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Best Value Nursing Undergraduate Certificate Schools in the Plains States Region

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2023 Best Value Nursing Undergraduate Certificate Schools in the Plains States Region

Identifying Quality Schools at More Affordable Prices

4 Colleges
$7,707 Avg Tuition & Fees*
$52,486 Avg Salary

Finding the Best Nursing Undergraduate Certificate School for You

Nursing is the most popular major in the United States with 31,555 degrees and certificates handed out in 2020-2021.

There are so many nursing programs in today's world that it can tough to figure out which one is the right one for you. With more and more schools offering online options, you could even register for a great program on the other side of the country. On top of that, there are a considerable number of trade schools that offer fast-track entry to many fields.

The Best Value Nursing Undergraduate Certificate Schools in the Plains States Region ranking is one of many tools that Nursing Degree Search has developed to help you make your educational decision. This report analyzed 4 schools in the Plains States Region to see which ones offered the best value undergraduate certificate 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. 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.

For nationwide and regional rankings, we use out-of-state tuition and fees in our calculations. Average in-state tuition and fees are used for our statewide rankings.

2023 Best Value Nursing Undergraduate Certificate Schools in the Plains States Region

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

Best Plains States Region Schools for Affordable Quality for an Award Taking 1 to 4 Years in Nursing

#1

Lutheran School of Nursing

Saint Louis, MO

Our analysis found Lutheran School of Nursing to be the best value school for nursing students who want to pursue a undergraduate certificate in the Plains States Region . Lutheran School of Nursing is a fairly small private for-profit school located in the city of Saint Louis.

The average tuition and fees for an out-of-state undergraduate student at Lutheran School of Nursing are $10,620 a year. On average, nursing graduates from Lutheran School of Nursing take out $22,982 in student loans while working on their Undergraduate Certificate.

Read full report on Nursing at Lutheran School of Nursing

You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around you if you attend Hawkeye Community College. The school came in at #2 on this year’s Best Value Nursing Undergraduate Certificate Schools in the Plains States Region list. Hawkeye Community College is a moderately-sized public school located in the small city of Waterloo.

The average tuition and fees for an out-of-state undergraduate student at Hawkeye Community College are $6,524 a year. On average, nursing graduates from Hawkeye Community College take out $21,463 in student loans while working on their Undergraduate Certificate.

In addition to its great value ranking, Hawkeye Community College is in the top 20% of all schools on our Best Nursing Undergraduate Certificate Schools in the Plains States Region list.

Read More…

#3

Butler Community College

El Dorado, KS

A rank of #3 on this year’s list means Butler Community College is a great value for nursing students working on their undergraduate certificate. Located in the distant town of El Dorado, Butler CC is a public college with a medium-sized student population.

Out-of-state tuition fees for undergraduate students at Butler CC are $5,976 per year.

Read full report on Nursing at Butler Community College

You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend Indian Hills Community College. It ranked #4 on our 2023 Best Value Nursing Undergraduate Certificate Schools in the Plains States Region list. Located in the remote town of Ottumwa, IHCC is a public college with a small student population.

Out-of-state tuition fees for undergraduate students at IHCC are $6,000 per year. On average, nursing graduates from IHCC take out $25,336 in student loans while working on their Undergraduate Certificate.

Read More…

Best Nursing Colleges by State

Explore the best nursing schools for a specific state in the Plains States region.

State Degrees Awarded
Nebraska 1,908
Minnesota 14,890
South Dakota 1,022
North Dakota 976
Iowa 2,966
Missouri 6,840
Kansas 2,633

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

Related Major Annual Graduates
Practical Nursing & Nursing Assistants 84,274

Notes and References

*These averages are for the top 4 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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