2023 Best Nursing Schools
Finding the Best Nursing School for You
In 2020-2021, 322,592 degrees and certificates were awarded to nursing students, making the major the most popular in the country.
There are lots of options to pick from today when trying to decide which healthcare program is right for you. You can choose a traditional brick and mortar school, or with the growth of online education, you can attend a school half-way across the country without even leaving your house. Also there are many trade schools that offer short-term programs that open up more career options.
To assist you in seeing some of the education options that are available to you, Healthcare Degree Search has created its Best Nursing Schools ranking. This report analyzed 1,850 schools in the United States to see which ones offered the best programs for healthcare students.
View our full ranking methodology.
2023 Best Nursing Schools in the United States
The colleges and universities below are the best for nursing majors pursuing a .
Top 25 Top Schools in Nursing
Our 2023 rankings named Roxborough Memorial Hospital School of Nursing the best school in the United States for nursing students. Located in the city of Philadelphia, Roxborough Memorial Hospital School of Nursing is a private for-profit college with a small student population.
On average, nursing graduates from Roxborough Memorial Hospital School of Nursing take out $20,000 in student loans while working on their degree.
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You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend Holy Name Medical Center School of Nursing. It ranked #2 on our 2023 Best Nursing Schools list. Holy Name Medical Center School of Nursing is a fairly small private not-for-profit school located in the suburb of Teaneck.
On average, nursing graduates from Holy Name Medical Center School of Nursing take out $29,603 in student loans while working on their degree.
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You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around you if you attend Middle Tennessee School of Anesthesia Inc. The school came in at #3 on this year’s Best Nursing Schools list. Located in the large city of Madison, MTSA is a private not-for-profit college with a small student population.
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Out of the 1,850 schools in the United States that were part of this year’s ranking, St Lukes Hospital School of Nursing landed the # 4 spot on the list. Located in the suburb of Bethlehem, St Lukes Hospital School of Nursing is a private not-for-profit school with a small student population.
The average amount in student loans that nursing majors at St Lukes Hospital School of Nursing take out is $21,381.
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Out of the 1,850 schools in the United States that were part of this year’s ranking, Mayo Clinic School of Medicine landed the # 5 spot on the list. Located in the medium-sized city of Rochester, Mayo Clinic School of Medicine is a private not-for-profit school with a small student population.
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Trinity Health System School of Nursing did quite well in this year’s ranking of the best schools for nursing students. It came in at #6 on the list. Trinity Health System School of Nursing is a fairly small private not-for-profit school located in the city of Steubenville.
After completing their degree, nursing graduates from Trinity Health System School of Nursing carry an average student debtload of $20,824.
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Western Pennsylvania Hospital School of Nursing came in at #7 in this year’s edition of the Best Nursing Schools ranking. Located in the large city of Pittsburgh, West Penn Hospital School of Nursing is a private not-for-profit school with a small student population.
Nursing majors at West Penn Hospital School of Nursing take out an average of $20,000 in student loans while working on their egree.
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With a ranking of #8, UPMC Shadyside School of Nursing did quite well on this year’s best schools for nursing students. Located in the city of Pittsburgh, UPMC Shadyside School of Nursing is a private not-for-profit school with a fairly small student population.
The average amount in student loans that nursing majors at UPMC Shadyside School of Nursing take out is $27,892.
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Citizens School of Nursing ranked #9 on this year’s Best Nursing Schools list. Citizens School of Nursing is a small private not-for-profit school located in the large suburb of New Kensington.
On average, nursing graduates from Citizens School of Nursing take out $21,312 in student loans while working on their degree.
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Reading Hospital School of Health Sciences came in at #10 in this year’s edition of the Best Nursing Schools ranking. RHSHS is a small private not-for-profit school located in the small city of Reading.
While working on their degree, nursing majors at RHSHS accumulate an average of around $25,208 in student debt.
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Midwestern University - Glendale landed the #11 spot in the 2023 rankings for the best nursing programs. Midwestern University - Glendale is a small private not-for-profit school located in the large suburb of Glendale.
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UPMC Mercy School of Nursing ranked #12 on this year’s Best Nursing Schools list. UPMC Mercy School of Nursing is a fairly small private not-for-profit school located in the city of Pittsburgh.
On average, nursing graduates from UPMC Mercy School of Nursing take out $24,743 in student loans while working on their degree.
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UPMC Jameson School of Nursing came in at #13 in this year’s edition of the Best Nursing Schools ranking. Located in the fringe town of New Castle, UPMC Jameson School of Nursing is a private not-for-profit school with a small student population.
Nursing majors at UPMC Jameson School of Nursing take out an average of $24,750 in student loans while working on their egree.
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Samuel Merritt University landed the #14 spot in the 2023 rankings for the best nursing programs. Located in the city of Oakland, Samuel Merritt University is a private not-for-profit school with a small student population.
While working on their degree, nursing majors at Samuel Merritt University accumulate an average of around $25,500 in student debt. When it comes time to repay the loan, graduates who are on a 10-year repayment plan pay an average monthly payment of $551.
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Washington Hospital School of Nursing did quite well in this year’s ranking of the best schools for nursing students. It came in at #15 on the list. Washington Hospital School of Nursing is a small private not-for-profit school located in the large suburb of Washington.
After completing their degree, nursing graduates from Washington Hospital School of Nursing carry an average student debtload of $23,719.
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DLP Conemaugh Memorial Medical Center did quite well in this year’s ranking of the best schools for nursing students. It came in at #16 on the list. Memorial Medical Center is a small private for-profit school located in the city of Johnstown.
While working on their degree, nursing majors at Memorial Medical Center accumulate an average of around $24,420 in student debt.
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Joseph F McCloskey School of Nursing ranked #17 on this year’s Best Nursing Schools list. Located in the distant town of Pottsville, Joseph F McCloskey School of Nursing is a private not-for-profit school with a small student population.
The average amount in student loans that nursing majors at Joseph F McCloskey School of Nursing take out is $29,000.
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Lutheran School of Nursing came in at #18 in this year’s edition of the Best Nursing Schools ranking. Located in the city of Saint Louis, Lutheran School of Nursing is a private for-profit college with a fairly small student population.
After completing their degree, nursing graduates from Lutheran School of Nursing carry an average student debtload of $18,110.
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With a ranking of #19, Signature Healthcare Brockton Hospital School of Nursing did quite well on this year’s best schools for nursing students. BHSN is a small private not-for-profit school located in the suburb of Brockton.
The average amount in student loans that nursing majors at BHSN take out is $26,254.
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Albany Medical College did quite well in this year’s ranking of the best schools for nursing students. It came in at #20 on the list. AMC Albany is a small private not-for-profit school located in the small city of Albany.
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Wake Forest University ranked #21 on this year’s Best Nursing Schools list. Wake Forest University is a medium-sized private not-for-profit school located in the medium-sized city of Winston-Salem.
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Graham Hospital School of Nursing did quite well in this year’s ranking of the best schools for nursing students. It came in at #22 on the list. Graham Hospital School of Nursing is a fairly small private not-for-profit school located in the distant town of Canton.
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Helene Fuld College of Nursing came in at #23 in this year’s edition of the Best Nursing Schools ranking. Located in the city of New York, HFCN is a private not-for-profit college with a fairly small student population.
On average, nursing graduates from HFCN take out $33,485 in student loans while working on their degree.
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Saint Elizabeth School of Nursing ranked #24 on this year’s Best Nursing Schools list. St. Elizabeth School of Nursing and University of Saint Francis Cooperative Nursing Program is a fairly small private not-for-profit school located in the small city of Lafayette.
On average, nursing graduates from St. Elizabeth School of Nursing and University of Saint Francis Cooperative Nursing Program take out $43,960 in student loans while working on their degree. This translates to an average monthly loan payment of $424, based on a 10-year repayment plan.
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Saint Vincent College did quite well in this year’s ranking of the best schools for nursing students. It came in at #25 on the list. Located in the suburb of Latrobe, Saint Vincent is a private not-for-profit school with a small student population.
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Additional Award Winners
This list represents the remainder of the colleges awarded a Best Nursing Schools badge. Showing in this list means the school was ranked in the top 15% of the 1850 different United States nursing schools we analyzed.
Honorable Mentions
These are some additional schools worth mentioning that are also great but just didn't quite make the cut to earn our top Best Nursing Schools award.
Nursing by Region
View the Best Nursing Schools for a specific region near you.
| Region |
|---|
| Southeast |
| New England |
| Rocky Mountains |
| Plains States |
| Middle Atlantic |
| Far Western US |
| Southwest |
| Great Lakes |
More Nursing Rankings
Rankings in Majors Related to Nursing
One of 30 majors within the healthcare area of study, nursing has other similar majors worth exploring.
Nursing Concentrations
| Major | Annual Graduates |
|---|---|
| Registered Nursing | 266,651 |
| Family Practice Nurse/Nursing | 16,104 |
| Nursing Administration | 9,838 |
| Nursing Practice | 7,992 |
| Other Registered Nursing, Nursing Administration, Nursing Research and Clinical Nursing | 5,092 |
| Nursing Science | 4,600 |
| Psychiatric/Mental Health Nurse/Nursing | 2,287 |
| Adult Health Nurse/Nursing | 2,021 |
| Nurse Anesthetist | 1,936 |
| Public Health/Community Nurse/Nursing | 1,883 |
| Critical Care Nursing | 773 |
| Geriatric Nurse/Nursing | 563 |
| School Nursing | 553 |
| Nurse Midwife/Nursing Midwifery | 509 |
| Clinical Nurse Leader | 444 |
| Clinical Nurse Specialist | 419 |
| Perioperative/Operating Room and Surgical Nurse/Nursing | 331 |
| Maternal/Child Health and Neonatal Nurse/Nursing | 181 |
| Occupational and Environmental Health Nursing | 57 |
| Emergency Room/Trauma Nursing | 53 |
| Palliative Care Nursing | 14 |
| Forensic Nursing | 14 |
Most Popular Related Majors
| Related Major | Annual Graduates |
|---|---|
| Health & Medical Administrative Services | 89,359 |
| Allied Health & Medical Assisting Services | 84,492 |
| Practical Nursing & Nursing Assistants | 84,274 |
| Allied Health Professions | 82,308 |
| Public Health | 40,596 |
Notes and References
*These averages are for the top 25 schools only.
- Read more about our ranking methodology.
- The Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS) from the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES), a branch of the U.S. Department of Education (DOE) serves as the core of the rest of our data about colleges.
- Some other college data, including much of the graduate earnings data, comes from the U.S. Department of Education’s (College Scorecard).
- Credit for the banner image above goes to Aleksahgabrielle.
More about our data sources and methodologies.
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