2023 Best Nursing Master's Degree Schools in the Southeast Region
Finding the Best Nursing Master's Degree School for You
In 2020-2021, 322,592 nursing students received a degree or certificate, making the major the #3 most popular in the country.
There are lots of options to pick from today when trying to decide which program is right for you. As online education oppotunities continue to grow, you're not restricted to just schools in your local area anymore. Even some of the 'big name' schools are offering online courses. Also, there are a number of trade schools with offerings that you might find attractive.
To assist you in seeing some of the education options that are available to you, Course Advisor has created its Best Nursing Master's Degree Schools in the Southeast Region ranking. Our analysis looked at 149 schools in the Southeast Region to see which master's degree programs offered the best educational experiences 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 Southeast 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 2023 rankings named Wake Forest University the best school in the Southeast Region for nursing students working on their master’s degree. Located in the city of Winston-Salem, Wake Forest University is a private not-for-profit school with a medium-sized student population.
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The excellent master’s degree programs at Vanderbilt University helped the school earn the #2 place on this year’s ranking of the best nursing schools in the Southeast Region . Located in the city of Nashville, Vanderbilt is a private not-for-profit college with a large student population.
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A rank of #3 on this year’s list means Duke University is a great place for nursing students working on their master’s degree. Located in the large city of Durham, Duke is a private not-for-profit college with a large student population.
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You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around you if you attend Medical University of South Carolina. The school came in at #4 on this year’s Best Nursing Master’s Degree Schools in the Southeast Region list. MUSC is a small public school located in the city of Charleston.
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You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend AdventHealth University. It ranked #5 on our 2023 Best Nursing Master’s Degree Schools in the Southeast Region list. Located in the large city of Orlando, AHU is a private not-for-profit school with a small student population.
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Frontier Nursing University ranked #6 on this year’s Best Nursing Master’s Degree Schools in the Southeast Region list. Located in the rural area of Hyden, Frontier Nursing University is a private not-for-profit college with a small student population.
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Franciscan Missionaries of Our Lady University ranked #7 on this year’s Best Nursing Master’s Degree Schools in the Southeast Region list. FranU is a small private not-for-profit school located in the city of Baton Rouge.
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With a ranking of #8, Emory University did quite well on this year’s best schools for nursing students working on their master’s degree. Located in the large city of Atlanta, Emory is a private not-for-profit college with a fairly large student population.
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University of Virginia - Main Campus ranked #9 on this year’s Best Nursing Master’s Degree Schools in the Southeast Region list. University of Virginia is a very large public school located in the small suburb of Charlottesville.
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Florida Gulf Coast 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 large suburb of Fort Myers, FGCU is a public college with a large student population.
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The University of Tennessee - Chattanooga landed the #11 spot in the 2023 rankings for the best master’s degree nursing programs. Located in the city of Chattanooga, UT Chattanooga is a public school with a large student population.
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With a ranking of #12, James Madison University did quite well on this year’s best schools for nursing students working on their master’s degree. Located in the city of Harrisonburg, JMU is a public school with a very large student population.
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Florida State University ranked #13 on this year’s Best Nursing Master’s Degree Schools in the Southeast Region list. Florida State is a very large public school located in the midsize city of Tallahassee.
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Belmont University ranked #14 on this year’s Best Nursing Master’s Degree Schools in the Southeast Region list. Located in the city of Nashville, Belmont is a private not-for-profit college with a medium-sized student population.
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University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill ranked #15 on this year’s Best Nursing Master’s Degree Schools in the Southeast Region list. Located in the small city of Chapel Hill, UNC Chapel Hill is a public college with a fairly large student population.
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University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences 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 #16 on the list. UAMS is a small public school located in the midsize city of Little Rock.
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With a ranking of #17, South University’s online programs did quite well on this year’s best schools for nursing students working on their master’s degree. South University's online programs is a medium-sized private for-profit school located in the midsize city of Savannah.
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Augusta University landed the #18 spot in the 2023 rankings for the best master’s degree nursing programs. Located in the midsize city of Augusta, Augusta University is a public school with a moderately-sized student population.
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With a ranking of #19, Shenandoah University did quite well on this year’s best schools for nursing students working on their master’s degree. Shenandoah is a small private not-for-profit school located in the city of Winchester.
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University of South Carolina - Columbia landed the #20 spot in the 2023 rankings for the best master’s degree nursing programs. UofSC is a very large public school located in the city of Columbia.
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University of Miami landed the #21 spot in the 2023 rankings for the best master’s degree nursing programs. U Miami is a fairly large private not-for-profit school located in the small city of Coral Gables.
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Harding 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 #22 on the list. Harding is a small private not-for-profit school located in the distant town of Searcy.
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These are some additional schools worth mentioning that are also great but just didn't quite make the cut to earn our top Best Nursing Master's Degree Schools in the Southeast Region award.
| Rank | College | Location |
|---|---|---|
| 23 | Auburn University | Auburn, AL |
| 24 | Samford University | Birmingham, AL |
| 25 | Sentara College of Health Sciences | Chesapeake, VA |
| 26 | Virginia Commonwealth University | Richmond, VA |
| 27 | The University of Tennessee - Knoxville | Knoxville, TN |
| 28 | Clemson University | Clemson, SC |
| 29 | Radford University | Radford, VA |
Best Nursing Colleges by State
Explore the best nursing colleges for a specific state in the Southeast region.
| State | Degrees Awarded |
|---|---|
| Georgia | 7,112 |
| Virginia | 6,775 |
| North Carolina | 7,425 |
| Florida | 21,209 |
| Tennessee | 6,004 |
| Kentucky | 6,395 |
| South Carolina | 3,296 |
| Louisiana | 3,502 |
| Arkansas | 2,882 |
| Alabama | 7,364 |
| Mississippi | 2,838 |
| West Virginia | 1,771 |
More Nursing Rankings in the Southeast Region
Nursing Related Rankings by Major
Nursing is one of 30 different types of programs to choose from.
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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