2023 Best Value Nursing Doctor's Degree Schools in the Great Lakes Region
Highlighting Quality Schools With More Affordable Pricing
Finding the Best Nursing Doctor'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.
The Best Value Nursing Doctor's Degree Schools in the Great Lakes Region ranking is one of many tools that Course Advisor has developed to help you make your educational decision. This report analyzed 64 schools in the Great Lakes Region to see which ones offered the best value doctor's degree programs for nursing students. The goal was to highlight schools with more affordable prices than others offering similar quality experiences.
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.
Top 10 Best Nursing Doctor's Degree Schools
Our 2023 rankings named Ferris State University the best value school in the Great Lakes Region for nursing students working on their doctor’s degree. Located in the distant town of Big Rapids, Ferris is a public school with a large student population.
Ferris graduate students pay an average of $8,232 in tuition and fees each year.
Ferris excels when it comes to quality. It’s ranked in the top 20% of all schools on our Best Nursing Doctor’s Degree Schools in the Great Lakes Region list.
Full Nursing at Ferris State University Report
Request Information
A rank of #2 on this year’s list means Saint Francis Medical Center College of Nursing is a great value for nursing students working on their doctor’s degree. St. Francis Medical Center College of Nursing is a small private not-for-profit school located in the medium-sized city of Peoria.
Out-of-state tuition fees for graduate students at St. Francis Medical Center College of Nursing are $8,740 per year.
Full Nursing at Saint Francis Medical Center College of Nursing Report
Request Information
A rank of #3 on this year’s list means Ashland University is a great value for nursing students working on their doctor’s degree. Ashland is a small private not-for-profit school located in the fringe town of Ashland.
Ashland graduate students pay an average of $6,972 in tuition and fees each year.
Full Nursing at Ashland University Report
Request Information
Out of the 64 schools in the Great Lakes Region that were part of this year’s ranking, Viterbo University landed the # 4 spot on the list. Viterbo is a small private not-for-profit school located in the city of La Crosse.
Viterbo graduate students pay an average of $9,488 in tuition and fees each year.
Request Information
Out of the 64 schools in the Great Lakes Region that were part of this year’s ranking, McKendree University landed the # 5 spot on the list. Located in the suburb of Lebanon, McKendree is a private not-for-profit school with a small student population.
McKendree graduate students pay an average of $9,756 in tuition and fees each year.
Read full report on Nursing at McKendree University
Request Information
Chamberlain University - Illinois did quite well in this year’s ranking of the best places for nursing students to get a doctor’s degree. It came in at #6 on the list. Located in the large suburb of Addison, Chamberlain - Illinois is a private for-profit college with a fairly large student population.
Chamberlain - Illinois graduate students pay an average of $14,090 in tuition and fees each year.
Read full report on Nursing at Chamberlain University - Illinois
Request Information
With a ranking of #7, Southern Illinois University Edwardsville did quite well on this year’s best value schools for nursing students working on their doctor’s degree. Located in the suburb of Edwardsville, SIUE is a public college with a large student population.
The average tuition and fees for an out-of-state graduate students at SIUE are $9,316 a year.
Full Nursing at Southern Illinois University Edwardsville Report
Request Information
With a ranking of #8, University of St Francis did quite well on this year’s best value schools for nursing students working on their doctor’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.
The average tuition and fees for an out-of-state graduate students at University of Saint Francis are $13,839 a year.
In addition to its best value ranking, and one of the reasons why the school is on the list, University of Saint Francis is ranked #5 for overall quality for nursing in the Great Lakes Region .
Request Information
Otterbein University did quite well in this year’s ranking of the best places for nursing students to get a doctor’s degree. It came in at #9 on the list. Otterbein is a small private not-for-profit school located in the suburb of Westerville.
Out-of-state tuition fees for graduate students at Otterbein are $14,392 per year.
As a testament to the quality of education it offers, Otterbein also is in the top 15% of our Best Nursing Doctor’s Degree Schools in the Great Lakes Region ranking.
Full Nursing at Otterbein University Report
Request Information
With a ranking of #10, Illinois State University did quite well on this year’s best value schools for nursing students working on their doctor’s degree. Located in the midsize suburb of Normal, Illinois State is a public college with a very large student population.
Out-of-state tuition fees for graduate students at Illinois State are $11,773 per year.
On top of its placing in our value ranking, Illinois State also did well on our Best Nursing Doctor’s Degree Schools in the Great Lakes Region list. It’s in the top 20% of all schools reviewed in this analysis.
Full Nursing at Illinois State University Report
Request InformationHonorable 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 Doctor's Degree Schools in the Great Lakes Region award.
| Rank | College | Location |
|---|---|---|
| 11 | Lewis University | Romeoville, IL |
| 12 | Purdue University Global | Indianapolis, IN |
| 12 | Alverno College | Milwaukee, WI |
Best Nursing Colleges by State
Explore the best nursing schools 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 |
More Nursing Rankings in the Great Lakes 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.
Course Advisor provides higher-education, college and university, degree, program, career, salary, and other helpful information to students, faculty, institutions, and other internet audiences. Presented information and data are subject to change. Inclusion on this website does not imply or represent a direct relationship with the company, school, or brand. Information, though believed correct at time of publication, may not be correct, and no warranty is provided. Contact the schools to verify any information before relying on it. Financial aid may be available for those who qualify. The displayed options may include sponsored or recommended results, not necessarily based on your preferences.
© Course Advisor – All Rights Reserved.