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Best Value Nursing Associate Degree Schools in Pennsylvania

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2023 Best Value Nursing Associate Degree Schools in Pennsylvania

Highlighting Quality Schools With More Affordable Pricing

23 Colleges
$14,836 Avg Tuition & Fees*
$57,601 Avg Salary

Finding the Best Nursing Associate 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 help you arm yourself with the information you need to make your decision, Healthcare Degree Search has developed this Best Value Nursing Associate Degree Schools in Pennsylvania ranking. This report analyzed 23 schools in Pennsylvania to see which ones offered the best value associate degree programs for nursing students. The goal was to highlight schools with more affordable prices than others offering similar quality experiences.

When determining this ranking, we place a high emphasis on the school's quality as well as its sticker price. Even though a college may be affordable, it may not offer value. Specifically, our score for quality is discounted by the published tuition and fees charged by the given college. This gives the cost per unit of quality for each college. The more quality your dollar buys, the better the value.

Our calculations use out-of-state tuition and fees in our nationwide and regional rankings. For statewide rankings, we use average in-state tuition and fees.

Top 10 Best Nursing Associate Degree Schools

Our 2023 rankings named Harrisburg Area Community College the best value school in Pennsylvania for nursing students working on their associate degree. HACC is a fairly large public school located in the small city of Harrisburg.

The average tuition and fees for an in-state undergraduate at HACC are $8,295 a year. The average amount in student loans that nursing majors at HACC take out while working on their Associate Degree is $31,597.

As a testament to the quality of education it offers, HACC also is in the top 20% of our Best Nursing Associate Degree Schools in Pennsylvania ranking.

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#2

Lehigh Carbon Community College

Schnecksville, PA

A rank of #2 on this year’s list means Lehigh Carbon Community College is a great value for nursing students working on their associate degree. Located in the suburb of Schnecksville, LCCC is a public college with a medium-sized student population.

LCCC undergraduate students pay an average of $8,430 in in-state tuition and fees each year. The average amount in student loans that nursing majors at LCCC take out while working on their Associate Degree is $27,844.

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You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend Community College of Allegheny County. It ranked #3 on our 2023 Best Value Nursing Associate Degree Schools in Pennsylvania list. Located in the large city of Pittsburgh, CCAC is a public college with a large student population.

The average tuition and fees for an in-state undergraduate at CCAC are $8,323 a year. While working on their Associate Degree, nursing majors at CCAC accumulate an average of around $24,892 in student debt.

Full Nursing at Community College of Allegheny County Report

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A rank of #4 on this year’s list means Luzerne County Community College is a great value for nursing students working on their associate degree. Located in the large suburb of Nanticoke, Luzerne County Community College is a public school with a small student population.

In-state tuition fees for undergraduate students at Luzerne County Community College are $10,020 per year. Nursing majors at Luzerne County Community College take out an average of $26,721 in student loans while working on their Associate Degree.

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You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around you if you attend University of Pittsburgh - Titusville. The school came in at #5 on this year’s Best Value Nursing Associate Degree Schools in Pennsylvania list. Pitt Titusville is a fairly small public school located in the distant town of Titusville.

The average tuition and fees for an in-state undergraduate at Pitt Titusville are $11,792 a year. On average, nursing graduates from Pitt Titusville take out $23,541 in student loans while working on their Associate Degree. This translates to an average monthly loan payment of $270, based on a 10-year repayment plan.

On top of its placing in our value ranking, Pitt Titusville also did well on our Best Nursing Associate Degree Schools in Pennsylvania list. It’s in the top 15% of all schools reviewed in this analysis.

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Bucks County Community College did quite well in this year’s ranking of the best places for nursing students to get a associate degree. It came in at #6 on the list. Bucks County Community College is a medium-sized public school located in the rural area of Newtown.

The average tuition and fees for an in-state undergraduate at Bucks County Community College are $9,098 a year. After completing their Associate Degree, nursing graduates from Bucks County Community College carry an average student debtload of $24,386.

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#7

Lock Haven University

Lock Haven, PA

Lock Haven University came in at #7 in this year’s edition of the Best Value Nursing Associate Degree Schools in Pennsylvania ranking. Located in the distant town of Lock Haven, LHU is a public college with a small student population.

In-state tuition fees for undergraduate students at LHU are $10,878 per year. The average amount in student loans that nursing majors at LHU take out while working on their Associate Degree is $28,436.

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With a ranking of #8, Butler County Community College did quite well on this year’s best value schools for nursing students working on their associate degree. Located in the town of Butler, BC3 is a public college with a small student population.

The average tuition and fees for an in-state undergraduate at BC3 are $8,400 a year. After completing their Associate Degree, nursing graduates from BC3 carry an average student debtload of $19,124.

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Clarion University of Pennsylvania landed the #9 spot in the 2023 rankings for the best value associate degree nursing programs. Clarion University is a small public school located in the town of Clarion.

In-state tuition fees for undergraduate students at Clarion University are $11,173 per year. The average amount in student loans that nursing majors at Clarion University take out while working on their Associate Degree is $30,813.

Clarion University did well in our overall quality rankings, too. It placed #3 on our Best Nursing Associate Degree Schools in Pennsylvania list.

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With a ranking of #10, Montgomery County Community College did quite well on this year’s best value schools for nursing students working on their associate degree. Located in the suburb of Blue Bell, Montco is a public college with a moderately-sized student population.

The average tuition and fees for an in-state undergraduate at Montco are $10,350 a year. The average amount in student loans that nursing majors at Montco take out while working on their Associate Degree is $24,579.

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Best Value Nursing Colleges in the Middle Atlantic Region

Explore all the Best Value 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 23 schools only.

  • 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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