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Best Nursing Master's Degree Schools in Illinois

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2023 Best Nursing Master's Degree Schools in Illinois

25 Colleges
$98,140 Avg Salary

Finding the Best Nursing Master's Degree 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.

Along with in-depth profiles of schools and the programs they offer, Grad Degree Search has created the Best Nursing Master's Degree Schools in Illinois to help you in your search for the best school for you. Our analysis looked at 25 schools in Illinois to see which master'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 Master’s Degree Schools in Illinois

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

Top 10 Best Nursing Master's Degree Schools

Our analysis found Chamberlain University - Illinois to be the best school for nursing students who want to pursue a master’s degree in Illinois. Located in the suburb of Addison, Chamberlain - Illinois is a private for-profit school with a fairly large student population.

Full Nursing at Chamberlain University - Illinois Report

A rank of #2 on this year’s list means Saint Anthony College of Nursing is a great place for nursing students working on their master’s degree. SACN is a fairly small private not-for-profit school located in the medium-sized city of Rockford.

Full Nursing at Saint Anthony College of Nursing Report

Out of the 25 schools in Illinois that were part of this year’s ranking, University of St Francis landed the # 3 spot on the list. Located in the suburb of Joliet, University of Saint Francis is a private not-for-profit school with a small student population.

Read full report on Nursing at University of St Francis

#4

Bradley University

Peoria, IL

Out of the 25 schools in Illinois that were part of this year’s ranking, Bradley University landed the # 4 spot on the list. Bradley is a medium-sized private not-for-profit school located in the midsize city of Peoria.

Read full report on Nursing at Bradley University

#5

Lewis University

Romeoville, IL

You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend Lewis University. It ranked #5 on our 2023 Best Nursing Master’s Degree Schools in Illinois list. Located in the large suburb of Romeoville, Lewis is a private not-for-profit school with a moderately-sized student population.

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#6

Rush University

Chicago, IL

Rush University landed the #6 spot in the 2023 rankings for the best master’s degree nursing programs. Located in the city of Chicago, Rush University is a private not-for-profit college with a small student population.

Full Nursing at Rush University Report

Illinois State University landed the #7 spot in the 2023 rankings for the best master’s degree nursing programs. Located in the suburb of Normal, Illinois State is a public school with a very large student population.

Full Nursing at Illinois State University Report

Saint Francis Medical Center College of Nursing landed the #8 spot in the 2023 rankings for the best master’s degree nursing programs. St. Francis Medical Center College of Nursing is a fairly small private not-for-profit school located in the medium-sized city of Peoria.

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Loyola University Chicago came in at #9 in this year’s edition of the Best Nursing Master’s Degree Schools in Illinois ranking. Loyola Chicago is a large private not-for-profit school located in the large city of Chicago.

Read More…

#10

Olivet Nazarene University

Bourbonnais, IL

Olivet Nazarene University ranked #10 on this year’s Best Nursing Master’s Degree Schools in Illinois list. 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 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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