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Best Value Nursing Graduate Certificate Schools in the Plains States Region

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2023 Best Value Nursing Graduate Certificate Schools in the Plains States Region

Highlighting Quality Schools With More Affordable Pricing

28 Colleges
$15,808 Avg Tuition & Fees*
$99,011 Avg Salary

Finding the Best Nursing Graduate Certificate 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 help you arm yourself with the information you need to make your decision, Healthcare Degree Search has developed this Best Value Nursing Graduate Certificate Schools in the Plains States Region ranking. Our analysis looked at 28 schools in the Plains States Region to see which graduate certificate 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.

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.

Top 10 Best Nursing Graduate Certificate Schools

#1

Morningside College

Sioux City, IA

Our 2023 rankings named Morningside College the best value school in the Plains States Region for nursing students working on their graduate certificate. 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.

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#2

Mount Marty University

Yankton, SD

A rank of #2 on this year’s list means Mount Marty University is a great value for nursing students working on their graduate certificate. Mount Marty is a small private not-for-profit school located in the remote town of Yankton.

Out-of-state tuition fees for graduate students at Mount Marty are $9,650 per year.

In addition to its great value ranking, Mount Marty is in the top 15% of all schools on our Best Nursing Graduate Certificate Schools in the Plains States Region list.

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#3

Clarkson College

Omaha, NE

You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around you if you attend Clarkson College. The school came in at #3 on this year’s Best Value Nursing Graduate Certificate Schools in the Plains States Region list. Clarkson College is a small private not-for-profit school located in the city of Omaha.

The average tuition and fees for an out-of-state graduate students at Clarkson College are $12,294 a year.

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You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend Mayo Clinic School of Medicine. It ranked #4 on our 2023 Best Value Nursing Graduate Certificate Schools in the Plains States Region list. Located in the city of Rochester, Mayo Clinic School of Medicine is a private not-for-profit school with a small student population.

Out-of-state tuition fees for graduate students at Mayo Clinic School of Medicine are $22,716 per year.

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You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around you if you attend Minnesota State University - Moorhead. The school came in at #5 on this year’s Best Value Nursing Graduate Certificate Schools in the Plains States Region list. MSU Moorhead is a moderately-sized public school located in the midsize suburb of Moorhead.

The average tuition and fees for an out-of-state graduate students at MSU Moorhead are $11,052 a year.

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Winona State University came in at #6 in this year’s edition of the Best Value Nursing Graduate Certificate Schools in the Plains States Region ranking. Winona State is a moderately-sized public school located in the town of Winona.

Out-of-state tuition fees for graduate students at Winona State are $12,836 per year.

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With a ranking of #7, Graceland University - Lamoni did quite well on this year’s best value schools for nursing students working on their graduate certificate. Graceland Lamoni is a small private not-for-profit school located in the remote area of Lamoni.

Graceland Lamoni graduate students pay an average of $11,187 in tuition and fees each year.

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#8

Briar Cliff University

Sioux City, IA

Briar Cliff University ranked #8 on this year’s Best Value Nursing Graduate Certificate Schools in the Plains States Region list. Briar Cliff is a small private not-for-profit school located in the small city of Sioux City.

Briar Cliff graduate students pay an average of $10,530 in tuition and fees each year.

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Maryville University of Saint Louis landed the #9 spot in the 2023 rankings for the best value graduate certificate nursing programs. Maryville U is a fairly large private not-for-profit school located in the suburb of Saint Louis.

The average tuition and fees for an out-of-state graduate students at Maryville U are $15,696 a year.

In addition to its best value ranking, and one of the reasons why the school is on the list, Maryville U is ranked #4 for overall quality for nursing in the Plains States Region .

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Nebraska Methodist College of Nursing & Allied Health did quite well in this year’s ranking of the best places for nursing students to get a graduate certificate. It came in at #10 on the list. Nebraska Methodist College is a small private not-for-profit school located in the city of Omaha.

The average tuition and fees for an out-of-state graduate students at Nebraska Methodist College are $12,158 a year.

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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
Missouri 6,840
Nebraska 1,908
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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