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Most Popular Nursing Doctor's Degree Schools in the Great Lakes Region

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2023 Most Popular Nursing Doctor's Degree Schools in the Great Lakes Region

72 Colleges
$115,233 Avg Salary

Finding the Best Nursing Doctor'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 assist you in seeing some of the education options that are available to you, Nursing Degree Search has created its Most Popular Nursing Doctor's Degree Schools in the Great Lakes Region ranking. This report analyzed 72 schools in the Great Lakes Region to see which ones were the most popular doctor's degree programs for nursing students. To create this ranking we looked at how many students graduated from the Nursing program at each school on the list.

Check out the nursing doctor's degree programs at these schools if you want to attend one of the most popular in the Great Lakes Region .

Our 2023 rankings named Chamberlain University - Illinois the most popular school in the Great Lakes Region for nursing students working on their doctor’s degree. Located in the large suburb of Addison, Chamberlain - Illinois is a private for-profit college with a very large student population.

Women make up 93% of the nursing majors at the school.

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#2

Rush University

Chicago, IL

You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend Rush University. It ranked #2 on our 2023 Most Popular Nursing Doctor’s Degree Schools in the Great Lakes Region list. Located in the city of Chicago, Rush University is a private not-for-profit school with a small student population.

Of the 199 students majoring in nursing at Rush University, 12% are male and 88% are female.

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The in-demand doctor’s degree programs at University of Illinois at Chicago helped the school earn the #3 place on this year’s ranking of the most popular nursing schools in the Great Lakes Region . Located in the city of Chicago, UIC is a public college with a fairly large student population.

Of the 134 students majoring in nursing at UIC, 10% are male and 90% are female.

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You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend Southern Illinois University Edwardsville. It ranked #4 on our 2023 Most Popular Nursing Doctor’s Degree Schools in the Great Lakes Region list. Located in the suburb of Edwardsville, SIUE is a public school with a large student population.

About 74% of the students majoring in nursing at the school are women while 26% are male.

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A rank of #4 on this year’s list means University of Cincinnati - Main Campus is a great place for nursing students working on their doctor’s degree. Located in the large city of Cincinnati, UC is a public college with a fairly large student population.

Women make up 80% of the nursing majors at the school.

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#6

Purdue University Global

Indianapolis, IN

Purdue University Global came in at #6 in this year’s edition of the Most Popular Nursing Doctor’s Degree Schools in the Great Lakes Region ranking. Located in the city of Indianapolis, Purdue University Global is a public college with a fairly large student population.

Women make up 97% of the nursing majors at the school.

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Ohio State University - Main Campus ranked #7 on this year’s Most Popular Nursing Doctor’s Degree Schools in the Great Lakes Region list. Ohio State is a very large public school located in the city of Columbus.

Women make up 84% of the nursing majors at the school.

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University of Wisconsin - Milwaukee landed the #8 spot in the 2023 rankings for the most popular doctor’s degree nursing programs. UWM is a very large public school located in the city of Milwaukee.

Women make up 95% of the nursing majors at the school.

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University of Wisconsin - Oshkosh came in at #9 in this year’s edition of the Most Popular Nursing Doctor’s Degree Schools in the Great Lakes Region ranking. Located in the small city of Oshkosh, UW Oshkosh is a public school with a large student population.

Of the 44 students majoring in nursing at UW Oshkosh, 23% are male and 77% are female.

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#9

Bradley University

Peoria, IL

Bradley University came in at #9 in this year’s edition of the Most Popular Nursing Doctor’s Degree Schools in the Great Lakes Region ranking. Bradley is a moderately-sized private not-for-profit school located in the medium-sized city of Peoria.

Of the 44 students majoring in nursing at Bradley, 11% are male and 89% are female.

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Honorable Mentions

Here are some additional popular schools for Nursing students in the Great Lakes Region that almost earned our Most Popular Nursing Doctor's Degree Schools in the Great Lakes Region award.

Rank College Location
11 Viterbo University La Crosse, WI
12 Case Western Reserve University Cleveland, OH
12 Rosalind Franklin University of Medicine and Science North Chicago, IL
14 University of Michigan - Ann Arbor Ann Arbor, MI

Best Nursing Colleges by State

Explore the best nursing schools 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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