2025 Best Nursing Bachelor's Degree Schools in Kansas

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.

For its 2025 ranking, College Factual looked at 15 schools in Kansas to determine which ones were the best for nursing students pursuing a bachelor's degree. When you put them all together, these colleges and universities awarded 1,260 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

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 Bachelor's Degree Schools in Kansas.

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 Kansas

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

10 Top Kansas Schools for a Bachelor's in Nursing

1

University of Kansas
Lawrence, KS

191 Annual Graduates

$65,347 Median Starting Salary

University of Kansas is one of the best schools in the country for getting a bachelor's degree in nursing. KU is a fairly large public university located in the city of Lawrence.

Bachelor's students who receive their degree from the nursing program make an average of $65,347 for their early career.

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

2

MidAmerica Nazarene University
Olathe, KS

149 Annual Graduates

$66,608 Median Starting Salary

$37,481 Median Student Debt

It is difficult to beat MidAmerica Nazarene University if you want to pursue a bachelor's degree in nursing. Located in the large suburb of Olathe, MNU is a private not-for-profit university with a small student population.

Students who graduate with their bachelor's from the nursing program report average early career wages of $66,608.

More information about a bachelor’s in nursing from MidAmerica Nazarene University

3

Washburn University
Topeka, KS

141 Annual Graduates

$71,210 Median Starting Salary

$17,393 Median Student Debt

It's difficult to beat Washburn University if you wish to pursue a bachelor's degree in nursing. Located in the city of Topeka, Washburn University is a public university with a medium-sized student population.

Bachelor's graduates who receive their degree from the nursing program make around $71,210 in the first couple years of their career.

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

4

University of Saint Mary
Leavenworth, KS

62 Annual Graduates

$70,349 Median Starting Salary

It's hard to beat University of Saint Mary if you want to pursue a bachelor's degree in nursing. University of St. Mary is a small private not-for-profit university located in the town of Leavenworth.

Students who graduate with their bachelor's from the nursing program report average early career earnings of $70,349.

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

5

Wichita State University
Wichita, KS

125 Annual Graduates

$63,301 Median Starting Salary

$13,802 Median Student Debt

WSU is a large public university located in the large city of Wichita.

Soon after graduating, nursing bachelor's recipients usually make an average of $63,301 in the first five years of their career.

More information about a bachelor’s in nursing from Wichita State University

6

Pittsburg State University
Pittsburg, KS

122 Annual Graduates

$66,243 Median Starting Salary

Located in the town of Pittsburg, Pitt State is a public university with a moderately-sized student population.

Soon after graduating, nursing bachelor's recipients usually earn about $66,243 at the beginning of their careers.

More information about a bachelor’s in nursing from Pittsburg State University

7

Hesston College
Hesston, KS

38 Annual Graduates

$68,338 Median Starting Salary

Located in the rural area of Hesston, Hesston is a private not-for-profit college with a small student population.

Soon after graduation, nursing bachelor's recipients usually make around $68,338 at the beginning of their careers.

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

8

Fort Hays State University
Hays, KS

131 Annual Graduates

$67,435 Median Starting Salary

$11,981 Median Student Debt

FHSU is a large public university located in the town of Hays.

Bachelor's graduates who receive their degree from the nursing program make about $67,435 in the first couple years of their career.

More information about a bachelor’s in nursing from Fort Hays State University

9

Newman University
Wichita, KS

28 Annual Graduates

$65,957 Median Starting Salary

Located in the large city of Wichita, Newman University is a private not-for-profit university with a small student population.

Bachelor's graduates who receive their degree from the nursing program make about $65,957 for their early career.

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

10

Baker University
Baldwin City, KS

66 Annual Graduates

$70,720 Median Starting Salary

Baker is a small private not-for-profit university located in the rural area of Baldwin City.

Bachelor's students who receive their degree from the nursing program make an average of $70,720 in their early career salary.

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

Best Nursing Colleges in the Plains States Region

Explore all the Best Nursing Schools in the Plains States Area or other specific states within that region.

State	Colleges	Degrees Awarded
Missouri	228	3,224
Minnesota	215	6,914
Iowa	197	1,352
Nebraska	180	1,229
North Dakota	149	589
South Dakota	148	814

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	1,162
Nursing Administration	70
Other Registered Nursing, Nursing Administration, Nursing Research and Clinical Nursing	28

Majors Similar to Nursing

Related Major	Annual Graduates
Communication Sciences	148
Health & Medical Administrative Services	144
Allied Health Professions	142
Pharmacy/Pharmaceutical Sciences	111
Dietetics & Clinical Nutrition Services	79
Health Sciences & Services	72
Dental Support Services	56
Clinical/Medical Laboratory Science	49
Public Health	42
Health/Medical Prep Programs	40

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.