2023 Best Nursing Master's Degree Schools in Illinois
Finding the Best Nursing Master's Degree 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.
Along with in-depth profiles of schools and the programs they offer, Nursing Degree Search has created the Best Nursing Master's Degree Schools in Illinois to help you in your search for the best school for you. Our analysis looked at 25 schools in Illinois to see which master's degree programs offered the best educational experiences 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 Master’s Degree Schools in Illinois
The colleges and universities below are the best for nursing majors pursuing a master's degree.
Top 10 Best Nursing Master's Degree Schools
Our analysis found Chamberlain University - Illinois to be the best school for nursing students who want to pursue a master’s degree in Illinois. Chamberlain - Illinois is a very large private for-profit school located in the suburb of Addison.
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You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend Saint Anthony College of Nursing. It ranked #2 on our 2023 Best Nursing Master’s Degree Schools in Illinois list. Located in the medium-sized city of Rockford, SACN is a private not-for-profit college with a fairly small student population.
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The excellent master’s degree programs at University of St Francis helped the school earn the #3 place on this year’s ranking of the best nursing schools in Illinois. University of Saint Francis is a small private not-for-profit school located in the large suburb of Joliet.
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The excellent master’s degree programs at Bradley University helped the school earn the #4 place on this year’s ranking of the best nursing schools in Illinois. Located in the city of Peoria, Bradley is a private not-for-profit school with a medium-sized student population.
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Out of the 25 schools in Illinois that were part of this year’s ranking, Lewis University landed the # 5 spot on the list. Lewis is a moderately-sized private not-for-profit school located in the suburb of Romeoville.
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Rush University 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 #6 on the list. Rush University is a small private not-for-profit school located in the large city of Chicago.
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With a ranking of #7, Illinois State University did quite well on this year’s best schools for nursing students working on their master’s degree. Illinois State is a very large public school located in the suburb of Normal.
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Saint Francis Medical Center College of Nursing 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 #8 on the list. Located in the midsize city of Peoria, St. Francis Medical Center College of Nursing is a private not-for-profit school with a fairly small student population.
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Loyola University Chicago ranked #9 on this year’s Best Nursing Master’s Degree Schools in Illinois list. Located in the large city of Chicago, Loyola Chicago is a private not-for-profit school with a large student population.
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Olivet Nazarene University landed the #10 spot in the 2023 rankings for the best master’s degree nursing programs. Located in the suburb of Bourbonnais, Olivet Nazarene is a private not-for-profit school with a small student population.
Request InformationBest Nursing Colleges in the Great Lakes Region
Explore all the Best Nursing Schools 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 |
More Nursing Rankings in Illinois
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 |
Majors Similar 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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