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Best Value Nursing Graduate Certificate Schools in Illinois

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2023 Best Value Nursing Graduate Certificate Schools in Illinois

Highlighting Quality Schools With More Affordable Pricing

12 Colleges
$14,054 Avg Tuition & Fees*
$99,011 Avg Salary

Finding the Best Nursing Graduate Certificate 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.

Along with in-depth profiles of schools and the programs they offer, Healthcare Degree Search has created the Best Value Nursing Graduate Certificate Schools in Illinois to help you in your search for the best school for you. This report analyzed 12 schools in Illinois to see which ones offered the best value graduate certificate 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 Graduate Certificate Schools in Illinois

The following schools top our list of the Best Value Nursing Graduate Certificate Colleges.

Top 10 Best Nursing Graduate Certificate Schools

Our 2023 rankings named Illinois State University the best value school in Illinois for nursing students working on their graduate certificate. Located in the midsize suburb of Normal, Illinois State is a public college 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

You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend Southern Illinois University Edwardsville. It ranked #2 on our 2023 Best Value Nursing Graduate Certificate Schools in Illinois list. Located in the 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.

Read More…

Out of the 12 schools in Illinois that were part of this year’s ranking, Saint Francis Medical Center College of Nursing landed the # 3 spot on the list. St. Francis Medical Center College of Nursing is a small private not-for-profit school located in the 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.

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

Out of the 12 schools in Illinois that were part of this year’s ranking, University of St Francis landed the # 4 spot on the list. Located in the suburb of Joliet, University of Saint Francis is a private not-for-profit school with a small student population.

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

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

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A rank of #5 on this year’s list means Chamberlain University - Illinois is a great value for nursing students working on their graduate certificate. Located in the large suburb of Addison, Chamberlain - Illinois is a private for-profit school with a very large student population.

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

Full Nursing at Chamberlain University - Illinois Report

#6

Lewis University

Romeoville, IL

Lewis University came in at #6 in this year’s edition of the Best Value Nursing Graduate Certificate Schools in Illinois ranking. Located in the large suburb of Romeoville, Lewis is a private not-for-profit college with a medium-sized student population.

In-state tuition fees for graduate students at Lewis are $14,960 per year.

Read More…

#7

Bradley University

Peoria, IL

Bradley University ranked #7 on this year’s Best Value Nursing Graduate Certificate Schools in Illinois list. Bradley is a medium-sized private not-for-profit school located in the city of Peoria.

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

Bradley not only placed well in our value ranking, but it is also #5 on our Best Nursing Graduate Certificate Schools in Illinois list.

Read full report on Nursing at Bradley University

#8

Olivet Nazarene University

Bourbonnais, IL

Olivet Nazarene University landed the #8 spot in the 2023 rankings for the best value graduate certificate nursing programs. Olivet Nazarene is a small private not-for-profit school located in the suburb of Bourbonnais.

Olivet Nazarene graduate students pay an average of $12,190 in in-state tuition and fees each year.

Read full report on Nursing at Olivet Nazarene University

#9

North Park University

Chicago, IL

North Park University came in at #9 in this year’s edition of the Best Value Nursing Graduate Certificate Schools in Illinois ranking. North Park is a small private not-for-profit school located in the large city of Chicago.

The average tuition and fees for an in-state graduate student at North Park are $14,184 a year.

Read full report on Nursing at North Park University

Loyola University Chicago ranked #10 on this year’s Best Value Nursing Graduate Certificate Schools in Illinois list. Loyola Chicago is a large private not-for-profit school located in the city of Chicago.

The average tuition and fees for an in-state graduate student at Loyola Chicago are $19,894 a year.

Full Nursing at Loyola University Chicago Report

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 12 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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