2023 Most Popular Online Nursing Schools in the Plains States Region
Finding the Most Popular Online Nursing 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 Most Popular Online Nursing Schools in the Plains States Region ranking. Our analysis looked at 52 schools in the Plains States Region to see which online programs were the most popular for students. To create this ranking we looked at how many students graduated from schools with online programs.
2023 Most Popular Online Nursing Schools in the Plains States Region
The following schools top our list of the Most Popular Online Nursing Colleges.
Top 10 Most Popular Online Nursing Schools
Our 2023 rankings named Capella University the most popular online school in the Plains States Region for nursing students. Located in the large city of Minneapolis, Capella University is a private for-profit college with a very large student population.
The average amount in student loans that nursing majors at Capella University take out is $27,599.
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You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend Maryville University of Saint Louis. It ranked #3 on our 2023 Most Popular Online Nursing 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.
After completing their degree, nursing graduates from Maryville U carry an average student debtload of $31,009. Assuming that a graduate chooses a 10-year repayment plan, the average monthly loan payment is $416.
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You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend University of Kansas. It ranked #4 on our 2023 Most Popular Online Nursing Schools in the Plains States Region list. Located in the small city of Lawrence, KU is a public college with a very large student population.
Nursing majors at KU take out an average of $22,182 in student loans while working on their egree.
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The excellent online programs at Central Methodist University - College of Graduate & Extended Studies helped the school earn the #5 place on this year’s ranking of the best nursing schools in the Plains States Region . CMU CGES is a small private not-for-profit school located in the town of Fayette.
On average, nursing graduates from CMU CGES take out $27,562 in student loans while working on their degree.
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Washburn University came in at #6 in this year’s edition of the Most Popular Online Nursing Schools in the Plains States Region ranking. Located in the medium-sized city of Topeka, Washburn University is a public college with a moderately-sized student population.
The average amount in student loans that nursing majors at Washburn University take out is $26,142. This translates to an average monthly loan payment of $187, based on a 10-year repayment plan.
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With a ranking of #7, Wichita State University did quite well on this year’s best schools for nursing students. Located in the city of Wichita, WSU is a public college with a fairly large student population.
The average amount in student loans that nursing majors at WSU take out is $27,000. When it comes time to repay the loan, graduates who are on a 10-year repayment plan pay an average monthly payment of $177.
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With a ranking of #8, Bemidji State University did quite well on this year’s best schools for nursing students. Bemidji State University is a small public school located in the remote town of Bemidji.
The average amount in student loans that nursing majors at Bemidji State University take out is $30,446.
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With a ranking of #9, Fort Hays State University did quite well on this year’s best schools for nursing students. FHSU is a large public school located in the remote town of Hays.
The average amount in student loans that nursing majors at FHSU take out is $22,866.
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University of Central Missouri landed the #10 spot in the 2023 rankings for the best nursing programs. Located in the distant town of Warrensburg, UCM is a public school with a fairly large student population.
The average amount in student loans that nursing majors at UCM take out is $26,674. The average monthly payment of a loan this size is about $145, assuming that the borrower is on a 10-year repayment plan.
Full Nursing at University of Central Missouri Report
Request InformationMost Popular Online Nursing Colleges by State
Explore the most popular online 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
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.