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Best Nursing Master's Degree Schools in Pennsylvania

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2023 Best Nursing Master's Degree Schools in Pennsylvania

36 Colleges
$98,140 Avg Salary

Finding the Best Nursing Master's Degree School for You

Nursing is the most popular major in Pennsylvania with 11,477 degrees and certificates handed out in 2020-2021.

When it comes to higher education, there are a lot of options for healthcare students. 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 in Pennsylvania ranking. Our analysis looked at 36 schools in Pennsylvania to see which master's degree programs offered the best educational experiences for healthcare students. To come up with a school's ranking, we analyzed numerous factors related to post-graduation wages, the quality of education offered by the school, average accumulated student debt, and more.

View our full ranking methodology.

2023 Best Nursing Master’s Degree Schools in Pennsylvania

The colleges and universities below are the best for nursing majors pursuing a master's degree.

Top 10 Best Nursing Master's Degree Schools

#1

Saint Vincent College

Latrobe, PA

Our 2023 rankings named Saint Vincent College the best school in Pennsylvania for nursing students working on their master’s degree. Located in the suburb of Latrobe, Saint Vincent is a private not-for-profit school with a small student population.

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#2

University of Pennsylvania

Philadelphia, PA

You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around you if you attend University of Pennsylvania. The school came in at #2 on this year’s Best Nursing Master’s Degree Schools in Pennsylvania list. UPenn is a fairly large private not-for-profit school located in the large city of Philadelphia.

Read full report on Nursing at University of Pennsylvania

The excellent master’s degree programs at York College of Pennsylvania helped the school earn the #3 place on this year’s ranking of the best nursing schools in Pennsylvania. YCP is a small private not-for-profit school located in the medium-sized suburb of York.

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#4

Thomas Jefferson University

Philadelphia, PA

You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around you if you attend Thomas Jefferson University. The school came in at #4 on this year’s Best Nursing Master’s Degree Schools in Pennsylvania list. Located in the large city of Philadelphia, Thomas Jefferson University is a private not-for-profit school with a medium-sized student population.

Read full report on Nursing at Thomas Jefferson University

#5

Villanova University

Villanova, PA

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

Full Nursing at Villanova University Report

#6

Gannon University

Erie, PA

Gannon University landed the #6 spot in the 2023 rankings for the best master’s degree nursing programs. Located in the small city of Erie, Gannon is a private not-for-profit college with a small student population.

Read full report on Nursing at Gannon University

#7

Wilkes University

Wilkes-Barre, PA

Wilkes University landed the #7 spot in the 2023 rankings for the best master’s degree nursing programs. Located in the city of Wilkes-Barre, Wilkes is a private not-for-profit school with a medium-sized student population.

Read full report on Nursing at Wilkes University

#8

University of Scranton

Scranton, PA

University of Scranton ranked #8 on this year’s Best Nursing Master’s Degree Schools in Pennsylvania list. Located in the city of Scranton, University of Scranton is a private not-for-profit school with a small student population.

Full Nursing at University of Scranton Report

#9

Duquesne University

Pittsburgh, PA

Duquesne University ranked #9 on this year’s Best Nursing Master’s Degree Schools in Pennsylvania list. Located in the city of Pittsburgh, Duquesne is a private not-for-profit school with a medium-sized student population.

Read full report on Nursing at Duquesne University

#10

DeSales University

Center Valley, PA

DeSales University came in at #10 in this year’s edition of the Best Nursing Master’s Degree Schools in Pennsylvania ranking. Located in the rural area of Center Valley, DeSales is a private not-for-profit college with a small student population.

Full Nursing at DeSales University Report

Best Nursing Colleges in the Middle Atlantic Region

Explore all the Best Nursing Schools in the Middle Atlantic Area or other specific states within that region.

State Degrees Awarded
New York 17,708
Maryland 4,104
New Jersey 5,648
District of Columbia 990
Delaware 1,267

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

Majors Similar to Nursing

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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