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Best Nursing Master's Degree Schools in the Southeast Region

2023 Best Nursing Master's Degree Schools in the Southeast Region

149 Colleges
$98,140 Avg Salary

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

#1

Wake Forest University

Winston-Salem, NC

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 midsize city of Winston-Salem, Wake Forest University is a private not-for-profit school with a medium-sized student population.

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#2

Vanderbilt University

Nashville, TN

A rank of #2 on this year’s list means Vanderbilt University is a great place for nursing students working on their master’s degree. Located in the large city of Nashville, Vanderbilt is a private not-for-profit school with a large student population.

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#3

Duke University

Durham, NC

Out of the 149 schools in the Southeast Region that were part of this year’s ranking, Duke University landed the # 3 spot on the list. Located in the large city of Durham, Duke is a private not-for-profit school with a fairly large student population.

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The excellent master’s degree programs at Medical University of South Carolina helped the school earn the #4 place on this year’s ranking of the best nursing schools in the Southeast Region . MUSC is a small public school located in the midsize city of Charleston.

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#5

AdventHealth University

Orlando, FL

You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around you if you attend AdventHealth University. The school came in at #5 on this year’s 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 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 #6 on the list. Located in the rural area of Hyden, Frontier Nursing University is a private not-for-profit school with a small student population.

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Franciscan Missionaries of Our Lady University landed the #7 spot in the 2023 rankings for the best master’s degree nursing programs. FranU is a small private not-for-profit school located in the city of Baton Rouge.

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#8

Emory University

Atlanta, GA

Emory University landed the #8 spot in the 2023 rankings for the best master’s degree nursing programs. Located in the large city of Atlanta, Emory is a private not-for-profit school with a fairly large student population.

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University of Virginia - Main Campus landed the #9 spot in the 2023 rankings for the best master’s degree nursing programs. University of Virginia is a fairly large public school located in the suburb of Charlottesville.

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#10

Florida Gulf Coast University

Fort Myers, FL

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 suburb of Fort Myers, FGCU is a public college with a large student population.

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The University of Tennessee - Chattanooga came in at #11 in this year’s edition of the Best Nursing Master’s Degree Schools in the Southeast Region ranking. Located in the city of Chattanooga, UT Chattanooga is a public school with a large student population.

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#12

James Madison University

Harrisonburg, VA

James Madison University landed the #12 spot in the 2023 rankings for the best master’s degree nursing programs. Located in the small city of Harrisonburg, JMU is a public college with a very large student population.

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#13

Florida State University

Tallahassee, FL

Florida State University ranked #13 on this year’s Best Nursing Master’s Degree Schools in the Southeast Region list. Florida State is a fairly large public school located in the city of Tallahassee.

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#14

Belmont University

Nashville, TN

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 school with a medium-sized student population.

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With a ranking of #15, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill did quite well on this year’s best schools for nursing students working on their master’s degree. Located in the city of Chapel Hill, UNC Chapel Hill is a public school with a very large student population.

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University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences landed the #16 spot in the 2023 rankings for the best master’s degree nursing programs. UAMS is a small public school located in the midsize city of Little Rock.

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South University’s online programs landed the #17 spot in the 2023 rankings for the best master’s degree nursing programs. South University's online programs is a moderately-sized private for-profit school located in the medium-sized city of Savannah.

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#18

Augusta University

Augusta, GA

With a ranking of #18, Augusta University did quite well on this year’s best schools for nursing students working on their master’s degree. Located in the medium-sized city of Augusta, Augusta University is a public school with a moderately-sized student population.

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#19

Shenandoah University

Winchester, VA

Shenandoah 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 #19 on the list. Shenandoah is a small private not-for-profit school located in the small city of Winchester.

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With a ranking of #20, University of South Carolina - Columbia did quite well on this year’s best schools for nursing students working on their master’s degree. UofSC is a very large public school located in the city of Columbia.

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#21

University of Miami

Coral Gables, FL

University of Miami came in at #21 in this year’s edition of the Best Nursing Master’s Degree Schools in the Southeast Region ranking. U Miami is a fairly large private not-for-profit school located in the city of Coral Gables.

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#22

Harding University

Searcy, AR

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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Additional Noteworthy Schools

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 schools 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

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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