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Best Nursing Schools in New York

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2023 Best Nursing Schools in New York

100 Colleges
$82,668 Avg Salary
$25,552 Avg Student Debt

Finding the Best Nursing School for You

Nursing is the most popular major in New York with 17,708 degrees and certificates handed out in 2020-2021.

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.

The Best Nursing Schools in New York ranking is one of many tools that Healthcare Degree Search has developed to help you make your educational decision. This report analyzed 100 schools in New York to see which ones offered the best programs for healthcare students.

View our full ranking methodology.

2023 Best Nursing Schools in New York

The colleges and universities below are the best for nursing majors pursuing a .

Top 15% Best Nursing Schools

Our 2023 rankings named Albany Medical College the best school in New York for nursing students. Located in the small city of Albany, AMC Albany is a private not-for-profit college with a fairly small student population.

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You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around you if you attend Helene Fuld College of Nursing. The school came in at #2 on this year’s Best Nursing Schools in New York list. HFCN is a fairly small private not-for-profit school located in the city of New York.

Nursing majors at HFCN take out an average of $33,485 in student loans while working on their egree.

Full Nursing at Helene Fuld College of Nursing Report

Out of the 100 schools in New York that were part of this year’s ranking, Arnot Ogden Medical Center landed the # 3 spot on the list. Located in the city of Elmira, Arnot Ogden Medical Center is a private not-for-profit college with a fairly small student population.

Read full report on Nursing at Arnot Ogden Medical Center

A rank of #4 on this year’s list means SUNY Downstate Health Sciences University is a great place for nursing students. Located in the large city of Brooklyn, SUNY Downstate is a public school with a small student population.

The average amount in student loans that nursing majors at SUNY Downstate take out is $21,875.

Read full report on Nursing at SUNY Downstate Health Sciences University

You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend Cochran School of Nursing. It ranked #5 on our 2023 Best Nursing Schools in New York list. Located in the large suburb of Yonkers, Cochran School of Nursing is a private not-for-profit college with a small student population.

While working on their degree, nursing majors at Cochran School of Nursing accumulate an average of around $26,219 in student debt.

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#6

Excelsior College

Albany, NY

Excelsior College did quite well in this year’s ranking of the best schools for nursing students. It came in at #6 on the list. Located in the small city of Albany, Excelsior College is a private not-for-profit college with a fairly large student population.

While working on their degree, nursing majors at Excelsior College accumulate an average of around $23,176 in student debt.

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St. Joseph’s College of Nursing came in at #7 in this year’s edition of the Best Nursing Schools in New York ranking. Located in the medium-sized city of Syracuse, St Joseph's College of Nursing is a private not-for-profit college with a small student population.

The average amount in student loans that nursing majors at St Joseph's College of Nursing take out is $20,751. This translates to an average monthly loan payment of $380, based on a 10-year repayment plan.

Full Nursing at St. Joseph’s College of Nursing Report

The Graduate Center, CUNY came in at #8 in this year’s edition of the Best Nursing Schools in New York ranking. Located in the large city of New York, The Graduate Center is a public school with a medium-sized student population.

Nursing majors at The Graduate Center take out an average of $17,170 in student loans while working on their egree.

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With a ranking of #9, St Paul’s School of Nursing - Queens did quite well on this year’s best schools for nursing students. Located in the large city of Rego Park, St Paul's School of Nursing - Queens is a private for-profit school with a fairly small student population.

After completing their degree, nursing graduates from St Paul's School of Nursing - Queens carry an average student debtload of $30,500. This translates to an average monthly loan payment of $191, based on a 10-year repayment plan.

Full Nursing at St Paul’s School of Nursing - Queens Report

#10

Wagner College

Staten Island, NY

Wagner College did quite well in this year’s ranking of the best schools for nursing students. It came in at #10 on the list. Wagner is a small private not-for-profit school located in the city of Staten Island.

The average amount in student loans that nursing majors at Wagner take out is $27,000. This translates to an average monthly loan payment of $495, based on a 10-year repayment plan.

Full Nursing at Wagner College Report

#11

New York University

New York, NY

With a ranking of #11, New York University did quite well on this year’s best schools for nursing students. Located in the city of New York, NYU is a private not-for-profit school with a fairly large student population.

On average, nursing graduates from NYU take out $25,380 in student loans while working on their degree. The average monthly payment of a loan this size is about $732, assuming that the borrower is on a 10-year repayment plan.

Read full report on Nursing at New York University

#12

Molloy College

Rockville Centre, NY

With a ranking of #12, Molloy College did quite well on this year’s best schools for nursing students. Molloy is a small private not-for-profit school located in the large suburb of Rockville Centre.

On average, nursing graduates from Molloy take out $31,934 in student loans while working on their degree. Assuming that a graduate chooses a 10-year repayment plan, the average monthly loan payment is $365.

Full Nursing at Molloy College Report

St. Peter’s Hospital College of Nursing landed the #13 spot in the 2023 rankings for the best nursing programs. St. Peter's Hospital College of Nursing is a small private not-for-profit school located in the small city of Albany.

On average, nursing graduates from St. Peter's Hospital College of Nursing take out $26,399 in student loans while working on their degree.

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Samaritan Hospital School of Nursing landed the #14 spot in the 2023 rankings for the best nursing programs. Located in the small city of Troy, Samaritan Hospital School of Nursing is a private not-for-profit college with a small student population.

On average, nursing graduates from Samaritan Hospital School of Nursing take out $27,500 in student loans while working on their degree.

Read full report on Nursing at Samaritan Hospital School of Nursing

#15

Adelphi University

Garden City, NY

Adelphi University came in at #15 in this year’s edition of the Best Nursing Schools in New York ranking. Located in the large suburb of Garden City, Adelphi is a private not-for-profit college with a medium-sized student population.

The average amount in student loans that nursing majors at Adelphi take out is $27,000. For students who choose a 10-year repayment plan, the average monthly student loan payment is $475.

Read full report on Nursing at Adelphi University

Additional Noteworthy Schools

Here are some additional great schools for Nursing students in the state of New York that almost earned our Best Nursing Schools in New York award.

Rank College Location
16 Upstate Medical University Syracuse, NY
17 Bronx Community College Bronx, NY
18 Farmingdale State College Farmingdale, NY
19 Columbia University in the City of New York New York, NY
20 University of Rochester Rochester, NY

Best Nursing Colleges in the Middle Atlantic Region

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

State Degrees Awarded
Pennsylvania 11,477
Maryland 4,104
New Jersey 5,648
District of Columbia 990
Delaware 1,267

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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