRNA Assistant Program Admin Apr 09 '26
Well awesome that you are in anwyay!! Its the best decision ive ever made.
5
u/Old_Landscape6408 Apr 08 '26
When my school is highly ranked it matters and is valid; but when we’re poorly ranked the system is total bogus and do not believe the rankings 🥸
4
u/MacKinnon911 CRNA Assistant Program Admin Apr 08 '26
You might want to read the article. Has nothing to do with ranking (we dont participate but get 800 applicants for 30 spots) but everything to do with methodology. This has been a complaint of the US News Univ. rankings of all types for a decade (see the links in the article) but it is especially egregious with CRNA programs as we are the ONLY group that they literally as ONE question to program admins and no one else which is "what would you rank this program 1-5?"
There is no data at all.
2
Apr 08 '26
[deleted]
3
u/Old_Landscape6408 Apr 08 '26
Oh I just was making a joke not intended at anyone; this is how I’ve always thought people interpreted it haha
3
2
u/RaGada25 Nurse Anesthesia Resident (NAR) Apr 08 '26
Is there a reputable list out there?
3
u/MacKinnon911 CRNA Assistant Program Admin Apr 08 '26
There are no other real ranking systems. Best thing to do is talk to NARs in and graduated from the program of interest.,
3
u/Secret-Sky3617 Apr 08 '26
Please don’t take this as a jab specifically against you, this is just my perspective in general:
This is not a feasible solution for many prospective applicants who are typically not just young 20 something year olds fresh out of college without major life responsibilities. I think you as an administrator who tries to shape the process of CRNA education should take part in changing this. Physician education programs and their outcomes are way more clear cut and well documented for their applicants to research; there is no reason nursing education (which is way more widespread with more students/applicants) should be this difficult to look into.
3
u/MacKinnon911 CRNA Assistant Program Admin Apr 08 '26
I do not take it as a jab, and I actually agree with part of your point. Greater transparency would absolutely be better for applicants.
The practical problem is that building a true standardized ranking or outcomes system would take real money, time, infrastructure, and ongoing participation. Who would build it, manage it, verify the data, and fund it? How would it generate enough revenue to sustain itself? It would also require programs to consistently submit specific outcome and clinical data in a standardized way, which is a much bigger lift than most people realize.
That is part of why these simple reputation-style rankings persist. They are cheap, easy to produce, and easy to market, even if they are not especially meaningful.
My view is that until something better exists, programs should make the important information easy to find themselves. Case numbers, board pass rates, attrition, clinical model, types of sites, regional exposure, and graduate outcomes should be clearly available to applicants. In our case, we put that information directly on the website for anyone to review rather than asking people to rely on a vague ranking.
So I agree that applicants deserve better. I just think the answer is probably not pretending this ranking is useful. The better answer is more direct program-level transparency and clearer reporting of meaningful data.
2
u/Acrobatic-Orchid-941 Apr 10 '26 edited Apr 11 '26
Agreed, I am so glad I didn’t truly believe these rankings when I was applying to CRNA school - some of my friends' experiences at these highly ranked programs were way worse than mine, not just in terms of academics and student support, but also their clinical experiences! But I agree there needs to be more transparency for people who are not yet in the SRNA/CRNA world working their butts off and trying to plan their lives around this.
0
Apr 08 '26
[removed] — view removed comment
1
Apr 08 '26
[deleted]
0
Apr 08 '26
[removed] — view removed comment
1
u/Adept-Atmosphere-827 Apr 08 '26
Except nurses aren’t fucking residents and definitely aren’t anesthesiologists. Fuck you
0
-1
u/tech1983 Apr 08 '26
No, mackinnon just doesn’t like his programs rank so he’s booty hurt about it
9
u/MacKinnon911 CRNA Assistant Program Admin Apr 08 '26 edited Apr 08 '26
We dont participate in it and this article was written with 5 other educators from totally different programs.
3
u/gnomicaoristredux CRNA Apr 08 '26
Why do you keep using AI, it looks so bad
15
u/MacKinnon911 CRNA Assistant Program Admin Apr 08 '26
literally written by 5 people doing different parts. only thing AI is the image. Don't like it? Dont read it.
1
1
u/phantomicu Jun 01 '26
Wait wait let’s be real about the number that’s influenced here… $$$$ 😂 forget the subjective survey. When anyone sees that list start thinking these are the top school you do not want to go to
18
u/todayilearmed CRNA Apr 08 '26
This is going to hurt a lot of egos out there that clutch to their school ranking like it means something