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Best Nursing Schools in Pennsylvania

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2023 Best Nursing Schools in Pennsylvania

76 Colleges
$74,117 Avg Salary
$28,960 Avg Student Debt

Finding the Best Nursing 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 help you arm yourself with the information you need to make your decision, Healthcare Degree Search has developed this Best Nursing Schools in Pennsylvania ranking. This report analyzed 76 schools in Pennsylvania to see which ones offered the best programs for healthcare students.

View our full ranking methodology.

2023 Best Nursing Schools in Pennsylvania

The following schools top our list of the Best Nursing Colleges.

Top 15% Best Nursing Schools

Our analysis found Roxborough Memorial Hospital School of Nursing to be the best school for nursing students who want to pursue a degree in Pennsylvania. Located in the large city of Philadelphia, Roxborough Memorial Hospital School of Nursing is a private for-profit school with a fairly small student population.

On average, nursing graduates from Roxborough Memorial Hospital School of Nursing take out $20,000 in student loans while working on their degree.

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You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend St Lukes Hospital School of Nursing. It ranked #2 on our 2023 Best Nursing Schools in Pennsylvania list. Located in the large suburb of Bethlehem, St Lukes Hospital School of Nursing is a private not-for-profit school with a fairly small student population.

The average amount in student loans that nursing majors at St Lukes Hospital School of Nursing take out is $21,381.

Full Nursing at St Lukes Hospital School of Nursing Report

The excellent programs at Western Pennsylvania Hospital School of Nursing helped the school earn the #3 place on this year’s ranking of the best nursing schools in Pennsylvania. Located in the city of Pittsburgh, West Penn Hospital School of Nursing is a private not-for-profit school with a fairly small student population.

Nursing majors at West Penn Hospital School of Nursing take out an average of $20,000 in student loans while working on their egree.

Full Nursing at Western Pennsylvania Hospital School of Nursing Report

A rank of #4 on this year’s list means UPMC Shadyside School of Nursing is a great place for nursing students. Located in the large city of Pittsburgh, UPMC Shadyside School of Nursing is a private not-for-profit college with a small student population.

The average amount in student loans that nursing majors at UPMC Shadyside School of Nursing take out is $27,892.

Full Nursing at UPMC Shadyside School of Nursing Report

#5

Citizens School of Nursing

New Kensington, PA

You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around you if you attend Citizens School of Nursing. The school came in at #5 on this year’s Best Nursing Schools in Pennsylvania list. Citizens School of Nursing is a small private not-for-profit school located in the suburb of New Kensington.

On average, nursing graduates from Citizens School of Nursing take out $21,312 in student loans while working on their degree.

Full Nursing at Citizens School of Nursing Report

Reading Hospital School of Health Sciences did quite well in this year’s ranking of the best schools for nursing students. It came in at #6 on the list. RHSHS is a small private not-for-profit school located in the small city of Reading.

While working on their degree, nursing majors at RHSHS accumulate an average of around $25,208 in student debt.

Read full report on Nursing at Reading Hospital School of Health Sciences

UPMC Mercy School of Nursing did quite well in this year’s ranking of the best schools for nursing students. It came in at #7 on the list. UPMC Mercy School of Nursing is a small private not-for-profit school located in the large city of Pittsburgh.

On average, nursing graduates from UPMC Mercy School of Nursing take out $24,743 in student loans while working on their degree.

Full Nursing at UPMC Mercy School of Nursing Report

UPMC Jameson School of Nursing landed the #8 spot in the 2023 rankings for the best nursing programs. Located in the town of New Castle, UPMC Jameson School of Nursing is a private not-for-profit school with a small student population.

Nursing majors at UPMC Jameson School of Nursing take out an average of $24,750 in student loans while working on their egree.

Full Nursing at UPMC Jameson School of Nursing Report

Washington Hospital School of Nursing did quite well in this year’s ranking of the best schools for nursing students. It came in at #9 on the list. Washington Hospital School of Nursing is a small private not-for-profit school located in the large suburb of Washington.

After completing their degree, nursing graduates from Washington Hospital School of Nursing carry an average student debtload of $23,719.

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With a ranking of #10, DLP Conemaugh Memorial Medical Center did quite well on this year’s best schools for nursing students. Memorial Medical Center is a fairly small private for-profit school located in the city of Johnstown.

While working on their degree, nursing majors at Memorial Medical Center accumulate an average of around $24,420 in student debt.

Read full report on Nursing at DLP Conemaugh Memorial Medical Center

Joseph F McCloskey School of Nursing did quite well in this year’s ranking of the best schools for nursing students. It came in at #11 on the list. Located in the distant town of Pottsville, Joseph F McCloskey School of Nursing is a private not-for-profit school with a fairly small student population.

The average amount in student loans that nursing majors at Joseph F McCloskey School of Nursing take out is $29,000.

Full Nursing at Joseph F McCloskey School of Nursing Report

Honorable Mentions

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

Rank College Location
12 Saint Vincent College Latrobe, PA
13 University of Pennsylvania Philadelphia, PA
14 Thomas Jefferson University Philadelphia, PA
15 Villanova University Villanova, PA

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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