2025 Best Nursing Associate Degree Schools in Minnesota

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 23 colleges and universities when compiling its 2025 Best Nursing Associate Degree Schools in Minnesota ranking. When you put them all together, these colleges and universities awarded 2,120 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. 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 take this into account we consider a school's overall Best Colleges ranking which itself looks at a host of different factors like degree completion, educational resources, student body caliber and post-graduation earnings for the school as a whole.

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

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 full ranking methodology documents in more detail how we consider these factors to identify the best schools for nursing students working on their associate degree.

More Ways to Rank Nursing Schools

The nursing school you choose to invest your time and money in matters. To help you make the decision that is right for you, we've developed a number of major-specific rankings, including this list of the Best Nursing Associate Degree Schools in Minnesota.

Best Schools for Associate Students to Study Nursing in Minnesota

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

10 Top Minnesota Schools for an Associate in Nursing

1

Rasmussen University - Minnesota
St. Cloud, MN

711 Annual Graduates

$68,119 Median Starting Salary

$17,700 Median Student Debt

Any student pursuing a degree in an associate degree in nursing needs to look into Rasmussen University - Minnesota. Located in the city of St. Cloud, Rasmussen University - Minnesota is a private for-profit university with a moderately-sized student population.

Those nursing students who get their associate degree from Rasmussen University - Minnesota receive $2,434 more than the standard nursing grad.

More information about a associate in nursing from Rasmussen University - Minnesota

2

Rochester Community and Technical College
Rochester, MN

108 Annual Graduates

$70,020 Median Starting Salary

Any student who is interested in an associate degree in nursing has to check out Rochester Community and Technical College. Located in the city of Rochester, Rochester Community and Technical College is a public college with a small student population.

Associate recipients from the nursing program at Rochester Community and Technical College make $4,335 more than the standard college graduate with the same degree when they enter the workforce.

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

3

Minneapolis Community and Technical College
Minneapolis, MN

94 Annual Graduates

$61,817 Median Starting Salary

It is difficult to beat Minneapolis Community and Technical College if you want to pursue an associate degree in nursing. Located in the large city of Minneapolis, Minneapolis Community and Technical College is a public college with a medium-sized student population.

Soon after graduating, nursing associate recipients generally make an average of $61,817 at the beginning of their careers.

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

4

Northland Community and Technical College
Thief River Falls, MN

66 Annual Graduates

$67,075 Median Starting Salary

Northland Community and Technical College is a great choice for students pursuing an associate degree in nursing. Northland Community and Technical College is a small public college located in the town of Thief River Falls.

Students who graduate with their associate from the nursing program report average early career earnings of $67,075.

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

5

Century College
White Bear Lake, MN

92 Annual Graduates

$66,512 Median Starting Salary

Century College is a medium-sized public college located in the suburb of White Bear Lake.

Students who graduate with their associate from the nursing program state that they receive average early career income of $66,512.

More information about a associate in nursing from Century College

6

Northwest Technical College
Bemidji, MN

70 Annual Graduates

$72,778 Median Starting Salary

Located in the remote town of Bemidji, NTC is a public college with a fairly small student population.

Those nursing students who get their associate degree from Northwest Technical College receive $7,093 more than the standard nursing grad.

More information about a associate in nursing from Northwest Technical College

7

Anoka-Ramsey Community College
Coon Rapids, MN

100 Annual Graduates

$66,484 Median Starting Salary

Located in the large suburb of Coon Rapids, Anoka-Ramsey Community College-Coon Rapids Campus is a public college with a medium-sized student population.

Students who graduate with their associate from the nursing program state that they receive average early career wages of $66,484.

More information about a associate in nursing from Anoka-Ramsey Community College

8

Ridgewater College
Willmar, MN

80 Annual Graduates

$59,082 Median Starting Salary

Located in the remote town of Willmar, Ridgewater 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 wages of $59,082.

More information about a associate in nursing from Ridgewater College

9

North Hennepin Community College
Brooklyn Park, MN

53 Annual Graduates

$67,312 Median Starting Salary

North Hennepin Community College is a medium-sized public college located in the suburb of Brooklyn Park.

Students who graduate with their associate from the nursing program state that they receive average early career earnings of $67,312.

More information about a associate in nursing from North Hennepin Community College

10

Hibbing Community College
Hibbing, MN

65 Annual Graduates

$61,116 Median Starting Salary

Located in the town of Hibbing, Hibbing Community College is a public college with a small student population.

After graduating, nursing associate recipients usually earn an average of $61,116 at the beginning of their careers.

More information about a associate in nursing from Hibbing Community College

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
Kansas	146	868
Missouri	117	1,409
Iowa	116	1,152
Nebraska	98	265
South Dakota	93	114
North Dakota	92	287

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	2,120

Most Popular Majors Related to Nursing

Related Major	Annual Graduates
Allied Health Professions	510
Dental Support Services	336
Allied Health & Medical Assisting Services	309
Health & Medical Administrative Services	197
Health Sciences & Services	150
Clinical/Medical Laboratory Science	87
Mental & Social Health Services	48
Rehabilitation & Therapeutic Professions	23
Somatic Bodywork & Therapeutic Services	22
Practical Nursing & Nursing Assistants	19

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.