2025 Best Nursing Bachelor's Degree Schools in Pennsylvania

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 40 schools in order to identify the top ones for its Best Nursing Bachelor's Degree Schools in Pennsylvania ranking. Combined, these schools handed out 5,909 bachelor's degrees in nursing to qualified students.

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

One Size Does Not Fit All

When choosing the right school for you, it's important to arm yourself with all the facts you can. To that end, we've created a number of major-specific rankings, including this Best Nursing Bachelor's Degree Schools in Pennsylvania list to help you make the college 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 Pennsylvania

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

10 Top Pennsylvania Schools for a Bachelor's in Nursing

1

University of Pennsylvania
Philadelphia, PA

183 Annual Graduates

$80,943 Median Starting Salary

$32,904 Median Student Debt

University of Pennsylvania is one of the finest schools in the United States for getting a bachelor's degree in nursing. Located in the large city of Philadelphia, UPenn is a private not-for-profit university with a very large student population.

Bachelor's recipients from the nursing major at University of Pennsylvania earn $3,732 above the standard college grad with the same degree when they enter the workforce.

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

2

Drexel University
Philadelphia, PA

470 Annual Graduates

$85,441 Median Starting Salary

$69,670 Median Student Debt

It's difficult to beat Drexel University if you wish to pursue a bachelor's degree in nursing. Located in the city of Philadelphia, Drexel is a private not-for-profit university with a very large student population.

Those nursing students who get their bachelor's degree from Drexel University receive $8,230 more than the standard nursing grad.

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

3

University of Pittsburgh - Pittsburgh Campus
Pittsburgh, PA

308 Annual Graduates

$72,251 Median Starting Salary

$37,988 Median Student Debt

University of Pittsburgh - Pittsburgh Campus is one of the finest schools in the country for getting a bachelor's degree in nursing. Located in the city of Pittsburgh, Pitt is a public university with a very large student population.

Soon after graduating, nursing bachelor's recipients generally make about $72,251 at the beginning of their careers.

More information about a bachelor’s in nursing from University of Pittsburgh - Pittsburgh Campus

4

Thomas Jefferson University
Philadelphia, PA

430 Annual Graduates

$85,656 Median Starting Salary

$46,927 Median Student Debt

It's difficult to beat Thomas Jefferson University if you want to pursue a bachelor's degree in nursing. Located in the large city of Philadelphia, Thomas Jefferson University is a private not-for-profit university with a medium-sized student population.

Bachelor's recipients from the nursing major at Thomas Jefferson University earn $8,445 more than the standard graduate in this field shortly after graduation.

More information about a bachelor’s in nursing from Thomas Jefferson University

5

Villanova University
Villanova, PA

195 Annual Graduates

$86,241 Median Starting Salary

$39,768 Median Student Debt

Located in the suburb of Villanova, Villanova is a private not-for-profit university with a large student population.

Bachelor's recipients from the nursing degree program at Villanova University make $9,030 above the typical college graduate with the same degree shortly after graduation.

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

6

Duquesne University
Pittsburgh, PA

259 Annual Graduates

$70,265 Median Starting Salary

$63,037 Median Student Debt

Located in the city of Pittsburgh, Duquesne is a private not-for-profit university with a moderately-sized student population.

Soon after graduation, nursing bachelor's recipients typically earn about $70,265 at the beginning of their careers.

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

7

La Salle University
Philadelphia, PA

125 Annual Graduates

$84,400 Median Starting Salary

$50,246 Median Student Debt

La Salle is a small private not-for-profit university located in the large city of Philadelphia.

Those nursing students who get their bachelor's degree from La Salle University earn $7,189 more than the average nursing student.

More information about a bachelor’s in nursing from La Salle University

8

Widener University
Chester, PA

201 Annual Graduates

$83,528 Median Starting Salary

$58,122 Median Student Debt

Widener is a medium-sized private not-for-profit university located in the large suburb of Chester.

Bachelor's recipients from the nursing degree program at Widener University make $6,317 more than the typical college grad in this field shortly after graduation.

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

9

University of Scranton
Scranton, PA

80 Annual Graduates

$82,895 Median Starting Salary

$78,607 Median Student Debt

University of Scranton is a small private not-for-profit university located in the small city of Scranton.

Nursing bachelor's degree recipients from University of Scranton receive an earnings boost of approximately $5,684 above the average income of nursing majors.

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

10

DeSales University
Center Valley, PA

110 Annual Graduates

$79,460 Median Starting Salary

$53,781 Median Student Debt

DeSales is a small private not-for-profit university located in the suburb of Center Valley.

Those nursing students who get their bachelor's degree from DeSales University make $2,249 more than the typical nursing grad.

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

Best Nursing Colleges in the Middle Atlantic Region

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

State	Colleges	Degrees Awarded
New York	275	7,888
Maryland	207	1,716
New Jersey	193	2,537
Delaware	130	768
District of Columbia	126	456

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	4,905
Other Registered Nursing, Nursing Administration, Nursing Research and Clinical Nursing	491
Nursing Science	372
Family Practice Nurse/Nursing	134
Nursing Practice	7

Majors Similar to Nursing

Related Major	Annual Graduates
Health Sciences & Services	928
Other Health Professions	666
Rehabilitation & Therapeutic Professions	609
Public Health	593
Communication Sciences	563
Health & Medical Administrative Services	554
Allied Health Professions	502
Health/Medical Prep Programs	443
Pharmacy/Pharmaceutical Sciences	371
Mental & Social Health Services	166

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.