2023 Best Nursing Master's Degree Schools
Finding the Best Nursing Master's Degree School for You
Nursing is the most popular major in the United States with 322,592 degrees and certificates handed out in 2020-2021.
There are so many nursing programs in today's world that it can tough to figure out which one is the right one for you. 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.
To help you arm yourself with the information you need to make your decision, Nursing Degree Search has developed this Best Nursing Master's Degree Schools ranking. Our analysis looked at 586 schools in the United States to see which master's degree programs offered the best educational experiences 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 Master’s Degree Schools in the United States
The following schools top our list of the Best Nursing Master's Degree Colleges.
Top 25 Top Schools for a Master's in Nursing
Our 2023 rankings named Albany Medical College the best school in the United States for nursing students working on their master’s degree. Located in the city of Albany, AMC Albany is a private not-for-profit college with a small student population.
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A rank of #2 on this year’s list means Midwestern University - Glendale is a great place for nursing students working on their master’s degree. Located in the large suburb of Glendale, Midwestern University - Glendale is a private not-for-profit college with a small student population.
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You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend Saint Vincent College. It ranked #3 on our 2023 Best Nursing Master’s Degree Schools list. Saint Vincent is a small private not-for-profit school located in the suburb of Latrobe.
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You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around you if you attend Wake Forest University. The school came in at #4 on this year’s Best Nursing Master’s Degree Schools list. Located in the medium-sized city of Winston-Salem, Wake Forest University is a private not-for-profit school with a medium-sized student population.
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Out of the 586 schools in the United States that were part of this year’s ranking, Samuel Merritt University landed the # 5 spot on the list. Samuel Merritt University is a small private not-for-profit school located in the large city of Oakland.
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With a ranking of #6, University of Southern California did quite well on this year’s best schools for nursing students working on their master’s degree. USC is a very large private not-for-profit school located in the large city of Los Angeles.
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Mount Marty University landed the #7 spot in the 2023 rankings for the best master’s degree nursing programs. Located in the remote town of Yankton, Mount Marty is a private not-for-profit school with a small student population.
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With a ranking of #8, Vanderbilt University did quite well on this year’s best schools for nursing students working on their master’s degree. Located in the large city of Nashville, Vanderbilt is a private not-for-profit school with a large student population.
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Touro University California ranked #9 on this year’s Best Nursing Master’s Degree Schools list. Located in the city of Vallejo, TUC is a private not-for-profit college with a small student population.
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With a ranking of #10, Texas Wesleyan University did quite well on this year’s best schools for nursing students working on their master’s degree. Texas Wesleyan is a small private not-for-profit school located in the city of Fort Worth.
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With a ranking of #11, Duke University did quite well on this year’s best schools for nursing students working on their master’s degree. Located in the large city of Durham, Duke is a private not-for-profit school with a fairly large student population.
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With a ranking of #12, University of California - San Francisco did quite well on this year’s best schools for nursing students working on their master’s degree. UCSF is a small public school located in the large city of San Francisco.
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With a ranking of #13, University of Pennsylvania did quite well on this year’s best schools for nursing students working on their master’s degree. Located in the large city of Philadelphia, UPenn is a private not-for-profit college with a fairly large student population.
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Medical University of South Carolina did quite well in this year’s ranking of the best places for nursing students to get a master’s degree. It came in at #14 on the list. MUSC is a small public school located in the midsize city of Charleston.
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SUNY Downstate Health Sciences University landed the #15 spot in the 2023 rankings for the best master’s degree nursing programs. Located in the city of Brooklyn, SUNY Downstate is a public college with a small student population.
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AdventHealth University ranked #16 on this year’s Best Nursing Master’s Degree Schools list. Located in the city of Orlando, AHU is a private not-for-profit school with a small student population.
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With a ranking of #17, Saint Mary’s University of Minnesota did quite well on this year’s best schools for nursing students working on their master’s degree. SMU MN is a small private not-for-profit school located in the town of Winona.
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Frontier Nursing University landed the #18 spot in the 2023 rankings for the best master’s degree nursing programs. Located in the rural area of Hyden, Frontier Nursing University is a private not-for-profit college with a small student population.
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The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston ranked #19 on this year’s Best Nursing Master’s Degree Schools list. Located in the city of Houston, UTHealth is a public school with a moderately-sized student population.
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With a ranking of #20, Newman University did quite well on this year’s best schools for nursing students working on their master’s degree. Newman University is a small private not-for-profit school located in the large city of Wichita.
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With a ranking of #21, Gonzaga University did quite well on this year’s best schools for nursing students working on their master’s degree. Gonzaga is a medium-sized private not-for-profit school located in the city of Spokane.
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York College of Pennsylvania landed the #22 spot in the 2023 rankings for the best master’s degree nursing programs. Located in the medium-sized suburb of York, YCP is a private not-for-profit school with a small student population.
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With a ranking of #23, Loma Linda University did quite well on this year’s best schools for nursing students working on their master’s degree. Located in the suburb of Loma Linda, Loma Linda University is a private not-for-profit college with a small student population.
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Thomas Jefferson University ranked #24 on this year’s Best Nursing Master’s Degree Schools list. Thomas Jefferson University is a moderately-sized private not-for-profit school located in the city of Philadelphia.
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University of California - Davis landed the #25 spot in the 2023 rankings for the best master’s degree nursing programs. Located in the small suburb of Davis, UC Davis is a public school with a very large student population.
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Remaining Award Winners
This section shows the remainder of the schools awarded a Best Nursing Master's Degree Schools badge. Showing in this list means the school was ranked in the top 15% of the 586 different United States nursing schools we analyzed.
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 Master's Degree Schools award.
Nursing by Region
View the Best Nursing Master's Degree Schools for a specific region near you.
| Region |
|---|
| Southeast |
| New England |
| Rocky Mountains |
| Plains States |
| Middle Atlantic |
| Far Western US |
| Southwest |
| Great Lakes |
More Nursing Rankings
Nursing Related Rankings by Major
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 |
Most Popular Majors Related to Nursing
| 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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