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Best Nursing Master's Degree Schools in North Carolina

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2023 Best Nursing Master's Degree Schools in North Carolina

16 Colleges
$98,140 Avg Salary

Finding the Best Nursing Master's Degree School for You

Nursing is the most popular major in North Carolina with 7,425 degrees and certificates handed out in 2020-2021.

When it comes to higher education, there are a lot of options for healthcare students. 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 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 North Carolina ranking. This report analyzed 16 schools in North Carolina to see which ones offered the best master's degree programs 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 North Carolina

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

Wake Forest University

Winston-Salem, NC

Our analysis found Wake Forest University to be the best school for nursing students who want to pursue a master’s degree in North Carolina. Wake Forest University is a moderately-sized private not-for-profit school located in the midsize city of Winston-Salem.

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#2

Duke University

Durham, NC

A rank of #2 on this year’s list means Duke University is a great place for nursing students working on their master’s degree. Duke is a fairly large private not-for-profit school located in the large city of Durham.

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The excellent master’s degree programs at University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill helped the school earn the #3 place on this year’s ranking of the best nursing schools in North Carolina. UNC Chapel Hill is a very large public school located in the small city of Chapel Hill.

Full Nursing at University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Report

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You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around you if you attend Appalachian State University. The school came in at #4 on this year’s Best Nursing Master’s Degree Schools in North Carolina list. Located in the town of Boone, Appalachian State is a public school with a very large student population.

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Out of the 16 schools in North Carolina that were part of this year’s ranking, University of North Carolina at Wilmington landed the # 5 spot on the list. Located in the medium-sized city of Wilmington, UNCW is a public school with a large student population.

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With a ranking of #6, University of North Carolina at Charlotte did quite well on this year’s best schools for nursing students working on their master’s degree. UNC Charlotte is a very large public school located in the large city of Charlotte.

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#7

East Carolina University

Greenville, NC

East Carolina University ranked #7 on this year’s Best Nursing Master’s Degree Schools in North Carolina list. Located in the small city of Greenville, ECU is a public school with a very large student population.

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Queens University of Charlotte landed the #8 spot in the 2023 rankings for the best master’s degree nursing programs. Located in the large city of Charlotte, Queens is a private not-for-profit college with a small student population.

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With a ranking of #9, University of North Carolina at Greensboro did quite well on this year’s best schools for nursing students working on their master’s degree. UNC Greensboro is a large public school located in the city of Greensboro.

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#10

Western Carolina University

Cullowhee, NC

With a ranking of #10, Western Carolina University did quite well on this year’s best schools for nursing students working on their master’s degree. WCU is a large public school located in the town of Cullowhee.

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Best Nursing Colleges in the Southeast Region

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

State Degrees Awarded
Florida 21,209
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

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 16 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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