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Best Nursing Graduate Certificate Schools in the Southeast Region

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2023 Best Nursing Graduate Certificate Schools in the Southeast Region

76 Colleges
$99,011 Avg Salary
$21,624 Avg Student Debt

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.

It's not easy to decide which healthcare program to enroll in when you have so many options available. Along with traditional schools that require in-person attendence, you can attend one of many reputable online schools. Some programs even offer a hybrid experience. Alternatively, you may choose a trade school that prepares you to enter the workforce with knowledge in a specific field.

The Best Nursing Graduate Certificate Schools in the Southeast Region ranking is one of many tools that Healthcare Degree Search has developed to help you make your educational decision. This report analyzed 76 schools in the Southeast Region to see which ones offered the best graduate certificate programs for healthcare students. The factors used to develop this ranking include those related to how in-demand the school is, the overall quality of the school, and post-graduation wages, and more.

View our full ranking methodology.

2023 Best Nursing Graduate Certificate Schools in the Southeast Region

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

Top 15% Best Nursing Graduate Certificate Schools

Our 2023 rankings named Frontier Nursing University the best school in the Southeast Region for nursing students working on their graduate certificate. Located in the rural area of Hyden, Frontier Nursing University is a private not-for-profit college with a small student population.

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#2

Duke University

Durham, NC

The excellent graduate certificate programs at Duke University helped the school earn the #2 place on this year’s ranking of the best nursing schools in the Southeast Region . Located in the city of Durham, Duke is a private not-for-profit college with a fairly large student population.

Read full report on Nursing at Duke University

#3

Vanderbilt University

Nashville, TN

You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around you if you attend Vanderbilt University. The school came in at #3 on this year’s Best Nursing Graduate Certificate Schools in the Southeast Region list. Located in the city of Nashville, Vanderbilt is a private not-for-profit school with a large student population.

Full Nursing at Vanderbilt University Report

#4

University of Florida

Gainesville, FL

You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around you if you attend University of Florida. The school came in at #4 on this year’s Best Nursing Graduate Certificate Schools in the Southeast Region list. Located in the city of Gainesville, UF is a public college with a fairly large student population.

Read full report on Nursing at University of Florida

#5

Augusta University

Augusta, GA

You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around you if you attend Augusta University. The school came in at #5 on this year’s Best Nursing Graduate Certificate Schools in the Southeast Region list. Located in the midsize city of Augusta, Augusta University is a public school with a moderately-sized student population.

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University of Virginia - Main Campus ranked #6 on this year’s Best Nursing Graduate Certificate Schools in the Southeast Region list. University of Virginia is a very large public school located in the suburb of Charlottesville.

Read full report on Nursing at University of Virginia - Main Campus

#7

Emory University

Atlanta, GA

Emory University came in at #7 in this year’s edition of the Best Nursing Graduate Certificate Schools in the Southeast Region ranking. Located in the city of Atlanta, Emory is a private not-for-profit school with a large student population.

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With a ranking of #8, The University of Tennessee - Knoxville did quite well on this year’s best schools for nursing students working on their graduate certificate. Located in the medium-sized city of Knoxville, UT Knoxville is a public school with a very large student population.

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#9

Samford University

Birmingham, AL

With a ranking of #9, Samford University did quite well on this year’s best schools for nursing students working on their graduate certificate. Located in the suburb of Birmingham, Samford is a private not-for-profit school with a medium-sized student population.

Full Nursing at Samford University Report

With a ranking of #10, The University of Tennessee - Health Science Center did quite well on this year’s best schools for nursing students working on their graduate certificate. UTHSC is a small public school located in the city of Memphis.

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Appalachian State University ranked #11 on this year’s Best Nursing Graduate Certificate Schools in the Southeast Region list. Appalachian State is a fairly large public school located in the distant town of Boone.

Full Nursing at Appalachian State University Report

Additional Noteworthy Schools

Here are some additional great schools for Nursing students in the Southeast Region that almost earned our Best Nursing Graduate Certificate Schools in the Southeast Region award.

Rank College Location
12 Georgia College & State University Milledgeville, GA
13 University of Mississippi University, MS
14 The University of Tennessee - Chattanooga Chattanooga, TN
15 Florida International University Miami, FL

Best Nursing Colleges by State

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

State Degrees Awarded
Florida 21,209
North Carolina 7,425
Tennessee 6,004
Georgia 7,112
Kentucky 6,395
West Virginia 1,771
Virginia 6,775
Alabama 7,364
Louisiana 3,502
Mississippi 2,838
South Carolina 3,296
Arkansas 2,882

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.

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