Find Affordable College Courses

What Do You Want to Study?

Best Value Nursing Doctor's Degree Schools in Illinois

Find Schools Near

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.

Top 10 Best Nursing Doctor's Degree Schools

Our 2023 rankings named Saint Francis Medical Center College of Nursing the best value school in Illinois for nursing students working on their doctor’s degree. St. Francis Medical Center College of Nursing is a fairly small private not-for-profit school located in the city of Peoria.

The average tuition and fees for an in-state graduate student at St. Francis Medical Center College of Nursing are $8,740 a year.

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

Request Information
#2

McKendree University

Lebanon, IL

A rank of #2 on this year’s list means McKendree University is a great value for nursing students working on their doctor’s degree. Located in the large suburb of Lebanon, McKendree is a private not-for-profit school with a small student population.

In-state tuition fees for graduate students at McKendree are $9,756 per year.

Full Nursing at McKendree University Report

Request Information

A rank of #3 on this year’s list means Chamberlain University - Illinois is a great value for nursing students working on their doctor’s degree. Located in the large suburb of Addison, Chamberlain - Illinois is a private for-profit school with a very large student population.

In-state tuition fees for graduate students at Chamberlain - Illinois are $14,090 per year.

Full Nursing at Chamberlain University - Illinois Report

Request Information

A rank of #4 on this year’s list means Illinois State University is a great value for nursing students working on their doctor’s degree. Located in the medium-sized 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.

Full Nursing at Illinois State University Report

Request Information

Out of the 19 schools in Illinois that were part of this year’s ranking, Southern Illinois University Edwardsville landed the # 5 spot on the list. Located in the large suburb of Edwardsville, SIUE is a public college with a large student population.

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

Full Nursing at Southern Illinois University Edwardsville Report

Request Information

University of St Francis 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 #6 on the list. Located in the large suburb of Joliet, University of Saint Francis is a private not-for-profit college with a small student population.

University of Saint Francis graduate students pay an average of $13,839 in in-state tuition and fees each 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.

Read full report on Nursing at University of St Francis

Request Information
#7

Governors State University

University Park, IL

Governors State University came in at #7 in this year’s edition of the Best Value Nursing Doctor’s Degree Schools in Illinois ranking. GSU is a small public school located in the rural area of University Park.

In-state tuition fees for graduate students at GSU are $8,320 per year.

Read More…

Request Information
#8

Lewis University

Romeoville, IL

With a ranking of #8, Lewis University did quite well on this year’s best value schools for nursing students working on their doctor’s degree. Located in the large suburb of Romeoville, Lewis is a private not-for-profit school with a moderately-sized student population.

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

Lewis also took the #4 spot in our Best Nursing Doctor’s Degree Schools in Illinois rankings.

Full Nursing at Lewis University Report

Request Information
#9

Bradley University

Peoria, IL

Bradley University landed the #9 spot in the 2023 rankings for the best value doctor’s degree nursing programs. Bradley is a moderately-sized private not-for-profit school located in the medium-sized city of Peoria.

In-state tuition fees for graduate students at Bradley are $17,400 per year.

Bradley did well in our overall quality rankings, too. It placed #5 on our Best Nursing Doctor’s Degree Schools in Illinois list.

Read full report on Nursing at Bradley University

Request Information
#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 city of Chicago.

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

Read More…

Request Information

Best Value Nursing Colleges in the Great Lakes Region

Explore all the Best Value Nursing Schools 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.

Find Healthcare Schools Near You

Our free school-matching tool matches students with accredited healthcare schools across the U.S