2025 Best Nursing Master's Degree Schools in Wisconsin

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 looked at 10 colleges and universities when compiling its 2025 Best Nursing Master's Degree Schools in Wisconsin ranking. When you put them all together, these colleges and universities awarded 1,076 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 good education, not just how well they do in a particular major. To account for this we consider a college's overall Best Colleges for a Master's Degree ranking which itself looks at a host 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 schools for nursing students working on their master's degree.

More Ways to Rank Nursing Schools

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 Wisconsin ranking, along with many other major-related rankings, to help you make that decision.

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

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

10 Top Wisconsin Schools for a Master's in Nursing

1

Marquette University
Milwaukee, WI

270 Annual Graduates

$79,158 Median Starting Salary

Marquette University is one of the best schools in the country for getting a master's degree in nursing. Marquette is a fairly large private not-for-profit university located in the city of Milwaukee.

Master's students who receive their degree from the nursing program make an average of $79,158 in their early career salary.

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

2

Herzing University - Madison
Madison, WI

376 Annual Graduates

$103,068 Median Starting Salary

It's difficult to beat Herzing University - Madison if you wish to pursue a master's degree in nursing. Herzing University - Madison is a small private not-for-profit university located in the city of Madison.

Master's recipients from the nursing major at Herzing University - Madison make $3,894 more than the average college graduate with the same degree when they enter the workforce.

More information about a master’s in nursing from Herzing University - Madison

3

Concordia University, Wisconsin
Mequon, WI

73 Annual Graduates

$102,254 Median Starting Salary

Concordia University, Wisconsin is a good option for individuals interested in a master's degree in nursing. Concordia University, Wisconsin is a medium-sized private not-for-profit university located in the suburb of Mequon.

Nursing master's degree recipients from Concordia University, Wisconsin earn a boost of about $3,080 over the average income of nursing graduates.

More information about a master’s in nursing from Concordia University, Wisconsin

4

Edgewood College
Madison, WI

37 Annual Graduates

Edgewood College is a wonderful option for individuals pursuing a master's degree in nursing. Edgewood is a small private not-for-profit college located in the city of Madison.More information about a master’s in nursing from Edgewood College

5

Milwaukee School of Engineering
Milwaukee, WI

10 Annual Graduates

MSOE is a small private not-for-profit school located in the city of Milwaukee.More information about a master’s in nursing from Milwaukee School of Engineering

6

Viterbo University
La Crosse, WI

14 Annual Graduates

Located in the small city of La Crosse, Viterbo is a private not-for-profit university with a small student population.More information about a master’s in nursing from Viterbo University

7

Bellin College
Green Bay, WI

24 Annual Graduates

$106,471 Median Starting Salary

Bellin College is a small private not-for-profit college located in the midsize suburb of Green Bay.

Master's recipients from the nursing degree program at Bellin College get $7,297 above the typical college grad with the same degree when they enter the workforce.

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

8

Marian University
Fond Du Lac, WI

16 Annual Graduates

$109,752 Median Starting Salary

Located in the small city of Fond Du Lac, Marian is a private not-for-profit university with a small student population.

Those nursing students who get their master's degree from Marian University earn $10,578 more than the standard nursing student.

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

9

University of Wisconsin - Milwaukee
Milwaukee, WI

33 Annual Graduates

$84,882 Median Starting Salary

UWM is a fairly large public university located in the city of Milwaukee.

Students who graduate with their master's from the nursing program report average early career earnings of $84,882.

More information about a master’s in nursing from University of Wisconsin - Milwaukee

10

University of Wisconsin - Oshkosh
Oshkosh, WI

14 Annual Graduates

UW Oshkosh is a fairly large public university located in the small city of Oshkosh.More information about a master’s in nursing from University of Wisconsin - Oshkosh

Best Nursing Colleges in the Great Lakes Region

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

State	Colleges	Degrees Awarded
Illinois	221	5,250
Michigan	211	902
Ohio	207	1,953
Indiana	191	1,452

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
Registered Nursing	536
Family Practice Nurse/Nursing	336
Psychiatric/Mental Health Nurse/Nursing	138
Nursing Administration	35
Adult Health Nurse/Nursing	15
Geriatric Nurse/Nursing	5
School Nursing	4
Nursing Practice	3
Nursing Science	2
Critical Care Nursing	2

Most Popular Related Majors

Related Major	Annual Graduates
Allied Health Professions	282
Rehabilitation & Therapeutic Professions	257
Mental & Social Health Services	238
Communication Sciences	225
Public Health	166
Health & Medical Administrative Services	81
Dietetics & Clinical Nutrition Services	76
Medical Illustration & Informatics	50
Pharmacy/Pharmaceutical Sciences	33
Bioethics/Medical Ethics	33

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.