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Best Value Nursing Doctor's Degree Schools in the Great Lakes Region

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2023 Best Value Nursing Doctor's Degree Schools in the Great Lakes Region

Identifying Quality Schools at More Affordable Prices

64 Colleges
$12,888 Avg Tuition & Fees*
$115,233 Avg Salary

Finding the Best Nursing Doctor's Degree School for You

In 2020-2021, 322,592 degrees and certificates were awarded to nursing students, making the major the most popular in the country.

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.

To assist you in seeing some of the education options that are available to you, Healthcare Degree Search has created its Best Value Nursing Doctor's Degree Schools in the Great Lakes Region ranking. Our analysis looked at 64 schools in the Great Lakes Region to see which doctor's 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.

Our ranking of value is based on the quality of a program as defined in our per sticker price dollar. 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.

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

2023 Best Value Nursing Doctor’s Degree Schools in the Great Lakes Region

Check out the nursing doctor's degree programs at these schools if you want to get the best value for your educational dollar.

Top 10 Best Nursing Doctor's Degree Schools

#1

Ferris State University

Big Rapids, MI

Our analysis found Ferris State University to be the best value school for nursing students who want to pursue a doctor’s degree in the Great Lakes Region . Ferris is a fairly large public school located in the distant town of Big Rapids.

The average tuition and fees for an out-of-state graduate students at Ferris are $8,232 a year.

On top of its placing in our value ranking, Ferris also did well on our Best Nursing Doctor’s Degree Schools in the Great Lakes Region list. It’s in the top 20% of all schools reviewed in this analysis.

Read More…

A rank of #2 on this year’s list means Saint Francis Medical Center College of Nursing is a great value for nursing students working on their doctor’s degree. Located in the midsize city of Peoria, St. Francis Medical Center College of Nursing is a private not-for-profit college with a fairly small student population.

St. Francis Medical Center College of Nursing graduate students pay an average of $8,740 in tuition and fees each year.

Read full report on Nursing at Saint Francis Medical Center College of Nursing

#3

Ashland University

Ashland, OH

Out of the 64 schools in the Great Lakes Region that were part of this year’s ranking, Ashland University landed the # 3 spot on the list. Located in the fringe town of Ashland, Ashland is a private not-for-profit school with a small student population.

Out-of-state tuition fees for graduate students at Ashland are $6,972 per year.

Read More…

#4

Viterbo University

La Crosse, WI

The excellent doctor’s degree programs at Viterbo University helped the school earn the #4 place on this year’s ranking of the best value nursing schools in the Great Lakes Region . Located in the city of La Crosse, Viterbo is a private not-for-profit college with a small student population.

Out-of-state tuition fees for graduate students at Viterbo are $9,488 per year.

Full Nursing at Viterbo University Report

#5

McKendree University

Lebanon, IL

A rank of #5 on this year’s list means McKendree University is a great value for nursing students working on their doctor’s degree. McKendree is a small private not-for-profit school located in the suburb of Lebanon.

McKendree graduate students pay an average of $9,756 in tuition and fees each year.

Read full report on Nursing at McKendree University

Chamberlain University - Illinois landed the #6 spot in the 2023 rankings for the best value doctor’s degree nursing programs. Chamberlain - Illinois is a fairly large private for-profit school located in the suburb of Addison.

The average tuition and fees for an out-of-state graduate students at Chamberlain - Illinois are $14,090 a year.

Read full report on Nursing at Chamberlain University - Illinois

Southern Illinois University Edwardsville came in at #7 in this year’s edition of the Best Value Nursing Doctor’s Degree Schools in the Great Lakes Region ranking. SIUE is a large public school located in the large suburb of Edwardsville.

SIUE graduate students pay an average of $9,316 in tuition and fees each year.

Read full report on Nursing at Southern Illinois University Edwardsville

University of St Francis landed the #8 spot in the 2023 rankings for the best value doctor’s degree nursing programs. University of Saint Francis is a small private not-for-profit school located in the suburb of Joliet.

Out-of-state tuition fees for graduate students at University of Saint Francis are $13,839 per year.

As a testament to the quality of education it offers, University of Saint Francis also is in the top 10% of our Best Nursing Doctor’s Degree Schools in the Great Lakes Region ranking.

Read full report on Nursing at University of St Francis

#9

Otterbein University

Westerville, OH

Otterbein University did quite well in this year’s ranking of the best places for nursing students to get a doctor’s degree. It came in at #9 on the list. Located in the large suburb of Westerville, Otterbein is a private not-for-profit college with a small student population.

Otterbein graduate students pay an average of $14,392 in tuition and fees each year.

Otterbein excels when it comes to quality. It’s ranked in the top 15% of all schools on our Best Nursing Doctor’s Degree Schools in the Great Lakes Region list.

Read full report on Nursing at Otterbein University

Illinois State University came in at #10 in this year’s edition of the Best Value Nursing Doctor’s Degree Schools in the Great Lakes Region ranking. Illinois State is a very large public school located in the medium-sized suburb of Normal.

Out-of-state tuition fees for graduate students at Illinois State are $11,773 per year.

Full Nursing at Illinois State University Report

Additional Noteworthy Schools

Here are some additional great value schools for Nursing students in the Great Lakes Region seeking value that almost earned our Best Value Nursing Doctor's Degree Schools in the Great Lakes Region award.

Rank College Location
11 Lewis University Romeoville, IL
12 Purdue University Global Indianapolis, IN
12 Alverno College Milwaukee, WI

Best Nursing Colleges by State

Explore the best nursing schools for a specific state in the Great Lakes region.

State Degrees Awarded
Illinois 21,938
Ohio 13,973
Michigan 7,345
Indiana 7,922
Wisconsin 5,410

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.

  • 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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