School of Nursing Wins Higher Education Excellence and Distinction Award for Fifth Consecutive Year

The national honor recognizes commitment to academic excellence, belonging, and community-building

Rutgers School of Nursing received the 2026 Health Professions Higher Education Excellence and Distinction (HEED) Award from Insight Into Academia magazine.

The national honor recognizes U.S. health professions schools and colleges that "demonstrate an outstanding commitment to academic excellence, belonging and community-building across all levels of campus life." This marks the fifth consecutive year that the Rutgers School of Nursing has received the award.

"We are honored to be one of just 19 schools from across the U.S. selected this year for the health professions HEED Award," said Dean Angela Starkweather, who is also a professor at the school. "Receiving this recognition year after year reflects our sustained commitment to creating an academic community where excellence and belonging go hand in hand."

Rutgers School of Nursing will be featured with other 2026 Health Professions HEED Award recipients in the October 2026 issue of Insight Into Academia. With a history dating back to 1974 and an engaged readership of more than 250,000 readers, the magazine is among the oldest and largest publications focused on best practices in higher education.

"We use a detailed scoring process as well as a holistic approach to reviewing each application to determine who will be named a HEED Award recipient," said Lenore Pearlstein, co-publisher of Insight Into Academia. "Our standards are high, and we look for institutions where academic excellence and belonging are woven into the work being done every day across their campus."