Best Online Nursing Degree Programs of 2023
With an aging population increasing demand for trained registered nurses (RNs) and advanced specialty nurses, nurses in the U.S. are in short supply. Not only is nursing a rewarding career to directly improve people's lives, now is the right time to enter the field.
Why This Matters
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195,400 REGISTERED NURSES NEEDED BY 2031
The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) estimates an increase in demand for registered nurses (RNs) of 6% over the next decade.
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112,700 NURSE PRACTITIONERS NEEDED AS WELL
It is also projected that nurse practitioner job opportunities will grow 46% by 2031.
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EARN SIX FIGURES PER YEAR
Nurse anesthetists, nurse midwives, and nurse practitioners make an average salary of $123,780.
Our Research
This list features some of the best online nursing degree programs at top colleges across the country. Each school featured is a nonprofit, accredited institution — either public or private — with a high standard of academic quality for post-secondary institutions. The programs on our list are accredited by agencies like the Commission on Collegiate Nursing Education (CCNE) and the Accreditation Commission for Education in Nursing (ACEN), which ensure quality in nursing education programs.
We evaluated each school’s program on tuition costs, admission, retention and graduation rates, faculty, and reputation as well as the student resources provided for online students. Then we calculated the Intelligent Score on a scale of 0 to 100. Read more about our ranking methodology.
Next, we compared this comprehensive list of online nursing degree programs to a list of aggregated college rankings from reputable publications like the U.S. News & World Report among others to simplify a student’s college search. We pored through these rankings so students don’t have to.
The Top 30 Online Nursing Degree Programs
Our Ranking Methodology
To find the top 30 Online Nursing Degree programs, we had three initial requirements. Each school needed to be non-profit, to better guarantee that the school is looking out for its students interests over its own bottom line. Additionally, each school needed to offer at least two fully-online degrees.
We also required every degree offered to be accredited by either the Commission on Collegiate Nursing Education (CCNE) or the Accreditation Commission for Education in Nursing (ACEN). These institutions certify that each program is rigorous and will help you advance your nursing career.
Then, we examined each school based on three factors:
Program Strength
First, we looked at how well each school ranked in top college evaluators like U.S. News. These organizations take a deep dive into each school to see both how well each program stands on its own as well as how it compares to its peers. We created an algorithm that analyzed the multiple rankings into a single score so that we could easily compare universities.
A high score here indicates that a school is highly-regarded in terms of how well it prepares its graduates to become working nurses. Lower scores may not indicate a poor program, but one that isn’t as well-established.
Online Readiness
We then wanted to hone in on schools that not only have highly-regarded nursing programs, but ones that are known for teaching nursing well online. To do so, we looked at student satisfaction surveys for each college and department to evaluate whether teachers were seen as effective and approachable. We also looked at the online resources utilized by each nursing department to assess how well the school is technologically equipped to provide online education.
Comparative Cost
The specific cost of each program varies not only by what kind of degree you pursue — Bachelor’s, Master’s, or Doctorate — but also by specialization. As a result, we could not do a direct comparison of the cost of degrees. Instead, we focused on the cost per credit hour for undergraduate and graduate nursing courses.
While no degree is going to be cheap, we wanted to find the ones that were more cost-effective compared to their peers. Colleges who scored highly here offered classes at competitive rates — to get you out of paying student loans and into planning your future, faster.
This Gave Us Our Intelligent Score
Together, these three evaluations allowed us to calculate an Intelligent Score for each college. The best of the best are well-regarded programs that excel teaching nursing online, and they won’t charge you an arm and a leg for the privilege of learning with them.
If these top schools don’t feel like enough options, take a look at our shortlist of schools which gives you an extra fifteen to compare. Even though these programs didn’t score highly enough to make it into the top 30, they’re each strong programs in their own right and could be your perfect choice.
- Azusa Pacific University
- Jacksonville State University
- Excelsior College
- University of Nebraska Medical Center
- Concordia University Wisconsin
- Midway University
- University of Saint Mary
- The George Washington University
- Spring Arbor University
- Bradley University
- University of Pittsburgh
- Roberts Wesleyan College
- La Roche College
- Medical University of South Carolina
- University of San Francisco
This Degree Isn’t For Everyone
Depending on your experience, an online nursing degree might not be right for you. To make up for the lack of in-person experience, many online nursing degree programs have experience or work requirements. You’ll need to be currently employed, or have sufficient work experience in the field, to enter the program.
This particularly applies if you’re just starting out your nursing career. The first nursing degree available online are bachelor’s degrees (BSNs), and those without on-campus requirements require you to already have your registered nurse license. This means that you’ll want to start out with either an in-person associate or bachelor’s degree to kickstart your nursing career.
What’s Next?
As you consider our Top Online Nursing Degrees, you’ll want to keep an eye on school’s state authorizations. If you live in a different state than the university, you’ll need to make sure that your home state accepts your school’s ability to award online degrees. Most schools have a state authorization page, or you can check with the admissions director or your local board of nursing for more information.
You’ll also want to look out for any residency requirements. The vast majority of the programs on our list are fully online, and the remainder often require an on-campus orientation or a visit to campus or two. If you’re looking for a completely online program, you’ll need to double check that the specific degree and specialization you’ve chosen is available without campus visits.
Finally, if you’re interested in becoming a nurse midwife or a nurse anesthesiologist, you’ll want to find a program with that specialty accreditation. The Council on Accreditation (COA) accredits programs specifically for Nurse Anesthesia, while the American College of Nurse-Midwives (ACNM) accredits programs for nurse midwifery.
Of our top schools, only two offer these specializations through online coursework: Michigan State University with an accredited Nurse Anesthesia MSN, and the University of Cincinnati with an accredited Nurse Anesthesia Doctor of Nursing Practice and Master’s in Nurse Midwifery. These programs all have offline components, but can help you advance into these specializations.