Daily News

HCC RN Program Ranked Best in Western Mass.

HOLYOKE ­— Nursing Process, a national online guide to healthcare education, ranked the registered nursing program at Holyoke Community College (HCC) as the best of its kind in Western Mass.

In its nursing-school rankings for 2020, Nursing Process lists HCC’s program fifth overall out of the 60 accedited associate-degree nursing programs in Massachusetts that it considered for review, according to the independent organization’s website. HCC’s associate of science in nursing program was the highest-ranked community-college nursing program in the four counties of Western Mass. Graduates of the ASN program qualify to take the NCLEX-RN test to become licensed as registered nurses.

“We’re grateful for the recognition,” said Clare Lamontagne, dean of Health Sciences at HCC. “We take great pride in our nursing program at HCC and work very hard to make sure we offer our students an unparalleled educational experience.”

According to its website, Nursing Process considers factors such as graduation rate, student-to-faculty ratio, affordability, reputation, and NCLEX-RN first-time pass rate in its ranking methodology.

HCC’s nursing programs — associate of science in nursing and practical nursing — are based in the Center for Health Education & Simulation, a state-of-the-art education and training facility the college opened in 2015.

For anyone interested in nursing or one of HCC’s other health-science programs — foundations of health, radiologic technology, or veterinary technician — the college will be holding health-career information sessions over Zoom on Thursday. Nov. 5, and Thursday, Dec. 3, from 6 to 7:30 p.m. For more information or to sign up for a session, visit hcc.edu/info-sessions or e-mail [email protected].

Registration begins Monday, Nov. 2 for HCC’s two-week January Wintersession and the spring 2020 semester.