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Best Nursing Graduate Certificate Schools in the Southeast Region

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2023 Best Nursing Graduate Certificate Schools in the Southeast Region

76 Colleges
$99,011 Avg Salary
$21,624 Avg Student Debt

Finding the Best Nursing Graduate Certificate School for You

Nursing is the most popular major in the United States with 77,470 degrees and certificates handed out in 2020-2021.

When it comes to higher education, there are a lot of options for nursing students. 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.

Along with in-depth profiles of schools and the programs they offer, Nursing Degree Search has created the Best Nursing Graduate Certificate Schools in the Southeast Region to help you in your search for the best school for you. This report analyzed 76 schools in the Southeast Region to see which ones offered the best graduate certificate programs for nursing students. The factors used to develop this ranking include those related to how in-demand the school is, the overall quality of the school, and post-graduation wages, and more.

View our full ranking methodology.

2023 Best Nursing Graduate Certificate Schools in the Southeast Region

Check out the nursing graduate certificate programs at these schools if you want to get the best education that money can buy.

Top 15% Best Nursing Graduate Certificate Schools

Our 2023 rankings named Frontier Nursing University the best school in the Southeast Region for nursing students working on their graduate certificate. Frontier Nursing University is a small private not-for-profit school located in the rural area of Hyden.

Full Nursing at Frontier Nursing University Report

#2

Duke University

Durham, NC

You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around you if you attend Duke University. The school came in at #2 on this year’s Best Nursing Graduate Certificate Schools in the Southeast Region list. Duke is a large private not-for-profit school located in the city of Durham.

Read full report on Nursing at Duke University

#3

Vanderbilt University

Nashville, TN

Out of the 76 schools in the Southeast Region that were part of this year’s ranking, Vanderbilt University landed the # 3 spot on the list. Vanderbilt is a large private not-for-profit school located in the city of Nashville.

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#4

University of Florida

Gainesville, FL

You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend University of Florida. It ranked #4 on our 2023 Best Nursing Graduate Certificate Schools in the Southeast Region list. UF is a fairly large public school located in the city of Gainesville.

Full Nursing at University of Florida Report

#5

Augusta University

Augusta, GA

You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend Augusta University. It ranked #5 on our 2023 Best Nursing Graduate Certificate Schools in the Southeast Region list. Augusta University is a medium-sized public school located in the city of Augusta.

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University of Virginia - Main Campus landed the #6 spot in the 2023 rankings for the best graduate certificate nursing programs. Located in the suburb of Charlottesville, University of Virginia is a public college with a fairly large student population.

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#7

Emory University

Atlanta, GA

Emory University came in at #7 in this year’s edition of the Best Nursing Graduate Certificate Schools in the Southeast Region ranking. Emory is a fairly large private not-for-profit school located in the large city of Atlanta.

Full Nursing at Emory University Report

The University of Tennessee - Knoxville came in at #8 in this year’s edition of the Best Nursing Graduate Certificate Schools in the Southeast Region ranking. UT Knoxville is a very large public school located in the city of Knoxville.

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#9

Samford University

Birmingham, AL

Samford University came in at #9 in this year’s edition of the Best Nursing Graduate Certificate Schools in the Southeast Region ranking. Samford is a moderately-sized private not-for-profit school located in the large suburb of Birmingham.

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With a ranking of #10, The University of Tennessee - Health Science Center did quite well on this year’s best schools for nursing students working on their graduate certificate. Located in the large city of Memphis, UTHSC is a public college with a small student population.

Full Nursing at The University of Tennessee - Health Science Center Report

Appalachian State University ranked #11 on this year’s Best Nursing Graduate Certificate Schools in the Southeast Region list. Located in the distant town of Boone, Appalachian State is a public college with a fairly large student population.

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Honorable Mentions

These are some additional schools worth mentioning that are also great but just didn't quite make the cut to earn our top Best Nursing Graduate Certificate Schools in the Southeast Region award.

Rank College Location
12 Georgia College & State University Milledgeville, GA
13 University of Mississippi University, MS
14 The University of Tennessee - Chattanooga Chattanooga, TN
15 Florida International University Miami, FL

Best Nursing Colleges by State

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

State Degrees Awarded
Louisiana 3,502
Mississippi 2,838
Alabama 7,364
Kentucky 6,395
Tennessee 6,004
Florida 21,209
Arkansas 2,882
Georgia 7,112
North Carolina 7,425
West Virginia 1,771
South Carolina 3,296
Virginia 6,775

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
Practical Nursing & Nursing Assistants 84,274

Notes and References

*These averages are for the top 25 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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