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Best Value Nursing Graduate Certificate Schools in the Plains States Region

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2023 Best Value Nursing Graduate Certificate Schools in the Plains States Region

Highlighting Quality Schools With More Affordable Pricing

28 Colleges
$15,808 Avg Tuition & Fees*
$99,011 Avg Salary

Finding the Best Nursing Graduate Certificate 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 Value Nursing Graduate Certificate Schools in the Plains States Region ranking. Our analysis looked at 28 schools in the Plains States Region to see which graduate certificate 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.

2023 Best Value Nursing Graduate Certificate Schools in the Plains States Region

Check out the nursing graduate certificate programs at these schools if you want to get the best value for your educational dollar.

Top 10 Best Nursing Graduate Certificate Schools

#1

Morningside College

Sioux City, IA

Our analysis found Morningside College to be the best value school for nursing students who want to pursue a graduate certificate in the Plains States Region . Located in the city of Sioux City, Morningside 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 Morningside are $6,516 a year.

Full Nursing at Morningside College Report

#2

Mount Marty University

Yankton, SD

A rank of #2 on this year’s list means Mount Marty University is a great value for nursing students working on their graduate certificate. Mount Marty is a small private not-for-profit school located in the town of Yankton.

Out-of-state tuition fees for graduate students at Mount Marty are $9,650 per year.

In addition to its great value ranking, Mount Marty is in the top 20% of all schools on our Best Nursing Graduate Certificate Schools in the Plains States Region list.

Read full report on Nursing at Mount Marty University

#3

Clarkson College

Omaha, NE

Out of the 28 schools in the Plains States Region that were part of this year’s ranking, Clarkson College landed the # 3 spot on the list. Clarkson College is a small private not-for-profit school located in the city of Omaha.

The average tuition and fees for an out-of-state graduate students at Clarkson College are $12,294 a year.

Full Nursing at Clarkson College Report

You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend Mayo Clinic School of Medicine. It ranked #4 on our 2023 Best Value Nursing Graduate Certificate Schools in the Plains States Region list. Located in the medium-sized city of Rochester, Mayo Clinic School of Medicine is a private not-for-profit college with a small student population.

The average tuition and fees for an out-of-state graduate students at Mayo Clinic School of Medicine are $22,716 a year.

Read full report on Nursing at Mayo Clinic School of Medicine

Out of the 28 schools in the Plains States Region that were part of this year’s ranking, Minnesota State University - Moorhead landed the # 5 spot on the list. MSU Moorhead is a medium-sized public school located in the medium-sized suburb of Moorhead.

MSU Moorhead graduate students pay an average of $11,052 in tuition and fees each year.

Full Nursing at Minnesota State University - Moorhead Report

Winona State University landed the #6 spot in the 2023 rankings for the best value graduate certificate nursing programs. Winona State is a medium-sized public school located in the town of Winona.

Winona State graduate students pay an average of $12,836 in tuition and fees each year.

Winona State also claimed a spot on our Best Nursing Graduate Certificate Schools in the Plains States Region list. It’s in the top 20% of all schools in this category.

Full Nursing at Winona State University Report

Graceland University - Lamoni ranked #7 on this year’s Best Value Nursing Graduate Certificate Schools in the Plains States Region list. Graceland Lamoni is a small private not-for-profit school located in the rural area of Lamoni.

Graceland Lamoni graduate students pay an average of $11,187 in tuition and fees each year.

Full Nursing at Graceland University - Lamoni Report

#8

Briar Cliff University

Sioux City, IA

Briar Cliff University landed the #8 spot in the 2023 rankings for the best value graduate certificate nursing programs. Briar Cliff is a small private not-for-profit school located in the city of Sioux City.

Out-of-state tuition fees for graduate students at Briar Cliff are $10,530 per year.

Read full report on Nursing at Briar Cliff University

Maryville University of Saint Louis ranked #9 on this year’s Best Value Nursing Graduate Certificate Schools in the Plains States Region list. Maryville U is a fairly large private not-for-profit school located in the suburb of Saint Louis.

Out-of-state tuition fees for graduate students at Maryville U are $15,696 per year.

Maryville U excels when it comes to quality. It’s ranked in the top 10% of all schools on our Best Nursing Graduate Certificate Schools in the Plains States Region list.

Read full report on Nursing at Maryville University of Saint Louis

Nebraska Methodist College of Nursing & Allied Health ranked #10 on this year’s Best Value Nursing Graduate Certificate Schools in the Plains States Region list. Nebraska Methodist College is a small private not-for-profit school located in the city of Omaha.

Out-of-state tuition fees for graduate students at Nebraska Methodist College are $12,158 per year.

Full Nursing at Nebraska Methodist College of Nursing & Allied Health Report

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

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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