2023 Best Nursing Master's Degree Schools in the Southeast Region
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.
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.
To help you arm yourself with the information you need to make your decision, Healthcare Degree Search has developed this Best Nursing Master's Degree Schools in the Southeast Region ranking. Our analysis looked at 149 schools in the Southeast Region to see which master's degree programs offered the best educational experiences 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 Master’s Degree Schools in the Southeast Region
The following schools top our list of the Best Nursing Master's Degree Colleges.
Top 15% Best Nursing Master's Degree Schools
Our 2023 rankings named Wake Forest University the best school in the Southeast Region for nursing students working on their master’s degree. Located in the midsize city of Winston-Salem, Wake Forest University is a private not-for-profit college with a medium-sized student population.
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The excellent master’s degree programs at Vanderbilt 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 Nashville, Vanderbilt is a private not-for-profit school with a fairly large student population.
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You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend Duke University. It ranked #3 on our 2023 Best Nursing Master’s Degree Schools in the Southeast Region list. Located in the large city of Durham, Duke is a private not-for-profit school with a fairly large student population.
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The excellent master’s degree programs at Medical University of South Carolina helped the school earn the #4 place on this year’s ranking of the best nursing schools in the Southeast Region . MUSC is a small public school located in the city of Charleston.
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The excellent master’s degree programs at AdventHealth University helped the school earn the #5 place on this year’s ranking of the best nursing schools in the Southeast Region . Located in the large city of Orlando, AHU is a private not-for-profit school with a small student population.
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Frontier Nursing University landed the #6 spot in the 2023 rankings for the best master’s degree nursing programs. Located in the rural area of Hyden, Frontier Nursing University is a private not-for-profit school with a small student population.
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Franciscan Missionaries of Our Lady University came in at #7 in this year’s edition of the Best Nursing Master’s Degree Schools in the Southeast Region ranking. FranU is a small private not-for-profit school located in the midsize city of Baton Rouge.
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Emory University ranked #8 on this year’s Best Nursing Master’s Degree Schools in the Southeast Region list. Located in the large city of Atlanta, Emory is a private not-for-profit school with a fairly large student population.
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University of Virginia - Main Campus landed the #9 spot in the 2023 rankings for the best master’s degree nursing programs. University of Virginia is a fairly large public school located in the small suburb of Charlottesville.
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Florida Gulf Coast University came in at #10 in this year’s edition of the Best Nursing Master’s Degree Schools in the Southeast Region ranking. Located in the large suburb of Fort Myers, FGCU is a public school with a large student population.
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With a ranking of #11, The University of Tennessee - Chattanooga did quite well on this year’s best schools for nursing students working on their master’s degree. Located in the medium-sized city of Chattanooga, UT Chattanooga is a public school with a large student population.
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With a ranking of #12, James Madison University did quite well on this year’s best schools for nursing students working on their master’s degree. Located in the city of Harrisonburg, JMU is a public school with a fairly large student population.
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Florida State University ranked #13 on this year’s Best Nursing Master’s Degree Schools in the Southeast Region list. Florida State is a fairly large public school located in the midsize city of Tallahassee.
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Belmont University came in at #14 in this year’s edition of the Best Nursing Master’s Degree Schools in the Southeast Region ranking. Located in the city of Nashville, Belmont is a private not-for-profit college with a moderately-sized student population.
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With a ranking of #15, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill did quite well on this year’s best schools for nursing students working on their master’s degree. Located in the city of Chapel Hill, UNC Chapel Hill is a public college with a fairly large student population.
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University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences ranked #16 on this year’s Best Nursing Master’s Degree Schools in the Southeast Region list. UAMS is a small public school located in the midsize city of Little Rock.
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South University’s online programs came in at #17 in this year’s edition of the Best Nursing Master’s Degree Schools in the Southeast Region ranking. South University's online programs is a moderately-sized private for-profit school located in the city of Savannah.
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With a ranking of #18, Augusta University did quite well on this year’s best schools for nursing students working on their master’s degree. Located in the midsize city of Augusta, Augusta University is a public college with a medium-sized student population.
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Shenandoah 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 #19 on the list. Shenandoah is a small private not-for-profit school located in the small city of Winchester.
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University of South Carolina - Columbia ranked #20 on this year’s Best Nursing Master’s Degree Schools in the Southeast Region list. UofSC is a very large public school located in the medium-sized city of Columbia.
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University of Miami ranked #21 on this year’s Best Nursing Master’s Degree Schools in the Southeast Region list. U Miami is a large private not-for-profit school located in the small city of Coral Gables.
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With a ranking of #22, Harding University did quite well on this year’s best schools for nursing students working on their master’s degree. Harding is a small private not-for-profit school located in the distant town of Searcy.
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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 Southeast Region award.
| Rank | College | Location |
|---|---|---|
| 23 | Auburn University | Auburn, AL |
| 24 | Samford University | Birmingham, AL |
| 25 | Sentara College of Health Sciences | Chesapeake, VA |
| 26 | Virginia Commonwealth University | Richmond, VA |
| 27 | The University of Tennessee - Knoxville | Knoxville, TN |
| 28 | Clemson University | Clemson, SC |
| 29 | Radford University | Radford, VA |
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 |
| Kentucky | 6,395 |
| Georgia | 7,112 |
| West Virginia | 1,771 |
| Virginia | 6,775 |
| Alabama | 7,364 |
| Louisiana | 3,502 |
| Mississippi | 2,838 |
| South Carolina | 3,296 |
| Arkansas | 2,882 |
More Nursing Rankings in the Southeast Region
Nursing Related Rankings by Major
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 |
Most Popular Majors Related 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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