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Most Popular Nursing Doctor's Degree Schools in the Plains States Region

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2023 Most Popular Nursing Doctor's Degree Schools in the Plains States Region

44 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 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.

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 Plains States Region ranking. This report analyzed 44 schools in the Plains States 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.

The colleges and universities below are the most popular for nursing majors pursuing a doctor's degree.

#2

Capella University

Minneapolis, MN

You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend Capella University. It ranked #2 on our 2023 Most Popular Nursing Doctor’s Degree Schools in the Plains States Region list. Capella University is a fairly large private for-profit school located in the large city of Minneapolis.

Of the 171 students majoring in nursing at Capella University, 6% are male and 94% are female.

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You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend University of Minnesota - Twin Cities. It ranked #3 on our 2023 Most Popular Nursing Doctor’s Degree Schools in the Plains States Region list. UMN Twin Cities is a very large public school located in the large city of Minneapolis.

About 89% of the students majoring in nursing at the school are women while 11% are male.

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#4

Creighton University

Omaha, NE

A rank of #4 on this year’s list means Creighton University is a great place for nursing students working on their doctor’s degree. Located in the city of Omaha, Creighton is a private not-for-profit college with a medium-sized student population.

About 95% of the students majoring in nursing at the school are women while 5% are male.

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A rank of #5 on this year’s list means Missouri State University - Springfield is a great place for nursing students working on their doctor’s degree. Located in the midsize city of Springfield, Missouri State is a public school with a very large student population.

About 65% of the students majoring in nursing at the school are women while 35% are male.

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#6

University of Kansas

Lawrence, KS

University of Kansas did quite well in this year’s ranking of the most popular places for nursing students to get a doctor’s degree. It came in at #6 on the list. KU is a very large public school located in the small city of Lawrence.

About 81% of the students majoring in nursing at the school are women while 19% are male.

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Maryville University of Saint Louis came in at #7 in this year’s edition of the Most Popular Nursing Doctor’s Degree Schools in the Plains States Region ranking. Located in the suburb of Saint Louis, Maryville U is a private not-for-profit school with a fairly large student population.

Of the 77 students majoring in nursing at Maryville U, 9% are male and 91% are female.

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With a ranking of #8, University of Missouri - Columbia did quite well on this year’s most popular schools for nursing students working on their doctor’s degree. Located in the medium-sized city of Columbia, Mizzou is a public school with a very large student population.

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

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University of Missouri - Kansas City landed the #9 spot in the 2023 rankings for the most popular doctor’s degree nursing programs. UMKC is a fairly large public school located in the city of Kansas City.

Women make up 81% of the nursing majors at the school.

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#10

University of Iowa

Iowa City, IA

With a ranking of #10, University of Iowa did quite well on this year’s most popular schools for nursing students working on their doctor’s degree. Iowa is a fairly large public school located in the city of Iowa City.

Of the 51 students majoring in nursing at Iowa, 18% are male and 82% are female.

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Best Nursing Colleges by State

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

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

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

Notes and References

*These averages are for the top 26 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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