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2023 Best Nursing Schools in Pennsylvania

76 Colleges
$74,336 Avg Salary
$29,857 Avg Student Debt

Finding the Best Nursing School for You

Out of the majors we analyze each year, nursing was the most popular one in Pennsylvania. In total, 11,477 people earned a degree or certificate in the field from a school in Pennsylvania.

Today's nursing students have lots of options to pick from when considering higher education opportunities. Along with traditional schools that require in-person attendence, you can attend one of many reputable online schools. Some programs even offer a hybrid experience. Alternatively, you may choose a trade school that prepares you to enter the workforce with knowledge in a specific field.

To assist you in seeing some of the education options that are available to you, Nursing Degree Search has created its Best Nursing Schools in Pennsylvania ranking. This report analyzed 76 schools in Pennsylvania to see which ones offered the best programs for nursing students.

View our full ranking methodology.

2023 Best Nursing Schools in Pennsylvania

The following schools top our list of the Best Nursing Colleges.

Top 15% Best Nursing Schools

Our analysis found Roxborough Memorial Hospital School of Nursing to be the best school for nursing students who want to pursue a degree in Pennsylvania. Roxborough Memorial Hospital School of Nursing is a fairly small private for-profit school located in the city of Philadelphia.

Nursing majors at Roxborough Memorial Hospital School of Nursing take out an average of $20,000 in student loans while working on their egree.

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A rank of #2 on this year’s list means St Lukes Hospital School of Nursing is a great place for nursing students. St Lukes Hospital School of Nursing is a fairly small private not-for-profit school located in the large suburb of Bethlehem.

Nursing majors at St Lukes Hospital School of Nursing take out an average of $14,000 in student loans while working on their egree.

Read full report on Nursing at St Lukes Hospital School of Nursing

The excellent programs at Western Pennsylvania Hospital School of Nursing helped the school earn the #3 place on this year’s ranking of the best nursing schools in Pennsylvania. West Penn Hospital School of Nursing is a small private not-for-profit school located in the city of Pittsburgh.

On average, nursing graduates from West Penn Hospital School of Nursing take out $13,351 in student loans while working on their degree.

Read full report on Nursing at Western Pennsylvania Hospital School of Nursing

You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend UPMC Shadyside School of Nursing. It ranked #4 on our 2023 Best Nursing Schools in Pennsylvania list. UPMC Shadyside School of Nursing is a small private not-for-profit school located in the large city of Pittsburgh.

The average amount in student loans that nursing majors at UPMC Shadyside School of Nursing take out is $19,508.

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You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend Citizens School of Nursing. It ranked #5 on our 2023 Best Nursing Schools in Pennsylvania list. Located in the suburb of Tarentum, Citizens School of Nursing is a private not-for-profit college with a small student population.

While working on their degree, nursing majors at Citizens School of Nursing accumulate an average of around $16,000 in student debt.

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Reading Hospital School of Health Sciences came in at #6 in this year’s edition of the Best Nursing Schools in Pennsylvania ranking. Located in the city of Reading, RHSHS is a private not-for-profit school with a fairly small student population.

On average, nursing graduates from RHSHS take out $18,500 in student loans while working on their degree.

Read full report on Nursing at Reading Hospital School of Health Sciences

With a ranking of #7, UPMC Mercy School of Nursing did quite well on this year’s best schools for nursing students. Located in the large city of Pittsburgh, UPMC Mercy School of Nursing is a private not-for-profit college with a fairly small student population.

On average, nursing graduates from UPMC Mercy School of Nursing take out $13,750 in student loans while working on their degree.

Read full report on Nursing at UPMC Mercy School of Nursing

UPMC Jameson School of Nursing did quite well in this year’s ranking of the best schools for nursing students. It came in at #8 on the list. UPMC Jameson School of Nursing is a fairly small private not-for-profit school located in the town of New Castle.

On average, nursing graduates from UPMC Jameson School of Nursing take out $15,000 in student loans while working on their degree.

Read full report on Nursing at UPMC Jameson School of Nursing

Washington Hospital School of Nursing came in at #9 in this year’s edition of the Best Nursing Schools in Pennsylvania ranking. Located in the large suburb of Washington, Washington Hospital School of Nursing is a private not-for-profit school with a fairly small student population.

While working on their degree, nursing majors at Washington Hospital School of Nursing accumulate an average of around $15,147 in student debt.

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DLP Conemaugh Memorial Medical Center ranked #10 on this year’s Best Nursing Schools in Pennsylvania list. Located in the small city of Johnstown, Memorial Medical Center is a private for-profit school with a small student population.

Nursing majors at Memorial Medical Center take out an average of $19,999 in student loans while working on their egree.

Full Nursing at DLP Conemaugh Memorial Medical Center Report

Joseph F McCloskey School of Nursing did quite well in this year’s ranking of the best schools for nursing students. It came in at #11 on the list. Joseph F McCloskey School of Nursing is a fairly small private not-for-profit school located in the town of Pottsville.

Nursing majors at Joseph F McCloskey School of Nursing take out an average of $14,822 in student loans while working on their egree.

Read full report on Nursing at Joseph F McCloskey School of Nursing

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 Pennsylvania award.

Rank College Location
12 Saint Vincent College Latrobe, PA
13 University of Pennsylvania Philadelphia, PA
14 Thomas Jefferson University Philadelphia, PA
15 Villanova University Villanova, PA

Best Nursing Colleges in the Middle Atlantic Region

Explore all the Best Nursing Colleges in the Middle Atlantic Area or other specific states within that region.

State Degrees Awarded
New York 17,708
New Jersey 5,648
Maryland 4,104
Delaware 1,267
District of Columbia 990

Nursing Focus Areas

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

Majors Similar to Nursing

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.

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