2025 Best Nursing Master's Degree Schools in Missouri

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 13 schools in order to identify the top ones for its Best Nursing Master's Degree Schools in Missouri ranking. Combined, these schools handed out 1,138 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 collection 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 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.

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 Missouri list, to help you choose the best school for you.

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

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

10 Top Missouri Schools for a Master's in Nursing

1

Maryville University of Saint Louis
Saint Louis, MO

579 Annual Graduates

$106,615 Median Starting Salary

Maryville University of Saint Louis is one of the best schools in the country for getting a master's degree in nursing. Maryville U is a moderately-sized private not-for-profit university located in the large suburb of Saint Louis.

Those nursing students who get their master's degree from Maryville University of Saint Louis make $4,308 more than the standard nursing student.

More information about a master’s in nursing from Maryville University of Saint Louis

2

Goldfarb School of Nursing at Barnes-Jewish College
Saint Louis, MO

30 Annual Graduates

Goldfarb School of Nursing at Barnes-Jewish College is a great option for students interested in a master's degree in nursing. Goldfarb School of Nursing is a fairly small private not-for-profit college located in the city of Saint Louis.More information about a master’s in nursing from Goldfarb School of Nursing at Barnes-Jewish College

3

Saint Louis University
Saint Louis, MO

88 Annual Graduates

$98,522 Median Starting Salary

Saint Louis University is a wonderful decision for individuals interested in a master's degree in nursing. Located in the large city of Saint Louis, SLU is a private not-for-profit university with a large student population.

Master's students who receive their degree from the nursing program earn an average of $98,522 for their early career.

More information about a master’s in nursing from Saint Louis University

4

University of Missouri - Kansas City
Kansas City, MO

99 Annual Graduates

$121,441 Median Starting Salary

University of Missouri - Kansas City is a good choice for students interested in a master's degree in nursing. Located in the city of Kansas City, UMKC is a public university with a large student population.

Master's recipients from the nursing program at University of Missouri - Kansas City earn $19,134 above the standard college grad in this field shortly after graduation.

More information about a master’s in nursing from University of Missouri - Kansas City

5

University of Missouri - Columbia
Columbia, MO

68 Annual Graduates

Located in the city of Columbia, Mizzou is a public university with a very large student population.More information about a master’s in nursing from University of Missouri - Columbia

6

Missouri State University - Springfield
Springfield, MO

12 Annual Graduates

Missouri State is a very large public university located in the medium-sized city of Springfield.More information about a master’s in nursing from Missouri State University - Springfield

7

Rockhurst University
Kansas City, MO

39 Annual Graduates

$106,544 Median Starting Salary

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

Nursing master's degree recipients from Rockhurst University receive an earnings boost of about $4,237 over the average earnings of nursing majors.

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

8

Research College of Nursing
Kansas City, MO

32 Annual Graduates

$109,102 Median Starting Salary

Research College of Nursing is a fairly small private for-profit college located in the large city of Kansas City.

Those nursing students who get their master's degree from Research College of Nursing make $6,795 more than the standard nursing graduate.

More information about a master’s in nursing from Research College of Nursing

9

Webster University
Saint Louis, MO

68 Annual Graduates

$92,391 Median Starting Salary

Webster is a moderately-sized private not-for-profit university located in the large suburb of Saint Louis.

After graduation, nursing master's recipients generally earn about $92,391 in their early careers.

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

10

University of Central Missouri
Warrensburg, MO

50 Annual Graduates

$97,970 Median Starting Salary

Located in the distant town of Warrensburg, UCM is a public university with a fairly large student population.

Students who graduate with their master's from the nursing program state that they receive average early career earnings of $97,970.

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

Best Nursing Colleges in the Plains States Region

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

State	Colleges	Degrees Awarded
Minnesota	174	5,092
Iowa	154	317
Kansas	149	134
Nebraska	123	214
North Dakota	115	60
South Dakota	89	44

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	390
Family Practice Nurse/Nursing	326
Psychiatric/Mental Health Nurse/Nursing	143
Geriatric Nurse/Nursing	85
Critical Care Nursing	80
School Nursing	64
Other Registered Nursing, Nursing Administration, Nursing Research and Clinical Nursing	30
Nursing Administration	16
Clinical Nurse Leader	3
Adult Health Nurse/Nursing	1

Most Popular Majors Related to Nursing

Related Major	Annual Graduates
Health & Medical Administrative Services	384
Public Health	340
Allied Health Professions	301
Communication Sciences	268
Rehabilitation & Therapeutic Professions	196
Mental & Social Health Services	178
Dietetics & Clinical Nutrition Services	146
Medical Illustration & Informatics	61
Bioethics/Medical Ethics	39
Advanced Dentistry & Oral Sciences	32

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.