2025 Best Nursing Master's Degree Schools in Kentucky

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 8 schools in order to identify the top ones for its Best Nursing Master's Degree Schools in Kentucky ranking. Combined, these schools handed out 1,597 master's degrees in nursing to qualified students.

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. When choosing a school we recommend considering some of the following factors:

Quality Overall Is Important

The overall quality of a master's degree school is important to ensure a quality education, not just how well they do in a particular major. To account for this we include a school'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 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

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 colleges for nursing students working on their master's degree.

More Ways to Rank Nursing Schools

Since the program you select can have a significant impact on your future, we've developed a number of rankings, including this Best Nursing Master's Degree Schools in Kentucky list, to help you choose the best school for you.

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

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

Top Kentucky Schools for a Master's in Nursing

1

University of Louisville
Louisville, KY

35 Annual Graduates

$68,497 Median Starting Salary

Every student who is interested in a master's degree in nursing needs to take a look at University of Louisville. UofL is a very large public university located in the large city of Louisville.

Students who graduate with their master's from the nursing program state that they receive average early career earnings of $68,497.

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

2

Northern Kentucky University
Highland Heights, KY

662 Annual Graduates

$101,465 Median Starting Salary

It is difficult to beat Northern Kentucky University if you want to pursue a master's degree in nursing. Located in the large suburb of Highland Heights, NKU is a public university with a large student population.

Nursing master's degree recipients from Northern Kentucky University get an earnings boost of about $4,362 over the typical income of nursing graduates.

More information about a master’s in nursing from Northern Kentucky University

3

Eastern Kentucky University
Richmond, KY

107 Annual Graduates

$104,754 Median Starting Salary

Eastern Kentucky University is a great decision for individuals interested in a master's degree in nursing. Located in the town of Richmond, Eastern is a public university with a fairly large student population.

Master's recipients from the nursing program at Eastern Kentucky University make $7,651 more than the typical college grad with the same degree when they enter the workforce.

More information about a master’s in nursing from Eastern Kentucky University

4

Western Kentucky University
Bowling Green, KY

24 Annual Graduates

$103,023 Median Starting Salary

Western Kentucky University is one of the best schools in the United States for getting a master's degree in nursing. WKU is a large public university located in the city of Bowling Green.

Master's recipients from the nursing degree program at Western Kentucky University get $5,920 above the typical college graduate in this field shortly after graduation.

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

5

Bellarmine University
Louisville, KY

34 Annual Graduates

$92,224 Median Starting Salary

Located in the large city of Louisville, Bellarmine U is a private not-for-profit university with a small student population.

Students who graduate with their master's from the nursing program report average early career income of $92,224.

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

6

Spalding University
Louisville, KY

12 Annual Graduates

$98,154 Median Starting Salary

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

Master's students who receive their degree from the nursing program earn an average of $98,154 in the first couple years of their career.

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

7

University of the Cumberlands
Williamsburg, KY

21 Annual Graduates

$97,899 Median Starting Salary

Located in the remote town of Williamsburg, Cumberlands is a private not-for-profit university with a very large student population.

Master's graduates who receive their degree from the nursing program make around $97,899 in their early career salary.

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

8

Kentucky Christian University
Grayson, KY

19 Annual Graduates

$105,037 Median Starting Salary

Located in the distant town of Grayson, Kentucky Christian University is a private not-for-profit university with a small student population.

Those nursing students who get their master's degree from Kentucky Christian University make $7,934 more than the standard nursing graduate.

More information about a master’s in nursing from Kentucky Christian 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
Louisiana	147	340
South Carolina	146	369
Mississippi	145	175
Arkansas	121	229
West Virginia	112	145

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	832
Nurse Midwife/Nursing Midwifery	281
Family Practice Nurse/Nursing	230
Psychiatric/Mental Health Nurse/Nursing	152
Nursing Administration	58
Women’s Health Nurse/Nursing	44

Most Popular Majors Related to Nursing

Related Major	Annual Graduates
Communication Sciences	183
Allied Health Professions	183
Public Health	120
Bioethics/Medical Ethics	107
Rehabilitation & Therapeutic Professions	96
Health Sciences & Services	46
Health & Medical Administrative Services	45
Mental & Social Health Services	44
Advanced Dentistry & Oral Sciences	31
Medical Illustration & Informatics	31

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.