2025 Best Nursing Master's Degree Schools in Arizona

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 7 schools in order to identify the top ones for its Best Nursing Master's Degree Schools in Arizona ranking. When you put them all together, these colleges and universities awarded 2,658 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 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 Arizona ranking, along with many other major-related rankings, to help you make that decision.

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

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

Top Arizona Schools for a Master's in Nursing

1

Grand Canyon University
Phoenix, AZ

1,505 Annual Graduates

$111,869 Median Starting Salary

Any student pursuing a degree in a master's degree in nursing needs to look into Grand Canyon University. Located in the large city of Phoenix, Grand Canyon University is a private for-profit university with a fairly large student population.

Master's graduates who receive their degree from the nursing program make around $111,869 in the first couple years of working.

More information about a master’s in nursing from Grand Canyon University

2

University of Phoenix - Arizona
Phoenix, AZ

361 Annual Graduates

$113,925 Median Starting Salary

Every student pursuing a degree in a master's degree in nursing has to check out University of Phoenix - Arizona. UOPX - Arizona is a fairly large private for-profit university located in the large city of Phoenix.

Students who graduate with their master's from the nursing program report average early career wages of $113,925.

More information about a master’s in nursing from University of Phoenix - Arizona

3

University of Arizona
Tucson, AZ

159 Annual Graduates

$87,254 Median Starting Salary

University of Arizona is one of the best schools in the United States for getting a master's degree in nursing. Located in the large city of Tucson, University of Arizona is a public university with a very large student population.

Master's students who receive their degree from the nursing program make an average of $87,254 in their early career salary.

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

4

Northern Arizona University
Flagstaff, AZ

43 Annual Graduates

$100,866 Median Starting Salary

Northern Arizona University is a good option for individuals pursuing a master's degree in nursing. Located in the small city of Flagstaff, NAU is a public university with a very large student population.

Master's students who receive their degree from the nursing program earn around $100,866 in the first couple years of working.

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

5

Arizona State University - Tempe
Tempe, AZ

57 Annual Graduates

ASU - Tempe is a fairly large public university located in the city of Tempe.More information about a master’s in nursing from Arizona State University - Tempe

6

Arizona State University - Skysong
Scottsdale, AZ

23 Annual Graduates

Located in the city of Scottsdale, ASU - Skysong is a public university with a fairly large student population.More information about a master’s in nursing from Arizona State University - Skysong

7

Aspen University
Phoenix, AZ

477 Annual Graduates

$97,705 Median Starting Salary

Aspen University is a medium-sized private for-profit university located in the large city of Phoenix.

Master's students who receive their degree from the nursing program earn an average of $97,705 in the first couple years of their career.

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

Best Nursing Colleges in the Southwest Region

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

State	Colleges	Degrees Awarded
Texas	235	2,931
Oklahoma	153	97
New Mexico	114	66

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	808
Nursing Administration	761
Adult Health Nurse/Nursing	477
Family Practice Nurse/Nursing	396
Public Health/Community Nurse/Nursing	117
Critical Care Nursing	68
Nurse Anesthetist	31

Majors Similar to Nursing

Related Major	Annual Graduates
Mental & Social Health Services	1,401
Health & Medical Administrative Services	1,239
Public Health	462
Allied Health Professions	312
Communication Sciences	170
Dietetics & Clinical Nutrition Services	108
Bioethics/Medical Ethics	85
Rehabilitation & Therapeutic Professions	46
Alternative Medicine & Systems	42
Health/Medical Prep Programs	12

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.