2025 Best Nursing Associate Degree Schools in Ohio

If you pursue a associate degree in nursing, you won't be alone. The field of study is the #2 most popular program in the country. This means there are lots of options to choose from when you decide to get your degree.

College Factual looked at 45 colleges and universities when compiling its 2025 Best Nursing Associate Degree Schools in Ohio ranking. When you put them all together, these colleges and universities awarded 4,033 associate degrees in nursing during the 2022-2023 academic year.

What's on this page: * Our Methodology

• Best Associate Degree Schools List

Choosing a Great Nursing School for Your Associate Degree

Your choice of nursing for getting your associate 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. 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 take this into account we consider a college's overall Best Colleges ranking which itself looks at a combination of various factors like degree completion, educational resources, student body caliber and post-graduation earnings for the school as a whole.

Early-Career Earnings

Average early-career salary of those graduating with their associate degree is one indicator we use in our analysis to find the schools that offer the highest-quality education. That is, everyone wants their associate degree to be worth something, and salaries are one measure of determining that.

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 associate 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 easy is it for nursing to pay back their student loans after receiving their associate 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 colleges for nursing students working on their associate degree.

More Ways to Rank Nursing Schools

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 Associate Degree Schools in Ohio list to help you make the college decision.

Best Schools for Associate Students to Study Nursing in Ohio

Explore the top ranked colleges and universities for nursing students seeking a an associate degree.

10 Top Ohio Schools for an Associate in Nursing

1

Herzing University - Akron
Akron, OH

64 Annual Graduates

$73,342 Median Starting Salary

$13,740 Median Student Debt

Herzing University - Akron is one of the best schools in the country for getting an associate degree in nursing. Herzing Akron is a fairly small private not-for-profit university located in the suburb of Akron.

Nursing associate degree recipients from Herzing University - Akron get an earnings boost of around $9,154 over the average earnings of nursing majors.

More information about a associate in nursing from Herzing University - Akron

2

Mercy College of Ohio
Toledo, OH

137 Annual Graduates

$69,485 Median Starting Salary

$17,600 Median Student Debt

It is difficult to beat Mercy College of Ohio if you wish to pursue an associate degree in nursing. Mercy College is a small private not-for-profit college located in the large city of Toledo.

Associate recipients from the nursing degree program at Mercy College of Ohio earn $5,297 more than the average graduate in this field when they enter the workforce.

More information about a associate in nursing from Mercy College of Ohio

3

Cuyahoga Community College District
Cleveland, OH

131 Annual Graduates

$62,630 Median Starting Salary

Cuyahoga Community College District is one of the finest schools in the country for getting an associate degree in nursing. Located in the city of Cleveland, Cuyahoga Community College District is a public college with a fairly large student population.

After graduating, nursing associate recipients generally make around $62,630 in the first five years of their career.

More information about a associate in nursing from Cuyahoga Community College District

4

Sinclair Community College
Dayton, OH

97 Annual Graduates

$69,403 Median Starting Salary

Sinclair Community College is a wonderful decision for individuals pursuing an associate degree in nursing. Sinclair Community College is a fairly large public college located in the medium-sized city of Dayton.

Associate recipients from the nursing degree program at Sinclair Community College make $5,215 more than the standard college grad with the same degree shortly after graduation.

More information about a associate in nursing from Sinclair Community College

5

Cincinnati State Technical and Community College
Cincinnati, OH

123 Annual Graduates

$68,156 Median Starting Salary

Cincinnati State is a medium-sized public college located in the large city of Cincinnati.

Those nursing students who get their associate degree from Cincinnati State Technical and Community College make $3,968 more than the standard nursing graduate.

More information about a associate in nursing from Cincinnati State Technical and Community College

6

Good Samaritan College of Nursing & Health Science
Cincinnati, OH

86 Annual Graduates

$63,646 Median Starting Salary

$15,000 Median Student Debt

Good Samaritan College of Nursing & Health Science is a fairly small private not-for-profit college located in the city of Cincinnati.

Associate graduates who receive their degree from the nursing program earn around $63,646 for their early career.

More information about a associate in nursing from Good Samaritan College of Nursing & Health Science

7

Central Ohio Technical College
Newark, OH

181 Annual Graduates

$66,324 Median Starting Salary

COTC is a small public college located in the suburb of Newark.

Associate recipients from the nursing program at Central Ohio Technical College earn $2,136 more than the typical college graduate with the same degree shortly after graduation.

More information about a associate in nursing from Central Ohio Technical College

8

University of Rio Grande
Rio Grande, OH

125 Annual Graduates

$64,427 Median Starting Salary

University of Rio Grande is a small private not-for-profit university located in the rural area of Rio Grande.

Students who graduate with their associate from the nursing program state that they receive average early career income of $64,427.

More information about a associate in nursing from University of Rio Grande

9

Owens Community College
Perrysburg, OH

192 Annual Graduates

$66,756 Median Starting Salary

Located in the suburb of Perrysburg, Owens State Community College is a public college with a moderately-sized student population.

Those nursing students who get their associate degree from Owens Community College make $2,568 more than the standard nursing student.

More information about a associate in nursing from Owens Community College

10

Clark State Community College
Springfield, OH

118 Annual Graduates

$63,620 Median Starting Salary

Located in the small city of Springfield, Clark State Community College is a public college with a small student population.

Students who graduate with their associate from the nursing program state that they receive average early career earnings of $63,620.

More information about a associate in nursing from Clark State Community College

Honorable Mentions

Here are some additional great schools for Nursing students in the state of Ohio that almost earned our Best Nursing Associate Degree Schools in Ohio award.

Rank	College	Location
11	Bryant & Stratton College - Parma	Parma, OH
12	North Central State College	Mansfield, OH
13	Marion Technical College	Marion, OH
14	Lorain County Community College	Elyria, OH
15	Stark State College	North Canton, OH

Best Nursing Colleges in the Great Lakes Region

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

State	Colleges	Degrees Awarded
Michigan	192	2,284
Indiana	123	1,648
Illinois	119	2,975
Wisconsin	114	1,768

View All Rankings >

Rankings in Majors Related to Nursing

Nursing is one of 34 different types of Health Professions programs to choose from.

Nursing Concentrations

Major	Annual Graduates
Registered Nursing	3,893
Other Registered Nursing, Nursing Administration, Nursing Research and Clinical Nursing	72
Adult Health Nurse/Nursing	68

Majors Similar to Nursing

Related Major	Annual Graduates
Allied Health Professions	1,040
Allied Health & Medical Assisting Services	879
Health & Medical Administrative Services	832
Dental Support Services	240
Clinical/Medical Laboratory Science	153
Health Sciences & Services	133
Mental & Social Health Services	123
Other Health Professions	29
Public Health	15
Rehabilitation & Therapeutic Professions	14

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.