Find Nursing Colleges

What Do You Want to Study?

Best Nursing Graduate Certificate Schools in the Southeast Region

Find Schools Near

2023 Best Nursing Graduate Certificate Schools in the Southeast Region

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

Finding the Best Nursing Graduate Certificate School for You

In 2021-2022, 319,502 degrees and certificates were awarded to nursing students, making the major the most popular in the country.

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

#1

Frontier Nursing University

Versailles, KY

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 Versailles.

Full Nursing at Frontier Nursing University Report

#2

Duke University

Durham, NC

Out of the 76 schools in the Southeast Region that were part of this year’s ranking, Duke University landed the # 2 spot on the 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

A rank of #3 on this year’s list means Vanderbilt University is a great place for nursing students working on their graduate certificate. Vanderbilt is a fairly large private not-for-profit school located in the large city of Nashville.

Read full report on Nursing at Vanderbilt University

#4

University of Florida

Gainesville, FL

The excellent graduate certificate programs at University of Florida helped the school earn the #4 place on this year’s ranking of the best nursing schools in the Southeast Region . UF is a fairly large public school located in the midsize city of Gainesville.

Read full report on Nursing at University of Florida

#5

Augusta University

Augusta, GA

A rank of #5 on this year’s list means Augusta University is a great place for nursing students working on their graduate certificate. Augusta University is a moderately-sized public school located in the midsize city of Augusta.

Full Nursing at Augusta University Report

University of Virginia - Main Campus came in at #6 in this year’s edition of the Best Nursing Graduate Certificate Schools in the Southeast Region ranking. Located in the suburb of Charlottesville, University of Virginia is a public college with a very large student population.

Read More…

#7

Emory University

Atlanta, GA

Emory University landed the #7 spot in the 2023 rankings for the best graduate certificate nursing programs. Emory is a fairly large private not-for-profit school located in the city of Atlanta.

Full Nursing at Emory University Report

With a ranking of #8, The University of Tennessee - Knoxville did quite well on this year’s best schools for nursing students working on their graduate certificate. UT Knoxville is a very large public school located in the city of Knoxville.

Read More…

#9

Samford University

Birmingham, AL

Samford University ranked #9 on this year’s Best Nursing Graduate Certificate Schools in the Southeast Region list. Samford is a medium-sized private not-for-profit school located in the large suburb of Birmingham.

Read More…

The University of Tennessee - Health Science Center 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 large city of Memphis, UTHSC is a public school with a small student population.

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

Appalachian State University landed the #11 spot in the 2023 rankings for the best graduate certificate nursing programs. Located in the distant town of Boone, Appalachian State is a public college with a very large student population.

Read More…

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 schools 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 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

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

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.

Featured Schools

Find Nursing Schools Near You

Our free school finder matches students with accredited nursing schools across the U.S.