Nursing is one of the most popular and gratifying career paths. You may know you want to study nursing in college, but choosing the best nursing schools for you can be a daunting task, regardless of the specialty you are most interested in – whether surgical, clinical, emergency or so another. We expect the best colleges for nursing degrees to imbue students with an intellectual curiosity that will carry through to a fulfilling career providing the highest level of patient care or research, keeping abreast of the latest developments and techniques, in the constantly evolving field.
Ranking the Best Colleges for Nursing Majors
Determining the best colleges for nursing majors is more that just guesswork. We have analyzed the top programs and ranking of the top universities, using the authoritative RealRankTM analytic process. In the table below, we have listed the current top nursing colleges, with the college’s name, city and state.
| Rank | College | City | State |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | University of Washington | Seattle | WA |
| 2 | Duke University | Durham | NC |
| 3 | Johns Hopkins University | Baltimore | MD |
| 4 | Emory University | Atlanta | GA |
| 5 | University of Pennsylvania | Philadelphia | PA |
| 6 | University of California - San Francisco | San Francisco | CA |
| 7 | Vanderbilt University | Nashville | TN |
| 8 | The Ohio State University | Columbus | OH |
| 9 | University of Michigan | Ann Arbor | MI |
| 10 | Columbia University | New York | NY |
| 11 | University of Texas | Austin | TX |
| 12 | Yale University | New Haven | CT |
| 13 | University of North Carolina - Chapel Hill | Chapel Hill | NC |
| 14 | Rush University | Chicago | IL |
| 15 | New York University | New York | NY |
| 16 | Penn State | University Park | PA |
| 17 | University of California - Los Angeles | Los Angeles | CA |
| 18 | University of Texas Health Science Center | Houston | TX |
| 19 | Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences - Graduate Program | Bethesda | MD |
| 20 | University of Iowa | Iowa City | IA |
| 21 | University of Arizona | Tuscon | AZ |
| 22 | University of Virginia | Charlottesville | VA |
| 23 | Texas Tech University | Lubbock | TX |
| 24 | University of Illinois - Chicago | Chicago | IL |
| 25 | University of Alabama at Birmingham | Birmingham | AL |
| 26 | Arizona State University | Tempe | AZ |
| 27 | Indiana University - Purdue University Indianapolis | Indianapolis | IN |
| 28 | University of Rochester | Rochester | NY |
| 29 | Case Western Reserve University | Cleveland | OH |
| 30 | Purdue University | West Lafayette | IN |
| 31 | University of Cincinnati | Cincinnati | OH |
| 32 | Oregon Health & Science University | Portland | OR |
| 33 | Virginia Commonwealth University | Richmond | VA |
| 34 | University of Connecticut | Storrs | CT |
| 35 | Michigan State University | East Lansing | MI |
| 36 | Washington State University | Pullman | WA |
| 37 | University of California - Davis | Davis | CA |
| 38 | University of Miami | Coral Gables | FL |
| 39 | University of South Florida | Tampa | FL |
| 40 | University of New Mexico | Albuquerque | NM |
| 41 | Villanova University | Villanova | PA |
| 42 | Wayne State University | Detroit | MI |
| 43 | University of Nevada - Las Vegas (UNLV) | Las Vegas | NV |
| 44 | Florida International University | Miami | FL |
| 45 | University of Texas at Arlington | Arlington | TX |
| 46 | George Mason University | Fairfax | VA |
| 47 | Florida Atlantic University | Boca Raton | Fl |
| 48 | Rutgers University - Newark | Newark | NJ |
| 49 | George Washington University | Washington | DC |
| 50 | The Catholic University of America | Washington | DC |
| 51 | University of Maryland, Baltimore | Baltimore | MD |
| 52 | University of Rhode Island | Kingston | RI |
| 53 | University of Wisconsin - Milwaukee | Milwaukee | WI |
| 54 | Marquette University | Milwaukee | WI |
| 55 | Loyola University Chicago | Chicago | IL |
| 56 | Howard University | Washington | DC |
| 57 | University of New Hampshire | Durham | NH |
| 58 | University of California - Irvine | Irvine | CA |
| 59 | Hofstra University | Hempstead | NY |
| 60 | Saint Louis University | St. Louis | MO |
More information on our RealRank analyses used in creating this ranking can be found on the About page. The underlined colleges link to our ranking profile specific to that institution. If your college is not profiled as yet, contact us using the contact form.
Have you attended any of these programs? What has been your experience at these universities?
