2023 Most Popular Nursing Graduate Certificate Schools in the Southeast Region
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. 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 or bootcamp that prepares you to enter the workforce with knowledge in a specific field.
To assist you in seeing some of the education options that are available to you, Nursing Degree Search has created its Most Popular Nursing Graduate Certificate Schools in the Southeast Region ranking. This report analyzed 105 schools in the Southeast Region to see which ones were the most popular graduate certificate programs for nursing students. To create this ranking we looked at how many students graduated from each school on the list.
Most Popular Nursing Graduate Certificate Schools in the Southeast Region of the U.S.
Learn more about these popular schools below:
Our 2023 rankings named University of South Alabama the most popular school in the Southeast Region for nursing students working on their graduate certificate. Located in Mobile, Alabama, the fairly large public school handed out 184 graduate certificate awards in 2021-2022.
Of those students who received their degree, 92% were women.
Online graduate courses are available at USA, but you will need to check with the school to see if they are available for your field of interest. In 2020-2021 about 73% of the graduate students at the school chose to take one or more online courses.
Out of the 105 schools in the Southeast Region that were part of this year’s ranking, Frontier Nursing University landed the # 2 spot on the list. Located in Versailles, Kentucky, the small private not-for-profit school handed out 112 graduate certificate awards in 2021-2022.
On average, graduate certificate students take out $58,443 in loans while pursuing their degree. Around 97% of those degree recipients were women.
Since the graduate programs at Frontier Nursing University are online, the school is an excellent choice for graduate students who need more flexibility than what is offered at some other schools.
The excellent graduate certificate programs at Liberty University helped the school earn the #3 place on this year’s ranking of the most popular nursing schools in the Southeast Region . Located in Lynchburg, Virginia, the large private not-for-profit school handed out 1,713 graduate certificate awards in 2021-2022.
Graduate Certificate recipients from Liberty University accumulate an average of $39,492 in student debt by the time they complete their degree. Of those students who received their degree, 59% were women.
You may have the opportunity to take online graduate classes at Liberty University. In 2020-2021 about 97% of the graduate students at the school chose to take one or more online courses.
The excellent graduate certificate programs at Northern Kentucky University helped the school earn the #4 place on this year’s ranking of the most popular nursing schools in the Southeast Region . Located in Highland Heights, Kentucky, the fairly large public school handed out 129 graduate certificate awards in 2021-2022.
Around 85% of those degree recipients were women.
You may have the opportunity to take online graduate classes at NKU. During the 2020-2021 year, about 90% of the graduate students at the school took at least one online course.
You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend Duke University. It ranked #5 on our 2023 Most Popular Nursing Graduate Certificate Schools in the Southeast Region list. Located in Durham, North Carolina, the fairly large private not-for-profit school handed out 349 graduate certificate awards in 2021-2022.
Graduate Certificate recipients from Duke accumulate an average of $94,645 in student debt by the time they complete their degree. Of those students who received their degree, 66% were women.
If you are interested in distance education, be sure to check with the school since Duke does offer online graduate classes for certain majors. In 2020-2021 about 31% of the graduate students at the school chose to take one or more online courses.
South University’s online programs landed the #6 spot in the 2023 rankings for the most popular graduate certificate nursing programs. South University’s online programs is a medium-sized private for-profit school situated in Savannah, Georgia. It awarded 50 graduate certificates in 2021-2022.
Graduate Certificate recipients from South University’s online programs accumulate an average of $46,839 in student debt by the time they complete their degree. Of those students who received their degree, 92% were women.
South University’s online programs is one of the schools on our list that is primarily online. Each graduate student at the school took at least one class online.
Vanderbilt 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 #7 on the list. This fairly large private not-for-profit school is located in Nashville, Tennessee, and it awarded 35 graduate certificates in 2021-2022.
Around 86% of those degree recipients were women.
Online graduate courses are available at Vanderbilt, but you will need to check with the school to see if they are available for your field of interest. In fact, around 21% of the graduate population registered for at least one online class in 2020-2021.
Western Kentucky University came in at #8 in this year’s edition of the Most Popular Nursing Graduate Certificate Schools in the Southeast Region ranking. WKU is located in Bowling Green, Kentucky and has a fairly large student population. In 2021-2022, this school awarded 166 graduate certificates to qualified students.
Around 63% of those degree recipients were women.
Online graduate courses are available at WKU, 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.
University of Miami ranked #9 on this year’s Most Popular Nursing Graduate Certificate Schools in the Southeast Region list. Located in Coral Gables, Florida, the fairly large private not-for-profit school handed out 166 graduate certificate awards in 2021-2022.
Graduate Certificate recipients from U Miami accumulate an average of $87,438 in student debt by the time they complete their degree. Around 58% of those degree recipients were women.
Depending on your major, you may be able to take online graduate classes at U Miami. In fact, around 38% of the graduate population registered for at least one online class in 2020-2021.
Shenandoah University ranked #9 on this year’s Most Popular Nursing Graduate Certificate Schools in the Southeast Region list. Winchester, Virginia is the setting for this small institution of higher learning. The private not-for-profit school handed out graduate certificates to 100 students in 2021-2022.
By the time they get their graduate certificate, students from this school have racked up an average of $28,594 in student loans. Of those students who received their degree, 79% were women.
Shenandoah 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. To give an idea of how popular online courses are at the school, 51% of graduates took at least one course online in 2020-2021.
The University of Tennessee - Knoxville came in at #11 in this year’s edition of the Most Popular Nursing Graduate Certificate Schools in the Southeast Region ranking. UT Knoxville is a public institution located in Knoxville, Tennessee. The school has a large population, and it awarded 161 graduate certificates in 2021-2022.
By the time they get their graduate certificate, students from this school have racked up an average of $42,610 in student loans. Around 85% of those degree recipients were women.
You may have the opportunity to take online graduate classes at UT Knoxville. During the 2020-2021 year, about 32% of the graduate students at the school took at least one online course.
University of Central Florida landed the #12 spot in the 2023 rankings for the most popular graduate certificate nursing programs. University of Central Florida is a large public school located in Orlando, Florida that handed out 455 graduate certificates in 2021-2022.
Around 75% of those degree recipients were women.
You may have the opportunity to take online graduate classes at UCF. In 2020-2021 about 51% of the graduate students at the school chose to take one or more online courses.
East Tennessee State University landed the #12 spot in the 2023 rankings for the most popular graduate certificate nursing programs. ETSU is a fairly large public school situated in Johnson City, Tennessee. It awarded 113 graduate certificates in 2021-2022.
Graduate Certificate recipients from ETSU accumulate an average of $51,829 in student debt by the time they complete their degree. Of those students who received their degree, 69% were women.
Depending on your major, you may be able to take online graduate classes at ETSU. In 2020-2021 about 51% of the graduate students at the school chose to take one or more online courses.
Florida Atlantic University ranked #14 on this year’s Most Popular Nursing Graduate Certificate Schools in the Southeast Region list. Florida Atlantic University is a large public school located in Boca Raton, Florida that handed out 179 graduate certificates in 2021-2022.
By the time they get their graduate certificate, students from this school have racked up an average of $39,180 in student loans. Of those students who received their degree, 62% were women.
FAU does offer online graduate classes for certain degree levels. To give an idea of how popular online courses are at the school, 59% of graduates took at least one course online in 2020-2021.
With a ranking of #15, University of Mississippi did quite well on this year’s most popular schools for nursing students working on their graduate certificate. Ole Miss is a large public school situated in University, Mississippi. It awarded 48 graduate certificates in 2021-2022.
Around 58% of those degree recipients were women.
Online graduate courses are available at Ole Miss, but you will need to check with the school to see if they are available for your field of interest. To give an idea of how popular online courses are at the school, 28% of graduates took at least one course online in 2020-2021.
With a ranking of #15, University of Southern Mississippi did quite well on this year’s most popular schools for nursing students working on their graduate certificate. Southern Miss is a fairly large public school situated in Hattiesburg, Mississippi. It awarded 114 graduate certificates in 2021-2022.
Of those students who received their degree, 75% were women.
If you are interested in distance education, be sure to check with the school since Southern Miss does offer online graduate classes for certain majors. In 2020-2021 about 63% of the graduate students at the school chose to take one or more online courses.
Georgia State University came in at #17 in this year’s edition of the Most Popular Nursing Graduate Certificate Schools in the Southeast Region ranking. Georgia State is a public institution located in Atlanta, Georgia. The school has a large population, and it awarded 194 graduate certificates in 2021-2022.
Graduate Certificate recipients from Georgia State accumulate an average of $42,214 in student debt by the time they complete their degree. Of those students who received their degree, 79% were women.
You may have the opportunity to take online graduate classes at Georgia State. During the 2020-2021 year, about 49% of the graduate students at the school took at least one online course.
Emory 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 #18 on the list. Atlanta, Georgia is the setting for this fairly large institution of higher learning. The private not-for-profit school handed out graduate certificates to 40 students in 2021-2022.
Of those students who received their degree, 88% were women.
Online graduate courses are available at Emory, but you will need to check with the school to see if they are available for your field of interest. During the 2020-2021 year, about 38% of the graduate students at the school took at least one online course.
University of Florida came in at #19 in this year’s edition of the Most Popular Nursing Graduate Certificate Schools in the Southeast Region ranking. This large public school is located in Gainesville, Florida, and it awarded 1,038 graduate certificates in 2021-2022.
Around 68% of those degree recipients were women.
Depending on your major, you may be able to take online graduate classes at UF. In 2020-2021 about 49% of the graduate students at the school chose to take one or more online courses.
With a ranking of #20, Eastern Kentucky University did quite well on this year’s most popular schools for nursing students working on their graduate certificate. Located in Richmond, Kentucky, the fairly large public school awarded 66 diplomas to qualifed graduate certificate students in 2021-2022.
Of those students who received their degree, 80% were women.
Some students may be able to take online graduate classes at Eastern. During the 2020-2021 year, about 80% of the graduate students at the school took at least one online course.
University of Kentucky came in at #21 in this year’s edition of the Most Popular Nursing Graduate Certificate Schools in the Southeast Region ranking. This large public school is located in Lexington, Kentucky, and it awarded 551 graduate certificates in 2021-2022.
On average, graduate certificate students take out $37,516 in loans while pursuing their degree. Around 80% of those degree recipients were women.
One thing to take note of is that UK does offer online graduate classes in some areas. In fact, around 44% of the graduate population registered for at least one online class in 2020-2021.
University of South Carolina - Columbia landed the #21 spot in the 2023 rankings for the most popular graduate certificate nursing programs. Located in Columbia, South Carolina, the large public school awarded 322 diplomas to qualifed graduate certificate students in 2021-2022.
On average, graduate certificate students take out $45,126 in loans while pursuing their degree. Of those students who received their degree, 47% were women.
Depending on your major, you may be able to take online graduate classes at UofSC. In 2020-2021 about 44% of the graduate students at the school chose to take one or more online courses.
With a ranking of #23, Florida International University did quite well on this year’s most popular schools for nursing students working on their graduate certificate. FIU is located in Miami, Florida and has a large student population. In 2021-2022, this school awarded 238 graduate certificates to qualified students.
Around 73% of those degree recipients were women.
One thing to take note of is that FIU does offer online graduate classes in some areas. In fact, around 50% of the graduate population registered for at least one online class in 2020-2021.
Miami Regional University came in at #23 in this year’s edition of the Most Popular Nursing Graduate Certificate Schools in the Southeast Region ranking. This very small private for-profit school is located in Miami Springs, Florida, and it awarded 50 graduate certificates in 2021-2022.
Of those students who received their degree, 64% were women.
Northwestern State University of Louisiana ranked #23 on this year’s Most Popular Nursing Graduate Certificate Schools in the Southeast Region list. Located in Natchitoches, Louisiana, the medium-sized public school awarded 107 diplomas to qualifed graduate certificate students in 2021-2022.
Around 74% of those degree recipients were women.
Online graduate courses are available at NSU, but you will need to check with the school to see if they are available for your field of interest. Of all the graduate students enrolled at the school during the 2020-2021 academic year, around 97% took at least some of their classes online.
Narrow Schools by State
View Most Popular Nursing Graduate Certificate Schools Nationwide >
Notes and References
Footnotes
*These averages are for the top 25 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.
Featured Schools
Request Info | Southern New Hampshire University You have goals. Southern New Hampshire University can help you get there. Whether you need a bachelor's degree to get into a career or want a master's degree to move up in your current career, SNHU has an online program for you. Find your degree from over 200 online programs. Learn More > |