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Best Nursing Basic Certificate Schools in the Southwest Region

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2023 Best Nursing Basic Certificate Schools in the Southwest Region

5 Colleges

Finding the Best Nursing Basic Certificate 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 nursing program is right for you. 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 assist you in seeing some of the education options that are available to you, Nursing Degree Search has created its Best Nursing Basic Certificate Schools in the Southwest Region ranking. Our analysis looked at 5 schools in the Southwest Region to see which basic certificate programs offered the best educational experiences for nursing students. To come up with a school's ranking, we analyzed numerous factors related to post-graduation wages, the quality of education offered by the school, average accumulated student debt, and more.

View our full ranking methodology.

2023 Best Nursing Basic Certificate Schools in the Southwest Region

The following schools top our list of the Best Nursing Basic Certificate Colleges.

Top Southwest Region Schools for an Award Taking Less Than 1 Year in Nursing

#1

Lone Star College System

The Woodlands, TX

Our 2023 rankings named Lone Star College System the best school in the Southwest Region for nursing students working on their basic certificate. North Harris Montgomery is a fairly large public school located in the midsize city of The Woodlands.

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The excellent basic certificate programs at Mesa Community College helped the school earn the #2 place on this year’s ranking of the best nursing schools in the Southwest Region . Located in the city of Mesa, Mesa Community College is a public college with a fairly large student population.

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The excellent basic certificate programs at El Paso Community College helped the school earn the #3 place on this year’s ranking of the best nursing schools in the Southwest Region . Located in the city of El Paso, El Paso Community College is a public college with a very large student population.

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Out of the 5 schools in the Southwest Region that were part of this year’s ranking, GateWay Community College landed the # 4 spot on the list. GateWay Community College is a small public school located in the large city of Phoenix.

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#5

Central Texas College

Killeen, TX

You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend Central Texas College. It ranked #5 on our 2023 Best Nursing Basic Certificate Schools in the Southwest Region list. Central Texas College is a moderately-sized public school located in the suburb of Killeen.

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Best Nursing Colleges by State

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

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

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
Practical Nursing & Nursing Assistants 84,274

Notes and References

*These averages are for the top 5 schools only.

  • Read more about our ranking methodology.
  • 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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