Question 1

Which schools on this list actually offer undergraduate nursing?

Accepted Answer

Not all of them. Some schools near the top rank on broader health sciences outcomes rather than a BSN program. Among the top 10, USC and Duke do not offer undergraduate nursing. Johns Hopkins, Tufts, and Case Western Reserve appear in the top 35 overall but also do not offer a BSN. The schools in the top 10 that do offer nursing are NYU, UCLA, Penn, Northeastern, Georgetown, Boston College, Emory, and Michigan. If nursing is specifically what you are pursuing, filter for those programs before you go further with any school on this list.

Question 2

Can you realistically swim and complete a nursing degree?

Accepted Answer

Plenty of swimmers have done it. The ones who struggled tend to have landed at schools where no one had thought through the clinical rotation schedule against the practice schedule before they arrived. Before you commit, get specific. Not "is it possible" but "who has done it here, recently, and can I talk to them?"

Question 3

Do clinical rotations conflict with swim practice?

Accepted Answer

They can, and this is the question most families do not think to ask early enough. Clinical rotations typically require 8 to 12-hour shifts at a hospital, often starting at 6 am or 7 am. Depending on when your team practices, that creates a direct conflict. The schools that handle this well tend to have nursing programs that offer scheduling flexibility or athletic departments that work with academic advisors to map out four years in advance. NYU, Northeastern, and Boston College all offer nursing and sit in major metros with large hospital systems, which gives student athletes more scheduling options than programs in smaller markets.

Question 4

Which nursing programs have the best hospital access for student athletes?

Accepted Answer

The schools near the top of this list share something that has nothing to do with their swim programs. NYU is in Manhattan, surrounded by some of the highest-volume hospitals in the country. Emory built and runs its own healthcare system in Atlanta. Georgetown is in Washington, D.C., within reach of major academic medical centers on both sides of the Potomac. More sites means your rotation schedule has somewhere to go when it conflicts with practice. That flexibility is hard to manufacture if it is not already there. A nursing program in a smaller market may have fewer clinical sites, which leaves less room to work around a practice schedule.

Question 5

What GPA do you need to get into a health sciences or nursing program at a top school?

Accepted Answer

Getting recruited does not get you into the nursing or health sciences program. Admissions runs separately from athletics at most schools, and the programs near the top of this ranking want to see a GPA above 3.5 with solid grades in the sciences before the conversation goes much further. NYU and Penn start from a high floor across every program they offer. Northeastern, Boston College, and Georgetown are looking for the same academic profile, with some evidence that healthcare is genuinely where you want to end up. Recruit status and program acceptance are two separate processes, and schools are straightforward about that.

Question 6

What do nurses who were college swimmers say about the experience?

Accepted Answer

Bonnie Brandon has said that nursing was pulled from the same place as swimming. Show up when it is hard, stay focused when the stakes are high, do your part so the people around you can do theirs. Nicole Cislo at Southern Connecticut State was not waiting to find out if that was true. She was competing and working as a nurse at the same time, during a pandemic, while her team was still in the water.

Question 7

Will a college coach let me major in nursing?

Accepted Answer

This is the major swim coaches push back on most, and the reason is real. Clinical rotations run on hospital shifts that do not move for practice, and in junior and senior year they can take whole mornings or afternoons for a semester at a time. A coach who needs everyone in the same session may tell a recruit that nursing will not work there. Take that seriously, but treat it as a program-by-program answer, not a rule about nursing. Swimmers finish nursing degrees every year. Ask the coach directly whether any current or recent swimmers have gone through the clinical years, and how those rotations were handled around training. A coach who has done it before will have a specific story. A flat no is telling you the program cannot flex, which is worth knowing now.

Question 8

How do I ask a coach whether nursing fits their program?

Accepted Answer

Be specific, and ask early. A general "can I major in nursing" gets a general answer. Instead, name the years that matter: ask how the team handles the clinical rotations in junior and senior year, whether practice times move for students on hospital shifts, and whether any swimmers on the current roster are in the nursing program now. Ask the nursing school's advising office the same questions separately, since they schedule the rotations, not the coach. If the answers line up and both sides have done it before, the program can probably absorb a nursing major. If the coach is encouraging but advising has never worked with an athlete, that gap is where nursing majors usually get stuck.

Rank	School	Division	Earnings	Accept
1	NYU Private · $37K net price · 28,700 students	D3	$94,243	9%
2	UCLA Public · $13K net price · 33,500 students	D1	$90,678	9%
3	Penn Private · $29K net price · 10,700 students	D1	$70,009	5%
4	USC Private · $33K net price · 20,400 students	D1	$74,845	10%
5	Northeastern Private · $31K net price · 17,300 students	D1	$70,200	5%
6	Duke Private · $30K net price · 6,400 students	D1	$63,970	6%
7	Georgetown Private · $41K net price · 7,600 students	D1	$71,686	13%
8	Boston College Private · $42K net price · 10,100 students	D1	$71,015	16%
9	Emory Private · $23K net price · 7,300 students	D3	$64,055	11%
10	Michigan Public · $13K net price · 34,200 students	D1	$63,652	16%
11	Howard Private · $51K net price · 10,100 students	D1	$91,744	41%
12	Virginia Public · $22K net price · 17,600 students	D1	$63,191	17%
13	North Carolina Public · $12K net price · 20,800 students	D1	$59,534	15%
14	San Diego State Public · $15K net price · 35,400 students	D1	$87,377	36%
15	Miami Private · $37K net price · 12,900 students	D1	$65,621	19%
16	Boston University Private · $24K net price · 18,200 students	D1	$52,107	11%
17	Johns Hopkins Private · $19K net price · 5,700 students	D3	$42,682	6%
18	Villanova Private · $44K net price · 6,900 students	D1	$73,052	27%
19	Texas Public · $20K net price · 42,900 students	D1	$64,593	27%
20	Fairfield Private · $48K net price · 5,400 students	D1	$76,749	33%
21	Florida Public · $7K net price · 35,600 students	D1	$59,576	24%
22	Stony Brook Public · $19K net price · 18,100 students	D1	$85,898	49%
23	Florida State Public · $11K net price · 32,200 students	D1	$58,923	24%
24	Tufts Private · $40K net price · 7,100 students	D3	$41,937	12%
25	California Public · $13K net price · 33,100 students	D1	$40,140	11%

335 Nursing & Health Sciences Schools with Swim Teams, Ranked

All 335 Nursing & Health Sciences schools with swim teams

Two swimmers who chose this path

Swimmers who studied nursing & health sciences

How the divisions compare

Frequently asked questions