2023 Best Nursing Graduate Certificate Schools
Finding the Best Nursing Graduate Certificate 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 help you arm yourself with the information you need to make your decision, Healthcare Degree Search has developed this Best Nursing Graduate Certificate Schools ranking. This report analyzed 272 schools in the United States to see which ones offered the best graduate certificate programs 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 Graduate Certificate Schools in the United States
The colleges and universities below are the best for nursing majors pursuing a graduate certificate.
Top 25 Top Schools for a Postbaccalaureate Certificates in Nursing
Our 2023 rankings named Mayo Clinic School of Medicine the best school in the United States for nursing students working on their graduate certificate. Located in the city of Rochester, Mayo Clinic School of Medicine is a private not-for-profit school with a small student population.
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You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around you if you attend Samuel Merritt University. The school came in at #2 on this year’s Best Nursing Graduate Certificate Schools list. Located in the city of Oakland, Samuel Merritt University is a private not-for-profit school with a small student population.
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A rank of #3 on this year’s list means Frontier Nursing University is a great place for nursing students working on their graduate certificate. Frontier Nursing University is a small private not-for-profit school located in the rural area of Hyden.
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You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend Thomas Jefferson University. It ranked #4 on our 2023 Best Nursing Graduate Certificate Schools list. Located in the large city of Philadelphia, Thomas Jefferson University is a private not-for-profit school with a medium-sized student population.
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You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around you if you attend SUNY Downstate Health Sciences University. The school came in at #5 on this year’s Best Nursing Graduate Certificate Schools list. SUNY Downstate is a small public school located in the large city of Brooklyn.
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Georgetown University came in at #6 in this year’s edition of the Best Nursing Graduate Certificate Schools ranking. Located in the city of Washington, Georgetown is a private not-for-profit school with a very large student population.
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Johns Hopkins University landed the #7 spot in the 2023 rankings for the best graduate certificate nursing programs. Located in the city of Baltimore, Johns Hopkins is a private not-for-profit college with a fairly large student population.
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West Coast University - Orange County did quite well in this year’s ranking of the best places for nursing students to get a graduate certificate. It came in at #8 on the list. West Coast University - Orange County is a small private for-profit school located in the city of Anaheim.
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Duke University landed the #9 spot in the 2023 rankings for the best graduate certificate nursing programs. Duke is a fairly large private not-for-profit school located in the large city of Durham.
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Vanderbilt University came in at #10 in this year’s edition of the Best Nursing Graduate Certificate Schools ranking. Vanderbilt is a large private not-for-profit school located in the large city of Nashville.
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Texas A&M University - College Station did quite well in this year’s ranking of the best places for nursing students to get a graduate certificate. It came in at #11 on the list. Located in the midsize city of College Station, Texas A&M College Station is a public school with a very large student population.
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Maryville University of Saint Louis landed the #12 spot in the 2023 rankings for the best graduate certificate nursing programs. Maryville U is a large private not-for-profit school located in the large suburb of Saint Louis.
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With a ranking of #13, Western University of Health Sciences did quite well on this year’s best schools for nursing students working on their graduate certificate. Located in the suburb of Pomona, Western University of Health Sciences is a private not-for-profit college with a small student population.
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University of St Francis did quite well in this year’s ranking of the best places for nursing students to get a graduate certificate. It came in at #14 on the list. Located in the large suburb of Joliet, University of Saint Francis is a private not-for-profit school with a small student population.
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Mount Marty University did quite well in this year’s ranking of the best places for nursing students to get a graduate certificate. It came in at #15 on the list. Mount Marty is a small private not-for-profit school located in the town of Yankton.
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With a ranking of #16, Clarkson College did quite well on this year’s best schools for nursing students working on their graduate certificate. Clarkson College is a small private not-for-profit school located in the city of Omaha.
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Texas Christian University came in at #17 in this year’s edition of the Best Nursing Graduate Certificate Schools ranking. Located in the city of Fort Worth, TCU is a private not-for-profit school with a fairly large student population.
Nursing majors at TCU take out an average of $19,027 in student loans while working on their Graduate Certificate.
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Chamberlain University - Illinois did quite well in this year’s ranking of the best places for nursing students to get a graduate certificate. It came in at #18 on the list. Located in the suburb of Addison, Chamberlain - Illinois is a private for-profit college with a fairly large student population.
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West Coast University - Dallas ranked #19 on this year’s Best Nursing Graduate Certificate Schools list. West Coast University - Dallas is a small private for-profit school located in the large city of Dallas.
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Gannon University did quite well in this year’s ranking of the best places for nursing students to get a graduate certificate. It came in at #20 on the list. Located in the city of Erie, Gannon is a private not-for-profit school with a small student population.
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University of California - San Francisco did quite well in this year’s ranking of the best places for nursing students to get a graduate certificate. It came in at #21 on the list. Located in the large city of San Francisco, UCSF is a public college with a small student population.
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Winona State University ranked #22 on this year’s Best Nursing Graduate Certificate Schools list. Winona State is a medium-sized public school located in the town of Winona.
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Drexel University came in at #23 in this year’s edition of the Best Nursing Graduate Certificate Schools ranking. Located in the city of Philadelphia, Drexel is a private not-for-profit school with a very large student population.
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With a ranking of #24, California State University - Dominguez Hills did quite well on this year’s best schools for nursing students working on their graduate certificate. CSUDH is a fairly large public school located in the city of Carson.
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University of Florida ranked #25 on this year’s Best Nursing Graduate Certificate Schools list. UF is a fairly large public school located in the midsize city of Gainesville.
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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 Graduate Certificate Schools award.
| Rank | College | Location |
|---|---|---|
| 41 | Wagner College | Staten Island, NY |
| 42 | Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center | Lubbock, TX |
| 43 | California State University - Long Beach | Long Beach, CA |
| 44 | Herzing University - Madison | Madison, WI |
| 45 | Grand Canyon University | Phoenix, AZ |
| 46 | Lewis University | Romeoville, IL |
| 47 | Emory University | Atlanta, GA |
| 48 | Yale University | New Haven, CT |
| 49 | Point Loma Nazarene University | San Diego, CA |
| 50 | Columbia University in the City of New York | New York, NY |
| 51 | Rocky Mountain University of Health Professions | Provo, UT |
| 52 | The University of Texas at Arlington | Arlington, TX |
| 53 | University of San Francisco | San Francisco, CA |
| 54 | The University of Texas at Austin | Austin, TX |
Nursing by Region
View the Best Nursing Graduate Certificate 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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