2025 Best Nursing Master's Degree Schools in Arkansas

Nursing is of the hottest master's degree programs in the United States, coming in as the #2 most popular major in the country. This means there are lots of options to choose from when you decide to get your degree.

In 2025, College Factual analyzed 5 schools in order to identify the top ones for its Best Nursing Master's Degree Schools in Arkansas ranking. When you put them all together, these colleges and universities awarded 178 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. 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 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.

Early-Career Earnings

One measure we use to determine the quality of a school is to look at the average salary of master's graduates during the early years of their career. That is, everyone wants their master'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 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 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.

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

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

The following list ranks the best colleges and universities for pursuing a master's degree in nursing.

Top Arkansas Schools for a Master's in Nursing

1

University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences
Little Rock, AR

40 Annual Graduates

$101,364 Median Starting Salary

It's difficult to beat University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences if you wish to pursue a master's degree in nursing. Located in the city of Little Rock, UAMS is a public university with a small student population.

Students who graduate with their master's from the nursing program state that they receive average early career wages of $101,364.

More information about a master’s in nursing from University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences

2

Arkansas State University - Main Campus
Jonesboro, AR

43 Annual Graduates

$117,929 Median Starting Salary

Any student who is interested in a master's degree in nursing has to take a look at Arkansas State University - Main Campus. A-State is a fairly large public university located in the small city of Jonesboro.

Those nursing students who get their master's degree from Arkansas State University - Main Campus receive $13,686 more than the standard nursing grad.

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

3

Harding University
Searcy, AR

40 Annual Graduates

$98,354 Median Starting Salary

It is difficult to beat Harding University if you wish to pursue a master's degree in nursing. Located in the town of Searcy, Harding is a private not-for-profit university with a small student population.

Soon after graduating, nursing master's recipients usually earn an average of $98,354 at the beginning of their careers.

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

4

Henderson State University
Arkadelphia, AR

17 Annual Graduates

It is difficult to beat Henderson State University if you want to pursue a master's degree in nursing. Located in the distant town of Arkadelphia, Henderson State University is a public university with a small student population.More information about a master’s in nursing from Henderson State University

5

Grantham University
LIttle Rock, AR

24 Annual Graduates

Grantham University is a small public university located in the medium-sized city of LIttle Rock.More information about a master’s in nursing from Grantham University

Best Nursing Colleges in the Southeast Region

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

State	Colleges	Degrees Awarded
Florida	208	2,300
Georgia	190	1,353
Virginia	182	728
North Carolina	178	931
Tennessee	166	1,147
Alabama	151	1,997
Kentucky	147	1,361
Louisiana	147	340
South Carolina	146	369
Mississippi	145	175
West Virginia	112	145

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	55
Nursing Science	40
Nursing Administration	36
Other Registered Nursing, Nursing Administration, Nursing Research and Clinical Nursing	23
Family Practice Nurse/Nursing	18
Adult Health Nurse/Nursing	6

Majors Similar to Nursing

Related Major	Annual Graduates
Mental & Social Health Services	137
Communication Sciences	124
Allied Health Professions	99
Health & Medical Administrative Services	84
Public Health	45
Clinical/Medical Laboratory Science	14
Rehabilitation & Therapeutic Professions	14
Bioethics/Medical Ethics	14
Dietetics & Clinical Nutrition Services	5
Medical Illustration & Informatics	2

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.