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Most Popular Nursing Master's Degree Schools in the Southwest Region

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2023 Most Popular Nursing Master's Degree Schools in the Southwest Region

62 Colleges
$98,140 Avg Salary

Finding the Best Nursing Master's Degree School for You

Nursing is the most popular major in the United States with 39,944 degrees and certificates handed out in 2020-2021.

There are lots of options to pick from today when trying to decide which nursing program is right for you. 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 help you arm yourself with the information you need to make your decision, Nursing Degree Search has developed this Most Popular Nursing Master's Degree Schools in the Southwest Region ranking. Our analysis looked at 62 schools in the Southwest Region to see which master's degree 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.

The following schools top our list of the Most Popular Nursing Master's Degree Colleges.

#1

Grand Canyon University

Phoenix, AZ

Our analysis found Grand Canyon University to be the most popular school for nursing students who want to pursue a master’s degree in the Southwest Region . Located in the large city of Phoenix, Grand Canyon University is a private for-profit college with a fairly large student population.

Women make up 90% of the nursing majors at the school.

Read full report on Nursing at Grand Canyon University

A rank of #2 on this year’s list means The University of Texas at Arlington is a great place for nursing students working on their master’s degree. UT Arlington is a fairly large public school located in the large city of Arlington.

Women make up 88% of the nursing majors at the school.

Read More…

#3

Aspen University

Denver, CO

A rank of #3 on this year’s list means Aspen University is a great place for nursing students working on their master’s degree. Aspen University is a moderately-sized private for-profit school located in the large city of Denver.

About 90% of the students majoring in nursing at the school are women while 10% are male.

Full Nursing at Aspen University Report

Out of the 62 schools in the Southwest Region that were part of this year’s ranking, University of Phoenix - Arizona landed the # 4 spot on the list. Located in the city of Tempe, UOPX - Arizona is a private for-profit school with a very large student population.

Of the 436 students majoring in nursing at UOPX - Arizona, 11% are male and 89% are female.

Read More…

A rank of #5 on this year’s list means The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston is a great place for nursing students working on their master’s degree. UTHealth is a moderately-sized public school located in the city of Houston.

Of the 248 students majoring in nursing at UTHealth, 15% are male and 85% are female.

Full Nursing at The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston Report

#6

University of Arizona

Tucson, AZ

University of Arizona did quite well in this year’s ranking of the most popular places for nursing students to get a master’s degree. It came in at #6 on the list. Located in the large city of Tucson, University of Arizona is a public college with a fairly large student population.

Women make up 79% of the nursing majors at the school.

Read More…

The University of Texas Medical Branch did quite well in this year’s ranking of the most popular places for nursing students to get a master’s degree. It came in at #7 on the list. UTMB Galveston is a small public school located in the town of Galveston.

Of the 187 students majoring in nursing at UTMB Galveston, 15% are male and 85% are female.

Full Nursing at The University of Texas Medical Branch Report

Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center landed the #8 spot in the 2023 rankings for the most popular master’s degree nursing programs. TTUHSC is a medium-sized public school located in the city of Lubbock.

Of the 168 students majoring in nursing at TTUHSC, 10% are male and 90% are female.

Read full report on Nursing at Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center

Texas Woman’s University ranked #9 on this year’s Most Popular Nursing Master’s Degree Schools in the Southwest Region list. Located in the medium-sized city of Denton, TWU is a public college with a fairly large student population.

Women make up 90% of the nursing majors at the school.

Read full report on Nursing at Texas Woman’s University

The University of Texas at El Paso ranked #10 on this year’s Most Popular Nursing Master’s Degree Schools in the Southwest Region list. UTEP is a fairly large public school located in the city of El Paso.

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

Read full report on Nursing at The University of Texas at El Paso

Honorable Mentions

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

Rank College Location
11 Texas Wesleyan University Fort Worth, TX
12 The University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio San Antonio, TX

Best Nursing Colleges by State

Explore the best nursing colleges for a specific state in the Southwest region.

State Degrees Awarded
Arizona 12,966
Texas 21,862
New Mexico 1,390
Oklahoma 3,009

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

Majors Similar to Nursing

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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