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Best Nursing Graduate Certificate Schools in Illinois

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2023 Best Nursing Graduate Certificate Schools in Illinois

12 Colleges
$101,387 Avg Salary
$40,791 Avg Student Debt

Finding the Best Nursing Graduate Certificate School for You

Out of the majors we analyze each year, nursing was the most popular one in Illinois. In total, 21,938 people earned a degree or certificate in the field from a school in Illinois.

Today's nursing students have lots of options to pick from when considering higher education opportunities. As online education oppotunities continue to grow, you're not restricted to just schools in your local area anymore. Even some of the 'big name' schools are offering online courses. Also, there are a number of trade schools with offerings that you might find attractive.

To assist you in seeing some of the education options that are available to you, Nursing Degree Search has created its Best Nursing Graduate Certificate Schools in Illinois ranking. This report analyzed 12 schools in Illinois to see which ones offered the best graduate certificate programs 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 Graduate Certificate Schools in Illinois

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

Top 10 Best Nursing Graduate Certificate Schools

Our analysis found University of St Francis to be the best school for nursing students who want to pursue a graduate certificate in Illinois. University of Saint Francis is a small private not-for-profit school located in the suburb of Joliet.

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You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend Chamberlain University - Illinois. It ranked #2 on our 2023 Best Nursing Graduate Certificate Schools in Illinois list. Chamberlain - Illinois is a very large private for-profit school located in the large suburb of Addison.

Full Nursing at Chamberlain University - Illinois Report

#3

Bradley University

Peoria, IL

You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around you if you attend Bradley University. The school came in at #3 on this year’s Best Nursing Graduate Certificate Schools in Illinois list. Located in the midsize city of Peoria, Bradley is a private not-for-profit school with a medium-sized student population.

Read full report on Nursing at Bradley University

#4

Lewis University

Romeoville, IL

The excellent graduate certificate programs at Lewis University helped the school earn the #4 place on this year’s ranking of the best nursing schools in Illinois. Lewis is a medium-sized private not-for-profit school located in the suburb of Romeoville.

Read full report on Nursing at Lewis University

#5

Rush University

Chicago, IL

You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around you if you attend Rush University. The school came in at #5 on this year’s Best Nursing Graduate Certificate Schools in Illinois list. Rush University is a small private not-for-profit school located in the city of Chicago.

Full Nursing at Rush University Report

With a ranking of #6, Illinois State University did quite well on this year’s best schools for nursing students working on their graduate certificate. Illinois State is a very large public school located in the medium-sized suburb of Normal.

Full Nursing at Illinois State University Report

Southern Illinois University Edwardsville did quite well in this year’s ranking of the best places for nursing students to get a graduate certificate. It came in at #7 on the list. SIUE is a fairly large public school located in the large suburb of Edwardsville.

Full Nursing at Southern Illinois University Edwardsville Report

Saint Francis Medical Center College of Nursing landed the #8 spot in the 2023 rankings for the best graduate certificate nursing programs. Located in the medium-sized city of Peoria, St. Francis Medical Center College of Nursing is a private not-for-profit school with a small student population.

Full Nursing at Saint Francis Medical Center College of Nursing Report

Loyola University Chicago landed the #9 spot in the 2023 rankings for the best graduate certificate nursing programs. Located in the city of Chicago, Loyola Chicago is a private not-for-profit school with a fairly large student population.

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#10

Olivet Nazarene University

Bourbonnais, IL

Olivet Nazarene University did quite well in this year’s ranking of the best places for nursing students to get a graduate certificate. It came in at #10 on the list. Located in the suburb of Bourbonnais, Olivet Nazarene is a private not-for-profit college with a small student population.

Full Nursing at Olivet Nazarene University Report

Best Nursing Colleges in the Great Lakes Region

Explore all the Best Nursing Colleges in the Great Lakes Area or other specific states within that region.

State Degrees Awarded
Michigan 7,345
Ohio 13,973
Indiana 7,922
Wisconsin 5,410

Nursing Focus Areas

Major Annual Graduates
Registered Nursing 262,974
Family Practice Nurse/Nursing 16,647
Nursing Practice 8,862
Nursing Administration 8,663
Other Registered Nursing, Nursing Administration, Nursing Research and Clinical Nursing 4,717
Nursing Science 4,701
Psychiatric/Mental Health Nurse/Nursing 2,895
Adult Health Nurse/Nursing 2,075
Public Health/Community Nurse/Nursing 2,011
Nurse Anesthetist 1,768
Critical Care Nursing 747
Geriatric Nurse/Nursing 622
Nurse Midwife/Nursing Midwifery 567
School Nursing 539
Clinical Nurse Leader 502
Clinical Nurse Specialist 340
Perioperative/Operating Room and Surgical Nurse/Nursing 269
Women’s Health Nurse/Nursing 262
Maternal/Child Health and Neonatal Nurse/Nursing 192
Emergency Room/Trauma Nursing 87
Occupational and Environmental Health Nursing 26
Forensic Nursing 23
Palliative Care Nursing 13

Majors Similar to Nursing

Related Major Annual Graduates
Practical Nursing & Nursing Assistants 85,339

Notes and References

*These averages are for the top 12 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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