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Best Value Nursing Schools in Illinois

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2023 Best Value Nursing Schools in Illinois

Highlighting Quality Schools With More Affordable Pricing

27 Colleges
$27,494 Avg Tuition & Fees*
$71,879 Avg Salary

Finding the Best Nursing 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.

To assist you in seeing some of the education options that are available to you, Grad Degree Search has created its Best Value Nursing Schools in Illinois ranking. This report analyzed 27 schools in Illinois to see which ones offered the best value programs for nursing students. The goal was to highlight schools with more affordable prices than others offering similar quality experiences.

When determining this ranking, we place a high emphasis on the school's quality as well as its sticker price. Even though a college may be affordable, it may not offer value. Specifically, our score for quality is discounted by the published tuition and fees charged by the given college. This gives the cost per unit of quality for each college. The more quality your dollar buys, the better the value.

Our calculations use out-of-state tuition and fees in our nationwide and regional rankings. For statewide rankings, we use average in-state tuition and fees.

2023 Best Value Nursing Schools in Illinois

The colleges and universities below are the best value schools for nursing majors pursuing a .

Top 10 Best Nursing Schools

$22,369 Average Tuition & Fees

Our analysis found Saint Francis Medical Center College of Nursing to be the best value school for nursing students who want to pursue a degree in Illinois. St. Francis Medical Center College of Nursing is a small private not-for-profit school located in the midsize city of Peoria.

In-state tuition fees for undergraduate students at St. Francis Medical Center College of Nursing are $22,369 per year.

Read More…

$13,968 Average Tuition & Fees

A rank of #2 on this year’s list means Illinois State University is a great value for nursing students. Located in the midsize suburb of Normal, Illinois State is a public college with a very large student population.

Illinois State undergraduate students pay an average of $13,968 in in-state tuition and fees each year.

Illinois State also took the #5 spot in our Best Nursing Schools in Illinois rankings.

Full Nursing at Illinois State University Report

$11,496 Average Tuition & Fees

You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend Southern Illinois University Edwardsville. It ranked #3 on our 2023 Best Value Nursing Schools in Illinois list. Located in the suburb of Edwardsville, SIUE is a public school with a large student population.

SIUE undergraduate students pay an average of $11,496 in in-state tuition and fees each year.

Read full report on Nursing at Southern Illinois University Edwardsville

#4

McKendree University

Lebanon, IL
$33,050 Average Tuition & Fees

Out of the 27 schools in Illinois that were part of this year’s ranking, McKendree University landed the # 4 spot on the list. Located in the large suburb of Lebanon, McKendree is a private not-for-profit college with a small student population.

The average tuition and fees for an in-state undergraduate at McKendree are $33,050 a year.

Read full report on Nursing at McKendree University

$20,250 Average Tuition & Fees

A rank of #5 on this year’s list means Chamberlain University - Illinois is a great value for nursing students. Located in the suburb of Addison, Chamberlain - Illinois is a private for-profit school with a fairly large student population.

Chamberlain - Illinois undergraduate students pay an average of $20,250 in in-state tuition and fees each year.

Read full report on Nursing at Chamberlain University - Illinois

#6

Governors State University

University Park, IL
$10,108 Average Tuition & Fees

Governors State University came in at #6 in this year’s edition of the Best Value Nursing Schools in Illinois ranking. GSU is a small public school located in the rural area of University Park.

In-state tuition fees for undergraduate students at GSU are $10,108 per year.

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$35,000 Average Tuition & Fees

University of St Francis came in at #7 in this year’s edition of the Best Value Nursing Schools in Illinois ranking. Located in the suburb of Joliet, University of Saint Francis is a private not-for-profit school with a small student population.

The average tuition and fees for an in-state undergraduate at University of Saint Francis are $35,000 a year.

University of Saint Francis also took the #4 spot in our Best Nursing Schools in Illinois rankings.

Read More…

$14,738 Average Tuition & Fees

With a ranking of #8, Northern Illinois University did quite well on this year’s best value schools for nursing students. Located in the small suburb of Dekalb, NIU is a public school with a large student population.

In-state tuition fees for undergraduate students at NIU are $14,738 per year.

Read full report on Nursing at Northern Illinois University

#9

Olivet Nazarene University

Bourbonnais, IL
$37,440 Average Tuition & Fees

Olivet Nazarene University came in at #9 in this year’s edition of the Best Value Nursing Schools in Illinois ranking. Olivet Nazarene is a small private not-for-profit school located in the suburb of Bourbonnais.

Olivet Nazarene undergraduate students pay an average of $37,440 in in-state tuition and fees each year.

Olivet Nazarene excels when it comes to quality. It’s ranked in the top 20% of all schools on our Best Nursing Schools in Illinois list.

Full Nursing at Olivet Nazarene University Report

#10

Lewis University

Romeoville, IL
$35,472 Average Tuition & Fees

With a ranking of #10, Lewis University did quite well on this year’s best value schools for nursing students. Located in the suburb of Romeoville, Lewis is a private not-for-profit school with a medium-sized student population.

In-state tuition fees for undergraduate students at Lewis are $35,472 per year.

Full Nursing at Lewis University Report

Best Value Nursing Colleges in the Great Lakes Region

Explore all the Best Value Nursing Schools 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.

  • 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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