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Best Value Nursing Master's Degree Schools in Iowa

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2023 Best Value Nursing Master's Degree Schools in Iowa

Identifying High-Quality Schools With More Affordable Pricing

5 Schools Ranked
$15,976 Avg Tuition & Fees*

Today's nursing students have lots of options to pick from when considering higher education opportunities. You're no longer limited to schools in your local area, either, since online programs are becoming more prevalent. Or you may find the programs at a trade school or bootcamp to be a better alternative for you.

To assist you in seeing some of the education options that are available to you, Nursing Degree Search has created its Best Value Nursing Master's Degree Schools in Iowa ranking. Our analysis looked at 5 schools in Iowa to see which master's degree programs offered the best value experiences for nursing students with the aim of identifying those quality schools that are more affordable than some of their counterparts.

When determining this ranking, we place a high emphasis on the school's quality as well as its sticker price. Even though a college may be affordable, it may not offer value. More specifically, we discount our quality score by the published tuition and fees charged by a school. This gives the cost per unit of quality for each college. The value is determined by how much quality your dollar buys.

Our calculations use out-of-state tuition and fees in our nationwide and regional rankings. Average in-state tuition and fees are used for our statewide rankings.

Top Value Nursing Master's Degree Schools in Iowa

Learn more about these excellent schools below:

#1

Morningside College

Sioux City, Iowa
39 Total Awards
$6,516 Average Tuition & Fees

Our 2023 rankings named Morningside College the best value school in Iowa for nursing students working on their master’s degree. Morningside is located in Sioux City, Iowa and has a small student population. In 2020-2021, this school awarded 39 master’s degrees to qualified students.

Out-of-state tuition fees for graduate students at Morningside are $6,516 per year.

If you are interested in distance education, Morningside is an excellent choice, since graduate classes are offered online.

Morningside also took the #3 spot in our Best Nursing Master’s Degree Schools in Iowa rankings.

Read More…

176 Total Awards
$11,187 Average Tuition & Fees

The excellent master’s degree programs at Graceland University - Lamoni helped the school earn the #2 place on this year’s ranking of the best value nursing schools in Iowa. Graceland University - Lamoni is a small private not-for-profit school located in Lamoni, Iowa that handed out 176 master’s degrees in 2020-2021.

Out-of-state tuition fees for graduate students at Graceland Lamoni are $11,187 per year.

Since the graduate programs at Graceland Lamoni are primarily online, it is a great choice for returning adults and students who work full time.

Graceland Lamoni also made our Best Nursing Master’s Degree Schools in Iowa list, coming in at #2.

Read full report on Graceland University - Lamoni

#3

University of Iowa

Iowa City, Iowa
5 Total Awards
$31,012 Average Tuition & Fees

A rank of #3 on this year’s list means University of Iowa is a great place for nursing students working on their master’s degree who want the most bang for their educational buck. Iowa is located in Iowa City, Iowa and has a large student population. In 2020-2021, this school awarded 5 master’s degrees to qualified students.

Out-of-state tuition fees for graduate students at Iowa are $31,012 per year.

One thing to take note of is that Iowa does offer online graduate classes in some areas. Of all the graduate students enrolled at the school during the 2019-2020 academic year, around 33% took at least some of their classes online.

Iowa not only placed well in our value ranking, but it is also #1 on our Best Nursing Master’s Degree Schools in Iowa list.

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#4

Briar Cliff University

Sioux City, Iowa
27 Total Awards
$10,530 Average Tuition & Fees

A rank of #4 on this year’s list means Briar Cliff University is a great place for nursing students working on their master’s degree who want the most bang for their educational buck. This small private not-for-profit school is located in Sioux City, Iowa, and it awarded 27 master’s degrees in 2020-2021.

Out-of-state tuition fees for graduate students at Briar Cliff are $10,530 per year.

If you are interested in distance education, be sure to check with the school since Briar Cliff does offer online graduate classes for certain majors. During the 2019-2020 year, about 64% of the graduate students at the school took at least one online course.

In addition to its best value ranking, and one of the reasons why the school is on the list, Briar Cliff is ranked #4 for overall quality in Iowa.

Read More…

#5

Mount Mercy University

Cedar Rapids, Iowa
5 Total Awards
$11,176 Average Tuition & Fees

Out of the 5 schools in Iowa that were part of this year’s value ranking, Mount Mercy University landed the # 5 spot on the list. Mount Mercy is a private not-for-profit institution located in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. The school has a small population, and it awarded 5 master’s degrees in 2020-2021.

The average tuition and fees for an out-of-state graduate students at Mount Mercy are $11,176 a year.

If you are interested in distance education, be sure to check with the school since Mount Mercy does offer online graduate classes for certain majors. To give an idea of how popular online courses are at the school, 62% of graduates took at least one course online in 2019-2020.

Mount Mercy not only placed well in our value ranking, but it is also #5 on our Best Nursing Master’s Degree Schools in Iowa list.

Read full report on Mount Mercy University

Best Value Nursing Master's Degree Schools in the Plains States Region

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Notes and References

Footnotes

*These averages are for the top 5 schools only.

References

  • 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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