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Best Value Nursing Doctor's Degree Schools in Kentucky

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2023 Best Value Nursing Doctor's Degree Schools in Kentucky

Identifying Quality Schools at More Affordable Prices

9 Colleges
$12,489 Avg Tuition & Fees*
$115,233 Avg Salary

Finding the Best Nursing Doctor's Degree School for You

Nursing is the most popular major in Kentucky with 6,395 degrees and certificates handed out in 2020-2021.

Today's healthcare students have lots of options to pick from when considering higher education opportunities. 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 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 Kentucky ranking. Our analysis looked at 9 schools in Kentucky 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 Kentucky

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

Best Kentucky Schools for Affordable Quality for a Doctorate in Nursing

#1

Northern Kentucky University

Highland Heights, KY

Our analysis found Northern Kentucky University to be the best value school for nursing students who want to pursue a doctor’s degree in Kentucky. NKU is a large public school located in the large suburb of Highland Heights.

The average tuition and fees for an in-state graduate student at NKU are $10,284 a year.

In addition to its best value ranking, and one of the reasons why the school is on the list, NKU is ranked #3 for overall quality for nursing in Kentucky.

Full Nursing at Northern Kentucky University Report

#2

Kentucky State University

Frankfort, KY

You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend Kentucky State University. It ranked #2 on our 2023 Best Value Nursing Doctor’s Degree Schools in Kentucky list. KY State is a small public school located in the distant town of Frankfort.

In-state tuition fees for graduate students at KY State are $8,880 per year.

Full Nursing at Kentucky State University Report

Out of the 9 schools in Kentucky that were part of this year’s ranking, Frontier Nursing University landed the # 3 spot on the list. Located in the rural area of Hyden, Frontier Nursing University is a private not-for-profit school with a small student population.

In-state tuition fees for graduate students at Frontier Nursing University are $20,780 per year.

Read full report on Nursing at Frontier Nursing University

A rank of #4 on this year’s list means Eastern Kentucky University is a great value for nursing students working on their doctor’s degree. Located in the town of Richmond, Eastern is a public school with a large student population.

The average tuition and fees for an in-state graduate student at Eastern are $10,200 a year.

Eastern not only placed well in our value ranking, but it is also #4 on our Best Nursing Doctor’s Degree Schools in Kentucky list.

Read full report on Nursing at Eastern Kentucky University

#5

University of Kentucky

Lexington, KY

Out of the 9 schools in Kentucky that were part of this year’s ranking, University of Kentucky landed the # 5 spot on the list. UK is a very large public school located in the city of Lexington.

UK graduate students pay an average of $13,674 in in-state tuition and fees each year.

Full Nursing at University of Kentucky Report

With a ranking of #6, Murray State University did quite well on this year’s best value schools for nursing students working on their doctor’s degree. Murray State is a medium-sized public school located in the town of Murray.

The average tuition and fees for an in-state graduate student at Murray State are $9,882 a year.

Full Nursing at Murray State University Report

#7

Bellarmine University

Louisville, KY

Bellarmine University ranked #7 on this year’s Best Value Nursing Doctor’s Degree Schools in Kentucky list. Located in the large city of Louisville, Bellarmine U is a private not-for-profit school with a small student population.

In-state tuition fees for graduate students at Bellarmine U are $13,652 per year.

Bellarmine U also took the #1 spot in our Best Nursing Doctor’s Degree Schools in Kentucky rankings.

Read full report on Nursing at Bellarmine University

#8

University of Louisville

Louisville, KY

University of Louisville landed the #8 spot in the 2023 rankings for the best value doctor’s degree nursing programs. UofL is a very large public school located in the city of Louisville.

UofL graduate students pay an average of $13,725 in in-state tuition and fees each year.

UofL also made our Best Nursing Doctor’s Degree Schools in Kentucky list, coming in at #5.

Read full report on Nursing at University of Louisville

#9

Western Kentucky University

Bowling Green, KY

Western Kentucky University landed the #9 spot in the 2023 rankings for the best value doctor’s degree nursing programs. WKU is a large public school located in the city of Bowling Green.

The average tuition and fees for an in-state graduate student at WKU are $12,140 a year.

Read full report on Nursing at Western Kentucky University

Best Value Nursing Colleges in the Southeast Region

Explore all the Best Value Nursing Colleges 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
West Virginia 1,771
Virginia 6,775
Louisiana 3,502
Mississippi 2,838
South Carolina 3,296
Alabama 7,364
Arkansas 2,882

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 9 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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