Find Healthcare Schools

Study Area & Zipcode

Most Popular Nursing Graduate Certificate Schools in the Southeast Region

Find Schools Near

2023 Most Popular Nursing Graduate Certificate Schools in the Southeast Region

105 Colleges
$99,011 Avg Salary
$21,624 Avg Student Debt

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.

It's not easy to decide which healthcare program to enroll in when you have so many options available. 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 Graduate Certificate Schools in the Southeast Region to help you in your search for the best school for you. This report analyzed 105 schools in the Southeast Region to see which ones were the most popular graduate certificate 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 graduate certificate.

Our 2023 rankings named University of South Alabama the most popular school in the Southeast Region for nursing students working on their graduate certificate. USA is a fairly large public school located in the city of Mobile.

Women make up 94% of the nursing majors at the school.

Full Nursing at University of South Alabama Report

A rank of #2 on this year’s list means Frontier Nursing University is a great place for nursing students working on their graduate certificate. Located in the rural area of Hyden, Frontier Nursing University is a private not-for-profit college with a small student population.

Of the 125 students majoring in nursing at Frontier Nursing University, 4% are male and 96% are female.

Read More…

#3

Liberty University

Lynchburg, VA

The in-demand graduate certificate programs at Liberty University helped the school earn the #3 place on this year’s ranking of the most popular nursing schools in the Southeast Region . Liberty University is a fairly large private not-for-profit school located in the city of Lynchburg.

About 89% of the students majoring in nursing at the school are women while 11% are male.

Full Nursing at Liberty University Report

#4

Northern Kentucky University

Highland Heights, KY

A rank of #4 on this year’s list means Northern Kentucky University is a great place for nursing students working on their graduate certificate. NKU is a large public school located in the large suburb of Highland Heights.

About 90% of the students majoring in nursing at the school are women while 10% are male.

Read full report on Nursing at Northern Kentucky University

#5

Duke University

Durham, NC

Out of the 105 schools in the Southeast Region that were part of this year’s ranking, Duke University landed the # 5 spot on the list. Located in the large city of Durham, Duke is a private not-for-profit college with a large student population.

Of the 57 students majoring in nursing at Duke, 12% are male and 88% are female.

Full Nursing at Duke University Report

With a ranking of #6, South University’s online programs did quite well on this year’s most popular schools for nursing students working on their graduate certificate. South University's online programs is a moderately-sized private for-profit school located in the medium-sized city of Savannah.

About 88% of the students majoring in nursing at the school are women while 13% are male.

Read More…

#7

Vanderbilt University

Nashville, TN

With a ranking of #7, Vanderbilt University did quite well on this year’s most popular schools for nursing students working on their graduate certificate. Located in the large city of Nashville, Vanderbilt is a private not-for-profit college with a large student population.

Women make up 79% of the nursing majors at the school.

Full Nursing at Vanderbilt University Report

#8

Western Kentucky University

Bowling Green, KY

Western Kentucky University came in at #8 in this year’s edition of the Most Popular Nursing Graduate Certificate Schools in the Southeast Region ranking. WKU is a large public school located in the small city of Bowling Green.

Of the 26 students majoring in nursing at WKU, 4% are male and 96% are female.

Full Nursing at Western Kentucky University Report

#9

University of Miami

Coral Gables, FL

University of Miami ranked #9 on this year’s Most Popular Nursing Graduate Certificate Schools in the Southeast Region list. U Miami is a large private not-for-profit school located in the city of Coral Gables.

About 71% of the students majoring in nursing at the school are women while 29% are male.

After completing their Graduate Certificate, nursing graduates from U Miami carry an average student debt load of $26,723.

Read full report on Nursing at University of Miami

#9

Shenandoah University

Winchester, VA

Shenandoah University did quite well in this year’s ranking of the most popular places for nursing students to get a graduate certificate. It came in at #9 on the list. Shenandoah is a small private not-for-profit school located in the small city of Winchester.

Of the 24 students majoring in nursing at Shenandoah, 4% are male and 96% are female.

Read full report on Nursing at Shenandoah University

The University of Tennessee - Knoxville ranked #11 on this year’s Most Popular Nursing Graduate Certificate Schools in the Southeast Region list. Located in the midsize city of Knoxville, UT Knoxville is a public school with a very large student population.

Women make up 91% of the nursing majors at the school.

Read More…

With a ranking of #12, University of Central Florida did quite well on this year’s most popular schools for nursing students working on their graduate certificate. UCF is a fairly large public school located in the suburb of Orlando.

About 91% of the students majoring in nursing at the school are women while 9% are male.

Full Nursing at University of Central Florida Report

#12

East Tennessee State University

Johnson City, TN

East Tennessee State University ranked #12 on this year’s Most Popular Nursing Graduate Certificate Schools in the Southeast Region list. ETSU is a fairly large public school located in the city of Johnson City.

About 91% of the students majoring in nursing at the school are women while 9% are male.

Read full report on Nursing at East Tennessee State University

#14

Florida Atlantic University

Boca Raton, FL

Florida Atlantic University ranked #14 on this year’s Most Popular Nursing Graduate Certificate Schools in the Southeast Region list. Located in the small city of Boca Raton, FAU is a public school with a fairly large student population.

About 85% of the students majoring in nursing at the school are women while 15% are male.

Read full report on Nursing at Florida Atlantic University

#15

University of Mississippi

University, MS

With a ranking of #15, University of Mississippi did quite well on this year’s most popular schools for nursing students working on their graduate certificate. Ole Miss is a very large public school located in the remote town of University.

Of the 18 students majoring in nursing at Ole Miss, 11% are male and 89% are female.

Read full report on Nursing at University of Mississippi

University of Southern Mississippi did quite well in this year’s ranking of the most popular places for nursing students to get a graduate certificate. It came in at #15 on the list. Southern Miss is a fairly large public school located in the small city of Hattiesburg.

About 83% of the students majoring in nursing at the school are women while 17% are male.

The average amount in student loans that nursing majors at Southern Miss take out while working on their Graduate Certificate is $19,246.

Read More…

Additional Noteworthy Schools

Here are some additional popular schools for Nursing students in the Southeast Region that almost earned our Most Popular Nursing Graduate Certificate Schools in the Southeast Region award.

Rank College Location
17 Georgia State University Atlanta, GA
18 Emory University Atlanta, GA
19 University of Florida Gainesville, FL
20 Eastern Kentucky University Richmond, KY
21 University of Kentucky Lexington, KY
21 University of South Carolina - Columbia Columbia, SC

Best Nursing Colleges by State

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

State Degrees Awarded
Florida 21,209
North Carolina 7,425
Tennessee 6,004
Georgia 7,112
Kentucky 6,395
West Virginia 1,771
Virginia 6,775
Alabama 7,364
Louisiana 3,502
Mississippi 2,838
South Carolina 3,296
Arkansas 2,882

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 26 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.