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2023 Best Nursing Schools in Ohio

97 Colleges
$63,417 Avg Salary
$29,300 Avg Student Debt

Finding the Best Nursing School for You

Nursing is the most popular major in Ohio with 13,973 degrees and certificates handed out in 2020-2021.

It's not easy to decide which nursing program to enroll in when you have so many options available. 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 Best Nursing Schools in Ohio ranking is one of many tools that Nursing Degree Search has developed to help you make your educational decision. This report analyzed 97 schools in Ohio to see which ones offered the best programs for nursing students.

View our full ranking methodology.

2023 Best Nursing Schools in Ohio

The colleges and universities below are the best for nursing majors pursuing a .

Top 15% Best Nursing Schools

Our analysis found Trinity Health System School of Nursing to be the best school for nursing students who want to pursue a degree in Ohio. Located in the small city of Steubenville, Trinity Health System School of Nursing is a private not-for-profit school with a fairly small student population.

After completing their degree, nursing graduates from Trinity Health System School of Nursing carry an average student debtload of $20,824.

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#2

Ohio Institute of Allied Health

Huber Heights, OH

You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend Ohio Institute of Allied Health. It ranked #2 on our 2023 Best Nursing Schools in Ohio list. Located in the large suburb of Huber Heights, Ohio Institute of Allied Health is a private not-for-profit school with a fairly small student population.

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You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend Firelands Regional Medical Center School of Nursing. It ranked #3 on our 2023 Best Nursing Schools in Ohio list. Located in the distant town of Sandusky, Firelands Regional Medical Center School of Nursing is a private not-for-profit college with a fairly small student population.

Nursing majors at Firelands Regional Medical Center School of Nursing take out an average of $30,000 in student loans while working on their egree.

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You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend Ohio Medical Career College. It ranked #4 on our 2023 Best Nursing Schools in Ohio list. Located in the medium-sized city of Dayton, Ohio Medical Career College is a private for-profit school with a fairly small student population.

On average, nursing graduates from Ohio Medical Career College take out $27,971 in student loans while working on their degree.

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A rank of #5 on this year’s list means Tri-Rivers Career Center is a great place for nursing students. Located in the distant town of Marion, Tri-Rivers Career Center is a public college with a fairly small student population.

The average amount in student loans that nursing majors at Tri-Rivers Career Center take out is $27,748.

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Chamberlain University - Ohio ranked #6 on this year’s Best Nursing Schools in Ohio list. Chamberlain - Ohio is a fairly small private for-profit school located in the city of Columbus.

While working on their degree, nursing majors at Chamberlain - Ohio accumulate an average of around $38,460 in student debt. Assuming that a graduate chooses a 10-year repayment plan, the average monthly loan payment is $256.

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With a ranking of #7, Collins Career Technical Center did quite well on this year’s best schools for nursing students. CollinsCTC is a fairly small public school located in the rural area of Chesapeake.

The average amount in student loans that nursing majors at CollinsCTC take out is $24,180.

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#8

Sandusky Career Center

Sandusky, OH

Sandusky Career Center landed the #8 spot in the 2023 rankings for the best nursing programs. Located in the town of Sandusky, Sandusky Career Center is a public college with a fairly small student population.

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With a ranking of #9, Case Western Reserve University did quite well on this year’s best schools for nursing students. Case Western is a large private not-for-profit school located in the city of Cleveland.

On average, nursing graduates from Case Western take out $24,201 in student loans while working on their degree. Assuming that a graduate chooses a 10-year repayment plan, the average monthly loan payment is $272.

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Ohio Northern University did quite well in this year’s ranking of the best schools for nursing students. It came in at #10 on the list. Located in the fringe town of Ada, ONU is a private not-for-profit college with a small student population.

After completing their degree, nursing graduates from ONU carry an average student debtload of $27,000.

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James A Rhodes State College ranked #11 on this year’s Best Nursing Schools in Ohio list. Rhodes State College is a small public school located in the small suburb of Lima.

The average amount in student loans that nursing majors at Rhodes State College take out is $21,833.

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Herzing University - Akron came in at #12 in this year’s edition of the Best Nursing Schools in Ohio ranking. Located in the suburb of Akron, Herzing Akron is a private not-for-profit college with a small student population.

While working on their degree, nursing majors at Herzing Akron accumulate an average of around $39,727 in student debt. The average monthly payment of a loan this size is about $156, assuming that the borrower is on a 10-year repayment plan.

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Galen College of Nursing - Cincinnati did quite well in this year’s ranking of the best schools for nursing students. It came in at #13 on the list. Located in the large suburb of Cincinnati, Galen College of Nursing - Cincinnati is a private for-profit college with a small student population.

Nursing majors at Galen College of Nursing - Cincinnati take out an average of $41,365 in student loans while working on their egree. For students who choose a 10-year repayment plan, the average monthly student loan payment is $117.

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#14

Otterbein University

Westerville, OH

With a ranking of #14, Otterbein University did quite well on this year’s best schools for nursing students. Located in the suburb of Westerville, Otterbein is a private not-for-profit college with a small student population.

After completing their degree, nursing graduates from Otterbein carry an average student debtload of $27,000. When it comes time to repay the loan, graduates who are on a 10-year repayment plan pay an average monthly payment of $429.

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Additional Noteworthy Schools

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 Schools in Ohio award.

Rank College Location
15 Kettering College Kettering, OH
16 Athena Career Academy Toledo, OH
17 Mount Carmel College of Nursing Columbus, OH
18 Mercy College of Ohio Toledo, OH
19 Ohio State University - Main Campus Columbus, OH

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
Illinois 21,938
Indiana 7,922
Wisconsin 5,410

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
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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