Find Affordable College Courses

What Do You Want to Study?

Best Nursing Master's Degree Schools in the Great Lakes Region

Find Schools Near

2023 Best Nursing Master's Degree Schools in the Great Lakes Region

90 Colleges
$98,140 Avg Salary

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.

Today's healthcare students have lots of options to pick from when considering higher education opportunities. 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.

Along with in-depth profiles of schools and the programs they offer, Healthcare Degree Search has created the Best Nursing Master's Degree Schools in the Great Lakes Region to help you in your search for the best school for you. This report analyzed 90 schools in the Great Lakes Region to see which ones offered the best master's degree 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 Master’s Degree Schools in the Great Lakes Region

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

Top 15% Best Nursing Master's Degree Schools

Our analysis found Case Western Reserve University to be the best school for nursing students who want to pursue a master’s degree in the Great Lakes Region . Case Western is a fairly large private not-for-profit school located in the large city of Cleveland.

Read full report on Nursing at Case Western Reserve University

Request Information

Out of the 90 schools in the Great Lakes Region that were part of this year’s ranking, Chamberlain University - Illinois landed the # 2 spot on the list. Chamberlain - Illinois is a very large private for-profit school located in the suburb of Addison.

Read full report on Nursing at Chamberlain University - Illinois

Request Information

You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around you if you attend Saint Anthony College of Nursing. The school came in at #3 on this year’s Best Nursing Master’s Degree Schools in the Great Lakes Region list. Located in the midsize city of Rockford, SACN is a private not-for-profit college with a small student population.

Read More…

Request Information

The excellent master’s degree programs at University of Michigan - Ann Arbor helped the school earn the #4 place on this year’s ranking of the best nursing schools in the Great Lakes Region . Located in the medium-sized city of Ann Arbor, U-M is a public school with a fairly large student population.

Read More…

Request Information
#5

Marquette University

Milwaukee, WI

You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around you if you attend Marquette University. The school came in at #5 on this year’s Best Nursing Master’s Degree Schools in the Great Lakes Region list. Marquette is a large private not-for-profit school located in the large city of Milwaukee.

Read More…

Request Information
#6

Otterbein University

Westerville, OH

With a ranking of #6, Otterbein University did quite well on this year’s best schools for nursing students working on their master’s degree. Located in the large suburb of Westerville, Otterbein is a private not-for-profit college with a small student population.

Read full report on Nursing at Otterbein University

Request Information
#7

Bellin College

Green Bay, WI

With a ranking of #7, Bellin College did quite well on this year’s best schools for nursing students working on their master’s degree. Located in the rural area of Green Bay, Bellin College is a private not-for-profit school with a small student population.

Full Nursing at Bellin College Report

Request Information

University of St Francis landed the #8 spot in the 2023 rankings for the best master’s degree nursing programs. University of Saint Francis is a small private not-for-profit school located in the large suburb of Joliet.

Full Nursing at University of St Francis Report

Request Information
#9

Purdue University - Main Campus

West Lafayette, IN

Purdue University - Main Campus landed the #9 spot in the 2023 rankings for the best master’s degree nursing programs. Located in the city of West Lafayette, Purdue is a public school with a very large student population.

Read full report on Nursing at Purdue University - Main Campus

Request Information
#10

Michigan State University

East Lansing, MI

Michigan State University landed the #10 spot in the 2023 rankings for the best master’s degree nursing programs. Michigan State is a fairly large public school located in the city of East Lansing.

Full Nursing at Michigan State University Report

Request Information
#11

Bradley University

Peoria, IL

Bradley University came in at #11 in this year’s edition of the Best Nursing Master’s Degree Schools in the Great Lakes Region ranking. Located in the medium-sized city of Peoria, Bradley is a private not-for-profit college with a moderately-sized student population.

Read More…

Request Information

Ohio State University - Main Campus came in at #12 in this year’s edition of the Best Nursing Master’s Degree Schools in the Great Lakes Region ranking. Located in the large city of Columbus, Ohio State is a public college with a very large student population.

Read More…

Request Information

With a ranking of #13, Mount Carmel College of Nursing did quite well on this year’s best schools for nursing students working on their master’s degree. Located in the large city of Columbus, Mount Carmel College of Nursing is a private not-for-profit college with a small student population.

Full Nursing at Mount Carmel College of Nursing Report

Request Information

Additional Noteworthy Schools

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 Master's Degree Schools in the Great Lakes Region award.

Rank College Location
14 Milwaukee School of Engineering Milwaukee, WI
15 Lewis University Romeoville, IL
16 Rush University Chicago, IL
17 Illinois State University Normal, IL
18 Herzing University - Madison Madison, WI

Best Nursing Colleges by State

Explore the best nursing schools for a specific state in the Great Lakes region.

State Degrees Awarded
Illinois 21,938
Ohio 13,973
Michigan 7,345
Indiana 7,922
Wisconsin 5,410

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.

Find Healthcare Schools Near You

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