Find Healthcare Schools

Study Area & Zipcode

Best Nursing Associate Degree Schools in the Rocky Mountains Region

Find Schools Near

2023 Best Nursing Associate Degree Schools in the Rocky Mountains Region

40 Colleges
$57,601 Avg Salary
$21,889 Avg Student Debt

Finding the Best Nursing Associate Degree 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.

Today's healthcare students have lots of options to pick from when considering higher education opportunities. With more and more schools offering online options, you could even register for a great program on the other side of the country. On top of that, there are a considerable number of trade schools that offer fast-track entry to many fields.

The Best Nursing Associate Degree Schools in the Rocky Mountains Region ranking is one of many tools that Healthcare Degree Search has developed to help you make your educational decision. Our analysis looked at 40 schools in the Rocky Mountains Region to see which associate degree programs offered the best educational experiences for healthcare students. Factors related to overall quality of the school, post-graduation earnings, average student debt, and more accumulated were considered when coming up with this list.

View our full ranking methodology.

2023 Best Nursing Associate Degree Schools in the Rocky Mountains Region

Check out the nursing associate degree programs at these schools if you want to get the best education that money can buy.

Top 10 Best Nursing Associate Degree Schools

Our 2023 rankings named Carrington College, Boise the best school in the Rocky Mountains Region for nursing students working on their associate degree. Located in the city of Boise, Carrington College, Boise is a private for-profit college with a small student population.

On average, nursing graduates from Carrington College, Boise take out $30,485 in student loans while working on their Associate Degree.

Read full report on Nursing at Carrington College, Boise

#2

Fortis College - Salt Lake City

Salt Lake City, UT

You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend Fortis College - Salt Lake City. It ranked #2 on our 2023 Best Nursing Associate Degree Schools in the Rocky Mountains Region list. Located in the large suburb of Salt Lake City, Fortis College - Salt Lake City is a private for-profit college with a fairly small student population.

While working on their Associate Degree, nursing majors at Fortis College - Salt Lake City accumulate an average of around $36,049 in student debt.

Read full report on Nursing at Fortis College - Salt Lake City

You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend Denver College of Nursing. It ranked #3 on our 2023 Best Nursing Associate Degree Schools in the Rocky Mountains Region list. Located in the city of Denver, Denver College of Nursing is a private for-profit school with a small student population.

While working on their Associate Degree, nursing majors at Denver College of Nursing accumulate an average of around $33,043 in student debt.

Read More…

#4

North Idaho College

Coeur d'Alene, ID

The excellent associate degree programs at North Idaho College helped the school earn the #4 place on this year’s ranking of the best nursing schools in the Rocky Mountains Region . Located in the city of Coeur d'Alene, NIC is a public college with a small student population.

On average, nursing graduates from NIC take out $20,920 in student loans while working on their Associate Degree.

Read More…

#5

Nightingale College

Salt Lake City, UT

You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend Nightingale College. It ranked #5 on our 2023 Best Nursing Associate Degree Schools in the Rocky Mountains Region list. Nightingale College is a small private for-profit school located in the medium-sized city of Salt Lake City.

Nursing majors at Nightingale College take out an average of $31,741 in student loans while working on their Associate Degree.

Read More…

#6

Otero Junior College

La Junta, CO

Otero Junior College ranked #6 on this year’s Best Nursing Associate Degree Schools in the Rocky Mountains Region list. Located in the town of La Junta, Otero JC is a public college with a small student population.

After completing their Associate Degree, nursing graduates from Otero JC carry an average student debtload of $30,299.

Full Nursing at Otero Junior College Report

AmeriTech College - Draper did quite well in this year’s ranking of the best places for nursing students to get a associate degree. It came in at #7 on the list. Located in the large suburb of Draper, AmeriTech College - Draper is a private for-profit school with a small student population.

On average, nursing graduates from AmeriTech College - Draper take out $28,725 in student loans while working on their Associate Degree. The average monthly payment of a loan this size is about $267, assuming that the borrower is on a 10-year repayment plan.

Read More…

#8

Miles Community College

Miles City, MT

Miles Community College came in at #8 in this year’s edition of the Best Nursing Associate Degree Schools in the Rocky Mountains Region ranking. Miles Community College is a fairly small public school located in the town of Miles City.

After completing their Associate Degree, nursing graduates from Miles Community College carry an average student debtload of $31,452.

Read full report on Nursing at Miles Community College

Utah Valley University came in at #9 in this year’s edition of the Best Nursing Associate Degree Schools in the Rocky Mountains Region ranking. UVU is a fairly large public school located in the small city of Orem.

After completing their Associate Degree, nursing graduates from UVU carry an average student debtload of $15,279.

Read full report on Nursing at Utah Valley University

Weber State University came in at #10 in this year’s edition of the Best Nursing Associate Degree Schools in the Rocky Mountains Region ranking. WSU is a fairly large public school located in the small city of Ogden.

While working on their Associate Degree, nursing majors at WSU accumulate an average of around $19,725 in student debt.

Full Nursing at Weber State University Report

Best Nursing Colleges by State

Explore the best nursing schools for a specific state in the Rocky Mountains region.

State Degrees Awarded
Colorado 6,496
Utah 17,535
Idaho 1,593
Montana 745
Wyoming 397

Nursing is one of 30 different types of healthcare programs to choose from.

Nursing Focus Areas

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

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.

Featured Schools

Find Healthcare Schools Near You

Our free school finder matches students with accredited healthcare schools across the U.S.