Eastern Michigan University announced that they currently rank at No. 82 out of 391 national universities in the country in the social mobility category, according to the U.S. News and World Report annual ranking.
The distinctions that outline the social mobility category are the opportunities offered by a university to disadvantaged students who are receiving federal pell grants, EMU said in a statement. Eastern has multiple features that form the university’s social mobility initiative: its pledge to help students that are at an economic disadvantage both during education and post.
Students who have left or are considering leaving the university due to financial pressures and constraints can complete 30 hours of volunteer service in a university community program, according to EMU. This volunteer service will lead to a partial forgiveness of outstanding debt owed to the university.
Another feature of the university’s social mobility initiative are the multiple financial literacy programs available to students to learn essential and necessary financial security skills, such as creating a budget, maintaining good credit, and investing.
There is also the Returning Citizen Fellows program, which helps formerly incarcerated citizens to navigate higher education, as well as navigate the challenges that exist in reentry to society post-incarceration, according to EMU.
Not only has the university ranked in the social mobility category, but the EMU undergraduate nursing program also received a notable mention in the nursing category ranking, according to EMU. Eastern Michigan’s School of Nursing program has existed since 1971 and prides itself on the values, knowledge, and training it instills in its students.
“It’s a big deal that we were ranked among the best BSN nursing programs in the country," Micheal Williams, director of the School of Nursing, said. “Although we’ve been on the list before, considering that there are over 1,000 nursing schools in the country, we’ve never been ranked until now.”
Williams stressed that a big part of how the program was ranked is based on reputation, specifically on how peer nursing schools view EMU’s program.
“Faculty and instructors and our students have worked really hard, and I’m very proud of what we do in the community and nationally,” Williams said.
Those interested in checking out the national rankings can find them at www.usnews.com.
