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Best Value Nursing Master's Degree Schools in the Great Lakes Region

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2023 Best Value Nursing Master's Degree Schools in the Great Lakes Region

Identifying Quality Schools at More Affordable Prices

90 Colleges
$11,275 Avg Tuition & Fees*
$98,140 Avg Salary

Finding the Best Nursing Master'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.

Today's healthcare students have lots of options to pick from when considering higher education opportunities. 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 Master's Degree Schools in the Great Lakes Region ranking is one of many tools that Healthcare Degree Search has developed to help you make your educational decision. Our analysis looked at 90 schools in the Great Lakes Region to see which master'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 Master’s Degree Schools in the Great Lakes Region

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

Top 15% Best Nursing Master's Degree Schools

#1

Spring Arbor University

Spring Arbor, MI

Our analysis found Spring Arbor University to be the best value school for nursing students who want to pursue a master’s degree in the Great Lakes Region . Located in the small suburb of Spring Arbor, Spring Arbor 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 Spring Arbor are $8,383 a year.

Full Nursing at Spring Arbor University Report

You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend Saint Francis Medical Center College of Nursing. It ranked #2 on our 2023 Best Value Nursing Master’s Degree Schools in the Great Lakes Region list. Located in the city of Peoria, St. Francis Medical Center College of Nursing is a private not-for-profit school with a fairly small student population.

The average tuition and fees for an out-of-state graduate students 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

#3

Ferris State University

Big Rapids, MI

Out of the 90 schools in the Great Lakes Region that were part of this year’s ranking, Ferris State University landed the # 3 spot on the list. Ferris is a large public school located in the distant town of Big Rapids.

The average tuition and fees for an out-of-state graduate students at Ferris are $8,232 a year.

Read More…

#4

Cedarville University

Cedarville, OH

You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend Cedarville University. It ranked #4 on our 2023 Best Value Nursing Master’s Degree Schools in the Great Lakes Region list. Located in the fringe town of Cedarville, Cedarville is a private not-for-profit school with a small student population.

Cedarville graduate students pay an average of $9,864 in tuition and fees each year.

Read More…

A rank of #5 on this year’s list means Bethel University - Mishawaka is a great value for nursing students working on their master’s degree. Bethel University is a small private not-for-profit school located in the small city of Mishawaka.

Bethel University graduate students pay an average of $7,880 in tuition and fees each year.

Full Nursing at Bethel University - Mishawaka Report

With a ranking of #6, Southern Illinois University Edwardsville did quite well on this year’s best value schools for nursing students working on their master’s degree. SIUE is a large public school located in the large suburb of Edwardsville.

The average tuition and fees for an out-of-state graduate students at SIUE are $9,316 a year.

Read full report on Nursing at Southern Illinois University Edwardsville

Chamberlain University - Illinois landed the #7 spot in the 2023 rankings for the best value master’s degree nursing programs. Chamberlain - Illinois is a very large private for-profit school located in the large suburb of Addison.

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

Read full report on Nursing at Chamberlain University - Illinois

#8

Youngstown State University

Youngstown, OH

Youngstown State University came in at #8 in this year’s edition of the Best Value Nursing Master’s Degree Schools in the Great Lakes Region ranking. Located in the city of Youngstown, Youngstown State University is a public school with a fairly large student population.

Out-of-state tuition fees for graduate students at Youngstown State University are $6,931 per year.

Read full report on Nursing at Youngstown State University

With a ranking of #9, Herzing University - Madison did quite well on this year’s best value schools for nursing students working on their master’s degree. Herzing University - Madison is a small private not-for-profit school located in the large city of Madison.

The average tuition and fees for an out-of-state graduate students at Herzing University - Madison are $11,680 a year.

Full Nursing at Herzing University - Madison Report

With a ranking of #10, Illinois State University did quite well on this year’s best value schools for nursing students working on their master’s degree. Illinois State is a fairly large public school located in the medium-sized suburb of Normal.

Illinois State graduate students pay an average of $11,773 in tuition and fees each year.

Read More…

#11

Alverno College

Milwaukee, WI

Alverno College landed the #11 spot in the 2023 rankings for the best value master’s degree nursing programs. Located in the large city of Milwaukee, Alverno is a private not-for-profit school with a small student population.

Out-of-state tuition fees for graduate students at Alverno are $10,402 per year.

Full Nursing at Alverno College Report

#12

McKendree University

Lebanon, IL

McKendree University did quite well in this year’s ranking of the best places for nursing students to get a master’s degree. It came in at #12 on the list. McKendree is a small private not-for-profit school located in the large suburb of Lebanon.

McKendree graduate students pay an average of $9,756 in tuition and fees each year.

Read full report on Nursing at McKendree University

#13

Marian University

Fond Du Lac, WI

Marian University ranked #13 on this year’s Best Value Nursing Master’s Degree Schools in the Great Lakes Region list. Located in the city of Fond Du Lac, Marian is a private not-for-profit college with a small student population.

Marian graduate students pay an average of $11,286 in tuition and fees each year.

Read More…

Additional Noteworthy Schools

These are some additional schools worth mentioning that are also great but just didn't quite make the cut to earn our top Best Value Nursing Master's Degree Schools in the Great Lakes Region award.

Rank College Location
14 Otterbein University Westerville, OH
15 University of St Francis Joliet, IL
16 Purdue University Northwest Hammond, IN
17 Indiana Wesleyan University - National & Global Marion, IN
18 Northern Illinois University Dekalb, IL
18 Concordia University, Wisconsin Mequon, WI

Best Nursing Colleges by State

Explore the best nursing colleges for a specific state in the Great Lakes region.

State Degrees Awarded
Illinois 21,938
Ohio 13,973
Michigan 7,345
Indiana 7,922
Wisconsin 5,410

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 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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