Florida State University’s College of Nursing leads national rankings among public nursing schools in federal research funding, with a combined total of $18.7 million from various federal agencies.

Florida State University’s (FSU) College of Nursing has attained the top position in national rankings for federal research funding among public nursing schools, according to the latest data released by the Blue Ridge Institute for Medical Research (BRIMR) and the National Institutes of Health (NIH).

The university ranked first nationally among public schools of nursing in securing combined federal funding, totaling $18.7 million, which includes grants from the NIH, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. FSU also placed second for NIH funding among public nursing schools and fourth overall among both public and private institutions.

This ranking is a result of federal awards that funded a collection of projects related to HIV prevention and intervention, mental health and chronic disease management, the university said in a release.

“With a focus on initiatives such as our Institute on Digital Health and Innovation, the NIH Florida FIRST Health Science Brigades, and the Intervention Research and Implementation, or the IRIS Hub, we’re dedicated to pushing forward new and advanced solutions for health care,” said Associate Dean for Research Lisa Hightow-Weidman in a university-issued statement. “These projects are closely connected to large grants from the NIH and represent our active approach to solving health care problems while ensuring our work has a national impact and supports the development of future health care leaders.”

When factoring for both public and private institutions, FSU’s College of Nursing trails only Columbia University ($23.8 million), the University of Pennsylvania ($19.3 million), and the University of California, San Francisco ($19.1 million). The University of Miami, a private university, ranked 16th ($6.01 million), while the University of Florida was placed 17th ($5.5 million).

Two other Florida public schools, the University of South Florida and the University of Central Florida, ranked 28th ($3.2 million) and 35th ($2.6 million), respectively.

“Securing top rankings for federal research funding confirms the FSU College of Nursing’s dedication to impactful research,” said Jing Wang, dean of the FSU College of Nursing. “While we celebrate this achievement, we’re already setting our sights higher. By attracting more NIH-funded projects, we aim to generate groundbreaking knowledge that significantly improves health care.”