2023 Best Value Nursing Master's Degree Schools in Illinois
Identifying Quality Schools at More Affordable Prices
Finding the Best Nursing Master's Degree School for You
Out of the majors we analyze each year, nursing was the most popular one in Illinois. In total, 21,938 people earned a degree or certificate in the field from a school in Illinois.
Today's nursing students have lots of options to pick from when considering higher education opportunities. As online education oppotunities continue to grow, you're not restricted to just schools in your local area anymore. Even some of the 'big name' schools are offering online courses. Also, there are a number of trade schools with offerings that you might find attractive.
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 Illinois ranking. Our analysis looked at 25 schools in Illinois to see which master'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. 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.
Top 10 Best Nursing Master's Degree Schools
Our analysis found Saint Francis Medical Center College of Nursing to be the best value school for nursing students who want to pursue a master’s degree in Illinois. Located in the city of Peoria, St. Francis Medical Center College of Nursing is a private not-for-profit school with a fairly small student population.
St. Francis Medical Center College of Nursing graduate students pay an average of $8,740 in in-state tuition and fees each year.
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You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend Illinois State University. It ranked #2 on our 2023 Best Value Nursing Master’s Degree Schools in Illinois list. Illinois State is a very large public school located in the suburb of Normal.
In-state tuition fees for graduate students at Illinois State are $9,773 per year.
Illinois State not only placed well in our value ranking, but it is also #4 on our Best Nursing Master’s Degree Schools in Illinois list.
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You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend Southern Illinois University Edwardsville. It ranked #3 on our 2023 Best Value Nursing Master’s Degree Schools in Illinois list. SIUE is a large public school located in the large suburb of Edwardsville.
The average tuition and fees for an in-state graduate student at SIUE are $9,316 a year.
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The excellent master’s degree programs at Chamberlain University - Illinois helped the school earn the #4 place on this year’s ranking of the best value nursing schools in Illinois. Chamberlain - Illinois is a very large private for-profit school located in the suburb of Addison.
Chamberlain - Illinois graduate students pay an average of $14,090 in in-state tuition and fees each year.
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You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around you if you attend Governors State University. The school came in at #5 on this year’s Best Value Nursing Master’s Degree Schools in Illinois list. Located in the rural area of University Park, GSU is a public school with a small student population.
In-state tuition fees for graduate students at GSU are $8,320 per year.
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McKendree 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 #6 on the list. McKendree is a small private not-for-profit school located in the large suburb of Lebanon.
McKendree graduate students pay an average of $9,756 in in-state tuition and fees each year.
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University of St Francis came in at #7 in this year’s edition of the Best Value Nursing Master’s Degree Schools in Illinois ranking. University of Saint Francis is a small private not-for-profit school located in the suburb of Joliet.
The average tuition and fees for an in-state graduate student at University of Saint Francis are $13,839 a year.
University of Saint Francis did well in our overall quality rankings, too. It placed #1 on our Best Nursing Master’s Degree Schools in Illinois list.
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Northern Illinois University landed the #8 spot in the 2023 rankings for the best value master’s degree nursing programs. NIU is a fairly large public school located in the suburb of Dekalb.
In-state tuition fees for graduate students at NIU are $11,390 per year.
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With a ranking of #9, Olivet Nazarene University did quite well on this year’s best value schools for nursing students working on their master’s degree. Located in the suburb of Bourbonnais, Olivet Nazarene is a private not-for-profit school with a small student population.
Olivet Nazarene graduate students pay an average of $12,190 in in-state tuition and fees each year.
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Lewis University landed the #10 spot in the 2023 rankings for the best value master’s degree nursing programs. Lewis is a moderately-sized private not-for-profit school located in the large suburb of Romeoville.
In-state tuition fees for graduate students at Lewis are $14,960 per year.
Lewis also made our Best Nursing Master’s Degree Schools in Illinois list, coming in at #3.
Request InformationBest Value Nursing Colleges in the Great Lakes Region
Explore all the Best Value Nursing Colleges in the Great Lakes Area or other specific states within that region.
| State | Degrees Awarded |
|---|---|
| Michigan | 7,345 |
| Ohio | 13,973 |
| Indiana | 7,922 |
| Wisconsin | 5,410 |
More Nursing Rankings in Illinois
Majors Related to Nursing
Nursing Focus Areas
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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