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Best Value Nursing Associate Degree Schools in Arkansas

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2023 Best Value Nursing Associate Degree Schools in Arkansas

Identifying Quality Schools at More Affordable Prices

19 Colleges
$5,027 Avg Tuition & Fees*
$57,601 Avg Salary

Finding the Best Nursing Associate Degree School for You

Nursing is the most popular major in Arkansas with 2,882 degrees and certificates handed out in 2020-2021.

It's not easy to decide which healthcare program to enroll in when you have so many options available. 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.

Along with in-depth profiles of schools and the programs they offer, Healthcare Degree Search has created the Best Value Nursing Associate Degree Schools in Arkansas to help you in your search for the best school for you. Our analysis looked at 19 schools in Arkansas to see which associate degree programs offered the best value experiences for nursing students with the aim of identifying those quality schools that are more affordable than some of their counterparts.

This ranking is not just a list of inexpensive schools. We also consider each school's quality, since we believe a low-quality school may not be a 'bargain' at any price. More specifically, we discount our quality score by the published tuition and fees charged by a school. This gives the cost per unit of quality for each college. The value is determined by how much quality your dollar buys.

For nationwide and regional rankings, we use out-of-state tuition and fees in our calculations. Average in-state tuition and fees are used for our statewide rankings.

2023 Best Value Nursing Associate Degree Schools in Arkansas

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

Top 10 Best Nursing Associate Degree Schools

Our 2023 rankings named Arkansas State University - Newport the best value school in Arkansas for nursing students working on their associate degree. ASUN is a small public school located in the rural area of Newport.

The average tuition and fees for an in-state undergraduate at ASUN are $2,856 a year. The average amount in student loans that nursing majors at ASUN take out while working on their Associate Degree is $20,883.

ASUN also made our Best Nursing Associate Degree Schools in Arkansas list, coming in at #2.

Full Nursing at Arkansas State University - Newport Report

#2

Arkansas Northeastern College

Blytheville, AR

A rank of #2 on this year’s list means Arkansas Northeastern College is a great value for nursing students working on their associate degree. Located in the rural area of Blytheville, Arkansas Northeastern College is a public college with a small student population.

In-state tuition fees for undergraduate students at Arkansas Northeastern College are $2,738 per year. Nursing majors at Arkansas Northeastern College take out an average of $13,907 in student loans while working on their Associate Degree.

Read full report on Nursing at Arkansas Northeastern College

You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend University of Arkansas Community College - Batesville. It ranked #3 on our 2023 Best Value Nursing Associate Degree Schools in Arkansas list. UACCB is a small public school located in the remote town of Batesville.

In-state tuition fees for undergraduate students at UACCB are $2,850 per year. The average amount in student loans that nursing majors at UACCB take out while working on their Associate Degree is $15,732.

Read full report on Nursing at University of Arkansas Community College - Batesville

A rank of #4 on this year’s list means Arkansas State University - Mountain Home is a great value for nursing students working on their associate degree. Located in the rural area of Mountain Home, ASUMH is a public school with a small student population.

The average tuition and fees for an in-state undergraduate at ASUMH are $2,904 a year. After completing their Associate Degree, nursing graduates from ASUMH carry an average student debtload of $29,830.

Read full report on Nursing at Arkansas State University - Mountain Home

You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around you if you attend University of Arkansas Community College - Morrilton. The school came in at #5 on this year’s Best Value Nursing Associate Degree Schools in Arkansas list. Located in the town of Morrilton, UACCM is a public school with a small student population.

The average tuition and fees for an in-state undergraduate at UACCM are $3,456 a year. After completing their Associate Degree, nursing graduates from UACCM carry an average student debtload of $26,531.

Full Nursing at University of Arkansas Community College - Morrilton Report

NorthWest Arkansas 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. NWACC is a medium-sized public school located in the city of Bentonville.

The average tuition and fees for an in-state undergraduate at NWACC are $4,096 a year. On average, nursing graduates from NWACC take out $18,630 in student loans while working on their Associate Degree.

NWACC did well in our overall quality rankings, too. It placed #5 on our Best Nursing Associate Degree Schools in Arkansas list.

Read More…

Arkansas State University Three Rivers did quite well in this year’s ranking of the best places for nursing students to get a associate degree. It came in at #7 on the list. Located in the fringe town of Malvern, ASU Three Rivers is a public college with a small student population.

The average tuition and fees for an in-state undergraduate at ASU Three Rivers are $3,458 a year. Nursing majors at ASU Three Rivers take out an average of $30,774 in student loans while working on their Associate Degree.

Read More…

Phillips Community College of the University of Arkansas came in at #8 in this year’s edition of the Best Value Nursing Associate Degree Schools in Arkansas ranking. Phillips County Community College is a small public school located in the rural area of Helena.

Phillips County Community College undergraduate students pay an average of $3,410 in in-state tuition and fees each year. After completing their Associate Degree, nursing graduates from Phillips County Community College carry an average student debtload of $13,089.

Read full report on Nursing at Phillips Community College of the University of Arkansas

University of Arkansas Rich Mountain did quite well in this year’s ranking of the best places for nursing students to get a associate degree. It came in at #9 on the list. UA Rich Mountain is a fairly small public school located in the remote town of Mena.

The average tuition and fees for an in-state undergraduate at UA Rich Mountain are $3,576 a year.

Read full report on Nursing at University of Arkansas Rich Mountain

South Arkansas Community College landed the #10 spot in the 2023 rankings for the best value associate degree nursing programs. Located in the remote town of El Dorado, SouthArk is a public college with a small student population.

In-state tuition fees for undergraduate students at SouthArk are $3,012 per year. While working on their Associate Degree, nursing majors at SouthArk accumulate an average of around $15,912 in student debt.

Read full report on Nursing at South Arkansas Community College

Best Value Nursing Colleges in the Southeast Region

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

State Degrees Awarded
Florida 21,209
North Carolina 7,425
Tennessee 6,004
Georgia 7,112
Kentucky 6,395
West Virginia 1,771
Virginia 6,775
Alabama 7,364
Louisiana 3,502
Mississippi 2,838
South Carolina 3,296

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 19 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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