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Best Value Nursing Master's Degree Schools in Iowa

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2023 Best Value Nursing Master's Degree Schools in Iowa

Identifying Quality Schools at More Affordable Prices

6 Colleges
$12,773 Avg Tuition & Fees*
$98,140 Avg Salary

Finding the Best Nursing Master's Degree School for You

Nursing is the most popular major in Iowa with 2,966 degrees and certificates handed out in 2020-2021.

Today's nursing students have lots of options to pick from when considering higher education opportunities. You can choose a traditional brick and mortar school, or with the growth of online education, you can attend a school half-way across the country without even leaving your house. Also there are many trade schools that offer short-term programs that open up more career options.

The Best Value Nursing Master's Degree Schools in Iowa ranking is one of many tools that Nursing Degree Search has developed to help you make your educational decision. This report analyzed 6 schools in Iowa 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.

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.

2023 Best Value Nursing Master’s Degree Schools in Iowa

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

Best Iowa Schools for Affordable Quality for a Master's in Nursing

#1

Morningside College

Sioux City, IA

Our analysis found Morningside College to be the best value school for nursing students who want to pursue a master’s degree in Iowa. Morningside is a small private not-for-profit school located in the city of Sioux City.

In-state tuition fees for graduate students at Morningside are $6,516 per year.

Morningside not only placed well in our value ranking, but it is also #3 on our Best Nursing Master’s Degree Schools in Iowa list.

Read full report on Nursing at Morningside College

You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around you if you attend Graceland University - Lamoni. The school came in at #2 on this year’s Best Value Nursing Master’s Degree Schools in Iowa list. Located in the remote area of Lamoni, Graceland Lamoni is a private not-for-profit school with a small student population.

In-state tuition fees for graduate students at Graceland Lamoni are $11,187 per year.

Graceland Lamoni not only placed well in our value ranking, but it is also #2 on our Best Nursing Master’s Degree Schools in Iowa list.

Read full report on Nursing at Graceland University - Lamoni

#3

University of Iowa

Iowa City, IA

Out of the 6 schools in Iowa that were part of this year’s ranking, University of Iowa landed the # 3 spot on the list. Iowa is a very large public school located in the city of Iowa City.

Iowa graduate students pay an average of $12,065 in in-state tuition and fees each year.

Iowa also made our Best Nursing Master’s Degree Schools in Iowa list, coming in at #1.

Read More…

#4

Briar Cliff University

Sioux City, IA

You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around you if you attend Briar Cliff University. The school came in at #4 on this year’s Best Value Nursing Master’s Degree Schools in Iowa list. Located in the small city of Sioux City, Briar Cliff is a private not-for-profit college with a small student population.

Briar Cliff graduate students pay an average of $10,530 in in-state tuition and fees each year.

Briar Cliff also made our Best Nursing Master’s Degree Schools in Iowa list, coming in at #4.

Full Nursing at Briar Cliff University Report

#5

Mount Mercy University

Cedar Rapids, IA

Out of the 6 schools in Iowa that were part of this year’s ranking, Mount Mercy University landed the # 5 spot on the list. Mount Mercy is a small private not-for-profit school located in the medium-sized city of Cedar Rapids.

In-state tuition fees for graduate students at Mount Mercy are $11,176 per year.

Mount Mercy not only placed well in our value ranking, but it is also #5 on our Best Nursing Master’s Degree Schools in Iowa list.

Read More…

#6

Allen College

Waterloo, IA

Allen College 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. Located in the city of Waterloo, Allen College is a private not-for-profit college with a small student population.

In-state tuition fees for graduate students at Allen College are $18,908 per year.

Read More…

Best Value Nursing Colleges in the Plains States Region

Explore all the Best Value Nursing Colleges in the Plains States Area or other specific states within that region.

State Degrees Awarded
Minnesota 14,890
South Dakota 1,022
North Dakota 976
Nebraska 1,908
Kansas 2,633
Missouri 6,840

Nursing Focus Areas

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 6 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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