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Best Nursing Doctor's Degree Schools in the Great Lakes Region

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

64 Colleges
$115,233 Avg Salary

Finding the Best Nursing Doctor's Degree School for You

With 66,964 degrees and certificates handed out in 2020-2021, nursing is the #2 most popular major in the United States.

There are lots of options to pick from today when trying to decide which program is right for you. 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.

Along with in-depth profiles of schools and the programs they offer, Grad Degree Search has created the Best Nursing Doctor's Degree Schools in the Great Lakes Region to help you in your search for the best school for you. Our analysis looked at 64 schools in the Great Lakes Region to see which doctor's degree programs offered the best educational experiences for students. To come up with a school's ranking, we analyzed numerous factors related to post-graduation wages, the quality of education offered by the school, average accumulated student debt, and more.

View our full ranking methodology.

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

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

Top 10 Best Nursing Doctor's Degree Schools

Our 2023 rankings named Chamberlain University - Illinois the best school in the Great Lakes Region for nursing students working on their doctor’s degree. Chamberlain - Illinois is a fairly large private for-profit school located in the large suburb of Addison.

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#2

Rush University

Chicago, IL

Out of the 64 schools in the Great Lakes Region that were part of this year’s ranking, Rush University landed the # 2 spot on the list. Rush University is a small private not-for-profit school located in the city of Chicago.

Full Nursing at Rush University Report

#3

Saint Mary's College

Notre Dame, IN

Out of the 64 schools in the Great Lakes Region that were part of this year’s ranking, Saint Mary’s College landed the # 3 spot on the list. Located in the suburb of Notre Dame, St. Mary's College is a private not-for-profit school with a small student population.

Full Nursing at Saint Mary’s College Report

The excellent doctor’s degree programs at Rosalind Franklin University of Medicine and Science helped the school earn the #4 place on this year’s ranking of the best nursing schools in the Great Lakes Region . Located in the large suburb of North Chicago, RFUMS is a private not-for-profit college with a small student population.

Read full report on Nursing at Rosalind Franklin University of Medicine and Science

#5

Bradley University

Peoria, IL

Out of the 64 schools in the Great Lakes Region that were part of this year’s ranking, Bradley University landed the # 5 spot on the list. Located in the midsize city of Peoria, Bradley is a private not-for-profit college with a medium-sized student population.

Full Nursing at Bradley University Report

#6

Purdue University - Main Campus

West Lafayette, IN

Purdue University - Main Campus 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 small city of West Lafayette, Purdue is a public college with a very large student population.

Full Nursing at Purdue University - Main Campus Report

University of St Francis 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 #7 on the list. University of Saint Francis is a small private not-for-profit school located in the large suburb of Joliet.

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#8

Otterbein University

Westerville, OH

Otterbein University landed the #8 spot in the 2023 rankings for the best doctor’s degree nursing programs. Located in the suburb of Westerville, Otterbein is a private not-for-profit school with a small student population.

Full Nursing at Otterbein University Report

#9

Marquette University

Milwaukee, WI

Marquette University came in at #9 in this year’s edition of the Best Nursing Doctor’s Degree Schools in the Great Lakes Region ranking. Marquette is a fairly large private not-for-profit school located in the large city of Milwaukee.

Full Nursing at Marquette University Report

#10

Edgewood College

Madison, WI

With a ranking of #10, Edgewood College did quite well on this year’s best schools for nursing students working on their doctor’s degree. Located in the city of Madison, Edgewood is a private not-for-profit school with a small student population.

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Additional Noteworthy Schools

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

Rank College Location
11 University of Wisconsin - Madison Madison, WI
12 Lewis University Romeoville, IL

Best Nursing Colleges by State

Explore the best nursing schools for a specific state in the Great Lakes region.

State Degrees Awarded
Michigan 1,113
Illinois 6,634
Ohio 2,563
Indiana 1,819
Wisconsin 972

Nursing is one of 29 different types of programs to choose from.

Majors Similar to Nursing

Related Major Annual Graduates
Medicine 28,629
Rehabilitation & Therapeutic Professions 24,774
Public Health 19,473
Health & Medical Administrative Services 17,335
Pharmacy/Pharmaceutical Sciences 16,952

Notes and References

*These averages are for the top 25 schools only.

  • Read more about our ranking methodology.
  • 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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