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Carolina Nursing Named 2025 NLN Center of Nursing Excellence in Nursing Education

July 25, 2025
Three nuraing students in a classroom wear virtual reality headsets and hold controllers, actively participating in a VR simulation. The person in the foreground is smiling and wearing blue Carolina Nursing scrubs.

The National League for Nursing (NLN) has named the UNC School of Nursing a 2025 Center of Excellence in Nursing Education, recognizing the School’s national leadership in advancing the science of nursing education.

“For 75 years, the UNC School of Nursing has boldly led nursing education, blending evidence-based teaching with visionary faculty research and interprofessional collaboration,” said Val Howard, dean of the UNC School of Nursing. “This recognition reflects our faculty’s commitment to preparing nurse leaders, educators and researchers to shape the future of nursing and advance health for all.”

Dedicated to excellence in nursing, the National League for Nursing is the premier organization for nurse faculty and leaders in nursing education. The Center of Excellence in Nursing Education designation is designed for schools of nursing and health care organizations that have achieved a level of excellence in one of four specific areas:

Through public recognition and distinction, the program acknowledges the outstanding innovations, commitment, and sustainability of excellence these organizations convey. 

Praising this year’s honorees, NLN Chair Patricia Sharpnack, DNP, RN, CNE, NEA-BC, ANEF, FAAN, Dean and Strawbridge Professor at the Breen School of Nursing and Health Professions at Ursuline College in Ohio, said, “I am so appreciative of the magnitude of the effort it requires of everyone involved in educating an outstanding nursing workforce to earn this national recognition. Congratulations to all the wonderfully deserving 2025 NLN Centers of Excellence designees.”

NLN President and CEO Beverly Malone, PhD, RN, FANN, said, “We have all heard, ‘It takes a village.’ Nowhere is that truer than in the shared vision and values, mutual support, respect, and inclusivity among faculty, leadership and students that must come together for an extraordinary nursing program to be nationally recognized for their innovation and commitment in becoming an NLN Center of Excellence.”

The first designations were awarded to schools of nursing in 2004 and the first designations for health care organizations were awarded in 2012. See all Centers of Excellence schools listed by designation.

Logo for the NLN Center of Excellence in Nursing Education, featuring an open book above interlocking blue N shapes, with the organizations name in bold purple text on the right.

Full news release published by the NLN below.

NLN Honors the 2025 Centers of Excellence (COE) in Nursing Education

Award Ceremony Set for the Honors Convocation at the NLN Education Summit in Orlando, Florida

Washington, DC – The National League of Nursing proudly announces the selection of 21 nursing education programs as 2025 NLN Centers of Excellence™ (COE) located throughout the United States and representing the spectrum of higher education in nursing, from certificate-granting programs through advanced-degree academic institutions. Formal recognition will take place at the Honors Convocation during the 2025 NLN Education Summit in Orlando, Florida, on Friday, September 19.

This year’s honorees include the first-ever winner of the COE for Creating Learning Environments that Impact Climate Change and Planetary Health. This COE category demonstrates how programs have achieved a level of excellence through curricular and other initiatives that address environmental hazards.

2025 NLN Centers of Excellence

Promotes the pedagogical expertise of faculty

Enhances student learning and professional development

Advances the science of nursing education

Creating learning environments that impact climate change and planetary health

NLN Chair Patricia Sharpnack, DNP, RN, CNE, NEA-BC, ANEF, FAAN, Dean and Strawbridge Professor at the Breen School of Nursing and Health Professions at Ursuline College in Ohio, praised this year’s honorees, saying, “I am so appreciative of the magnitude of the effort it requires of everyone involved in educating an outstanding nursing workforce to earn this national recognition. Congratulations to all the wonderfully deserving 2025 NLN Centers of Excellence designees.”

NLN President and CEO Beverly Malone, PhD, RN, FAAN, said, “We have all heard, ‘It takes a village.’ Nowhere is that truer than in the shared vision and values, mutual support, respect, and inclusivity among faculty, leadership and students that must come together for an extraordinary nursing program to be nationally recognized for their innovation and commitment in becoming an NLN Center of Excellence.”Information about the COE program and application process can be found at NLN.org. For more information about the 2025 NLN Education Summit, including online registration, visit Summit.NLN.org.

About the National League for Nursing

Dedicated to excellence in nursing, the National League for Nursing is the premier organization for nurse faculty and leaders in nursing education. The NLN offers professional development, networking opportunities, testing services, nursing research grants, and public policy initiatives to its nearly 45,000 individual and 1,000 institutional members, comprising nursing education programs across the spectrum of higher education and health care organizations. Learn more at NLN.org.