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Most Popular Nursing Master's Degree Schools in Pennsylvania

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2023 Most Popular Nursing Master's Degree Schools in Pennsylvania

42 Colleges
$98,140 Avg Salary

Finding the Best Nursing Master's Degree 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 Most Popular Nursing Master's Degree Schools in Pennsylvania ranking. This report analyzed 42 schools in Pennsylvania to see which ones were the most popular master'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 master's degree.

#1

University of Pennsylvania

Philadelphia, PA

Our 2023 rankings named University of Pennsylvania the most popular school in Pennsylvania for nursing students working on their master’s degree. UPenn is a fairly large private not-for-profit school located in the city of Philadelphia.

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

Full Nursing at University of Pennsylvania Report

#2

Drexel University

Philadelphia, PA

The in-demand master’s degree programs at Drexel University helped the school earn the #2 place on this year’s ranking of the most popular nursing schools in Pennsylvania. Located in the city of Philadelphia, Drexel is a private not-for-profit college with a fairly large student population.

Of the 335 students majoring in nursing at Drexel, 10% are male and 90% are female.

Read More…

#3

Thomas Jefferson University

Philadelphia, PA

The in-demand master’s degree programs at Thomas Jefferson University helped the school earn the #3 place on this year’s ranking of the most popular nursing schools in Pennsylvania. Located in the city of Philadelphia, Thomas Jefferson University is a private not-for-profit college with a moderately-sized student population.

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

Read full report on Nursing at Thomas Jefferson University

#4

Wilkes University

Wilkes-Barre, PA

You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend Wilkes University. It ranked #4 on our 2023 Most Popular Nursing Master’s Degree Schools in Pennsylvania list. Located in the small city of Wilkes-Barre, Wilkes is a private not-for-profit school with a moderately-sized student population.

Of the 114 students majoring in nursing at Wilkes, 20% are male and 80% are female.

Read full report on Nursing at Wilkes University

#5

Duquesne University

Pittsburgh, PA

Out of the 42 schools in Pennsylvania that were part of this year’s ranking, Duquesne University landed the # 5 spot on the list. Located in the large city of Pittsburgh, Duquesne is a private not-for-profit college with a medium-sized student population.

Of the 74 students majoring in nursing at Duquesne, 8% are male and 92% are female.

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#6

Carlow University

Pittsburgh, PA

Carlow University 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 #6 on the list. Carlow is a small private not-for-profit school located in the city of Pittsburgh.

Of the 70 students majoring in nursing at Carlow, 7% are male and 93% are female.

Full Nursing at Carlow University Report

#6

Villanova University

Villanova, PA

Villanova University 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 #6 on the list. Villanova is a large private not-for-profit school located in the large suburb of Villanova.

Of the 70 students majoring in nursing at Villanova, 11% are male and 89% are female.

Full Nursing at Villanova University Report

California University of Pennsylvania landed the #8 spot in the 2023 rankings for the most popular master’s degree nursing programs. Cal U is a medium-sized public school located in the suburb of California.

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

Read More…

#9

DeSales University

Center Valley, PA

With a ranking of #9, DeSales University did quite well on this year’s most popular schools for nursing students working on their master’s degree. Located in the rural area of Center Valley, DeSales is a private not-for-profit school with a small student population.

Of the 64 students majoring in nursing at DeSales, 23% are male and 77% are female.

Read More…

#10

La Salle University

Philadelphia, PA

La Salle University ranked #10 on this year’s Most Popular Nursing Master’s Degree Schools in Pennsylvania list. Located in the large city of Philadelphia, La Salle is a private not-for-profit college with a small student population.

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

Read More…

Best Nursing Colleges in the Middle Atlantic Region

Explore all the Most Popular 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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