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Best Value Nursing Graduate Certificate Schools in the Great Lakes Region

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2023 Best Value Nursing Graduate Certificate Schools in the Great Lakes Region

Highlighting Quality Schools With More Affordable Pricing

46 Colleges
$13,206 Avg Tuition & Fees*
$99,011 Avg Salary

Finding the Best Nursing Graduate Certificate 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 Graduate Certificate 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. Our analysis looked at 46 schools in the Great Lakes Region to see which graduate certificate 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.

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 Graduate Certificate Schools in the Great Lakes Region

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

Top 10 Best Nursing Graduate Certificate Schools

#1

Youngstown State University

Youngstown, OH

Our analysis found Youngstown State University to be the best value school for nursing students who want to pursue a graduate certificate in the Great Lakes Region . Youngstown State University is a fairly large public school located in the small city of Youngstown.

Out-of-state tuition fees for graduate students at Youngstown State University are $6,931 per year.

Read full report on Nursing at Youngstown State University

The excellent graduate certificate programs at Southern Illinois University Edwardsville helped the school earn the #2 place on this year’s ranking of the best value nursing schools in the Great Lakes Region . Located in the suburb of Edwardsville, SIUE is a public college with a large student population.

The average tuition and fees for an out-of-state graduate students at SIUE are $9,316 a year.

Read full report on Nursing at Southern Illinois University Edwardsville

You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around you if you attend Saint Francis Medical Center College of Nursing. The school came in at #3 on this year’s Best Value Nursing Graduate Certificate Schools in the Great Lakes Region list. St. Francis Medical Center College of Nursing is a fairly small private not-for-profit school located in the midsize city of Peoria.

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

Read More…

You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend Concordia University, Wisconsin. It ranked #4 on our 2023 Best Value Nursing Graduate Certificate Schools in the Great Lakes Region list. Concordia University, Wisconsin is a medium-sized private not-for-profit school located in the suburb of Mequon.

Concordia University, Wisconsin graduate students pay an average of $11,760 in tuition and fees each year.

In addition to its best value ranking, and one of the reasons why the school is on the list, Concordia University, Wisconsin is ranked #3 for overall quality for nursing in the Great Lakes Region .

Full Nursing at Concordia University, Wisconsin Report

A rank of #5 on this year’s list means Herzing University - Madison is a great value for nursing students working on their graduate certificate. Located in the large city of Madison, Herzing University - Madison is a private not-for-profit school with a small student population.

The average tuition and fees for an out-of-state graduate students at Herzing University - Madison are $11,680 a year.

Herzing University - Madison also took the #4 spot in our Best Nursing Graduate Certificate Schools in the Great Lakes Region rankings.

Read full report on Nursing at Herzing University - Madison

University of St Francis ranked #6 on this year’s Best Value Nursing Graduate Certificate Schools in the Great Lakes Region list. Located in the large suburb of Joliet, University of Saint Francis 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 University of Saint Francis are $13,839 a year.

University of Saint Francis also took the #1 spot in our Best Nursing Graduate Certificate Schools in the Great Lakes Region rankings.

Full Nursing at University of St Francis Report

Chamberlain University - Illinois came in at #7 in this year’s edition of the Best Value Nursing Graduate Certificate Schools in the Great Lakes Region ranking. Located in the suburb of Addison, Chamberlain - Illinois is a private for-profit college with a fairly large student population.

Out-of-state tuition fees for graduate students at Chamberlain - Illinois are $14,090 per year.

Read More…

Illinois State University did quite well in this year’s ranking of the best places for nursing students to get a graduate certificate. It came in at #8 on the list. Located in the midsize suburb of Normal, Illinois State is a public school with a very large student population.

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

In addition to its great value ranking, Illinois State is in the top 20% of all schools on our Best Nursing Graduate Certificate Schools in the Great Lakes Region list.

Full Nursing at Illinois State University Report

#9

Purdue University Global

Indianapolis, IN

Purdue University Global came in at #9 in this year’s edition of the Best Value Nursing Graduate Certificate Schools in the Great Lakes Region ranking. Located in the city of Indianapolis, Purdue University Global is a public school with a very large student population.

Out-of-state tuition fees for graduate students at Purdue University Global are $10,582 per year.

Read More…

#10

Lewis University

Romeoville, IL

Lewis University landed the #10 spot in the 2023 rankings for the best value graduate certificate nursing programs. Located in the large suburb of Romeoville, Lewis is a private not-for-profit college with a medium-sized student population.

Out-of-state tuition fees for graduate students at Lewis are $14,960 per year.

Lewis did well in our overall quality rankings, too. It placed #5 on our Best Nursing Graduate Certificate Schools in the Great Lakes Region list.

Read More…

Best Nursing Colleges by State

Explore the best nursing colleges 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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