2025 Best Nursing Master's Degree Schools in the Plains States Region

If you pursue a master's degree in nursing, you won't be alone. The field of study is the #2 most popular program in the country. This makes choosing the right school a hard decision.

College Factual reviewed 38 schools in the Plains States 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 7,167 master's degrees in nursing during the 2022-2023 academic year.

Jump to one of the following sections: * Our Methodology

• Best Master’s Degree Schools List

Choosing a Great Nursing School for Your Master's Degree

The nursing master'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. When choosing a school we recommend considering some of the following factors:

Quality Overall Is Important

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 for a Master's Degree ranking. This ranking considered factors such as graduation rates, overall graduate earnings and other educational resources to identify great colleges and universities.

Average Earnings

To determine the overall quality of a graduate school, one factor we look at is the average early-career salary of those receiving their master's degree from the school. This is because one of the main reasons people pursue their master's degree is to enable themselves to find better-paying positions.

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 master'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 master's degree.
• Accreditation - Whether a school is regionally accredited and/or accredited by a recognized nursing related body.

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

One Size Does Not Fit All

The nursing school you choose to invest your time and money in matters. To help you make the decision that is right for you, we've developed a number of major-specific rankings, including this list of the Best Nursing Master's Degree Schools in the Plains States Region.

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

Below you'll see a list of the best colleges and universities for pursuing a master's degree in nursing.

10 Top Plains States Region Schools for a Master's in Nursing

1

Maryville University of Saint Louis
Saint Louis, MO

579 Annual Graduates

$106,615 Median Starting Salary

Maryville University of Saint Louis is a good decision for individuals pursuing a master's degree in nursing. Located in the suburb of Saint Louis, Maryville U is a private not-for-profit university with a medium-sized student population.

Students who graduate with their master's from the nursing program state that they receive average early career earnings of $106,615.

More information about a master’s in nursing from Maryville University of Saint Louis

2

University of Iowa
Iowa City, IA

15 Annual Graduates

University of Iowa is one of the finest schools in the United States for getting a master's degree in nursing. Iowa is a fairly large public university located in the city of Iowa City.More information about a master’s in nursing from University of Iowa

3

University of North Dakota
Grand Forks, ND

156 Annual Graduates

$233,467 Median Starting Salary

University of North Dakota is a wonderful choice for individuals pursuing a master's degree in nursing. Located in the small city of Grand Forks, UND is a public university with a fairly large student population.

Nursing master's degree recipients from University of North Dakota get an earnings boost of around $123,081 over the typical income of nursing majors.

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

4

Goldfarb School of Nursing at Barnes-Jewish College
Saint Louis, MO

30 Annual Graduates

Every student pursuing a degree in a master's degree in nursing needs to take a look at Goldfarb School of Nursing at Barnes-Jewish College. Located in the city of Saint Louis, Goldfarb School of Nursing is a private not-for-profit college with a fairly small student population.More information about a master’s in nursing from Goldfarb School of Nursing at Barnes-Jewish College

5

Saint Louis University
Saint Louis, MO

88 Annual Graduates

$98,522 Median Starting Salary

SLU is a large private not-for-profit university located in the city of Saint Louis.

Master's students who receive their degree from the nursing program make about $98,522 for their early career.

More information about a master’s in nursing from Saint Louis University

6

Clarkson College
Omaha, NE

76 Annual Graduates

$110,628 Median Starting Salary

Located in the city of Omaha, Clarkson College is a private not-for-profit college with a small student population.

Master's students who receive their degree from the nursing program earn around $110,628 in the first couple years of working.

More information about a master’s in nursing from Clarkson College

7

Mount Marty University
Yankton, SD

16 Annual Graduates

$182,735 Median Starting Salary

Mount Marty is a small private not-for-profit university located in the town of Yankton.

Master's recipients from the nursing major at Mount Marty University get $72,349 above the standard college grad in this field shortly after graduation.

More information about a master’s in nursing from Mount Marty University

8

Allen College
Waterloo, IA

31 Annual Graduates

$103,370 Median Starting Salary

Located in the city of Waterloo, Allen College is a private not-for-profit college with a fairly small student population.

Master's students who receive their degree from the nursing program make about $103,370 in the first couple years of working.

More information about a master’s in nursing from Allen College

9

University of Nebraska Medical Center
Omaha, NE

42 Annual Graduates

$108,471 Median Starting Salary

UNMC is a small public university located in the large city of Omaha.

Master's students who receive their degree from the nursing program earn around $108,471 in the first couple years of working.

More information about a master’s in nursing from University of Nebraska Medical Center

10

University of Missouri - Kansas City
Kansas City, MO

99 Annual Graduates

$121,441 Median Starting Salary

UMKC is a large public university located in the city of Kansas City.

Nursing master's degree recipients from University of Missouri - Kansas City get an earnings boost of approximately $11,055 over the average earnings of nursing majors.

More information about a master’s in nursing from University of Missouri - Kansas City

Best Nursing Colleges by State

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

State	Colleges	Degrees Awarded
Missouri	193	1,427
Minnesota	174	5,092
Iowa	154	317
Kansas	149	134
Nebraska	123	214
North Dakota	115	60
South Dakota	89	44

View All Rankings >

Nursing Related Rankings by Major

Nursing is one of 34 different types of Health Professions programs to choose from.

Nursing Focus Areas

Major	Annual Graduates
Registered Nursing	4,923
Nursing Administration	816
Family Practice Nurse/Nursing	575
Psychiatric/Mental Health Nurse/Nursing	173
Clinical Nurse Leader	141
Geriatric Nurse/Nursing	106
Nurse Anesthetist	82
Critical Care Nursing	82
School Nursing	71
Nursing Science	66

Most Popular Majors Related to Nursing

Related Major	Annual Graduates
Mental & Social Health Services	2,934
Health & Medical Administrative Services	1,566
Public Health	1,075
Allied Health Professions	1,054
Communication Sciences	737
Bioethics/Medical Ethics	734
Rehabilitation & Therapeutic Professions	464
Medical Illustration & Informatics	318
Dietetics & Clinical Nutrition Services	230
Alternative Medicine & Systems	111

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.