2023 Best Value Nursing Associate Degree Schools in the Plains States Region
Highlighting Quality Schools With More Affordable Pricing
Finding the Best Nursing Associate 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 assist you in seeing some of the education options that are available to you, Course Advisor has created its Best Value Nursing Associate Degree Schools in the Plains States Region ranking. Our analysis looked at 89 schools in the Plains States Region to see which associate 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. Specifically, our score for quality is discounted by the published tuition and fees charged by the given college. This gives the cost per unit of quality for each college. The more quality your dollar buys, the better the value.
Our calculations use out-of-state tuition and fees in our nationwide and regional rankings. For statewide rankings, we use average in-state tuition and fees.
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2023 Best Value Nursing Associate Degree Schools in the Plains States Region
The colleges and universities below are the best value schools for nursing majors pursuing a associate degree.
Top 15% Best Nursing Associate Degree Schools
Our 2023 rankings named Oglala Lakota College the best value school in the Plains States Region for nursing students working on their associate degree. Oglala Lakota College is a small public school located in the rural area of Kyle.
Oglala Lakota College undergraduate students pay an average of $2,684 in tuition and fees each year. Nursing majors at Oglala Lakota College take out an average of $11,529 in student loans while working on their Associate Degree.
The excellent associate degree programs at Southeast Community College Area helped the school earn the #2 place on this year’s ranking of the best value nursing schools in the Plains States Region . Located in the city of Lincoln, Southeast Community College is a public college with a moderately-sized student population.
Out-of-state tuition fees for undergraduate students at Southeast Community College are $3,780 per year. On average, nursing graduates from Southeast Community College take out $27,526 in student loans while working on their Associate Degree.
The excellent associate degree programs at Neosho County Community College helped the school earn the #3 place on this year’s ranking of the best value nursing schools in the Plains States Region . Neosho County Community College is a small public school located in the remote town of Chanute.
Neosho County Community College undergraduate students pay an average of $4,000 in tuition and fees each year. After completing their Associate Degree, nursing graduates from Neosho County Community College carry an average student debtload of $20,150.
The excellent associate degree programs at Cloud County Community College helped the school earn the #4 place on this year’s ranking of the best value nursing schools in the Plains States Region . Located in the rural area of Concordia, Cloud County Community College is a public college with a small student population.
The average tuition and fees for an out-of-state undergraduate student at Cloud County Community College are $3,570 a year. The average amount in student loans that nursing majors at Cloud County Community College take out while working on their Associate Degree is $22,223.
A rank of #5 on this year’s list means Rochester Community and Technical College is a great value for nursing students working on their associate degree. Located in the midsize city of Rochester, Rochester Community and Technical College is a public school with a small student population.
Out-of-state tuition fees for undergraduate students at Rochester Community and Technical College are $5,372 per year. While working on their Associate Degree, nursing majors at Rochester Community and Technical College accumulate an average of around $27,212 in student debt.
Rochester Community and Technical College also claimed a spot on our Best Nursing Associate Degree Schools in the Plains States Region list. It’s in the top 15% of all schools in this category.
Read full report on Nursing at Rochester Community and Technical College
With a ranking of #6, Metropolitan Community College did quite well on this year’s best value schools for nursing students working on their associate degree. Located in the city of Omaha, MCC is a public college with a fairly large student population.
The average tuition and fees for an out-of-state undergraduate student at MCC are $4,680 a year. While working on their Associate Degree, nursing majors at MCC accumulate an average of around $22,316 in student debt.
In addition to its great value ranking, MCC is in the top 20% of all schools on our Best Nursing Associate Degree Schools in the Plains States Region list.
Hutchinson Community College came in at #7 in this year’s edition of the Best Value Nursing Associate Degree Schools in the Plains States Region ranking. Hutchinson Community College is a medium-sized public school located in the distant town of Hutchinson.
Out-of-state tuition fees for undergraduate students at Hutchinson Community College are $4,470 per year. While working on their Associate Degree, nursing majors at Hutchinson Community College accumulate an average of around $24,634 in student debt.
Northwest Technical College ranked #8 on this year’s Best Value Nursing Associate Degree Schools in the Plains States Region list. NTC is a fairly small public school located in the remote town of Bemidji.
The average tuition and fees for an out-of-state undergraduate student at NTC are $6,380 a year. Nursing majors at NTC take out an average of $32,265 in student loans while working on their Associate Degree.
Central Community College landed the #9 spot in the 2023 rankings for the best value associate degree nursing programs. Central Community College is a medium-sized public school located in the city of Grand Island.
The average tuition and fees for an out-of-state undergraduate student at Central Community College are $4,590 a year. The average amount in student loans that nursing majors at Central Community College take out while working on their Associate Degree is $13,462.
North Hennepin Community College landed the #10 spot in the 2023 rankings for the best value associate degree nursing programs. North Hennepin Community College is a medium-sized public school located in the large suburb of Brooklyn Park.
North Hennepin Community College undergraduate students pay an average of $4,882 in tuition and fees each year. The average amount in student loans that nursing majors at North Hennepin Community College take out while working on their Associate Degree is $32,743.
North Hennepin Community College excels when it comes to quality. It’s ranked in the top 20% of all schools on our Best Nursing Associate Degree Schools in the Plains States Region list.
Lake Region State College did quite well in this year’s ranking of the best places for nursing students to get a associate degree. It came in at #11 on the list. Located in the town of Devils Lake, Lake Region State College is a public college with a small student population.
The average tuition and fees for an out-of-state undergraduate student at Lake Region State College are $5,000 a year. Nursing majors at Lake Region State College take out an average of $27,411 in student loans while working on their Associate Degree.
Mid-Plains Community College ranked #12 on this year’s Best Value Nursing Associate Degree Schools in the Plains States Region list. Mid-Plains Community College is a small public school located in the town of North Platte.
Out-of-state tuition fees for undergraduate students at Mid-Plains Community College are $4,320 per year. After completing their Associate Degree, nursing graduates from Mid-Plains Community College carry an average student debtload of $19,256.
Anoka-Ramsey Community College ranked #13 on this year’s Best Value Nursing Associate Degree Schools in the Plains States Region list. Located in the large suburb of Coon Rapids, Anoka-Ramsey Community College-Coon Rapids Campus is a public college with a medium-sized student population.
The average tuition and fees for an out-of-state undergraduate student at Anoka-Ramsey Community College-Coon Rapids Campus are $5,515 a year. Nursing majors at Anoka-Ramsey Community College-Coon Rapids Campus take out an average of $28,625 in student loans while working on their Associate Degree.
Anoka-Ramsey Community College-Coon Rapids Campus did well in our overall quality rankings, too. It placed #1 on our Best Nursing Associate Degree Schools in the Plains States Region list.
Honorable Mentions
These are some additional schools worth mentioning that are also great but just didn't quite make the cut to earn our top Best Value Nursing Associate Degree Schools in the Plains States Region award.
| Rank | College | Location |
|---|---|---|
| 14 | Labette Community College | Parsons, KS |
| 15 | Western Iowa Tech Community College | Sioux City, IA |
| 16 | Inver Hills Community College | Inver Grove Heights, MN |
| 17 | Garden City Community College | Garden City, KS |
| 17 | Northeast Community College | Norfolk, NE |
Best Nursing Colleges by State
Explore the best nursing schools for a specific state in the Plains States region.
| State | Degrees Awarded |
|---|---|
| Missouri | 6,840 |
| Minnesota | 14,890 |
| Kansas | 2,633 |
| Iowa | 2,966 |
| Nebraska | 1,908 |
| North Dakota | 976 |
| South Dakota | 1,022 |
More Nursing Rankings in the Plains States Region
Nursing Related Majors for Nursing
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.
- 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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