2023 Best Nursing Master's Degree Schools
Finding the Best Nursing Master's 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.
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 Master's Degree Schools ranking. Our analysis looked at 586 schools in the United States to see which master's 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.
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2023 Best Nursing Master’s Degree Schools in the United States
Check out the nursing master's degree programs at these schools if you want to get the best education that money can buy.
Top 25 Top Schools for a Master's in Nursing
Our analysis found Albany Medical College to be the best school for nursing students who want to pursue a master’s degree in the United States. AMC Albany is a small private not-for-profit school located in the city of Albany.
The excellent master’s degree programs at Midwestern University - Glendale helped the school earn the #2 place on this year’s ranking of the best nursing schools in the United States. Midwestern University - Glendale is a small private not-for-profit school located in the suburb of Glendale.
You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around you if you attend Saint Vincent College. The school came in at #3 on this year’s Best Nursing Master’s Degree Schools list. Located in the large suburb of Latrobe, Saint Vincent is a private not-for-profit college with a small student population.
You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around you if you attend Wake Forest University. The school came in at #4 on this year’s Best Nursing Master’s Degree Schools list. Wake Forest University is a medium-sized private not-for-profit school located in the medium-sized city of Winston-Salem.
A rank of #5 on this year’s list means Samuel Merritt University is a great place for nursing students working on their master’s degree. Located in the large city of Oakland, Samuel Merritt University is a private not-for-profit college with a small student population.
University of Southern California came in at #6 in this year’s edition of the Best Nursing Master’s Degree Schools ranking. Located in the city of Los Angeles, USC is a private not-for-profit school with a fairly large student population.
Read full report on Nursing at University of Southern California
Mount Marty University ranked #7 on this year’s Best Nursing Master’s Degree Schools list. Mount Marty is a small private not-for-profit school located in the remote town of Yankton.
Vanderbilt University came in at #8 in this year’s edition of the Best Nursing Master’s Degree Schools ranking. Vanderbilt is a large private not-for-profit school located in the city of Nashville.
Touro University California came in at #9 in this year’s edition of the Best Nursing Master’s Degree Schools ranking. TUC is a small private not-for-profit school located in the city of Vallejo.
Texas Wesleyan University came in at #10 in this year’s edition of the Best Nursing Master’s Degree Schools ranking. Located in the city of Fort Worth, Texas Wesleyan is a private not-for-profit school with a small student population.
Duke University ranked #11 on this year’s Best Nursing Master’s Degree Schools list. Duke is a fairly large private not-for-profit school located in the large city of Durham.
University of California - San Francisco landed the #12 spot in the 2023 rankings for the best master’s degree nursing programs. Located in the city of San Francisco, UCSF is a public college with a small student population.
University of Pennsylvania did quite well in this year’s ranking of the best places for nursing students to get a master’s degree. It came in at #13 on the list. UPenn is a very large private not-for-profit school located in the large city of Philadelphia.
Medical University of South Carolina ranked #14 on this year’s Best Nursing Master’s Degree Schools list. Located in the medium-sized city of Charleston, MUSC is a public school with a small student population.
SUNY Downstate Health Sciences University did quite well in this year’s ranking of the best places for nursing students to get a master’s degree. It came in at #15 on the list. SUNY Downstate is a small public school located in the city of Brooklyn.
AdventHealth University landed the #16 spot in the 2023 rankings for the best master’s degree nursing programs. AHU is a small private not-for-profit school located in the large city of Orlando.
Saint Mary’s University of Minnesota ranked #17 on this year’s Best Nursing Master’s Degree Schools list. Located in the distant town of Winona, SMU MN is a private not-for-profit school with a small student population.
Frontier Nursing University ranked #18 on this year’s Best Nursing Master’s Degree Schools list. Frontier Nursing University is a small private not-for-profit school located in the rural area of Hyden.
The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston ranked #19 on this year’s Best Nursing Master’s Degree Schools list. UTHealth is a moderately-sized public school located in the city of Houston.
Newman University landed the #20 spot in the 2023 rankings for the best master’s degree nursing programs. Located in the city of Wichita, Newman University is a private not-for-profit school with a small student population.
Gonzaga University landed the #21 spot in the 2023 rankings for the best master’s degree nursing programs. Located in the midsize city of Spokane, Gonzaga is a private not-for-profit school with a moderately-sized student population.
York College of Pennsylvania landed the #22 spot in the 2023 rankings for the best master’s degree nursing programs. YCP is a small private not-for-profit school located in the midsize suburb of York.
Loma Linda University ranked #23 on this year’s Best Nursing Master’s Degree Schools list. Loma Linda University is a small private not-for-profit school located in the suburb of Loma Linda.
Thomas Jefferson University ranked #24 on this year’s Best Nursing Master’s Degree 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.
University of California - Davis landed the #25 spot in the 2023 rankings for the best master’s degree nursing programs. UC Davis is a fairly large public school located in the small suburb of Davis.
Rest of the Top 50 Best Nursing Master's Degree Schools
Additional Award Winners
This list represents the remainder of the schools awarded a Best Nursing Master's Degree Schools badge. Showing in this list means the college was ranked in the top 15% of the 586 different United States nursing schools we analyzed.
Honorable Mentions
Here are some additional great schools for Nursing students that almost earned our Best Nursing Master's Degree Schools award.
Nursing by Region
View the Best Nursing Master's Degree 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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