2025 Best Nursing Bachelor's Degree Schools in the New England Region

Ranked #2 in popularity, nursing is one of the most sought-after bachelor's degree programs in the nation. This means there are lots of options to choose from when you decide to get your degree.

In 2025, College Factual analyzed 62 schools in order to identify the top ones for its Best Nursing Bachelor's Degree Schools in the New England Region ranking. When you put them all together, these colleges and universities awarded 7,946 bachelor's degrees in nursing during the 2022-2023 academic year.

Jump to one of the following sections: * Our Methodology

• Best Bachelor’s Degree Schools List

Choosing a Great Nursing School for Your Bachelor's Degree

The nursing bachelor's degree program you select can have a big impact on your future. Important measures of a quality nursing program can vary widely even among the top schools. To make it into this list, a school must excel in the following areas.

A Great Overall School

A school that excels in educating for a particular major and degree level must be a great school overall as well. To make it into this list a school must rank well in our overall Best Colleges ranking. This ranking considered factors such as graduation rates, overall graduate earnings and other educational resources to identify great colleges and universities.

Early-Career Earnings

One measure we use to determine the quality of a school is to look at the average salary of bachelor's graduates during the early years of their career. That is, everyone wants their bachelor's degree to be worth something, and salaries are one measure of determining that.

Other Factors We Consider

In addition to the above, you should consider some of the following factors:

• Major Focus - How much a school focuses on nursing students vs. other majors.
• Major Demand - The number of nursing students who choose to seek a bachelor's degree at the school.
• Educational Resources - The amount of money and other resources allocated to students while they are pursuing their degree. These resources include such things as number of students per instructor and education expenditures per student.
• Student Debt - How easy is it for nursing to pay back their student loans after receiving their bachelor's degree.
• Accreditation - Whether a school is regionally accredited and/or accredited by a recognized nursing related body.

Our complete ranking methodology documents in more detail how we consider these factors to identify the best schools for nursing students working on their bachelor's degree.

One Size Does Not Fit All

Since picking the right college can be one of the most important decisions of your life, we've developed the Best Nursing Bachelor's Degree Schools in the New England Region ranking, along with many other major-related rankings, to help you make that decision.

In addition to our rankings, you can take two colleges and compare them based on the criteria that matters most to you in our unique tool, College Combat. Test it out when you get a chance! You may also want to bookmark the link and share it with others who are trying to make the college decision.

Best Schools for Bachelor’s Students to Study Nursing in the New England Region

Learn about the top ranked colleges and universities for nursing students seeking a a bachelor's degree. Only those schools that rank in the top 20% of all the schools we analyze get awarded with a place on this list.

12 Top New England Region Schools for a Bachelor's in Nursing

1

University of Connecticut
Storrs, CT

258 Annual Graduates

$84,969 Median Starting Salary

$31,280 Median Student Debt

It is hard to beat University of Connecticut if you wish to pursue a bachelor's degree in nursing. Located in the town of Storrs, UCONN is a public university with a very large student population.

Those nursing students who get their bachelor's degree from University of Connecticut receive $3,328 more than the standard nursing grad.

More information about a bachelor’s in nursing from University of Connecticut

2

Fairfield University
Fairfield, CT

197 Annual Graduates

$91,418 Median Starting Salary

$59,866 Median Student Debt

Any student pursuing a degree in a bachelor's degree in nursing needs to take a look at Fairfield University. Fairfield U is a moderately-sized private not-for-profit university located in the large suburb of Fairfield.

Bachelor's recipients from the nursing degree program at Fairfield University earn $9,777 above the typical graduate in this field when they enter the workforce.

More information about a bachelor’s in nursing from Fairfield University

3

Northeastern University
Boston, MA

112 Annual Graduates

$78,713 Median Starting Salary

$44,000 Median Student Debt

Northeastern University is one of the finest schools in the country for getting a bachelor's degree in nursing. Northeastern is a very large private not-for-profit university located in the city of Boston.

Soon after graduation, nursing bachelor's recipients generally make an average of $78,713 in their early careers.

More information about a bachelor’s in nursing from Northeastern University

4

MGH Institute of Health Professions
Boston, MA

174 Annual Graduates

$81,868 Median Starting Salary

MGH Institute of Health Professions is a good option for individuals interested in a bachelor's degree in nursing. Located in the large city of Boston, MGH Institute of Health Professions is a private not-for-profit school with a small student population.

Bachelor's graduates who receive their degree from the nursing program make around $81,868 for their early career.

More information about a bachelor’s in nursing from MGH Institute of Health Professions

5

Quinnipiac University
Hamden, CT

290 Annual Graduates

$84,856 Median Starting Salary

$69,648 Median Student Debt

Located in the large suburb of Hamden, Quinnipiac is a private not-for-profit university with a medium-sized student population.

Bachelor's recipients from the nursing degree program at Quinnipiac University make $3,215 above the standard graduate with the same degree shortly after graduation.

More information about a bachelor’s in nursing from Quinnipiac University

6

Boston College
Chestnut Hill, MA

115 Annual Graduates

$78,934 Median Starting Salary

$48,073 Median Student Debt

Boston College is a fairly large private not-for-profit college located in the city of Chestnut Hill.

After graduating, nursing bachelor's recipients generally earn about $78,934 in their early careers.

More information about a bachelor’s in nursing from Boston College

7

University of Massachusetts Amherst
Amherst, MA

148 Annual Graduates

$81,452 Median Starting Salary

$20,455 Median Student Debt

Located in the city of Amherst, UMass Amherst is a public university with a fairly large student population.

Students who graduate with their bachelor's from the nursing program report average early career wages of $81,452.

More information about a bachelor’s in nursing from University of Massachusetts Amherst

8

Sacred Heart University
Fairfield, CT

252 Annual Graduates

$90,830 Median Starting Salary

$58,614 Median Student Debt

Sacred Heart is a large private not-for-profit university located in the suburb of Fairfield.

Those nursing students who get their bachelor's degree from Sacred Heart University earn $9,189 more than the standard nursing student.

More information about a bachelor’s in nursing from Sacred Heart University

9

Massachusetts College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences
Boston, MA

298 Annual Graduates

$80,034 Median Starting Salary

$69,764 Median Student Debt

Located in the city of Boston, MCPHS University is a private not-for-profit college with a medium-sized student population.

Bachelor's graduates who receive their degree from the nursing program earn about $80,034 in their early career salary.

More information about a bachelor’s in nursing from Massachusetts College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences

10

Simmons University
Boston, MA

143 Annual Graduates

$85,096 Median Starting Salary

Simmons is a moderately-sized private not-for-profit university located in the city of Boston.

Bachelor's recipients from the nursing major at Simmons University earn $3,455 more than the average college graduate in this field shortly after graduation.

More information about a bachelor’s in nursing from Simmons University

11

University of Rhode Island
Kingston, RI

292 Annual Graduates

$82,218 Median Starting Salary

$36,912 Median Student Debt

Located in the large suburb of Kingston, URI is a public university with a fairly large student population.

Students who graduate with their bachelor's from the nursing program state that they receive average early career earnings of $82,218.

More information about a bachelor’s in nursing from University of Rhode Island

12

University of New Hampshire - Main Campus
Durham, NH

74 Annual Graduates

$77,271 Median Starting Salary

$40,425 Median Student Debt

UNH is a fairly large public university located in the fringe town of Durham.

After graduation, nursing bachelor's recipients typically make about $77,271 in their early careers.

More information about a bachelor’s in nursing from University of New Hampshire - Main Campus

Additional Noteworthy Schools

These are some additional schools worth mentioning that are also great but just didn't quite make the cut to earn our top Best Nursing Bachelor's Degree Schools in the New England Region award.

Rank	College	Location
13	University of Massachusetts - Boston	Boston, MA
14	Southern New Hampshire University	Manchester, NH
15	Southern Connecticut State University	New Haven, CT
16	Salve Regina University	Newport, RI
17	Emmanuel College Massachusetts	Boston, MA
18	University of Vermont	Burlington, VT
19	Endicott College	Beverly, MA
20	Regis College	Weston, MA

Best Nursing Colleges by State

Explore the best nursing colleges for a specific state in the New England Region .

State	Colleges	Degrees Awarded
Massachusetts	238	3,400
Connecticut	183	1,555
New Hampshire	157	1,435
Rhode Island	157	626
Maine	156	760
Vermont	155	216

View All Rankings >

Nursing Related Rankings by Major

One of 34 majors within the Health Professions area of study, Nursing has other similar majors worth exploring.

Nursing Focus Areas

Major	Annual Graduates
Registered Nursing	6,546
Nursing Science	611
Nursing Administration	407
Nursing Practice	174
Other Registered Nursing, Nursing Administration, Nursing Research and Clinical Nursing	152
Family Practice Nurse/Nursing	47
Clinical Nurse Leader	7
Adult Health Nurse/Nursing	2

Majors Similar to Nursing

Related Major	Annual Graduates
Health & Medical Administrative Services	1,671
Health Sciences & Services	1,619
Public Health	899
Allied Health Professions	553
Communication Sciences	545
Rehabilitation & Therapeutic Professions	432
Pharmacy/Pharmaceutical Sciences	414
Other Health Professions	362
Mental & Social Health Services	253
Allied Health & Medical Assisting Services	203

Notes and References

• The bars on the spread charts above show the distribution of the schools on this list +/- one standard deviation from the mean.
• 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.