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Best Value Nursing Schools in Pennsylvania

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2023 Best Value Nursing Schools in Pennsylvania

Highlighting Quality Schools With More Affordable Pricing

76 Colleges
$13,369 Avg Tuition & Fees*
$74,117 Avg Salary

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.

2023 Best Value Nursing Schools in Pennsylvania

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

Top 15% Best Nursing Schools

#1

La Salle University

Philadelphia, PA
$33,150 Average Tuition & Fees

Our 2023 rankings named La Salle University the best value school in Pennsylvania for nursing students. Located in the city of Philadelphia, La Salle is a private not-for-profit college 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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$10,660 Average Tuition & Fees

You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around you if you attend Western Pennsylvania Hospital School of Nursing. The school came in at #2 on this year’s Best Value Nursing Schools in Pennsylvania list. Located in the large city of Pittsburgh, West Penn Hospital School of Nursing is a private not-for-profit school with a small student population.

In-state tuition fees for undergraduate students at West Penn Hospital School of Nursing are $10,660 per 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.

Read full report on Nursing at Western Pennsylvania Hospital School of Nursing

$12,626 Average Tuition & Fees

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 college with a fairly small student population.

In-state tuition fees for undergraduate students at St Lukes Hospital School of Nursing are $12,626 per year. The average amount in student loans that nursing majors at St Lukes Hospital School of Nursing take out is $21,381.

Full Nursing at St Lukes Hospital School of Nursing Report

$14,610 Average Tuition & Fees

Out of the 76 schools in Pennsylvania that were part of this year’s ranking, Roxborough Memorial Hospital School of Nursing landed the # 4 spot on the list. Located in the large city of Philadelphia, Roxborough Memorial Hospital School of Nursing is a private for-profit school with a small student population.

In-state tuition fees for undergraduate students at Roxborough Memorial Hospital School of Nursing are $14,610 per year. On average, nursing graduates from Roxborough Memorial Hospital School of Nursing take out $20,000 in student loans while working on their degree.

Read full report on Nursing at Roxborough Memorial Hospital School of Nursing

$13,334 Average Tuition & Fees

A rank of #5 on this year’s list means Reading Hospital School of Health Sciences is a great value for nursing students. RHSHS is a fairly small private not-for-profit school located in the city of Reading.

In-state tuition fees for undergraduate students at RHSHS are $13,334 per year. While working on their degree, nursing majors at RHSHS accumulate an average of around $25,208 in student debt.

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$12,710 Average Tuition & Fees

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 college with a small student population.

Joseph F McCloskey School of Nursing undergraduate students pay an average of $12,710 in in-state tuition and fees each year. The average amount in student loans that nursing majors at Joseph F McCloskey School of Nursing take out is $29,000.

Read full report on Nursing at Joseph F McCloskey School of Nursing

$13,051 Average Tuition & Fees

UPMC Jameson School of Nursing landed the #7 spot in the 2023 rankings for the best value nursing programs. Located in the town of New Castle, UPMC Jameson School of Nursing is a private not-for-profit college with a fairly small student population.

UPMC Jameson School of Nursing undergraduate students pay an average of $13,051 in in-state tuition and fees each 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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$13,049 Average Tuition & Fees

With a ranking of #8, Washington Hospital School of Nursing did quite well on this year’s best value schools for nursing students. Washington Hospital School of Nursing is a small private not-for-profit school located in the 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.

Read full report on Nursing at Washington Hospital School of Nursing

$15,545 Average Tuition & Fees

UPMC Shadyside School of Nursing ranked #9 on this year’s Best Value Nursing Schools in Pennsylvania list. Located in the city of Pittsburgh, UPMC Shadyside School of Nursing is a private not-for-profit college with a 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.

Full Nursing at UPMC Shadyside School of Nursing Report

#10

UPMC Mercy School of Nursing

Pittsburgh, PA
$15,545 Average Tuition & Fees

With a ranking of #10, UPMC Mercy School of Nursing did quite well on this year’s best value schools for nursing students. UPMC Mercy School of Nursing is a fairly small private not-for-profit school located in the large city of Pittsburgh.

In-state tuition fees for undergraduate students at UPMC Mercy School of Nursing are $15,545 per year. On average, nursing graduates from UPMC Mercy School of Nursing take out $24,743 in student loans while working on their degree.

Full Nursing at UPMC Mercy School of Nursing Report

$8,295 Average Tuition & Fees

Harrisburg Area Community College ranked #11 on this year’s Best Value Nursing Schools in Pennsylvania list. HACC is a fairly large public school located in the small 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.

Read full report on Nursing at Harrisburg Area Community College

Honorable Mentions

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 Schools 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

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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