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Most Popular Nursing Schools in Kentucky

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2023 Most Popular Nursing Schools in Kentucky

43 Colleges
$65,824 Avg Salary
$26,802 Avg Student Debt

Finding the Best Nursing School for You

In 2020-2021, nursing students earned 6,395 degrees and certificates from a Kentucky school, making the subject the 2nd in the state.

Today's students have lots of options to pick from when considering higher education opportunities. As online education oppotunities continue to grow, you're not restricted to just schools in your local area anymore. Even some of the 'big name' schools are offering online courses. Also, there are a number of trade schools with offerings that you might find attractive.

To assist you in seeing some of the education options that are available to you, Course Advisor has created its Most Popular Nursing Schools in Kentucky ranking. Our analysis looked at 43 schools in Kentucky to see which programs were the most popular for students. To create this ranking we looked at how many students graduated from the Nursing program at each school on the list.

Check out the nursing programs at these schools if you want to attend one of the most popular in Kentucky.

Our analysis found Frontier Nursing University to be the most popular school for nursing students who want to pursue a degree in Kentucky. Frontier Nursing University is a small private not-for-profit school located in the rural area of Hyden.

Full Nursing at Frontier Nursing University Report

You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around you if you attend Galen College of Nursing - Louisville. The school came in at #2 on this year’s Most Popular Nursing Schools in Kentucky list. Galen College of Nursing - Louisville is a small private for-profit school located in the large city of Louisville.

While working on their degree, nursing majors at Galen College of Nursing - Louisville accumulate an average of around $41,365 in student debt. The average monthly payment of a loan this size is about $117, assuming that the borrower is on a 10-year repayment plan.

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#3

Northern Kentucky University

Highland Heights, KY

You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around you if you attend Northern Kentucky University. The school came in at #3 on this year’s Most Popular Nursing Schools in Kentucky list. Located in the suburb of Highland Heights, NKU is a public school with a large student population.

While working on their degree, nursing majors at NKU accumulate an average of around $30,429 in student debt. This translates to an average monthly loan payment of $252, based on a 10-year repayment plan.

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#4

Western Kentucky University

Bowling Green, KY

A rank of #4 on this year’s list means Western Kentucky University is a great place for nursing students. Located in the small city of Bowling Green, WKU is a public school with a large student population.

The average amount in student loans that nursing majors at WKU take out is $24,343. The average monthly payment of a loan this size is about $200, assuming that the borrower is on a 10-year repayment plan.

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#5

University of Kentucky

Lexington, KY

You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend University of Kentucky. It ranked #5 on our 2023 Most Popular Nursing Schools in Kentucky list. Located in the large city of Lexington, UK is a public school with a very large student population.

Nursing majors at UK take out an average of $27,000 in student loans while working on their egree. The average monthly payment of a loan this size is about $363, assuming that the borrower is on a 10-year repayment plan.

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#6

University of Louisville

Louisville, KY

University of Louisville ranked #6 on this year’s Most Popular Nursing Schools in Kentucky list. Located in the large city of Louisville, UofL is a public school with a very large student population.

While working on their degree, nursing majors at UofL accumulate an average of around $25,656 in student debt. When it comes time to repay the loan, graduates who are on a 10-year repayment plan pay an average monthly payment of $178.

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With a ranking of #7, Eastern Kentucky University did quite well on this year’s most popular schools for nursing students. Eastern is a fairly large public school located in the town of Richmond.

While working on their degree, nursing majors at Eastern accumulate an average of around $27,970 in student debt. For students who choose a 10-year repayment plan, the average monthly student loan payment is $242.

Read full report on Nursing at Eastern Kentucky University

#8

Bellarmine University

Louisville, KY

Bellarmine University did quite well in this year’s ranking of the most popular schools for nursing students. It came in at #8 on the list. Bellarmine U is a small private not-for-profit school located in the city of Louisville.

The average amount in student loans that nursing majors at Bellarmine U take out is $28,000. This translates to an average monthly loan payment of $285, based on a 10-year repayment plan.

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#9

Spalding University

Louisville, KY

With a ranking of #9, Spalding University did quite well on this year’s most popular schools for nursing students. Located in the city of Louisville, Spalding is a private not-for-profit college with a small student population.

On average, nursing graduates from Spalding take out $31,000 in student loans while working on their degree.

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#10

Murray State University

Murray, KY

Murray State University landed the #10 spot in the 2023 rankings for the most popular nursing programs. Located in the remote town of Murray, Murray State is a public school with a medium-sized student population.

After completing their degree, nursing graduates from Murray State carry an average student debt load of $24,025.

Read full report on Nursing at Murray State University

Best Nursing Colleges in the Southeast Region

Explore all the Most Popular Nursing Schools in the Southeast Area or other specific states within that region.

State Degrees Awarded
Georgia 7,112
Virginia 6,775
North Carolina 7,425
Florida 21,209
Tennessee 6,004
South Carolina 3,296
Louisiana 3,502
Arkansas 2,882
Alabama 7,364
Mississippi 2,838
West Virginia 1,771

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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