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Most Popular Nursing Master's Degree Schools in the Southwest Region

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

62 Colleges
$98,140 Avg Salary

Finding the Best Nursing Master's Degree School for You

Nursing is the most popular major in the United States with 39,944 degrees and certificates handed out in 2020-2021.

There are lots of options to pick from today when trying to decide which healthcare program is right for you. With more and more schools offering online options, you could even register for a great program on the other side of the country. On top of that, there are a considerable number of trade schools that offer fast-track entry to many fields.

The Most Popular Nursing Master's Degree Schools in the Southwest Region ranking is one of many tools that Healthcare Degree Search has developed to help you make your educational decision. This report analyzed 62 schools in the Southwest Region 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

Grand Canyon University

Phoenix, AZ

Our analysis found Grand Canyon University to be the most popular school for nursing students who want to pursue a master’s degree in the Southwest Region . Located in the large city of Phoenix, Grand Canyon University is a private for-profit school with a very large student population.

Of the 1,935 students majoring in nursing at Grand Canyon University, 10% are male and 90% are female.

Full Nursing at Grand Canyon University Report

You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend The University of Texas at Arlington. It ranked #2 on our 2023 Most Popular Nursing Master’s Degree Schools in the Southwest Region list. UT Arlington is a very large public school located in the city of Arlington.

Of the 1,204 students majoring in nursing at UT Arlington, 12% are male and 88% are female.

Full Nursing at The University of Texas at Arlington Report

#3

Aspen University

Denver, CO

You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend Aspen University. It ranked #3 on our 2023 Most Popular Nursing Master’s Degree Schools in the Southwest Region list. Aspen University is a medium-sized private for-profit school located in the large city of Denver.

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

Read More…

A rank of #4 on this year’s list means University of Phoenix - Arizona is a great place for nursing students working on their master’s degree. Located in the large city of Tempe, UOPX - Arizona is a private for-profit school with a very large student population.

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

Read More…

The in-demand master’s degree programs at The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston helped the school earn the #5 place on this year’s ranking of the most popular nursing schools in the Southwest Region . UTHealth is a moderately-sized public school located in the city of Houston.

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

Read More…

#6

University of Arizona

Tucson, AZ

University of Arizona ranked #6 on this year’s Most Popular Nursing Master’s Degree Schools in the Southwest Region list. Located in the large city of Tucson, University of Arizona is a public school with a fairly large student population.

Of the 197 students majoring in nursing at University of Arizona, 21% are male and 79% are female.

Read full report on Nursing at University of Arizona

The University of Texas Medical Branch 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 #7 on the list. UTMB Galveston is a small public school located in the fringe town of Galveston.

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

Read More…

Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center landed the #8 spot in the 2023 rankings for the most popular master’s degree nursing programs. TTUHSC is a medium-sized public school located in the large city of Lubbock.

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

Full Nursing at Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center Report

Texas Woman’s University ranked #9 on this year’s Most Popular Nursing Master’s Degree Schools in the Southwest Region list. Located in the medium-sized city of Denton, TWU is a public college with a large student population.

Of the 127 students majoring in nursing at TWU, 10% are male and 90% are female.

Read More…

The University of Texas at El Paso came in at #10 in this year’s edition of the Most Popular Nursing Master’s Degree Schools in the Southwest Region ranking. UTEP is a very large public school located in the city of El Paso.

Of the 122 students majoring in nursing at UTEP, 20% are male and 80% are female.

Read full report on Nursing at The University of Texas at El Paso

Honorable Mentions

Here are some additional popular schools for Nursing students in the Southwest Region that almost earned our Most Popular Nursing Master's Degree Schools in the Southwest Region award.

Rank College Location
11 Texas Wesleyan University Fort Worth, TX
12 The University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio San Antonio, TX

Best Nursing Colleges by State

Explore the best nursing schools for a specific state in the Southwest region.

State Degrees Awarded
Texas 21,862
Arizona 12,966
Oklahoma 3,009
New Mexico 1,390

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

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.

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