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

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

Highlighting Quality Schools With More Affordable Pricing

90 Colleges
$11,275 Avg Tuition & Fees*
$98,140 Avg Salary

Finding the Best Nursing Master'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.

To help you arm yourself with the information you need to make your decision, Nursing Degree Search has developed this Best Value Nursing Master's Degree Schools in the Great Lakes Region ranking. This report analyzed 90 schools in the Great Lakes Region to see which ones offered the best value master'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 Master’s Degree Schools in the Great Lakes Region

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

Top 15% Best Nursing Master's Degree Schools

#1

Spring Arbor University

Spring Arbor, MI

Our 2023 rankings named Spring Arbor University the best value school in the Great Lakes Region for nursing students working on their master’s degree. Spring Arbor is a small private not-for-profit school located in the suburb of Spring Arbor.

The average tuition and fees for an out-of-state graduate students at Spring Arbor are $8,383 a year.

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The excellent master’s degree programs at Saint Francis Medical Center College of Nursing helped the school earn the #2 place on this year’s ranking of the best value nursing schools in the Great Lakes Region . St. Francis Medical Center College of Nursing is a fairly small private not-for-profit school located in the medium-sized city of Peoria.

The average tuition and fees for an out-of-state graduate students at St. Francis Medical Center College of Nursing are $8,740 a year.

Full Nursing at Saint Francis Medical Center College of Nursing Report

#3

Ferris State University

Big Rapids, MI

The excellent master’s degree programs at Ferris State University helped the school earn the #3 place on this year’s ranking of the best value nursing schools in the Great Lakes Region . Located in the town of Big Rapids, Ferris is a public school with a fairly large student population.

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

Read full report on Nursing at Ferris State University

#4

Cedarville University

Cedarville, OH

You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around you if you attend Cedarville University. The school came in at #4 on this year’s Best Value Nursing Master’s Degree Schools in the Great Lakes Region list. Cedarville is a small private not-for-profit school located in the town of Cedarville.

Cedarville graduate students pay an average of $9,864 in tuition and fees each year.

Cedarville excels when it comes to quality. It’s ranked in the top 20% of all schools on our Best Nursing Master’s Degree Schools in the Great Lakes Region list.

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A rank of #5 on this year’s list means Bethel University - Mishawaka is a great value for nursing students working on their master’s degree. Located in the small city of Mishawaka, Bethel University 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 Bethel University are $7,880 a year.

Full Nursing at Bethel University - Mishawaka Report

Southern Illinois University Edwardsville ranked #6 on this year’s Best Value Nursing Master’s Degree Schools in the Great Lakes Region list. Located in the large suburb of Edwardsville, SIUE is a public school with a large student population.

SIUE graduate students pay an average of $9,316 in tuition and fees each year.

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Chamberlain University - Illinois did quite well in this year’s ranking of the best places for nursing students to get a master’s degree. It came in at #7 on the list. Located in the suburb of Addison, Chamberlain - Illinois is a private for-profit school with a fairly large student population.

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

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#8

Youngstown State University

Youngstown, OH

With a ranking of #8, Youngstown State University did quite well on this year’s best value schools for nursing students working on their master’s degree. 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

Herzing University - Madison landed the #9 spot in the 2023 rankings for the best value master’s degree nursing programs. Located in the large city of Madison, Herzing University - Madison is a private not-for-profit school with a small student population.

Herzing University - Madison graduate students pay an average of $11,680 in tuition and fees each year.

Herzing University - Madison also claimed a spot on our Best Nursing Master’s Degree Schools in the Great Lakes Region list. It’s in the top 20% of all schools in this category.

Full Nursing at Herzing University - Madison Report

Illinois State University landed the #10 spot in the 2023 rankings for the best value master’s degree nursing programs. Located in the midsize suburb of Normal, Illinois State is a public college with a fairly large student population.

Out-of-state tuition fees for graduate students at Illinois State are $11,773 per year.

On top of its placing in our value ranking, Illinois State also did well on our Best Nursing Master’s Degree Schools in the Great Lakes Region list. It’s in the top 15% of all schools reviewed in this analysis.

Full Nursing at Illinois State University Report

#11

Alverno College

Milwaukee, WI

Alverno College ranked #11 on this year’s Best Value Nursing Master’s Degree Schools in the Great Lakes Region list. Alverno is a small private not-for-profit school located in the city of Milwaukee.

Out-of-state tuition fees for graduate students at Alverno are $10,402 per year.

Full Nursing at Alverno College Report

#12

McKendree University

Lebanon, IL

With a ranking of #12, McKendree University did quite well on this year’s best value schools for nursing students working on their master’s degree. Located in the large 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.

Full Nursing at McKendree University Report

#13

Marian University

Fond Du Lac, WI

Marian University did quite well in this year’s ranking of the best places for nursing students to get a master’s degree. It came in at #13 on the list. Marian is a small private not-for-profit school located in the city of Fond Du Lac.

Marian graduate students pay an average of $11,286 in tuition and fees each year.

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Honorable Mentions

Here are some additional great value schools for Nursing students in the Great Lakes Region seeking value that almost earned our Best Value Nursing Master's Degree Schools in the Great Lakes Region award.

Rank College Location
14 Otterbein University Westerville, OH
15 University of St Francis Joliet, IL
16 Purdue University Northwest Hammond, IN
17 Indiana Wesleyan University - National & Global Marion, IN
18 Concordia University, Wisconsin Mequon, WI
18 Northern Illinois University Dekalb, IL

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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