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

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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 large private not-for-profit school located in the city of Cleveland.

Full Nursing at Case Western Reserve University Report

The excellent master’s degree programs at Chamberlain University - Illinois helped the school earn the #2 place on this year’s ranking of the best nursing schools in the Great Lakes Region . Chamberlain - Illinois is a very large private for-profit school located in the large suburb of Addison.

Full Nursing at Chamberlain University - Illinois Report

You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend Saint Anthony College of Nursing. It ranked #3 on our 2023 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 fairly small student population.

Read full report on Nursing at Saint Anthony College of Nursing

A rank of #4 on this year’s list means University of Michigan - Ann Arbor is a great place for nursing students working on their master’s degree. Located in the city of Ann Arbor, U-M is a public school with a very large student population.

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#5

Marquette University

Milwaukee, WI

A rank of #5 on this year’s list means Marquette University is a great place for nursing students working on their master’s degree. Marquette is a large private not-for-profit school located in the city of Milwaukee.

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#6

Otterbein University

Westerville, OH

Otterbein University ranked #6 on this year’s Best Nursing Master’s Degree Schools in the Great Lakes Region list. 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

#7

Bellin College

Green Bay, WI

Bellin College landed the #7 spot in the 2023 rankings for the best master’s degree nursing programs. Located in the rural area of Green Bay, Bellin College is a private not-for-profit school with a small student population.

Read full report on Nursing at Bellin College

With a ranking of #8, University of St Francis did quite well on this year’s best schools for nursing students working on their master’s degree. University of Saint Francis is a small private not-for-profit school located in the suburb of Joliet.

Full Nursing at University of St Francis Report

#9

Purdue University - Main Campus

West Lafayette, IN

Purdue University - Main Campus ranked #9 on this year’s Best Nursing Master’s Degree Schools in the Great Lakes Region list. Located in the small city of West Lafayette, Purdue is a public college with a very large student population.

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#10

Michigan State University

East Lansing, MI

Michigan State 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 #10 on the list. Michigan State is a very large public school located in the city of East Lansing.

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#11

Bradley University

Peoria, IL

Bradley 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 #11 on the list. Located in the city of Peoria, Bradley is a private not-for-profit college with a moderately-sized student population.

Full Nursing at Bradley University Report

Ohio State University - Main Campus landed the #12 spot in the 2023 rankings for the best master’s degree nursing programs. Located in the city of Columbus, Ohio State is a public school with a fairly large student population.

Read full report on Nursing at Ohio State University - Main Campus

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 fairly small student population.

Full Nursing at Mount Carmel College of Nursing Report

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.

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