2025 Best Nursing Master's Degree Schools in Ohio

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.

In 2025, College Factual analyzed 21 schools in order to identify the top ones for its Best Nursing Master's Degree Schools in Ohio ranking. When you put them all together, these colleges and universities awarded 1,791 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

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

Best Schools for Master’s Students to Study Nursing in Ohio

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

10 Top Ohio Schools for a Master's in Nursing

1

Case Western Reserve University
Cleveland, OH

66 Annual Graduates

$115,009 Median Starting Salary

Case Western Reserve University is one of the finest schools in the United States for getting a master's degree in nursing. Case Western is a large private not-for-profit university located in the large city of Cleveland.

Those nursing students who get their master's degree from Case Western Reserve University earn $6,785 more than the typical nursing graduate.

More information about a master’s in nursing from Case Western Reserve University

2

University of Cincinnati - Main Campus
Cincinnati, OH

490 Annual Graduates

$102,735 Median Starting Salary

It is hard to beat University of Cincinnati - Main Campus if you wish to pursue a master's degree in nursing. UC is a fairly large public university located in the city of Cincinnati.

After graduation, nursing master's recipients typically make an average of $102,735 at the beginning of their careers.

More information about a master’s in nursing from University of Cincinnati - Main Campus

3

Ohio State University - Main Campus
Columbus, OH

236 Annual Graduates

$100,925 Median Starting Salary

Ohio State University - Main Campus is one of the finest schools in the United States for getting a master's degree in nursing. Ohio State is a very large public university located in the large city of Columbus.

Soon after graduation, nursing master's recipients usually earn about $100,925 at the beginning of their careers.

More information about a master’s in nursing from Ohio State University - Main Campus

4

Ohio University - Athens Campus
Athens, OH

167 Annual Graduates

$100,062 Median Starting Salary

Any student pursuing a degree in a master's degree in nursing has to look into Ohio University - Athens Campus. OHIO Athens is a very large public university located in the distant town of Athens.

Students who graduate with their master's from the nursing program report average early career earnings of $100,062.

More information about a master’s in nursing from Ohio University - Athens Campus

5

Kent State University at Kent
Kent, OH

157 Annual Graduates

$95,690 Median Starting Salary

Kent State is a fairly large public university located in the suburb of Kent.

Master's graduates who receive their degree from the nursing program make about $95,690 in the first couple years of their career.

More information about a master’s in nursing from Kent State University at Kent

6

Otterbein University
Westerville, OH

16 Annual Graduates

$109,981 Median Starting Salary

Located in the suburb of Westerville, Otterbein is a private not-for-profit university with a small student population.

Master's students who receive their degree from the nursing program make around $109,981 in the first couple years of working.

More information about a master’s in nursing from Otterbein University

7

University of Toledo
Toledo, OH

63 Annual Graduates

$82,622 Median Starting Salary

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

Master's students who receive their degree from the nursing program earn an average of $82,622 for their early career.

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

8

Mount Carmel College of Nursing
Columbus, OH

53 Annual Graduates

$106,506 Median Starting Salary

Located in the city of Columbus, Mount Carmel College of Nursing is a private not-for-profit college with a fairly small student population.

Students who graduate with their master's from the nursing program state that they receive average early career wages of $106,506.

More information about a master’s in nursing from Mount Carmel College of Nursing

9

Xavier University
Cincinnati, OH

49 Annual Graduates

$86,558 Median Starting Salary

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

Students who graduate with their master's from the nursing program state that they receive average early career earnings of $86,558.

More information about a master’s in nursing from Xavier University

10

University of Akron Main Campus
Akron, OH

62 Annual Graduates

$138,834 Median Starting Salary

University of Akron Main Campus is a large public university located in the city of Akron.

Master's recipients from the nursing program at University of Akron Main Campus make $30,610 more than the standard college graduate in this field shortly after graduation.

More information about a master’s in nursing from University of Akron Main Campus

Best Nursing Colleges in the Great Lakes Region

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

State	Colleges	Degrees Awarded
Illinois	221	5,250
Michigan	211	902
Indiana	191	1,452
Wisconsin	173	588

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	765
Family Practice Nurse/Nursing	500
Adult Health Nurse/Nursing	116
Women’s Health Nurse/Nursing	92
Other Registered Nursing, Nursing Administration, Nursing Research and Clinical Nursing	79
Nursing Administration	46
Nurse Midwife/Nursing Midwifery	45
Geriatric Nurse/Nursing	33
Psychiatric/Mental Health Nurse/Nursing	26
School Nursing	23

Most Popular Majors Related to Nursing

Related Major	Annual Graduates
Allied Health Professions	515
Mental & Social Health Services	473
Health & Medical Administrative Services	451
Public Health	406
Communication Sciences	398
Rehabilitation & Therapeutic Professions	268
Pharmacy/Pharmaceutical Sciences	118
Bioethics/Medical Ethics	111
Medical Illustration & Informatics	106
Dietetics & Clinical Nutrition Services	94

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.