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Best Value Nursing Master's Degree Schools in the Great Lakes Region

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2023 Best Value Nursing Master's Degree Schools in the Great Lakes Region

Highlighting Quality Schools With More Affordable Pricing

90 Colleges
$11,275 Avg Tuition & Fees*
$98,140 Avg Salary

Finding the Best Nursing Master'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.

To help you arm yourself with the information you need to make your decision, Course Advisor has developed this Best Value Nursing Master's Degree Schools in the Great Lakes Region ranking. This report analyzed 90 schools in the Great Lakes Region to see which ones offered the best value master'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.

2023 Best Value Nursing Master’s Degree Schools in the Great Lakes Region

The colleges and universities below are the best value schools for nursing majors pursuing a master's degree.

Top 15% Best Nursing Master's Degree Schools

#1

Spring Arbor University

Spring Arbor, MI

Our 2023 rankings named Spring Arbor University the best value school in the Great Lakes Region for nursing students working on their master’s degree. Spring Arbor is a small private not-for-profit school located in the small suburb of Spring Arbor.

Spring Arbor graduate students pay an average of $8,383 in tuition and fees each year.

Full Nursing at Spring Arbor University Report

You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend Saint Francis Medical Center College of Nursing. It ranked #2 on our 2023 Best Value Nursing Master’s Degree Schools in the Great Lakes Region list. St. Francis Medical Center College of Nursing is a fairly small private not-for-profit school located in the midsize city of Peoria.

The average tuition and fees for an out-of-state graduate students at St. Francis Medical Center College of Nursing are $8,740 a year.

Read More…

#3

Ferris State University

Big Rapids, MI

Out of the 90 schools in the Great Lakes Region that were part of this year’s ranking, Ferris State University landed the # 3 spot on the list. 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.

Read full report on Nursing at Ferris State University

#4

Cedarville University

Cedarville, OH

The excellent master’s degree programs at Cedarville University helped the school earn the #4 place on this year’s ranking of the best value nursing schools in the Great Lakes Region . Cedarville is a small private not-for-profit school located in the town of Cedarville.

Cedarville graduate students pay an average of $9,864 in tuition and fees each year.

Read full report on Nursing at Cedarville University

A rank of #5 on this year’s list means Bethel University - Mishawaka is a great value for nursing students working on their master’s degree. Located in the small city of Mishawaka, Bethel University is a private not-for-profit school with a small student population.

Out-of-state tuition fees for graduate students at Bethel University are $7,880 per year.

Full Nursing at Bethel University - Mishawaka Report

Southern Illinois University Edwardsville ranked #6 on this year’s Best Value Nursing Master’s Degree Schools in the Great Lakes Region list. Located in the suburb of Edwardsville, SIUE is a public college with a fairly large student population.

Out-of-state tuition fees for graduate students at SIUE are $9,316 per year.

Read full report on Nursing at Southern Illinois University Edwardsville

Chamberlain University - Illinois came in at #7 in this year’s edition of the Best Value Nursing Master’s Degree Schools in the Great Lakes Region ranking. Located in the suburb of Addison, Chamberlain - Illinois is a private for-profit school with a fairly large student population.

The average tuition and fees for an out-of-state graduate students at Chamberlain - Illinois are $14,090 a year.

Read full report on Nursing at Chamberlain University - Illinois

#8

Youngstown State University

Youngstown, OH

Youngstown State University landed the #8 spot in the 2023 rankings for the best value master’s degree nursing programs. Youngstown State University is a fairly large public school located in the small city of Youngstown.

The average tuition and fees for an out-of-state graduate students at Youngstown State University are $6,931 a year.

Full Nursing at Youngstown State University Report

Herzing University - Madison came in at #9 in this year’s edition of the Best Value Nursing Master’s Degree Schools in the Great Lakes Region ranking. Located in the city of Madison, Herzing University - Madison is a private not-for-profit school with a small student population.

Out-of-state tuition fees for graduate students at Herzing University - Madison are $11,680 per year.

Full Nursing at Herzing University - Madison Report

Illinois State University landed the #10 spot in the 2023 rankings for the best value master’s degree nursing programs. Located in the 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 Master’s Degree Schools in the Great Lakes Region list. It’s in the top 20% of all schools reviewed in this analysis.

Read full report on Nursing at Illinois State University

#11

Alverno College

Milwaukee, WI

Alverno College landed the #11 spot in the 2023 rankings for the best value master’s degree nursing programs. Alverno is a small private not-for-profit school located in the large city of Milwaukee.

Alverno graduate students pay an average of $10,402 in tuition and fees each year.

Full Nursing at Alverno College Report

#12

McKendree University

Lebanon, IL

McKendree University landed the #12 spot in the 2023 rankings for the best value master’s degree nursing programs. Located in the large 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.

Full Nursing at McKendree University Report

#13

Marian University

Fond Du Lac, WI

Marian University ranked #13 on this year’s Best Value Nursing Master’s Degree Schools in the Great Lakes Region list. Marian is a small private not-for-profit school located in the city of Fond Du Lac.

The average tuition and fees for an out-of-state graduate students at Marian are $11,286 a year.

Read full report on Nursing at Marian University

Honorable Mentions

Here are some additional great value schools for Nursing students in the Great Lakes Region seeking value that almost earned our Best Value Nursing Master's Degree Schools in the Great Lakes Region award.

Rank College Location
14 Otterbein University Westerville, OH
15 University of St Francis Joliet, IL
16 Purdue University Northwest Hammond, IN
17 Indiana Wesleyan University - National & Global Marion, IN
18 Northern Illinois University Dekalb, IL
18 Concordia University, Wisconsin Mequon, 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

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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