Find Healthcare Schools

Study Area & Zipcode

Most Popular Nursing Doctor's Degree Schools in the Great Lakes Region

Find Schools Near

2023 Most Popular Nursing Doctor's Degree Schools in the Great Lakes Region

72 Colleges
$115,233 Avg Salary

Finding the Best Nursing Doctor'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.

Along with in-depth profiles of schools and the programs they offer, Healthcare Degree Search has created the Most Popular Nursing Doctor's Degree Schools in the Great Lakes Region to help you in your search for the best school for you. This report analyzed 72 schools in the Great Lakes Region to see which ones were the most popular doctor's degree programs for healthcare students. To create this ranking we looked at how many students graduated from the Nursing program at each school on the list.

The colleges and universities below are the most popular for nursing majors pursuing a doctor's degree.

Our 2023 rankings named Chamberlain University - Illinois the most popular school in the Great Lakes Region for nursing students working on their doctor’s degree. Chamberlain - Illinois is a very large private for-profit school located in the large suburb of Addison.

About 93% of the students majoring in nursing at the school are women while 7% are male.

Read full report on Nursing at Chamberlain University - Illinois

#2

Rush University

Chicago, IL

The in-demand doctor’s degree programs at Rush University helped the school earn the #2 place on this year’s ranking of the most popular nursing schools in the Great Lakes Region . Rush University is a small private not-for-profit school located in the large city of Chicago.

Women make up 88% of the nursing majors at the school.

Full Nursing at Rush University Report

A rank of #3 on this year’s list means University of Illinois at Chicago is a great place for nursing students working on their doctor’s degree. UIC is a very large public school located in the large city of Chicago.

Women make up 90% of the nursing majors at the school.

Read More…

You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend University of Cincinnati - Main Campus. It ranked #4 on our 2023 Most Popular Nursing Doctor’s Degree Schools in the Great Lakes Region list. UC is a fairly large public school located in the large city of Cincinnati.

About 80% of the students majoring in nursing at the school are women while 20% are male.

Full Nursing at University of Cincinnati - Main Campus Report

Out of the 72 schools in the Great Lakes Region that were part of this year’s ranking, Southern Illinois University Edwardsville landed the # 4 spot on the list. SIUE is a large public school located in the large suburb of Edwardsville.

Of the 69 students majoring in nursing at SIUE, 26% are male and 74% are female.

Full Nursing at Southern Illinois University Edwardsville Report

#6

Purdue University Global

Indianapolis, IN

Purdue University Global landed the #6 spot in the 2023 rankings for the most popular doctor’s degree nursing programs. Purdue University Global is a very large public school located in the city of Indianapolis.

About 97% of the students majoring in nursing at the school are women while 3% are male.

Full Nursing at Purdue University Global Report

Ohio State University - Main Campus came in at #7 in this year’s edition of the Most Popular Nursing Doctor’s Degree Schools in the Great Lakes Region ranking. Located in the city of Columbus, Ohio State is a public school with a very large student population.

About 84% of the students majoring in nursing at the school are women while 16% are male.

Full Nursing at Ohio State University - Main Campus Report

University of Wisconsin - Milwaukee ranked #8 on this year’s Most Popular Nursing Doctor’s Degree Schools in the Great Lakes Region list. Located in the large city of Milwaukee, UWM is a public school with a very large student population.

About 95% of the students majoring in nursing at the school are women while 5% are male.

Read More…

University of Wisconsin - Oshkosh landed the #9 spot in the 2023 rankings for the most popular doctor’s degree nursing programs. UW Oshkosh is a large public school located in the small city of Oshkosh.

Women make up 77% of the nursing majors at the school.

Full Nursing at University of Wisconsin - Oshkosh Report

#9

Bradley University

Peoria, IL

Bradley University landed the #9 spot in the 2023 rankings for the most popular doctor’s degree nursing programs. Located in the midsize city of Peoria, Bradley is a private not-for-profit school with a medium-sized student population.

Women make up 89% of the nursing majors at the school.

Full Nursing at Bradley University Report

Additional Noteworthy Schools

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

Rank College Location
11 Viterbo University La Crosse, WI
12 Case Western Reserve University Cleveland, OH
12 Rosalind Franklin University of Medicine and Science North Chicago, IL
14 University of Michigan - Ann Arbor Ann Arbor, MI

Best Nursing Colleges by State

Explore the best nursing schools 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.

Featured Schools

Find Healthcare Schools Near You

Our free school finder matches students with accredited healthcare schools across the U.S.