2025 Best Nursing Master's Degree Schools in the Southwest Region

Ranked #2 in popularity, nursing is one of the most sought-after master's degree programs in the nation. So, there are lots of possibilities to explore when you're trying to determine where you want to get your degree.

College Factual reviewed 34 schools in the Southwest Region to determine which ones were the best for master's degree seekers in the field of nursing. When you put them all together, these colleges and universities awarded 5,560 master's degrees in nursing during the 2022-2023 academic year.

What's on this page: * Our Methodology

• Best Master’s Degree Schools List

Choosing a Great Nursing School for Your Master's Degree

Your choice of nursing for getting your master's degree school matters. This section explores some of the factors we include in our ranking and how much they vary depending on the school you select. Below we explain some of the most important factors to consider before making your choice:

Overall Quality Is a Must

The overall quality of a master's degree school is important to ensure a quality education, not just how well they do in a particular major. To account for this we consider a school's overall Best Colleges for a Master's Degree ranking which itself looks at a collection of different factors like degree completion, educational resources, student body caliber and post-graduation earnings for the school as a whole.

Average Early-Career Salaries

Average early-career salary of those graduating with their master's degree is one indicator we use in our analysis to find the schools that offer the highest-quality education. After all, your master's degree won't mean much if it doesn't help you find a job that will help you earn a living.

Other Factors We Consider

The metrics below are just some of the other metrics that we use to determine our rankings.

• Major Focus - How many resources a school devotes to nursing students as compared to other majors.
• Major Demand - How many other nursing students want to attend this school to pursue a master's degree.
• Educational Resources - How many resources are allocated to students. These resources may include educational expenditures per student, number of students per instructor, and graduation rate among other things.
• Student Debt - How much debt nursing students go into to obtain their master's degree and how well they are able to pay back that debt.
• 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 colleges for nursing students working on their master's degree.

More Ways to Rank Nursing Schools

Since the program you select can have a significant impact on your future, we've developed a number of rankings, including this Best Nursing Master's Degree Schools in the Southwest Region list, to help you choose the best school for you.

Best Schools for Master’s Students to Study Nursing in the Southwest Region

Explore the top ranked colleges and universities for nursing students seeking a a master's degree.

10 Top Southwest Region Schools for a Master's in Nursing

1

The University of Texas Medical Branch
Galveston, TX

176 Annual Graduates

$116,723 Median Starting Salary

It's hard to beat The University of Texas Medical Branch if you wish to pursue a master's degree in nursing. Located in the small city of Galveston, UTMB Galveston is a public university with a small student population.

Nursing master's degree recipients from The University of Texas Medical Branch receive an earnings boost of around $4,583 above the typical earnings of nursing majors.

More information about a master’s in nursing from The University of Texas Medical Branch

2

Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center
Lubbock, TX

190 Annual Graduates

$110,624 Median Starting Salary

Any student who is interested in a master's degree in nursing has to take a look at Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center. TTUHSC is a small public university located in the city of Lubbock.

Master's students who receive their degree from the nursing program earn about $110,624 in their early career salary.

More information about a master’s in nursing from Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center

3

The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston
Houston, TX

180 Annual Graduates

$110,523 Median Starting Salary

The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston is one of the finest schools in the country for getting a master's degree in nursing. Located in the large city of Houston, UTHealth is a public university with a medium-sized student population.

Soon after graduating, nursing master's recipients typically make about $110,523 at the beginning of their careers.

More information about a master’s in nursing from The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston

4

Grand Canyon University
Phoenix, AZ

1,505 Annual Graduates

$111,869 Median Starting Salary

Grand Canyon University is a wonderful choice for individuals interested in a master's degree in nursing. Grand Canyon University is a fairly large private for-profit university located in the city of Phoenix.

Soon after graduating, nursing master's recipients typically make about $111,869 in the first five years of their career.

More information about a master’s in nursing from Grand Canyon University

5

The University of Texas at Arlington
Arlington, TX

1,162 Annual Graduates

$109,058 Median Starting Salary

UT Arlington is a fairly large public university located in the city of Arlington.

Master's students who receive their degree from the nursing program make around $109,058 for their early career.

More information about a master’s in nursing from The University of Texas at Arlington

6

University of Phoenix - Arizona
Phoenix, AZ

361 Annual Graduates

$113,925 Median Starting Salary

Located in the large city of Phoenix, UOPX - Arizona is a private for-profit university with a fairly large student population.

Master's students who receive their degree from the nursing program make around $113,925 for their early career.

More information about a master’s in nursing from University of Phoenix - Arizona

7

The University of Texas at Austin
Austin, TX

68 Annual Graduates

$94,957 Median Starting Salary

UT Austin is a very large public university located in the city of Austin.

Master's graduates who receive their degree from the nursing program earn an average of $94,957 in the first couple years of working.

More information about a master’s in nursing from The University of Texas at Austin

8

University of Arizona
Tucson, AZ

159 Annual Graduates

$87,254 Median Starting Salary

University of Arizona is a fairly large public university located in the large city of Tucson.

After graduation, nursing master's recipients typically earn about $87,254 at the beginning of their careers.

More information about a master’s in nursing from University of Arizona

9

West Coast University - Dallas
Richardson, TX

64 Annual Graduates

$128,308 Median Starting Salary

Located in the medium-sized city of Richardson, West Coast University - Dallas is a private for-profit university with a small student population.

Master's recipients from the nursing major at West Coast University - Dallas get $16,168 above the standard college graduate with the same degree shortly after graduation.

More information about a master’s in nursing from West Coast University - Dallas

10

University of Oklahoma - Health Sciences Center
Oklahoma City, OK

15 Annual Graduates

Located in the city of Oklahoma City, UOHSC is a public university with a small student population.More information about a master’s in nursing from University of Oklahoma - Health Sciences Center

Best Nursing Colleges by State

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

State	Colleges	Degrees Awarded
Texas	235	2,931
Arizona	180	2,678
Oklahoma	153	97
New Mexico	114	66

View All Rankings >

Rankings in Majors Related to Nursing

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

Nursing Concentrations

Major	Annual Graduates
Family Practice Nurse/Nursing	2,347
Nursing Administration	1,337
Registered Nursing	1,030
Adult Health Nurse/Nursing	477
Public Health/Community Nurse/Nursing	117
Critical Care Nursing	68
Psychiatric/Mental Health Nurse/Nursing	57
Other Registered Nursing, Nursing Administration, Nursing Research and Clinical Nursing	35
Nurse Anesthetist	33
Nurse Midwife/Nursing Midwifery	26

Most Popular Related Majors

Related Major	Annual Graduates
Mental & Social Health Services	2,578
Health & Medical Administrative Services	2,288
Public Health	1,303
Communication Sciences	1,265
Allied Health Professions	1,205
Bioethics/Medical Ethics	495
Rehabilitation & Therapeutic Professions	411
Dietetics & Clinical Nutrition Services	245
Health Sciences & Services	179
Medical Illustration & Informatics	120

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.