Find Nursing Schools

Study Area & Zipcode

Best Value Nursing Associate Degree Schools in Iowa

Find Schools Near

2023 Best Value Nursing Associate Degree Schools in Iowa

Identifying Quality Schools at More Affordable Prices

17 Colleges
$7,079 Avg Tuition & Fees*
$57,601 Avg Salary

Finding the Best Nursing Associate Degree School for You

Nursing is the most popular major in Iowa with 2,966 degrees and certificates handed out in 2020-2021.

Today's nursing students have lots of options to pick from when considering higher education opportunities. 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.

Along with in-depth profiles of schools and the programs they offer, Nursing Degree Search has created the Best Value Nursing Associate Degree Schools in Iowa to help you in your search for the best school for you. This report analyzed 17 schools in Iowa to see which ones offered the best value associate degree programs for nursing students. The goal was to highlight schools with more affordable prices than others offering similar quality experiences.

When determining this ranking, we place a high emphasis on the school's quality as well as its sticker price. Even though a college may be affordable, it may not offer value. More specifically, we discount our quality score by the published tuition and fees charged by a school. This gives the cost per unit of quality for each college. The value is determined by how much quality your dollar buys.

Our calculations use out-of-state tuition and fees in our nationwide and regional rankings. Average in-state tuition and fees are used for our statewide rankings.

2023 Best Value Nursing Associate Degree Schools in Iowa

The colleges and universities below are the best value schools for nursing majors pursuing a associate degree.

Top 10 Best Nursing Associate Degree Schools

Our 2023 rankings named Western Iowa Tech Community College the best value school in Iowa for nursing students working on their associate degree. Located in the small city of Sioux City, Western Iowa Tech Community College is a public college with a moderately-sized student population.

The average tuition and fees for an in-state undergraduate at Western Iowa Tech Community College are $4,802 a year. Nursing majors at Western Iowa Tech Community College take out an average of $24,421 in student loans while working on their Associate Degree.

Read full report on Nursing at Western Iowa Tech Community College

You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend Northeast Iowa Community College. It ranked #2 on our 2023 Best Value Nursing Associate Degree Schools in Iowa list. Located in the rural area of Calmar, NICC is a public school with a small student population.

In-state tuition fees for undergraduate students at NICC are $6,120 per year.

NICC also made our Best Nursing Associate Degree Schools in Iowa list, coming in at #1.

Read full report on Nursing at Northeast Iowa Community College

Out of the 17 schools in Iowa that were part of this year’s ranking, Des Moines Area Community College landed the # 3 spot on the list. DMACC is a very large public school located in the large suburb of Ankeny.

The average tuition and fees for an in-state undergraduate at DMACC are $5,220 a year. On average, nursing graduates from DMACC take out $23,473 in student loans while working on their Associate Degree.

DMACC also made our Best Nursing Associate Degree Schools in Iowa list, coming in at #4.

Read More…

You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend Eastern Iowa Community College District. It ranked #4 on our 2023 Best Value Nursing Associate Degree Schools in Iowa list. Located in the midsize city of Davenport, Eastern Iowa Community Colleges is a public school with a medium-sized student population.

The average tuition and fees for an in-state undergraduate at Eastern Iowa Community Colleges are $4,396 a year. Nursing majors at Eastern Iowa Community Colleges take out an average of $27,563 in student loans while working on their Associate Degree.

Read full report on Nursing at Eastern Iowa Community College District

A rank of #5 on this year’s list means Indian Hills Community College is a great value for nursing students working on their associate degree. Located in the town of Ottumwa, IHCC is a public college with a small student population.

The average tuition and fees for an in-state undergraduate at IHCC are $4,560 a year. While working on their Associate Degree, nursing majors at IHCC accumulate an average of around $23,432 in student debt.

Full Nursing at Indian Hills Community College Report

#6

Kirkwood Community College

Cedar Rapids, IA

With a ranking of #6, Kirkwood Community College did quite well on this year’s best value schools for nursing students working on their associate degree. Kirkwood Community College is a large public school located in the city of Cedar Rapids.

Kirkwood Community College undergraduate students pay an average of $5,308 in in-state tuition and fees each year. After completing their Associate Degree, nursing graduates from Kirkwood Community College carry an average student debtload of $27,483.

Read full report on Nursing at Kirkwood Community College

With a ranking of #7, Northwest Iowa Community College did quite well on this year’s best value schools for nursing students working on their associate degree. Northwest Iowa Community College is a small public school located in the rural area of Sheldon.

Northwest Iowa Community College undergraduate students pay an average of $6,540 in in-state tuition and fees each year. After completing their Associate Degree, nursing graduates from Northwest Iowa Community College carry an average student debtload of $25,038.

In addition to its best value ranking, and one of the reasons why the school is on the list, Northwest Iowa Community College is ranked #2 for overall quality for nursing in Iowa.

Full Nursing at Northwest Iowa Community College Report

North Iowa Area Community College landed the #8 spot in the 2023 rankings for the best value associate degree nursing programs. Located in the town of Mason City, North Iowa Area Community College is a public college with a small student population.

The average tuition and fees for an in-state undergraduate at North Iowa Area Community College are $5,971 a year. On average, nursing graduates from North Iowa Area Community College take out $19,728 in student loans while working on their Associate Degree.

North Iowa Area Community College not only placed well in our value ranking, but it is also #5 on our Best Nursing Associate Degree Schools in Iowa list.

Read full report on Nursing at North Iowa Area Community College

With a ranking of #9, Iowa Central Community College did quite well on this year’s best value schools for nursing students working on their associate degree. Located in the town of Fort Dodge, Iowa Central Community College is a public college with a medium-sized student population.

Iowa Central Community College undergraduate students pay an average of $6,000 in in-state tuition and fees each year. Nursing majors at Iowa Central Community College take out an average of $26,954 in student loans while working on their Associate Degree.

Full Nursing at Iowa Central Community College Report

#10

Hawkeye Community College

Waterloo, IA

Hawkeye Community College came in at #10 in this year’s edition of the Best Value Nursing Associate Degree Schools in Iowa ranking. Hawkeye Community College is a medium-sized public school located in the city of Waterloo.

In-state tuition fees for undergraduate students at Hawkeye Community College are $5,977 per year. After completing their Associate Degree, nursing graduates from Hawkeye Community College carry an average student debtload of $28,555.

Full Nursing at Hawkeye Community College Report

Best Value Nursing Colleges in the Plains States Region

Explore all the Best Value Nursing Schools in the Plains States Area or other specific states within that region.

State Degrees Awarded
Minnesota 14,890
South Dakota 1,022
North Dakota 976
Nebraska 1,908
Kansas 2,633
Missouri 6,840

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 17 schools only.

  • 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 matching tool for schools matches students with nursing schools across the U.S.