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

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

104 Colleges
$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.

To help you arm yourself with the information you need to make your decision, Healthcare Degree Search has developed this Most Popular Nursing Master's Degree Schools in the Great Lakes Region ranking. Our analysis looked at 104 schools in the Great Lakes Region to see which master's degree programs were the most popular 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 following schools top our list of the Most Popular Nursing Master's Degree Colleges.

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

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

Read full report on Nursing at Chamberlain University - Illinois

You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend University of Cincinnati - Main Campus. It ranked #2 on our 2023 Most Popular Nursing Master’s Degree Schools in the Great Lakes Region list. UC is a very large public school located in the city of Cincinnati.

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

Read full report on Nursing at University of Cincinnati - Main Campus

#3

Purdue University Global

Indianapolis, IN

A rank of #3 on this year’s list means Purdue University Global is a great place for nursing students working on their master’s degree. Purdue University Global is a fairly large public school located in the small city of Indianapolis.

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

Full Nursing at Purdue University Global Report

#4

Spring Arbor University

Spring Arbor, MI

The in-demand master’s degree programs at Spring Arbor University helped the school earn the #4 place on this year’s ranking of the most popular nursing schools in the Great Lakes Region . Located in the small suburb of Spring Arbor, Spring Arbor is a private not-for-profit college with a small student population.

Of the 381 students majoring in nursing at Spring Arbor, 13% are male and 87% are female.

Full Nursing at Spring Arbor University Report

The in-demand master’s degree programs at Indiana Wesleyan University - National & Global helped the school earn the #5 place on this year’s ranking of the most popular nursing schools in the Great Lakes Region . Located in the rural area of Marion, IWU is a private not-for-profit school with a large student population.

About 88% of the students majoring in nursing at the school are women while 12% are male.

Full Nursing at Indiana Wesleyan University - National & Global Report

#6

Marquette University

Milwaukee, WI

Marquette University landed the #6 spot in the 2023 rankings for the most popular master’s degree nursing programs. Marquette is a large private not-for-profit school located in the large city of Milwaukee.

Women make up 86% of the nursing majors at the school.

Read More…

Ohio State University - Main Campus ranked #7 on this year’s Most Popular Nursing Master’s Degree Schools in the Great Lakes Region list. Located in the large city of Columbus, Ohio State is a public school with a fairly large student population.

About 88% of the students majoring in nursing at the school are women while 12% are male.

Read More…

#8

DePaul University

Chicago, IL

DePaul University came in at #8 in this year’s edition of the Most Popular Nursing Master’s Degree Schools in the Great Lakes Region ranking. Located in the city of Chicago, DePaul is a private not-for-profit school with a fairly large student population.

Of the 200 students majoring in nursing at DePaul, 13% are male and 87% are female.

Full Nursing at DePaul University Report

With a ranking of #9, Herzing University - Madison did quite well on this year’s most popular 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.

About 86% of the students majoring in nursing at the school are women while 14% are male.

Full Nursing at Herzing University - Madison Report

#10

Rush University

Chicago, IL

Rush University landed the #10 spot in the 2023 rankings for the most popular master’s degree nursing programs. Rush University is a small private not-for-profit school located in the large city of Chicago.

Of the 175 students majoring in nursing at Rush University, 13% are male and 87% are female.

Full Nursing at Rush University Report

Kent State University at Kent did quite well in this year’s ranking of the most popular places for nursing students to get a master’s degree. It came in at #11 on the list. Kent State is a very large public school located in the large suburb of Kent.

Women make up 87% of the nursing majors at the school.

Read More…

With a ranking of #12, Benedictine University did quite well on this year’s most popular schools for nursing students working on their master’s degree. Benedictine U is a small private not-for-profit school located in the large suburb of Lisle.

Women make up 93% of the nursing majors at the school.

Read full report on Nursing at Benedictine University

With a ranking of #13, Indiana University - Purdue University - Indianapolis did quite well on this year’s most popular schools for nursing students working on their master’s degree. Located in the city of Indianapolis, IUPUI is a public college with a fairly large student population.

About 86% of the students majoring in nursing at the school are women while 14% are male.

Read More…

Case Western Reserve University came in at #14 in this year’s edition of the Most Popular Nursing Master’s Degree Schools in the Great Lakes Region ranking. Case Western is a fairly large private not-for-profit school located in the large city of Cleveland.

Of the 122 students majoring in nursing at Case Western, 18% are male and 82% are female.

Read full report on Nursing at Case Western Reserve University

University of Michigan - Ann Arbor did quite well in this year’s ranking of the most popular places for nursing students to get a master’s degree. It came in at #15 on the list. Located in the city of Ann Arbor, U-M is a public college with a fairly large student population.

Women make up 85% of the nursing majors at the school.

Read More…

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 Master's Degree Schools in the Great Lakes Region award.

Rank College Location
16 University of Toledo Toledo, OH
17 Lewis University Romeoville, IL
18 University of Illinois at Chicago Chicago, IL
19 Bradley University Peoria, IL
20 University of Southern Indiana Evansville, IN

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.

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