2023 Best Nursing Graduate Certificate Schools
It's not easy to decide which nursing program to enroll in when you have so many options available. You're no longer limited to schools in your local area, either, since online programs are becoming more prevalent. Also there are many trade schools and bpptcamp that offer short-term programs that open up more career options.
The Best Nursing Graduate Certificate Schools ranking is one of many tools that Nursing Degree Search has developed to help you make your educational decision. This report analyzed 236 schools in the United States to see which ones offered the best graduate certificate programs for nursing students. The factors used to develop this ranking include those related to how in-demand the school us, the overall quality of the school, and post-graduation wages, and more.
View our full ranking methodology.
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Top Nursing Graduate Certificate Schools in the United States
Learn more about these excellent schools below:
Our analysis found Thomas Jefferson University to be the best school for nursing students who want to pursue a graduate certificate in the United States.
On average, graduate certificate students take out $34,734 in loans while pursuing their degree.
One thing to take note of is that Thomas Jefferson University does offer online graduate classes in some areas. In 2019-2020 about 65% of the graduate students at the school chose to take one or more online courses.
You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around you if you attend Georgetown University. The school came in at #2 on this year’s Best Nursing Graduate Certificate Schools list.
Georgetown is one of the schools on our list that is primarily online. Each graduate student at the school took at least one class online.
You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend Johns Hopkins University. It ranked #3 on our 2023 Best Nursing Graduate Certificate Schools list.
Graduate Certificate recipients from Johns Hopkins accumulate an average of $19,227 in student debt by the time they complete their degree.
You may have the opportunity to take online graduate classes at Johns Hopkins. During the 2019-2020 year, about 85% of the graduate students at the school took at least one online course.
Out of the 236 schools in the United States that were part of this year’s ranking, Duke University landed the # 4 spot on the list.
By the time they get their graduate certificate, students from this school have racked up an average of $17,440 in student loans.
Duke does have options available for those who want to take online graduate classes. You will need to check with the school to see if they are available for your specific major. In fact, around 2% of the graduate population registered for at least one online class in 2019-2020.
A rank of #5 on this year’s list means Vanderbilt University is a great place for nursing students working on their graduate certificate.
One thing to take note of is that Vanderbilt does offer online graduate classes in some areas. During the 2019-2020 year, about 67% of the graduate students at the school took at least one online course.
Texas A&M University - College Station came in at #6 in this year’s edition of the Best Nursing Graduate Certificate Schools ranking.
You may have the opportunity to take online graduate classes at Texas A&M College Station. During the 2019-2020 year, about 23% of the graduate students at the school took at least one online course.
With a ranking of #7, Maryville University of Saint Louis did quite well on this year’s best schools for nursing students working on their graduate certificate.
Depending on your major, you may be able to take online graduate classes at Maryville U. To give an idea of how popular online courses are at the school, 91% of graduates took at least one course online in 2019-2020.
University of St Francis came in at #8 in this year’s edition of the Best Nursing Graduate Certificate Schools ranking.
If you are interested in distance education, be sure to check with the school since University of Saint Francis does offer online graduate classes for certain majors. Of all the graduate students enrolled at the school during the 2019-2020 academic year, around 89% took at least some of their classes online.
Mount Marty University did quite well in this year’s ranking of the best places for nursing students to get a graduate certificate. It came in at #9 on the list.
Some students may be able to take online graduate classes at Mount Marty. Of all the graduate students enrolled at the school during the 2019-2020 academic year, around 91% took at least some of their classes online.
Texas Christian University did quite well in this year’s ranking of the best places for nursing students to get a graduate certificate. It came in at #10 on the list.
Graduate Certificate recipients from TCU accumulate an average of $19,027 in student debt by the time they complete their degree.
You may have the opportunity to take online graduate classes at TCU. Of all the graduate students enrolled at the school during the 2019-2020 academic year, around 82% took at least some of their classes online.
Gannon University ranked #11 on this year’s Best Nursing Graduate Certificate Schools list.
If you are interested in distance education, be sure to check with the school since Gannon does offer online graduate classes for certain majors. In fact, around 55% of the graduate population registered for at least one online class in 2019-2020.
Winona State University landed the #12 spot in the 2023 rankings for the best graduate certificate nursing programs.
If you are interested in distance education, be sure to check with the school since Winona State does offer online graduate classes for certain majors. In fact, around 66% of the graduate population registered for at least one online class in 2019-2020.
Drexel University landed the #13 spot in the 2023 rankings for the best graduate certificate nursing programs.
By the time they get their graduate certificate, students from this school have racked up an average of $23,548 in student loans.
Drexel does offer online graduate classes for certain degree levels. In fact, around 85% of the graduate population registered for at least one online class in 2019-2020.
California State University - Dominguez Hills did quite well in this year’s ranking of the best places for nursing students to get a graduate certificate. It came in at #14 on the list.
Some students may be able to take online graduate classes at CSUDH. In fact, around 97% of the graduate population registered for at least one online class in 2019-2020.
University of Florida ranked #15 on this year’s Best Nursing Graduate Certificate Schools list.
Some students may be able to take online graduate classes at UF. During the 2019-2020 year, about 79% of the graduate students at the school took at least one online course.
Duquesne University landed the #16 spot in the 2023 rankings for the best graduate certificate nursing programs.
Duquesne does have options available for those who want to take online graduate classes. You will need to check with the school to see if they are available for your specific major. During the 2019-2020 year, about 72% of the graduate students at the school took at least one online course.
Bradley University landed the #17 spot in the 2023 rankings for the best graduate certificate nursing programs.
You may have the opportunity to take online graduate classes at Bradley. During the 2019-2020 year, about 95% of the graduate students at the school took at least one online course.
George Washington University did quite well in this year’s ranking of the best places for nursing students to get a graduate certificate. It came in at #18 on the list.
Graduate Certificate recipients from GWU accumulate an average of $29,615 in student debt by the time they complete their degree.
GWU does offer online graduate classes for certain degree levels. Of all the graduate students enrolled at the school during the 2019-2020 academic year, around 37% took at least some of their classes online.
Augusta University did quite well in this year’s ranking of the best places for nursing students to get a graduate certificate. It came in at #19 on the list.
On average, graduate certificate students take out $21,834 in loans while pursuing their degree.
Depending on your major, you may be able to take online graduate classes at Augusta University. To give an idea of how popular online courses are at the school, 49% of graduates took at least one course online in 2019-2020.
New York University came in at #20 in this year’s edition of the Best Nursing Graduate Certificate Schools ranking.
If you are interested in distance education, be sure to check with the school since NYU does offer online graduate classes for certain majors. To give an idea of how popular online courses are at the school, 79% of graduates took at least one course online in 2019-2020.
DeSales University did quite well in this year’s ranking of the best places for nursing students to get a graduate certificate. It came in at #21 on the list.
Depending on your major, you may be able to take online graduate classes at DeSales. In fact, around 57% of the graduate population registered for at least one online class in 2019-2020.
With a ranking of #22, National University did quite well on this year’s best schools for nursing students working on their graduate certificate.
Online graduate courses are available at National University, but you will need to check with the school to see if they are available for your field of interest. In 2019-2020 about 48% of the graduate students at the school chose to take one or more online courses.
With a ranking of #23, University of North Dakota did quite well on this year’s best schools for nursing students working on their graduate certificate.
Depending on your major, you may be able to take online graduate classes at UND. To give an idea of how popular online courses are at the school, 71% of graduates took at least one course online in 2019-2020.
Villanova University came in at #24 in this year’s edition of the Best Nursing Graduate Certificate Schools ranking.
One thing to take note of is that Villanova does offer online graduate classes in some areas. In fact, around 89% of the graduate population registered for at least one online class in 2019-2020.
University of Iowa ranked #25 on this year’s Best Nursing Graduate Certificate Schools list.
Some students may be able to take online graduate classes at Iowa. During the 2019-2020 year, about 33% of the graduate students at the school took at least one online course.
Rest of the Top 15% Best Nursing Graduate Certificate Schools in the United States
Not only did these schools make the top 36 list, but they also landed in the top 15% of this year’s ranking:
Narrow Schools by Region
Honorable Mentions
These schools also performed well in our best nursing schools ranking:
| Rank | School | Location |
|---|---|---|
| 37 | Point Loma Nazarene University | San Diego, CA |
| 38 | Columbia University in the City of New York | New York, NY |
| 39 | The University of Texas at Arlington | Arlington, TX |
| 40 | University of San Francisco | San Francisco, CA |
| 41 | The University of Texas at Austin | Austin, TX |
| 42 | Mount Saint Mary’s University | Los Angeles, CA |
| 43 | Molloy College | Rockville Centre, NY |
| 44 | University of Wisconsin - Madison | Madison, WI |
| 45 | Marquette University | Milwaukee, WI |
| 46 | Case Western Reserve University | Cleveland, OH |
| 47 | The University of Tennessee - Knoxville | Knoxville, TN |
| 48 | Samford University | Birmingham, AL |
Notes and References
Footnotes
*These averages are for the top 25 schools only.
References
- Read more about our ranking methodology.
- 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 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).
- Information about the national average student loan default rate is from the U.S. Department of Education and refers to data about the 2016 borrower cohort tracking period for which the cohort default rate (CDR) was 10.1%.
More about our data sources and methodologies.
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