The College of Nursing at Georgia Regents University was named one of the nation's top graduate schools for nursing, placing 44th in the latest national rankings by U.S. News and World Report. 

The 2015 U.S. News & World Report Best Graduate Schools rankings were released Tuesday. GRU's College of Nursing was listed among more than 400 of the nation's nursing schools with graduate programs. It is the first time the college's graduate programs have been ranked since programs were consolidated from Augusta State University and Georgia Health Sciences University.

U.S. News and World Report based the rankings on input from educators at peer nursing institutions, who nominated schools for excellence in their area.