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Best Nursing Master's Degree Schools in the Great Lakes Region

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2023 Best Nursing Master's Degree Schools in the Great Lakes Region

90 Colleges
$98,140 Avg Salary

Finding the Best Nursing Master's Degree School for You

With 322,592 degrees and certificates handed out in 2020-2021, nursing is the #3 most popular major in the United States.

Today's students have lots of options to pick from when considering higher education opportunities. You can choose a traditional brick and mortar school, or with the growth of online education, you can attend a school half-way across the country without even leaving your house. Also there are many trade schools that offer short-term programs that open up more career options.

To help you arm yourself with the information you need to make your decision, Course Advisor has developed this Best Nursing Master's Degree Schools in the Great Lakes Region ranking. This report analyzed 90 schools in the Great Lakes Region to see which ones offered the best master's degree programs for students. To come up with a school's ranking, we analyzed numerous factors related to post-graduation wages, the quality of education offered by the school, average accumulated student debt, and more.

View our full ranking methodology.

2023 Best Nursing Master’s Degree Schools in the Great Lakes Region

The colleges and universities below are the best for nursing majors pursuing a master's degree.

Top 15% Best Nursing Master's Degree Schools

Our analysis found Case Western Reserve University to be the best school for nursing students who want to pursue a master’s degree in the Great Lakes Region . Located in the city of Cleveland, Case Western is a private not-for-profit school with a fairly large student population.

Read full report on Nursing at Case Western Reserve University

You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around you if you attend Chamberlain University - Illinois. The school came in at #2 on this year’s Best Nursing Master’s Degree Schools in the Great Lakes Region list. Located in the large suburb of Addison, Chamberlain - Illinois is a private for-profit school with a fairly large student population.

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Out of the 90 schools in the Great Lakes Region that were part of this year’s ranking, Saint Anthony College of Nursing landed the # 3 spot on the list. SACN is a small private not-for-profit school located in the midsize city of Rockford.

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You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around you if you attend University of Michigan - Ann Arbor. The school came in at #4 on this year’s Best Nursing Master’s Degree Schools in the Great Lakes Region list. U-M is a very large public school located in the city of Ann Arbor.

Full Nursing at University of Michigan - Ann Arbor Report

#5

Marquette University

Milwaukee, WI

You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around you if you attend Marquette University. The school came in at #5 on this year’s Best Nursing Master’s Degree Schools in the Great Lakes Region list. Located in the city of Milwaukee, Marquette is a private not-for-profit school with a fairly large student population.

Full Nursing at Marquette University Report

#6

Otterbein University

Westerville, OH

Otterbein University landed the #6 spot in the 2023 rankings for the best master’s degree nursing programs. Otterbein is a small private not-for-profit school located in the large suburb of Westerville.

Read full report on Nursing at Otterbein University

#7

Bellin College

Green Bay, WI

Bellin College did quite well in this year’s ranking of the best places for nursing students to get a master’s degree. It came in at #7 on the list. Bellin College is a fairly small private not-for-profit school located in the rural area of Green Bay.

Read full report on Nursing at Bellin College

With a ranking of #8, University of St Francis did quite well on this year’s best schools for nursing students working on their master’s degree. Located in the large suburb of Joliet, University of Saint Francis is a private not-for-profit school with a small student population.

Full Nursing at University of St Francis Report

#9

Purdue University - Main Campus

West Lafayette, IN

Purdue University - Main Campus came in at #9 in this year’s edition of the Best Nursing Master’s Degree Schools in the Great Lakes Region ranking. Purdue is a fairly large public school located in the city of West Lafayette.

Read full report on Nursing at Purdue University - Main Campus

#10

Michigan State University

East Lansing, MI

Michigan State University did quite well in this year’s ranking of the best places for nursing students to get a master’s degree. It came in at #10 on the list. Located in the small city of East Lansing, Michigan State is a public school with a fairly large student population.

Read full report on Nursing at Michigan State University

#11

Bradley University

Peoria, IL

With a ranking of #11, Bradley University did quite well on this year’s best schools for nursing students working on their master’s degree. Bradley is a moderately-sized private not-for-profit school located in the city of Peoria.

Read full report on Nursing at Bradley University

With a ranking of #12, Ohio State University - Main Campus did quite well on this year’s best schools for nursing students working on their master’s degree. Ohio State is a fairly large public school located in the large city of Columbus.

Full Nursing at Ohio State University - Main Campus Report

Mount Carmel College of Nursing landed the #13 spot in the 2023 rankings for the best master’s degree nursing programs. Mount Carmel College of Nursing is a fairly small private not-for-profit school located in the city of Columbus.

Read full report on Nursing at Mount Carmel College of Nursing

Honorable Mentions

Here are some additional great schools for Nursing students in the Great Lakes Region that almost earned our Best Nursing Master's Degree Schools in the Great Lakes Region award.

Rank College Location
14 Milwaukee School of Engineering Milwaukee, WI
15 Lewis University Romeoville, IL
16 Rush University Chicago, IL
17 Illinois State University Normal, IL
18 Herzing University - Madison Madison, WI

Best Nursing Colleges by State

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

State Degrees Awarded
Michigan 7,345
Ohio 13,973
Illinois 21,938
Indiana 7,922
Wisconsin 5,410

One of 30 majors within the area of study, nursing has other similar majors worth exploring.

Majors Similar to Nursing

Related Major Annual Graduates
Health & Medical Administrative Services 89,359
Allied Health & Medical Assisting Services 84,492
Practical Nursing & Nursing Assistants 84,274
Allied Health Professions 82,308
Public Health 40,596

Notes and References

*These averages are for the top 25 schools only.

  • 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 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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