School of Nursing Receives National Award for Higher Education Excellence and Distinction

For the fourth consecutive year, Rutgers Health is recognized for its leadership in academic excellence, inclusion and belonging

Rutgers School of Nursing has received the 2025 Health Professions Higher Education Excellence and Distinction (HEED) Award from Insight Into Academia magazine. 

The award is the only national honor recognizing U.S. health profession schools for their achievements in advancing excellence alongside inclusion and belonging, said Lenore Pearstein, co-publisher of the magazine. Institutions are selected through a national review process that examines admissions practices, student and faculty support, leadership engagement and community partnerships.

Excellence in nursing requires us to prepare clinicians, scientists, and leaders who reflect the communities they serve and who advance health for all. These values are woven into every part of the student experience, faculty development and community engagement.

Angela Starkweather

Dean and Professor, Rutgers School of Nursing

This marks the fourth consecutive year Rutgers School of Nursing has earned the HEED Award. Rutgers is one of 10 schools of nursing nationwide – and one of 28 health profession schools overall – to be recognized in 2025. The winners are featured in the October issue of Insight Into Academia.]

“Receiving this award once again affirms our school’s ongoing commitment to fostering inclusion and belonging across nursing education, research and practice,” said Angela Starkweather, dean and professor of Rutgers School of Nursing. “Excellence in nursing requires us to prepare clinicians, scientists, and leaders who reflect the communities they serve and who advance health for all. These values are woven into every part of the student experience, faculty development and community engagement. Thank you to each member of our School of Nursing for their support of these ideals.”

“We take a detailed and holistic approach in determining who will be named a Health Professions HEED Award recipient,” said Pearlstein. “Our standards are high, and we look for institutions where academic excellence and belonging are woven into the work being done every day across the campus.”

In addition to the HEED Award, Rutgers School of Nursing received the Best Schools for Men in Nursing Award in October, the eighth consecutive year it has won this honor from the American Association for Men in Nursing. 

The school continues to strengthen initiatives that support student and faculty achievement, including:

• Impact Dialogue Circles, structured meetings where students, faculty and staff share their ideas to shape school culture and advance excellence in learning
• The Educational Opportunity Fund, which provides academic and financial support to first-generation students to ensure their success
• The Multicultural Nurse Leadership Institute, relaunched in 2025, which fosters leadership development for professionals and mentorship to help students excel
• Programs to recruit, retain, and mentor faculty, ensuring academic excellence through diverse expertise and perspectives.
• The new Center for Health Equity and Systems Research, created to generate and share best practices that improve health care delivery and outcomes