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Best Value Nursing Doctor's Degree Schools in the Southwest Region

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

Highlighting Quality Schools With More Affordable Pricing

30 Colleges
$20,669 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 39,944 degrees and certificates handed out in 2020-2021.

There are lots of options to pick from today when trying to decide which nursing program is right for you. 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.

Along with in-depth profiles of schools and the programs they offer, Nursing Degree Search has created the Best Value Nursing Doctor's Degree Schools in the Southwest Region to help you in your search for the best school for you. Our analysis looked at 30 schools in the Southwest Region to see which doctor's degree programs offered the best value experiences for nursing students with the aim of identifying those quality schools that are more affordable than some of their counterparts.

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. 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.

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

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

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

Top 10 Best Nursing Doctor's Degree Schools

#1

Aspen University

Denver, CO

Our analysis found Aspen University to be the best value school for nursing students who want to pursue a doctor’s degree in the Southwest Region . Aspen University is a moderately-sized private for-profit school located in the city of Denver.

The average tuition and fees for an out-of-state graduate students at Aspen University are $4,357 a year.

Aspen University not only placed well in our value ranking, but it is also #3 on our Best Nursing Doctor’s Degree Schools in the Southwest Region list.

Full Nursing at Aspen University Report

#2

Grand Canyon University

Phoenix, AZ

A rank of #2 on this year’s list means Grand Canyon University is a great value for nursing students working on their doctor’s degree. Located in the city of Phoenix, Grand Canyon University is a private for-profit school with a very large student population.

Grand Canyon University graduate students pay an average of $11,538 in tuition and fees each year.

Read More…

You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around you if you attend Northwestern Oklahoma State University. The school came in at #3 on this year’s Best Value Nursing Doctor’s Degree Schools in the Southwest Region list. Located in the remote town of Alva, NWOSU is a public school with a small student population.

The average tuition and fees for an out-of-state graduate students at NWOSU are $10,571 a year.

Full Nursing at Northwestern Oklahoma State University Report

The excellent doctor’s degree programs at The University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio helped the school earn the #4 place on this year’s ranking of the best value nursing schools in the Southwest Region . UT Health San Antonio is a small public school located in the large city of San Antonio.

The average tuition and fees for an out-of-state graduate students at UT Health San Antonio are $13,448 a year.

Full Nursing at The University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio Report

#5

Texas Wesleyan University

Fort Worth, TX

Out of the 30 schools in the Southwest Region that were part of this year’s ranking, Texas Wesleyan University landed the # 5 spot on the list. Located in the city of Fort Worth, Texas Wesleyan is a private not-for-profit college with a small student population.

Texas Wesleyan graduate students pay an average of $21,243 in tuition and fees each year.

Texas Wesleyan did well in our overall quality rankings, too. It placed #2 on our Best Nursing Doctor’s Degree Schools in the Southwest Region list.

Full Nursing at Texas Wesleyan University Report

Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center ranked #6 on this year’s Best Value Nursing Doctor’s Degree Schools in the Southwest Region list. TTUHSC is a medium-sized public school located in the city of Lubbock.

The average tuition and fees for an out-of-state graduate students at TTUHSC are $19,056 a year.

Full Nursing at Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center Report

The University of Texas Medical Branch landed the #7 spot in the 2023 rankings for the best value doctor’s degree nursing programs. UTMB Galveston is a small public school located in the fringe town of Galveston.

UTMB Galveston graduate students pay an average of $21,997 in tuition and fees each year.

Full Nursing at The University of Texas Medical Branch Report

Texas Woman’s University landed the #8 spot in the 2023 rankings for the best value doctor’s degree nursing programs. Located in the midsize city of Denton, TWU is a public school with a large student population.

Out-of-state tuition fees for graduate students at TWU are $15,048 per year.

Full Nursing at Texas Woman’s University Report

Texas A&M University - Corpus Christi came in at #9 in this year’s edition of the Best Value Nursing Doctor’s Degree Schools in the Southwest Region ranking. Located in the large city of Corpus Christi, Texas A&M Corpus Christi is a public college with a large student population.

The average tuition and fees for an out-of-state graduate students at Texas A&M Corpus Christi are $15,995 a year.

Read full report on Nursing at Texas A&M University - Corpus Christi

#10

Texas Christian University

Fort Worth, TX

Texas Christian University 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 #10 on the list. Located in the city of Fort Worth, TCU is a private not-for-profit school with a large student population.

The average tuition and fees for an out-of-state graduate students at TCU are $32,268 a year.

TCU not only placed well in our value ranking, but it is also #1 on our Best Nursing Doctor’s Degree Schools in the Southwest Region list.

Read full report on Nursing at Texas Christian University

Best Nursing Colleges by State

Explore the best nursing colleges for a specific state in the Southwest region.

State Degrees Awarded
Arizona 12,966
Texas 21,862
New Mexico 1,390
Oklahoma 3,009

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

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.

  • 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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