2025 Best Nursing Master's Degree Schools in Texas

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.

For its 2025 ranking, College Factual looked at 22 schools in Texas to determine which ones were the best for nursing students pursuing a master's degree. Combined, these schools handed out 2,730 master's degrees in nursing to qualified students.

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

One Size Does Not Fit All

When choosing the right school for you, it's important to arm yourself with all the facts you can. To that end, we've created a number of major-specific rankings, including this Best Nursing Master's Degree Schools in Texas list to help you make the college decision.

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

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

10 Top Texas Schools for a Master's in Nursing

1

The University of Texas Medical Branch
Galveston, TX

176 Annual Graduates

$116,723 Median Starting Salary

Any student pursuing a degree in a master's degree in nursing needs to look into The University of Texas Medical Branch. UTMB Galveston is a small public university located in the city of Galveston.

Those nursing students who get their master's degree from The University of Texas Medical Branch earn $4,032 more than the typical nursing grad.

More information about a master’s in nursing from The University of Texas Medical Branch

2

Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center
Lubbock, TX

190 Annual Graduates

$110,624 Median Starting Salary

Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center is a good option for individuals interested in a master's degree in nursing. Located in the city of Lubbock, TTUHSC is a public university with a small student population.

After graduating, nursing master's recipients usually earn around $110,624 in the first five years of their career.

More information about a master’s in nursing from Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center

3

The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston
Houston, TX

180 Annual Graduates

$110,523 Median Starting Salary

It's hard to beat The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston if you wish to pursue a master's degree in nursing. UTHealth is a medium-sized public university located in the large city of Houston.

Students who graduate with their master's from the nursing program report average early career wages of $110,523.

More information about a master’s in nursing from The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston

4

The University of Texas at Arlington
Arlington, TX

1,162 Annual Graduates

$109,058 Median Starting Salary

The University of Texas at Arlington is a great decision for students pursuing a master's degree in nursing. Located in the city of Arlington, UT Arlington is a public university with a fairly large student population.

Soon after graduation, nursing master's recipients typically earn around $109,058 in their early careers.

More information about a master’s in nursing from The University of Texas at Arlington

5

The University of Texas at Austin
Austin, TX

68 Annual Graduates

$94,957 Median Starting Salary

Located in the large city of Austin, UT Austin is a public university with a very large student population.

After graduating, nursing master's recipients usually earn an average of $94,957 at the beginning of their careers.

More information about a master’s in nursing from The University of Texas at Austin

6

West Coast University - Dallas
Richardson, TX

64 Annual Graduates

$128,308 Median Starting Salary

West Coast University - Dallas is a small private for-profit university located in the medium-sized city of Richardson.

Those nursing students who get their master's degree from West Coast University - Dallas make $15,617 more than the standard nursing student.

More information about a master’s in nursing from West Coast University - Dallas

7

Texas Woman's University
Denton, TX

271 Annual Graduates

$102,476 Median Starting Salary

Located in the city of Denton, TWU is a public university with a large student population.

Students who graduate with their master's from the nursing program state that they receive average early career income of $102,476.

More information about a master’s in nursing from Texas Woman’s University

8

Texas A&M University - College Station
College Station, TX

18 Annual Graduates

$119,052 Median Starting Salary

Located in the midsize city of College Station, Texas A&M College Station is a public university with a fairly large student population.

Nursing master's degree recipients from Texas A&M University - College Station get an earnings boost of approximately $6,361 over the average income of nursing majors.

More information about a master’s in nursing from Texas A&M University - College Station

9

The University of Texas at Tyler
Tyler, TX

86 Annual Graduates

$107,612 Median Starting Salary

UT Tyler is a medium-sized public university located in the midsize city of Tyler.

Master's students who receive their degree from the nursing program make an average of $107,612 in the first couple years of their career.

More information about a master’s in nursing from The University of Texas at Tyler

10

The University of Texas at El Paso
El Paso, TX

145 Annual Graduates

$104,997 Median Starting Salary

Located in the large city of El Paso, UTEP is a public university with a very large student population.

Soon after graduating, nursing master's recipients usually earn around $104,997 in the first five years of their career.

More information about a master’s in nursing from The University of Texas at El Paso

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
Arizona	180	2,678
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
Family Practice Nurse/Nursing	1,951
Nursing Administration	550
Registered Nursing	88
Psychiatric/Mental Health Nurse/Nursing	57
Other Registered Nursing, Nursing Administration, Nursing Research and Clinical Nursing	31
Nurse Midwife/Nursing Midwifery	26
Clinical Nurse Specialist	7
Clinical Nurse Leader	6
Forensic Nursing	6
Geriatric Nurse/Nursing	5

Most Popular Majors Related to Nursing

Related Major	Annual Graduates
Mental & Social Health Services	948
Communication Sciences	845
Health & Medical Administrative Services	842
Allied Health Professions	732
Public Health	713
Bioethics/Medical Ethics	372
Rehabilitation & Therapeutic Professions	281
Health Sciences & Services	179
Medical Illustration & Informatics	120
Dietetics & Clinical Nutrition Services	119

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.