2025 Best Nursing Associate Degree Schools in Maryland

Ranked #2 in popularity, nursing is one of the most sought-after associate degree programs in the nation. This makes choosing the right school a hard decision.

College Factual looked at 14 colleges and universities when compiling its 2025 Best Nursing Associate Degree Schools in Maryland ranking. When you put them all together, these colleges and universities awarded 1,458 associate degrees in nursing during the 2022-2023 academic year.

Jump to one of the following sections: * Our Methodology

• Best Associate Degree Schools List

Choosing a Great Nursing School for Your Associate Degree

The nursing associate 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

The overall quality of a associate degree school is important to ensure a quality education, not just how well they do in a particular major. To make it into this list a school must rank well in our overall Best Colleges ranking. This ranking considered factors such as graduation rates, overall graduate earnings and other educational resources to identify great colleges and universities.

Average Earnings

One measure we use to determine the quality of a school is to look at the average salary of associate graduates during the early years of their career. This is because one of the main reasons people pursue their associate 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 associate 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 much debt nursing students go into to obtain their associate 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 schools for nursing students working on their associate 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 Associate Degree Schools in Maryland list to help you make the college decision.

Best Schools for Associate Students to Study Nursing in Maryland

The following list ranks the best colleges and universities for pursuing an associate degree in nursing.

10 Top Maryland Schools for an Associate in Nursing

1

Community College of Baltimore County
Baltimore, MD

232 Annual Graduates

$75,725 Median Starting Salary

Community College of Baltimore County is a wonderful option for students pursuing an associate degree in nursing. CCBC is a fairly large public college located in the large suburb of Baltimore.

Nursing associate degree recipients from Community College of Baltimore County get an earnings boost of approximately $2,148 over the typical earnings of nursing graduates.

More information about a associate in nursing from Community College of Baltimore County

2

Baltimore City Community College
Baltimore, MD

28 Annual Graduates

$73,091 Median Starting Salary

Every student who is interested in an associate degree in nursing needs to look into Baltimore City Community College. Baltimore City Community College is a small public college located in the large city of Baltimore.

Associate students who receive their degree from the nursing program earn around $73,091 in the first couple years of working.

More information about a associate in nursing from Baltimore City Community College

3

Howard Community College
Columbia, MD

151 Annual Graduates

$71,307 Median Starting Salary

It is difficult to beat Howard Community College if you wish to pursue an associate degree in nursing. Located in the midsize city of Columbia, HCC is a public college with a medium-sized student population.

Students who graduate with their associate from the nursing program report average early career income of $71,307.

More information about a associate in nursing from Howard Community College

4

Allegany College of Maryland
Cumberland, MD

163 Annual Graduates

$66,303 Median Starting Salary

Allegany College of Maryland is one of the finest schools in the United States for getting an associate degree in nursing. Allegany College of Maryland is a small public college located in the remote town of Cumberland.

After graduation, nursing associate recipients typically earn around $66,303 at the beginning of their careers.

More information about a associate in nursing from Allegany College of Maryland

5

Montgomery College
Rockville, MD

107 Annual Graduates

Montgomery College is a large public college located in the small city of Rockville.More information about a associate in nursing from Montgomery College

6

Prince George's Community College
Largo, MD

60 Annual Graduates

$89,437 Median Starting Salary

Located in the large suburb of Largo, PGCC is a public college with a large student population.

Nursing associate degree recipients from Prince George's Community College get an earnings boost of about $15,860 above the typical earnings of nursing graduates.

More information about a associate in nursing from Prince George’s Community College

7

Anne Arundel Community College
Arnold, MD

151 Annual Graduates

Located in the suburb of Arnold, AACC is a public college with a fairly large student population.More information about a associate in nursing from Anne Arundel Community College

8

Hagerstown Community College
Hagerstown, MD

54 Annual Graduates

$73,996 Median Starting Salary

HCC is a medium-sized public college located in the medium-sized suburb of Hagerstown.

Soon after graduating, nursing associate recipients typically earn about $73,996 in their early careers.

More information about a associate in nursing from Hagerstown Community College

9

Harford Community College
Bel Air, MD

128 Annual Graduates

$74,823 Median Starting Salary

Located in the rural area of Bel Air, Harford Community College is a public college with a medium-sized student population.

Associate graduates who receive their degree from the nursing program make an average of $74,823 in the first couple years of their career.

More information about a associate in nursing from Harford Community College

10

Wor-Wic Community College
Salisbury, MD

84 Annual Graduates

$70,742 Median Starting Salary

Wor-Wic Community College is a small public college located in the rural area of Salisbury.

Associate graduates who receive their degree from the nursing program earn an average of $70,742 in their early career salary.

More information about a associate in nursing from Wor-Wic Community College

Best Nursing Colleges in the Middle Atlantic Region

Explore all the Best Nursing Schools in the Middle Atlantic Area or other specific states within that region.

State	Colleges	Degrees Awarded
New York	196	6,617
Pennsylvania	179	2,443
New Jersey	137	2,407
Delaware	60	325

View All Rankings >

Nursing Related Rankings by Major

One of 34 majors within the Health Professions area of study, Nursing has other similar majors worth exploring.

Nursing Focus Areas

Major	Annual Graduates
Registered Nursing	1,458

Most Popular Majors Related to Nursing

Related Major	Annual Graduates
Allied Health Professions	404
Mental & Social Health Services	194
Allied Health & Medical Assisting Services	155
Dental Support Services	151
Health & Medical Administrative Services	93
Public Health	42
Rehabilitation & Therapeutic Professions	32
Clinical/Medical Laboratory Science	30
Somatic Bodywork & Therapeutic Services	19
Medical Illustration & Informatics	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.