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Best Value Nursing Doctor's Degree Schools in the Plains States Region

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2023 Best Value Nursing Doctor's Degree Schools in the Plains States Region

Highlighting Quality Schools With More Affordable Pricing

40 Colleges
$13,709 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.

When it comes to higher education, there are a lot of options for healthcare students. With more and more schools offering online options, you could even register for a great program on the other side of the country. On top of that, there are a considerable number of trade schools that offer fast-track entry to many fields.

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 Plains States Region ranking. This report analyzed 40 schools in the Plains States Region 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.

When determining this ranking, we place a high emphasis on the school's quality as well as its sticker price. Even though a college may be affordable, it may not offer value. 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.

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

2023 Best Value Nursing Doctor’s Degree Schools in the Plains States Region

The colleges and universities below are the best value schools for nursing majors pursuing a doctor's degree.

Top 10 Best Nursing Doctor's Degree Schools

#1

Morningside College

Sioux City, IA

Our analysis found Morningside College to be the best value school for nursing students who want to pursue a doctor’s degree in the Plains States Region . Located in the small city of Sioux City, Morningside is a private not-for-profit college with a small student population.

The average tuition and fees for an out-of-state graduate students at Morningside are $6,516 a year.

Read More…

#2

Mount Marty University

Yankton, SD

You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend Mount Marty University. It ranked #2 on our 2023 Best Value Nursing Doctor’s Degree Schools in the Plains States Region list. Mount Marty is a small private not-for-profit school located in the town of Yankton.

Mount Marty graduate students pay an average of $9,650 in tuition and fees each year.

Mount Marty did well in our overall quality rankings, too. It placed #1 on our Best Nursing Doctor’s Degree Schools in the Plains States Region list.

Read full report on Nursing at Mount Marty University

You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around you if you attend Mayo Clinic School of Medicine. The school came in at #3 on this year’s Best Value Nursing Doctor’s Degree Schools in the Plains States Region list. Located in the midsize city of Rochester, Mayo Clinic School of Medicine is a private not-for-profit school with a small student population.

The average tuition and fees for an out-of-state graduate students at Mayo Clinic School of Medicine are $22,716 a year.

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You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around you if you attend Minnesota State University - Mankato. The school came in at #4 on this year’s Best Value Nursing Doctor’s Degree Schools in the Plains States Region list. Minnesota State Mankato is a fairly large public school located in the city of Mankato.

Out-of-state tuition fees for graduate students at Minnesota State Mankato are $9,308 per year.

Full Nursing at Minnesota State University - Mankato Report

#5

Webster University

Saint Louis, MO

A rank of #5 on this year’s list means Webster University is a great value for nursing students working on their doctor’s degree. Webster is a medium-sized private not-for-profit school located in the large suburb of Saint Louis.

Out-of-state tuition fees for graduate students at Webster are $13,500 per year.

Webster not only placed well in our value ranking, but it is also #5 on our Best Nursing Doctor’s Degree Schools in the Plains States Region list.

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Nebraska Methodist College of Nursing & Allied Health landed the #7 spot in the 2023 rankings for the best value doctor’s degree nursing programs. Nebraska Methodist College is a small private not-for-profit school located in the large city of Omaha.

Nebraska Methodist College graduate students pay an average of $12,158 in tuition and fees each year.

Full Nursing at Nebraska Methodist College of Nursing & Allied Health Report

Graceland University - Lamoni 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. Graceland Lamoni is a small private not-for-profit school located in the remote area of Lamoni.

Out-of-state tuition fees for graduate students at Graceland Lamoni are $11,187 per year.

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With a ranking of #9, Winona State University did quite well on this year’s best value schools for nursing students working on their doctor’s degree. Winona State is a medium-sized public school located in the town of Winona.

Winona State graduate students pay an average of $12,836 in tuition and fees each year.

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Fort Hays State University landed the #10 spot in the 2023 rankings for the best value doctor’s degree nursing programs. FHSU is a large public school located in the town of Hays.

The average tuition and fees for an out-of-state graduate students at FHSU are $11,376 a year.

Full Nursing at Fort Hays State University Report

Best Nursing Colleges by State

Explore the best nursing schools for a specific state in the Plains States region.

State Degrees Awarded
Minnesota 14,890
Iowa 2,966
Nebraska 1,908
Missouri 6,840
Kansas 2,633
South Dakota 1,022
North Dakota 976

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

Majors Similar to Nursing

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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