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Best Value Nursing Doctor's Degree Schools in the Great Lakes Region

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2023 Best Value Nursing Doctor's Degree Schools in the Great Lakes Region

Highlighting Quality Schools With More Affordable Pricing

64 Colleges
$12,888 Avg Tuition & Fees*
$115,233 Avg Salary

Finding the Best Nursing Doctor's Degree School for You

Nursing is the most popular major in the United States with 57,106 degrees and certificates handed out in 2020-2021.

When it comes to higher education, there are a lot of options for nursing students. 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.

The Best Value Nursing Doctor's Degree Schools in the Great Lakes Region ranking is one of many tools that Nursing Degree Search has developed to help you make your educational decision. This report analyzed 64 schools in the Great Lakes Region to see which ones offered the best value doctor's degree programs for nursing students. The goal was to highlight schools with more affordable prices than others offering similar quality experiences.

This ranking is not just a list of inexpensive schools. We also consider each school's quality, since we believe a low-quality school may not be a 'bargain' at any price. Specifically, our score for quality is discounted by the published tuition and fees charged by the given college. This gives the cost per unit of quality for each college. The more quality your dollar buys, the better the value.

For nationwide and regional rankings, we use out-of-state tuition and fees in our calculations. For statewide rankings, we use average in-state tuition and fees.

2023 Best Value Nursing Doctor’s Degree Schools in the Great Lakes Region

The following schools top our list of the Best Value Nursing Doctor's Degree Colleges.

Top 10 Best Nursing Doctor's Degree Schools

#1

Ferris State University

Big Rapids, MI

Our 2023 rankings named Ferris State University the best value school in the Great Lakes Region for nursing students working on their doctor’s degree. Located in the town of Big Rapids, Ferris is a public college with a fairly large student population.

Ferris graduate students pay an average of $8,232 in tuition and fees each year.

Full Nursing at Ferris State University Report

A rank of #2 on this year’s list means Saint Francis Medical Center College of Nursing is a great value for nursing students working on their doctor’s degree. St. Francis Medical Center College of Nursing is a fairly small private not-for-profit school located in the medium-sized city of Peoria.

St. Francis Medical Center College of Nursing graduate students pay an average of $8,740 in tuition and fees each year.

Full Nursing at Saint Francis Medical Center College of Nursing Report

#3

Ashland University

Ashland, OH

You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend Ashland University. It ranked #3 on our 2023 Best Value Nursing Doctor’s Degree Schools in the Great Lakes Region list. Ashland is a small private not-for-profit school located in the fringe town of Ashland.

Out-of-state tuition fees for graduate students at Ashland are $6,972 per year.

Read full report on Nursing at Ashland University

#4

Viterbo University

La Crosse, WI

Out of the 64 schools in the Great Lakes Region that were part of this year’s ranking, Viterbo University landed the # 4 spot on the list. Viterbo is a small private not-for-profit school located in the city of La Crosse.

The average tuition and fees for an out-of-state graduate students at Viterbo are $9,488 a year.

Read full report on Nursing at Viterbo University

#5

McKendree University

Lebanon, IL

You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around you if you attend McKendree University. The school came in at #5 on this year’s Best Value Nursing Doctor’s Degree Schools in the Great Lakes Region list. Located in the suburb of Lebanon, McKendree is a private not-for-profit college with a small student population.

The average tuition and fees for an out-of-state graduate students at McKendree are $9,756 a year.

Read More…

Chamberlain University - Illinois did quite well in this year’s ranking of the best places for nursing students to get a doctor’s degree. It came in at #6 on the list. Located in the large suburb of Addison, Chamberlain - Illinois is a private for-profit college with a fairly large student population.

The average tuition and fees for an out-of-state graduate students at Chamberlain - Illinois are $14,090 a year.

Read More…

Southern Illinois University Edwardsville landed the #7 spot in the 2023 rankings for the best value doctor’s degree nursing programs. Located in the suburb of Edwardsville, SIUE is a public school with a large student population.

Out-of-state tuition fees for graduate students at SIUE are $9,316 per year.

Read full report on Nursing at Southern Illinois University Edwardsville

With a ranking of #8, University of St Francis did quite well on this year’s best value schools for nursing students working on their doctor’s degree. Located in the suburb of Joliet, University of Saint Francis is a private not-for-profit college with a small student population.

Out-of-state tuition fees for graduate students at University of Saint Francis are $13,839 per year.

University of Saint Francis also made our Best Nursing Doctor’s Degree Schools in the Great Lakes Region list, coming in at #4.

Read More…

#9

Otterbein University

Westerville, OH

Otterbein University landed the #9 spot in the 2023 rankings for the best value doctor’s degree nursing programs. Otterbein is a small private not-for-profit school located in the large suburb of Westerville.

Out-of-state tuition fees for graduate students at Otterbein are $14,392 per year.

Otterbein not only placed well in our value ranking, but it is also #5 on our Best Nursing Doctor’s Degree Schools in the Great Lakes Region list.

Read full report on Nursing at Otterbein University

With a ranking of #10, Illinois State University did quite well on this year’s best value schools for nursing students working on their doctor’s degree. Located in the suburb of Normal, Illinois State is a public college with a very large student population.

Illinois State graduate students pay an average of $11,773 in tuition and fees each year.

Full Nursing at Illinois State University Report

Honorable Mentions

These are some additional schools worth mentioning that are also great but just didn't quite make the cut to earn our top Best Value Nursing Doctor's Degree Schools in the Great Lakes Region award.

Rank College Location
11 Lewis University Romeoville, IL
12 Purdue University Global Indianapolis, IN
12 Alverno College Milwaukee, WI

Best Nursing Colleges by State

Explore the best nursing schools for a specific state in the Great Lakes region.

State Degrees Awarded
Michigan 7,345
Ohio 13,973
Illinois 21,938
Indiana 7,922
Wisconsin 5,410

Nursing Concentrations

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.

  • 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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