2023 Best Nursing Graduate Certificate Schools in Illinois
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. Also, there are a number of trade schools and bootcamp with offerings that you might find attractive.
To help you arm yourself with the information you need to make your decision, Nursing Degree Search has developed this Best Nursing Graduate Certificate Schools in Illinois ranking. Our analysis looked at 9 schools in Illinois to see which graduate certificate programs offered the best educational experiences for nursing students. Factors related to overall quality of the school, post-graduation earnings, average student debt, and more accumulated were considered when coming up with this list.
View our full ranking methodology.
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Top Nursing Graduate Certificate Schools in Illinois
Learn more about these excellent schools below:
Our 2023 rankings named University of St Francis the best school in Illinois for nursing students working on their graduate certificate. University of Saint Francis is located in Joliet, Illinois and has a small student population. In 2021-2022, this school awarded 66 graduate certificates to qualified students.
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. To give an idea of how popular online courses are at the school, 85% of graduates took at least one course online in 2020-2021.
A rank of #2 on this year’s list means Bradley University is a great place for nursing students working on their graduate certificate. Located in Peoria, Illinois, the medium-sized private not-for-profit school awarded 30 diplomas to qualifed graduate certificate students in 2021-2022.
Bradley 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 83% of the graduate population registered for at least one online class in 2020-2021.
A rank of #3 on this year’s list means Lewis University is a great place for nursing students working on their graduate certificate. This medium-sized private not-for-profit school is located in Romeoville, Illinois, and it awarded 35 graduate certificates in 2021-2022.
One thing to take note of is that Lewis does offer online graduate classes in some areas. In fact, around 79% of the graduate population registered for at least one online class in 2020-2021.
Out of the 9 schools in Illinois that were part of this year’s ranking, Illinois State University landed the # 4 spot on the list. Located in Normal, Illinois, the large public school handed out 246 graduate certificate awards in 2021-2022.
You may have the opportunity to take online graduate classes at Illinois State. In fact, around 42% of the graduate population registered for at least one online class in 2020-2021.
Out of the 9 schools in Illinois that were part of this year’s ranking, Southern Illinois University Edwardsville landed the # 5 spot on the list. Located in Edwardsville, Illinois, the fairly large public school handed out 53 graduate certificate awards in 2021-2022.
Graduate Certificate recipients from SIUE accumulate an average of $39,919 in student debt by the time they complete their degree.
If you are interested in distance education, be sure to check with the school since SIUE does offer online graduate classes for certain majors. To give an idea of how popular online courses are at the school, 63% of graduates took at least one course online in 2020-2021.
Loyola University Chicago landed the #6 spot in the 2023 rankings for the best graduate certificate nursing programs. Loyola Chicago is located in Chicago, Illinois and has a fairly large student population. In 2021-2022, this school awarded 390 graduate certificates to qualified students.
On average, graduate certificate students take out $45,173 in loans while pursuing their degree.
If you are interested in distance education, be sure to check with the school since Loyola Chicago does offer online graduate classes for certain majors. To give an idea of how popular online courses are at the school, 77% of graduates took at least one course online in 2020-2021.
Olivet Nazarene 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 #7 on the list. Olivet Nazarene is a private not-for-profit institution located in Bourbonnais, Illinois. The school has a small population, and it awarded 58 graduate certificates in 2021-2022.
Graduate Certificate recipients from Olivet Nazarene accumulate an average of $11,645 in student debt by the time they complete their degree.
Some students may be able to take online graduate classes at Olivet Nazarene. In fact, around 99% of the graduate population registered for at least one online class in 2020-2021.
With a ranking of #8, North Park University did quite well on this year’s best schools for nursing students working on their graduate certificate.
Some students may be able to take online graduate classes at North Park. In 2020-2021 about 45% of the graduate students at the school chose to take one or more online courses.
DePaul University ranked #9 on this year’s Best Nursing Graduate Certificate Schools in Illinois list. Chicago, Illinois is the setting for this large institution of higher learning. The private not-for-profit school handed out graduate certificates to 22 students in 2021-2022.
On average, graduate certificate students take out $47,001 in loans while pursuing their degree.
Online graduate courses are available at DePaul, but you will need to check with the school to see if they are available for your field of interest. In 2020-2021 about 69% of the graduate students at the school chose to take one or more online courses.
View Best Nursing Graduate Certificate Schools Nationwide >
Notes and References
Footnotes
*These averages are for the top 9 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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