Frontier Nursing University Receives Insight Into Academia 2026 Higher Education Excellence and Distinction (HEED) Award

VERSAILLES, Ky., Sept. 10, 2026 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Today, Frontier Nursing University (FNU) received the 2026 Higher Education Excellence and Distinction (HEED) Award from Insight Into Academia magazine, the oldest and largest publication focused on best practices in higher education. The HEED Award is a prestigious honor recognizing U.S. colleges and universities that demonstrate an outstanding commitment to academic excellence, belonging, and community-building across all levels of campus life. 

FNU will be featured, along with 60 other recipients, in the October 2026 issue of Insight Into Academia magazine. This is the ninth consecutive year FNU has been named a HEED Award recipient. 

"We are excited and honored to have been named a HEED Award recipient again this year,” said Dr. Brooke A. Flinders, President of Frontier Nursing University. “We place a high priority on maintaining an inclusive environment that results in positive experiences for our students, faculty and staff.  Frontier has a long and proud history of preparing nurse practitioners and nurse-midwives to serve their communities as highly trained and compassionate healthcare professionals. The HEED Award application process each year serves as a valuable tool for our self-evaluation.”

“This recognition belongs to everyone at Frontier," said Dr. Paula Alexander-Delpech, Dean of Student Success at Frontier Nursing University. “Our students are practicing nurses and midwives in all 50 states, many of them balancing coursework with clinical practice and family responsibilities. What sets Frontier apart is that our faculty and staff are committed to ensuring our students feel known and supported. It takes all of us, and that is why this award is so meaningful.”

“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. 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,” says Lenore Pearlstein, Co-Publisher of Insight into Academia magazine.

For more information about the 2026 HEED Award, visit insightintoacademia.com.

About Frontier Nursing University
The mission of Frontier Nursing University is to provide a high-quality education that prepares nurses to become competent, entrepreneurial, ethical and compassionate nurse-midwives and nurse practitioners to work with all people, with an emphasis on rural and underserved communities. FNU offers graduate Nurse-Midwifery and Nurse Practitioner distance education programs that can be pursued full- or part-time with the student’s home community serving as the classroom. Degrees and options offered include Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP), Master of Science in Nursing (MSN), or Post-Graduate Certificates. Frontier has been named a “Great College to Work For” by the Great Colleges to Work For® program for each of the past five years (2021-2025). To learn more about FNU and the programs and degrees offered, please visit Frontier.edu.  

About Insight Into Academia
Insight Into Academia magazine is the leader in advancing best practices in higher education excellence. Through thought-provoking print and online articles, we share expert advice, valuable resources, in-depth profiles of top programs at colleges and universities, headline news, and much more to help keep our readers informed and empower them to advance initiatives at their institutions. Current, archived, and digital issues of Insight Into Academia magazine are available online at insightintoacademia.com.

Jim Kelsey  
Frontier Nursing University
8592514671
james.kelsey@frontier.edu