2023 Best Value Nursing Schools in Pennsylvania
Highlighting Quality Schools With More Affordable Pricing
Finding the Best Nursing School for You
Nursing is the most popular major in Pennsylvania with 11,477 degrees and certificates handed out in 2020-2021.
When it comes to higher education, there are a lot of options for healthcare students. 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 Schools in Pennsylvania ranking. This report analyzed 76 schools in Pennsylvania to see which ones offered the best value 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.
Top 15% Best Nursing Schools
Our analysis found La Salle University to be the best value school for nursing students who want to pursue a degree in Pennsylvania. Located in the city of Philadelphia, La Salle is a private not-for-profit school with a small student population.
La Salle undergraduate students pay an average of $33,150 in in-state tuition and fees each year. The average amount in student loans that nursing majors at La Salle take out is $27,000. This translates to an average monthly loan payment of $478, based on a 10-year repayment plan.
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You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend Western Pennsylvania Hospital School of Nursing. It ranked #2 on our 2023 Best Value Nursing Schools in Pennsylvania list. Located in the city of Pittsburgh, West Penn Hospital School of Nursing is a private not-for-profit college with a small student population.
West Penn Hospital School of Nursing undergraduate students pay an average of $10,660 in in-state tuition and fees each year. Nursing majors at West Penn Hospital School of Nursing take out an average of $20,000 in student loans while working on their egree.
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You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around you if you attend St Lukes Hospital School of Nursing. The school came in at #3 on this year’s Best Value Nursing Schools in Pennsylvania list. Located in the large suburb of Bethlehem, St Lukes Hospital School of Nursing is a private not-for-profit school with a fairly small student population.
The average tuition and fees for an in-state undergraduate at St Lukes Hospital School of Nursing are $12,626 a year. The average amount in student loans that nursing majors at St Lukes Hospital School of Nursing take out is $21,381.
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The excellent programs at Roxborough Memorial Hospital School of Nursing helped the school earn the #4 place on this year’s ranking of the best nursing schools in Pennsylvania. Located in the large city of Philadelphia, Roxborough Memorial Hospital School of Nursing is a private for-profit college with a small student population.
The average tuition and fees for an in-state undergraduate at Roxborough Memorial Hospital School of Nursing are $14,610 a year. On average, nursing graduates from Roxborough Memorial Hospital School of Nursing take out $20,000 in student loans while working on their degree.
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The excellent programs at Reading Hospital School of Health Sciences helped the school earn the #5 place on this year’s ranking of the best nursing schools in Pennsylvania. RHSHS is a fairly small private not-for-profit school located in the small city of Reading.
The average tuition and fees for an in-state undergraduate at RHSHS are $13,334 a year. While working on their degree, nursing majors at RHSHS accumulate an average of around $25,208 in student debt.
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Joseph F McCloskey School of Nursing came in at #6 in this year’s edition of the Best Value Nursing Schools in Pennsylvania ranking. Located in the distant town of Pottsville, Joseph F McCloskey School of Nursing is a private not-for-profit school with a fairly small student population.
The average tuition and fees for an in-state undergraduate at Joseph F McCloskey School of Nursing are $12,710 a year. The average amount in student loans that nursing majors at Joseph F McCloskey School of Nursing take out is $29,000.
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UPMC Jameson School of Nursing came in at #7 in this year’s edition of the Best Value Nursing Schools in Pennsylvania ranking. Located in the fringe town of New Castle, UPMC Jameson School of Nursing is a private not-for-profit college with a small student population.
In-state tuition fees for undergraduate students at UPMC Jameson School of Nursing are $13,051 per year. Nursing majors at UPMC Jameson School of Nursing take out an average of $24,750 in student loans while working on their egree.
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Washington Hospital School of Nursing landed the #8 spot in the 2023 rankings for the best value nursing programs. Washington Hospital School of Nursing is a fairly small private not-for-profit school located in the large suburb of Washington.
The average tuition and fees for an in-state undergraduate at Washington Hospital School of Nursing are $13,049 a year. After completing their degree, nursing graduates from Washington Hospital School of Nursing carry an average student debtload of $23,719.
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UPMC Shadyside School of Nursing came in at #9 in this year’s edition of the Best Value Nursing Schools in Pennsylvania ranking. Located in the large city of Pittsburgh, UPMC Shadyside School of Nursing is a private not-for-profit school with a fairly small student population.
The average tuition and fees for an in-state undergraduate at UPMC Shadyside School of Nursing are $15,545 a year. The average amount in student loans that nursing majors at UPMC Shadyside School of Nursing take out is $27,892.
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UPMC Mercy School of Nursing ranked #10 on this year’s Best Value Nursing Schools in Pennsylvania list. UPMC Mercy School of Nursing is a fairly small private not-for-profit school located in the city of Pittsburgh.
UPMC Mercy School of Nursing undergraduate students pay an average of $15,545 in in-state tuition and fees each year. On average, nursing graduates from UPMC Mercy School of Nursing take out $24,743 in student loans while working on their degree.
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Harrisburg Area Community College landed the #11 spot in the 2023 rankings for the best value nursing programs. HACC is a large public school located in the city of Harrisburg.
In-state tuition fees for undergraduate students at HACC are $8,295 per year. After completing their degree, nursing graduates from HACC carry an average student debtload of $29,839.
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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 Schools in Pennsylvania award.
| Rank | College | Location |
|---|---|---|
| 12 | Saint Vincent College | Latrobe, PA |
| 13 | Slippery Rock University of Pennsylvania | Slippery Rock, PA |
| 14 | Lehigh Carbon Community College | Schnecksville, PA |
| 15 | West Chester University of Pennsylvania | West Chester, PA |
| 15 | Community College of Allegheny County | Pittsburgh, PA |
Best Value Nursing Colleges in the Middle Atlantic Region
Explore all the Best Value Nursing Colleges in the Middle Atlantic Area or other specific states within that region.
| State | Degrees Awarded |
|---|---|
| New York | 17,708 |
| Maryland | 4,104 |
| New Jersey | 5,648 |
| District of Columbia | 990 |
| Delaware | 1,267 |
More Nursing Rankings in Pennsylvania
Nursing Related Majors for Nursing
One of 30 majors within the healthcare area of study, nursing has other similar majors worth exploring.
Nursing Concentrations
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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