2023 Most Popular Nursing Graduate Certificate Schools
Finding the Best Nursing Graduate Certificate School for You
Nursing is the most popular major in the United States with 322,592 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 help you arm yourself with the information you need to make your decision, Nursing Degree Search has developed this Most Popular Nursing Graduate Certificate Schools ranking. Our analysis looked at 400 schools in the United States to see which graduate certificate programs were the most popular for nursing students. To create this ranking we looked at how many students graduated from the Nursing program at each school on the list.
2023 Most Popular Nursing Graduate Certificate Schools in the United States
The following schools top our list of the Most Popular Nursing Graduate Certificate Colleges.
Top 25 Most Popular Schools for a Postbaccalaureate Certificates in Nursing
Our analysis found Maryville University of Saint Louis to be the most popular school for nursing students who want to pursue a graduate certificate in the United States. Located in the large suburb of Saint Louis, Maryville U is a private not-for-profit school with a fairly large student population.
Women make up 87% of the nursing majors at the school.
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Out of the 400 schools in the United States that were part of this year’s ranking, University of Cincinnati - Main Campus landed the # 2 spot on the list. UC is a very large public school located in the city of Cincinnati.
Women make up 88% of the nursing majors at the school.
While working on their Graduate Certificate, nursing majors at UC accumulate an average of around $21,375 in student debt.
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Out of the 400 schools in the United States that were part of this year’s ranking, University of South Alabama landed the # 3 spot on the list. USA is a fairly large public school located in the city of Mobile.
Women make up 94% of the nursing majors at the school.
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The in-demand graduate certificate programs at Frontier Nursing University helped the school earn the #4 place on this year’s ranking of the most popular nursing schools in the United States. Located in the rural area of Hyden, Frontier Nursing University is a private not-for-profit school with a small student population.
Of the 125 students majoring in nursing at Frontier Nursing University, 4% are male and 96% are female.
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The in-demand graduate certificate programs at Regis College helped the school earn the #5 place on this year’s ranking of the most popular nursing schools in the United States. Regis College is a small private not-for-profit school located in the suburb of Weston.
About 84% of the students majoring in nursing at the school are women while 16% are male.
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Purdue University Global did quite well in this year’s ranking of the most popular places for nursing students to get a graduate certificate. It came in at #6 on the list. Purdue University Global is a very large public school located in the city of Indianapolis.
About 88% of the students majoring in nursing at the school are women while 12% are male.
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With a ranking of #7, California State University - Long Beach did quite well on this year’s most popular schools for nursing students working on their graduate certificate. Located in the city of Long Beach, CSULB is a public college with a very large student population.
Of the 108 students majoring in nursing at CSULB, 17% are male and 83% are female.
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Columbia University in the City of New York came in at #8 in this year’s edition of the Most Popular Nursing Graduate Certificate Schools ranking. Columbia is a very large private not-for-profit school located in the large city of New York.
Of the 95 students majoring in nursing at Columbia, 7% are male and 93% are female.
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With a ranking of #9, The University of Texas at Arlington did quite well on this year’s most popular schools for nursing students working on their graduate certificate. Located in the city of Arlington, UT Arlington is a public school with a fairly large student population.
Women make up 89% of the nursing majors at the school.
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Liberty University did quite well in this year’s ranking of the most popular places for nursing students to get a graduate certificate. It came in at #10 on the list. Liberty University is a fairly large private not-for-profit school located in the small city of Lynchburg.
About 89% of the students majoring in nursing at the school are women while 11% are male.
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Grand Canyon University landed the #11 spot in the 2023 rankings for the most popular graduate certificate nursing programs. Grand Canyon University is a very large private for-profit school located in the large city of Phoenix.
Of the 76 students majoring in nursing at Grand Canyon University, 11% are male and 89% are female.
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Illinois State University did quite well in this year’s ranking of the most popular places for nursing students to get a graduate certificate. It came in at #12 on the list. Illinois State is a fairly large public school located in the midsize suburb of Normal.
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Northern Kentucky University did quite well in this year’s ranking of the most popular places for nursing students to get a graduate certificate. It came in at #13 on the list. NKU is a large public school located in the large suburb of Highland Heights.
About 90% of the students majoring in nursing at the school are women while 10% are male.
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Concordia University, Wisconsin did quite well in this year’s ranking of the most popular places for nursing students to get a graduate certificate. It came in at #14 on the list. Located in the large suburb of Mequon, Concordia University, Wisconsin is a private not-for-profit school with a moderately-sized student population.
Of the 69 students majoring in nursing at Concordia University, Wisconsin, 7% are male and 93% are female.
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Herzing University - Madison ranked #15 on this year’s Most Popular Nursing Graduate Certificate Schools list. Herzing University - Madison is a small private not-for-profit school located in the large city of Madison.
Women make up 90% of the nursing majors at the school.
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The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley landed the #16 spot in the 2023 rankings for the most popular graduate certificate nursing programs. Located in the city of Edinburg, UT Rio Grande Valley is a public college with a fairly large student population.
Of the 60 students majoring in nursing at UT Rio Grande Valley, 20% are male and 80% are female.
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Duke University landed the #17 spot in the 2023 rankings for the most popular graduate certificate nursing programs. Located in the large city of Durham, Duke is a private not-for-profit school with a fairly large student population.
Of the 57 students majoring in nursing at Duke, 12% are male and 88% are female.
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Rocky Mountain University of Health Professions came in at #18 in this year’s edition of the Most Popular Nursing Graduate Certificate Schools ranking. Located in the midsize city of Provo, RMUoHP is a private for-profit college with a small student population.
About 86% of the students majoring in nursing at the school are women while 14% are male.
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Ursuline College landed the #19 spot in the 2023 rankings for the most popular graduate certificate nursing programs. Located in the large suburb of Pepper Pike, Ursuline College is a private not-for-profit college with a small student population.
Women make up 98% of the nursing majors at the school.
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University of Massachusetts - Boston came in at #20 in this year’s edition of the Most Popular Nursing Graduate Certificate Schools ranking. Located in the large city of Boston, UMass Boston is a public school with a large student population.
Of the 44 students majoring in nursing at UMass Boston, 5% are male and 95% are female.
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University of New Hampshire - Main Campus did quite well in this year’s ranking of the most popular places for nursing students to get a graduate certificate. It came in at #21 on the list. UNH is a large public school located in the small suburb of Durham.
Of the 43 students majoring in nursing at UNH, 19% are male and 81% are female.
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With a ranking of #22, Washington State University did quite well on this year’s most popular schools for nursing students working on their graduate certificate. Located in the distant town of Pullman, Wazzu is a public college with a very large student population.
Women make up 81% of the nursing majors at the school.
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With a ranking of #23, National University did quite well on this year’s most popular schools for nursing students working on their graduate certificate. National University is a fairly large private not-for-profit school located in the large city of La Jolla.
About 85% of the students majoring in nursing at the school are women while 15% are male.
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Ohio State University - Main Campus came in at #24 in this year’s edition of the Most Popular Nursing Graduate Certificate Schools ranking. Located in the city of Columbus, Ohio State is a public college with a very large student population.
Of the 37 students majoring in nursing at Ohio State, 16% are male and 84% are female.
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With a ranking of #24, Drexel University did quite well on this year’s most popular schools for nursing students working on their graduate certificate. Drexel is a fairly large private not-for-profit school located in the city of Philadelphia.
Women make up 89% of the nursing majors at the school.
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Remaining Award Winners
This section shows the remainder of the colleges awarded a Most Popular Nursing Graduate Certificate Schools badge. Showing in this list means the college was ranked in the top 15% of the 400 different United States nursing schools we analyzed.
| Rank | College | Location |
|---|---|---|
| 50 | Florida Atlantic University | Boca Raton, FL |
| 52 | Mayo Clinic School of Medicine | Rochester, MN |
| 52 | Rivier University | Nashua, NH |
| 52 | Arizona State University - Tempe | Tempe, AZ |
| 52 | West Coast University - Orange County | Anaheim, CA |
| 52 | University of Southern Indiana | Evansville, IN |
| 57 | University of Mississippi | University, MS |
| 57 | University of Southern Mississippi | Hattiesburg, MS |
| 57 | The University of Texas at El Paso | El Paso, TX |
| 57 | University of Toledo | Toledo, OH |
Additional Noteworthy Schools
Here are some additional popular schools for Nursing students that almost earned our Most Popular Nursing Graduate Certificate Schools award.
| Rank | College | Location |
|---|---|---|
| 61 | University of Iowa | Iowa City, IA |
| 61 | Texas Woman’s University | Denton, TX |
| 61 | Stony Brook University | Stony Brook, NY |
| 61 | University of Nevada - Reno | Reno, NV |
| 61 | Georgia State University | Atlanta, GA |
| 61 | Case Western Reserve University | Cleveland, OH |
| 67 | Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center | Lubbock, TX |
| 67 | Hofstra University | Hempstead, NY |
| 67 | Lehman College | Bronx, NY |
| 67 | Emory University | Atlanta, GA |
| 67 | Indiana Wesleyan University - National & Global | Marion, IN |
| 72 | University of Michigan - Flint | Flint, MI |
| 72 | Alverno College | Milwaukee, WI |
| 72 | University of Florida | Gainesville, FL |
| 75 | Capella University | Minneapolis, MN |
| 75 | Russell Sage College | Troy, NY |
| 75 | California State University - Los Angeles | Los Angeles, CA |
| 75 | Rush University | Chicago, IL |
| 75 | Lewis University | Romeoville, IL |
| 75 | University of Maryland - Baltimore | Baltimore, MD |
| 75 | Eastern Kentucky University | Richmond, KY |
| 75 | William Paterson University of New Jersey | Wayne, NJ |
Nursing by Region
View the Most Popular Nursing Graduate Certificate Schools for a specific region near you.
| Region |
|---|
| Southeast |
| New England |
| Rocky Mountains |
| Plains States |
| Middle Atlantic |
| Far Western US |
| Southwest |
| Great Lakes |
Majors Related to Nursing
Nursing Focus Areas
Most Popular Majors Related 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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