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Most Popular Nursing Schools in Kentucky

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2023 Most Popular Nursing Schools in Kentucky

43 Colleges
$65,824 Avg Salary
$26,802 Avg Student Debt

Finding the Best Nursing School for You

Nursing is the most popular major in Kentucky with 6,395 degrees and certificates handed out in 2020-2021.

Today's healthcare students have lots of options to pick from when considering higher education opportunities. 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.

The Most Popular Nursing Schools in Kentucky ranking is one of many tools that Healthcare Degree Search has developed to help you make your educational decision. Our analysis looked at 43 schools in Kentucky to see which 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 Colleges.

Our analysis found Frontier Nursing University to be the most popular school for nursing students who want to pursue a degree in Kentucky. Located in the rural area of Hyden, Frontier Nursing University is a private not-for-profit school with a small student population.

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The excellent programs at Galen College of Nursing - Louisville helped the school earn the #2 place on this year’s ranking of the best nursing schools in Kentucky. Located in the city of Louisville, Galen College of Nursing - Louisville is a private for-profit school with a small student population.

On average, nursing graduates from Galen College of Nursing - Louisville take out $41,365 in student loans while working on their degree. For students who choose a 10-year repayment plan, the average monthly student loan payment is $117.

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#3

Northern Kentucky University

Highland Heights, KY

The excellent programs at Northern Kentucky University helped the school earn the #3 place on this year’s ranking of the best nursing schools in Kentucky. NKU is a fairly large public school located in the suburb of Highland Heights.

On average, nursing graduates from NKU take out $30,429 in student loans while working on their degree. When it comes time to repay the loan, graduates who are on a 10-year repayment plan pay an average monthly payment of $252.

Full Nursing at Northern Kentucky University Report

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#4

Western Kentucky University

Bowling Green, KY

You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around you if you attend Western Kentucky University. The school came in at #4 on this year’s Most Popular Nursing Schools in Kentucky list. WKU is a large public school located in the city of Bowling Green.

While working on their degree, nursing majors at WKU accumulate an average of around $24,343 in student debt. For students who choose a 10-year repayment plan, the average monthly student loan payment is $200.

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#5

University of Kentucky

Lexington, KY

The excellent programs at University of Kentucky helped the school earn the #5 place on this year’s ranking of the best nursing schools in Kentucky. UK is a fairly large public school located in the large city of Lexington.

The average amount in student loans that nursing majors at UK take out is $27,000. For students who choose a 10-year repayment plan, the average monthly student loan payment is $363.

Full Nursing at University of Kentucky Report

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#6

University of Louisville

Louisville, KY

With a ranking of #6, University of Louisville did quite well on this year’s most popular schools for nursing students. UofL is a very large public school located in the city of Louisville.

On average, nursing graduates from UofL take out $25,656 in student loans while working on their degree. Assuming that a graduate chooses a 10-year repayment plan, the average monthly loan payment is $178.

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Eastern Kentucky University came in at #7 in this year’s edition of the Most Popular Nursing Schools in Kentucky ranking. Located in the distant town of Richmond, Eastern is a public college with a large student population.

On average, nursing graduates from Eastern take out $27,970 in student loans while working on their degree. This translates to an average monthly loan payment of $242, based on a 10-year repayment plan.

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#8

Bellarmine University

Louisville, KY

Bellarmine University did quite well in this year’s ranking of the most popular schools for nursing students. It came in at #8 on the list. Located in the city of Louisville, Bellarmine U is a private not-for-profit school with a small student population.

While working on their degree, nursing majors at Bellarmine U accumulate an average of around $28,000 in student debt. When it comes time to repay the loan, graduates who are on a 10-year repayment plan pay an average monthly payment of $285.

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#9

Spalding University

Louisville, KY

With a ranking of #9, Spalding University did quite well on this year’s most popular schools for nursing students. Spalding is a small private not-for-profit school located in the city of Louisville.

After completing their degree, nursing graduates from Spalding carry an average student debt load of $31,000.

Full Nursing at Spalding University Report

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#10

Murray State University

Murray, KY

Murray State University landed the #10 spot in the 2023 rankings for the most popular nursing programs. Murray State is a moderately-sized public school located in the town of Murray.

Nursing majors at Murray State take out an average of $24,025 in student loans while working on their egree.

Full Nursing at Murray State University Report

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Best Nursing Colleges in the Southeast Region

Explore all the Most Popular Nursing Schools in the Southeast Area or other specific states within that region.

State Degrees Awarded
Florida 21,209
North Carolina 7,425
Tennessee 6,004
Georgia 7,112
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 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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