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Best Value Nursing Doctor's Degree Schools in Illinois

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2023 Best Value Nursing Doctor's Degree Schools in Illinois

Highlighting Quality Schools With More Affordable Pricing

19 Colleges
$15,539 Avg Tuition & Fees*
$115,233 Avg Salary

Finding the Best Nursing Doctor's Degree School for You

Nursing is the most popular major in Illinois with 21,938 degrees and certificates handed out in 2020-2021.

There are lots of options to pick from today when trying to decide which healthcare program is right for you. 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 Value Nursing Doctor's Degree Schools in Illinois ranking is one of many tools that Healthcare Degree Search has developed to help you make your educational decision. This report analyzed 19 schools in Illinois to see which ones offered the best value doctor's degree programs for nursing students. The goal was to highlight schools with more affordable prices than others offering similar quality experiences.

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

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

2023 Best Value Nursing Doctor’s Degree Schools in Illinois

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

Our analysis found Saint Francis Medical Center College of Nursing to be the best value school for nursing students who want to pursue a doctor’s degree in Illinois. St. Francis Medical Center College of Nursing is a small private not-for-profit school located in the medium-sized city of Peoria.

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

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#2

McKendree University

Lebanon, IL

You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend McKendree University. It ranked #2 on our 2023 Best Value Nursing Doctor’s Degree Schools in Illinois list. Located in the suburb of Lebanon, McKendree is a private not-for-profit college with a small student population.

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

Full Nursing at McKendree University Report

Out of the 19 schools in Illinois that were part of this year’s ranking, Chamberlain University - Illinois landed the # 3 spot on the list. Located in the suburb of Addison, Chamberlain - Illinois is a private for-profit school with a very large student population.

Chamberlain - Illinois graduate students pay an average of $14,090 in in-state tuition and fees each year.

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Out of the 19 schools in Illinois that were part of this year’s ranking, Illinois State University landed the # 4 spot on the list. Located in the midsize suburb of Normal, Illinois State is a public school with a fairly large student population.

The average tuition and fees for an in-state graduate student at Illinois State are $9,773 a year.

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The excellent doctor’s degree programs at Southern Illinois University Edwardsville helped the school earn the #5 place on this year’s ranking of the best value nursing schools in Illinois. Located in the large suburb of Edwardsville, SIUE is a public school with a large student population.

The average tuition and fees for an in-state graduate student at SIUE are $9,316 a year.

Full Nursing at Southern Illinois University Edwardsville Report

University of St Francis ranked #6 on this year’s Best Value Nursing Doctor’s Degree Schools in Illinois list. Located in the large suburb of Joliet, University of Saint Francis is a private not-for-profit college with a small student population.

The average tuition and fees for an in-state graduate student at University of Saint Francis are $13,839 a year.

University of Saint Francis not only placed well in our value ranking, but it is also #3 on our Best Nursing Doctor’s Degree Schools in Illinois list.

Full Nursing at University of St Francis Report

#7

Governors State University

University Park, IL

With a ranking of #7, Governors State University did quite well on this year’s best value schools for nursing students working on their doctor’s degree. GSU is a small public school located in the rural area of University Park.

The average tuition and fees for an in-state graduate student at GSU are $8,320 a year.

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#8

Lewis University

Romeoville, IL

Lewis 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 #8 on the list. Located in the large suburb of Romeoville, Lewis is a private not-for-profit college with a medium-sized student population.

Lewis graduate students pay an average of $14,960 in in-state tuition and fees each year.

In addition to its best value ranking, and one of the reasons why the school is on the list, Lewis is ranked #4 for overall quality for nursing in Illinois.

Read full report on Nursing at Lewis University

#9

Bradley University

Peoria, IL

Bradley University ranked #9 on this year’s Best Value Nursing Doctor’s Degree Schools in Illinois list. Bradley is a medium-sized private not-for-profit school located in the midsize city of Peoria.

Bradley graduate students pay an average of $17,400 in in-state tuition and fees each year.

Bradley also took the #5 spot in our Best Nursing Doctor’s Degree Schools in Illinois rankings.

Full Nursing at Bradley University Report

#10

North Park University

Chicago, IL

North Park University landed the #10 spot in the 2023 rankings for the best value doctor’s degree nursing programs. North Park is a small private not-for-profit school located in the large city of Chicago.

In-state tuition fees for graduate students at North Park are $14,184 per year.

Full Nursing at North Park University Report

Best Value Nursing Colleges in the Great Lakes Region

Explore all the Best Value Nursing Colleges in the Great Lakes Area or other specific states within that region.

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

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

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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