Find Affordable College Courses

What Do You Want to Study?

Best Nursing Basic Certificate Schools in the Southwest Region

Find Schools Near

2023 Best Nursing Basic Certificate Schools in the Southwest Region

5 Colleges

Finding the Best Nursing Basic Certificate School for You

Nursing is the most popular major in the United States with 39,944 degrees and certificates handed out in 2020-2021.

There are lots of options to pick from today when trying to decide which healthcare program is right for you. 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.

To assist you in seeing some of the education options that are available to you, Healthcare Degree Search has created its Best Nursing Basic Certificate Schools in the Southwest Region ranking. Our analysis looked at 5 schools in the Southwest Region to see which basic certificate 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 Basic Certificate Schools in the Southwest Region

The colleges and universities below are the best for nursing majors pursuing a basic certificate.

Top Southwest Region Schools for an Award Taking Less Than 1 Year in Nursing

#1

Lone Star College System

The Woodlands, TX

Our 2023 rankings named Lone Star College System the best school in the Southwest Region for nursing students working on their basic certificate. North Harris Montgomery is a very large public school located in the midsize city of The Woodlands.

Full Nursing at Lone Star College System Report

Request Information

The excellent basic certificate programs at Mesa Community College helped the school earn the #2 place on this year’s ranking of the best nursing schools in the Southwest Region . Located in the city of Mesa, Mesa Community College is a public school with a fairly large student population.

Read More…

Request Information

You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend El Paso Community College. It ranked #3 on our 2023 Best Nursing Basic Certificate Schools in the Southwest Region list. Located in the large city of El Paso, El Paso Community College is a public school with a fairly large student population.

Read full report on Nursing at El Paso Community College

Request Information

You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend GateWay Community College. It ranked #4 on our 2023 Best Nursing Basic Certificate Schools in the Southwest Region list. GateWay Community College is a small public school located in the large city of Phoenix.

Read full report on Nursing at GateWay Community College

Request Information
#5

Central Texas College

Killeen, TX

A rank of #5 on this year’s list means Central Texas College is a great place for nursing students working on their basic certificate. Central Texas College is a moderately-sized public school located in the suburb of Killeen.

Full Nursing at Central Texas College Report

Request Information

Best Nursing Colleges by State

Explore the best nursing colleges for a specific state in the Southwest region.

State Degrees Awarded
Texas 21,862
Arizona 12,966
Oklahoma 3,009
New Mexico 1,390

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

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 5 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.

Find Healthcare Schools Near You

Our free school-matching tool matches students with accredited healthcare schools across the U.S