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Best Nursing Graduate Certificate Schools in Illinois

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2023 Best Nursing Graduate Certificate Schools in Illinois

12 Colleges
$99,011 Avg Salary
$21,624 Avg Student Debt

Finding the Best Nursing Graduate Certificate School for You

In 2020-2021, nursing students earned 6,634 degrees and certificates from an Illinois school, making the subject the 2nd in the state.

Today's students have lots of options to pick from when considering higher education opportunities. Along with traditional schools that require in-person attendence, you can attend one of many reputable online schools. Some programs even offer a hybrid experience. Alternatively, you may choose a trade school that prepares you to enter the workforce with knowledge in a specific field.

The Best Nursing Graduate Certificate Schools in Illinois ranking is one of many tools that Grad Degree Search has developed to help you make your educational decision. Our analysis looked at 12 schools in Illinois to see which graduate certificate 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 Graduate Certificate Schools in Illinois

The following schools top our list of the Best Nursing Graduate Certificate Colleges.

Top 10 Best Nursing Graduate Certificate Schools

Our 2023 rankings named University of St Francis the best school in Illinois for nursing students working on their graduate certificate. Located in the large suburb of Joliet, University of Saint Francis is a private not-for-profit college with a small student population.

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You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend Chamberlain University - Illinois. It ranked #2 on our 2023 Best Nursing Graduate Certificate Schools in Illinois list. Located in the large suburb of Addison, Chamberlain - Illinois is a private for-profit school with a very large student population.

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#3

Bradley University

Peoria, IL

Out of the 12 schools in Illinois that were part of this year’s ranking, Bradley University landed the # 3 spot on the list. Bradley is a medium-sized private not-for-profit school located in the medium-sized city of Peoria.

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#4

Lewis University

Romeoville, IL

Out of the 12 schools in Illinois that were part of this year’s ranking, Lewis University landed the # 4 spot on the list. Located in the large suburb of Romeoville, Lewis is a private not-for-profit college with a medium-sized student population.

Read full report on Nursing at Lewis University

#5

Rush University

Chicago, IL

You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around you if you attend Rush University. The school came in at #5 on this year’s Best Nursing Graduate Certificate Schools in Illinois list. Located in the city of Chicago, Rush University is a private not-for-profit college with a small student population.

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Illinois State University landed the #6 spot in the 2023 rankings for the best graduate certificate nursing programs. Located in the midsize suburb of Normal, Illinois State is a public school with a very large student population.

Read full report on Nursing at Illinois State University

Southern Illinois University Edwardsville came in at #7 in this year’s edition of the Best Nursing Graduate Certificate Schools in Illinois ranking. Located in the suburb of Edwardsville, SIUE is a public college with a large student population.

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With a ranking of #8, Saint Francis Medical Center College of Nursing did quite well on this year’s best schools for nursing students working on their graduate certificate. St. Francis Medical Center College of Nursing is a small private not-for-profit school located in the medium-sized city of Peoria.

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Loyola University Chicago did quite well in this year’s ranking of the best places for nursing students to get a graduate certificate. It came in at #9 on the list. Loyola Chicago is a fairly large private not-for-profit school located in the city of Chicago.

Full Nursing at Loyola University Chicago Report

#10

Olivet Nazarene University

Bourbonnais, IL

Olivet Nazarene University came in at #10 in this year’s edition of the Best Nursing Graduate Certificate Schools in Illinois ranking. Olivet Nazarene is a small private not-for-profit school located in the suburb of Bourbonnais.

Read full report on Nursing at Olivet Nazarene University

Best Nursing Colleges in the Great Lakes Region

Explore all the Best Nursing Colleges in the Great Lakes Area or other specific states within that region.

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

One of 29 majors within the area of study, nursing has other similar majors worth exploring.

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 12 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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