2025 Best Nursing Bachelor's Degree Schools in Ohio

Ranked #2 in popularity, nursing is one of the most sought-after bachelor's degree programs in the nation. This means there are lots of options to choose from when you decide to get your degree.

In 2025, College Factual analyzed 48 schools in order to identify the top ones for its Best Nursing Bachelor's Degree Schools in Ohio ranking. When you put them all together, these colleges and universities awarded 6,195 bachelor's degrees in nursing during the 2022-2023 academic year.

What's on this page: * Our Methodology

• Best Bachelor’s Degree Schools List

Choosing a Great Nursing School for Your Bachelor's Degree

Your choice of nursing for getting your bachelor'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. To make it into this list, a school must excel in the following areas.

A Great Overall School

The overall quality of a bachelor's degree school is important to ensure a good education, not just how well they do in a particular major. To account for this we include a college's overall Best Colleges 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.

Early-Career Earnings

One measure we use to determine the quality of a school is to look at the average salary of bachelor's graduates during the early years of their career. That is, everyone wants their bachelor's 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 bachelor'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 bachelor'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 bachelor'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 Bachelor's Degree Schools in Ohio list, to help you choose the best school for you.

In addition to our rankings, you can take two colleges and compare them based on the criteria that matters most to you in our unique tool, College Combat. Test it out when you get a chance! You may also want to bookmark the link and share it with others who are trying to make the college decision.

Best Schools for Bachelor’s Students to Study Nursing in Ohio

Explore the top ranked colleges and universities for nursing students seeking a a bachelor's degree.

10 Top Ohio Schools for a Bachelor's in Nursing

1

Case Western Reserve University
Cleveland, OH

102 Annual Graduates

$69,389 Median Starting Salary

$29,500 Median Student Debt

It is difficult to beat Case Western Reserve University if you want to pursue a bachelor's degree in nursing. Located in the large city of Cleveland, Case Western is a private not-for-profit university with a large student population.

Bachelor's graduates who receive their degree from the nursing program make around $69,389 in their early career salary.

More information about a bachelor’s in nursing from Case Western Reserve University

2

Ohio University - Athens Campus
Athens, OH

1,396 Annual Graduates

$75,809 Median Starting Salary

$17,552 Median Student Debt

Every student pursuing a degree in a bachelor's degree in nursing has to take a look at Ohio University - Athens Campus. Located in the distant town of Athens, OHIO Athens is a public university with a fairly large student population.

Bachelor's recipients from the nursing major at Ohio University - Athens Campus make $5,081 more than the standard college grad with the same degree when they enter the workforce.

More information about a bachelor’s in nursing from Ohio University - Athens Campus

3

University of Cincinnati - Main Campus
Cincinnati, OH

363 Annual Graduates

$71,105 Median Starting Salary

$27,464 Median Student Debt

University of Cincinnati - Main Campus is one of the finest schools in the United States for getting a bachelor's degree in nursing. Located in the city of Cincinnati, UC is a public university with a very large student population.

After graduation, nursing bachelor's recipients generally earn an average of $71,105 in their early careers.

More information about a bachelor’s in nursing from University of Cincinnati - Main Campus

4

Kent State University at Kent
Kent, OH

471 Annual Graduates

$66,990 Median Starting Salary

$22,033 Median Student Debt

It's hard to beat Kent State University at Kent if you want to pursue a bachelor's degree in nursing. Located in the large suburb of Kent, Kent State is a public university with a very large student population.

Bachelor's graduates who receive their degree from the nursing program make about $66,990 for their early career.

More information about a bachelor’s in nursing from Kent State University at Kent

5

Ohio State University - Main Campus
Columbus, OH

235 Annual Graduates

$71,175 Median Starting Salary

$25,437 Median Student Debt

Located in the large city of Columbus, Ohio State is a public university with a very large student population.

Bachelor's students who receive their degree from the nursing program earn about $71,175 in the first couple years of their career.

More information about a bachelor’s in nursing from Ohio State University - Main Campus

6

Xavier University
Cincinnati, OH

341 Annual Graduates

$70,473 Median Starting Salary

$59,952 Median Student Debt

Located in the city of Cincinnati, Xavier is a private not-for-profit university with a medium-sized student population.

Bachelor's graduates who receive their degree from the nursing program earn about $70,473 in the first couple years of their career.

More information about a bachelor’s in nursing from Xavier University

7

University of Toledo
Toledo, OH

285 Annual Graduates

$70,850 Median Starting Salary

$18,523 Median Student Debt

University of Toledo is a fairly large public university located in the city of Toledo.

Bachelor's students who receive their degree from the nursing program earn about $70,850 in their early career salary.

More information about a bachelor’s in nursing from University of Toledo

8

Mount Carmel College of Nursing
Columbus, OH

254 Annual Graduates

$69,969 Median Starting Salary

$34,000 Median Student Debt

Mount Carmel College of Nursing is a small private not-for-profit college located in the large city of Columbus.

Bachelor's graduates who receive their degree from the nursing program earn about $69,969 for their early career.

More information about a bachelor’s in nursing from Mount Carmel College of Nursing

9

Cedarville University
Cedarville, OH

136 Annual Graduates

$69,047 Median Starting Salary

$45,000 Median Student Debt

Cedarville is a moderately-sized private not-for-profit university located in the rural area of Cedarville.

Bachelor's graduates who receive their degree from the nursing program make around $69,047 for their early career.

More information about a bachelor’s in nursing from Cedarville University

10

Otterbein University
Westerville, OH

47 Annual Graduates

$69,287 Median Starting Salary

$53,275 Median Student Debt

Otterbein is a small private not-for-profit university located in the suburb of Westerville.

After graduation, nursing bachelor's recipients usually earn about $69,287 in their early careers.

More information about a bachelor’s in nursing from Otterbein University

Honorable Mentions

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

Rank	College	Location
11	Franklin University	Columbus, OH
12	University of Akron Main Campus	Akron, OH
13	Youngstown State University	Youngstown, OH
14	Wright State University - Main Campus	Dayton, OH
15	Ursuline College	Pepper Pike, OH
16	Mercy College of Ohio	Toledo, 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	261	3,948
Illinois	241	12,329
Indiana	235	4,455
Wisconsin	213	2,670

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	6,051
Nursing Practice	144

Majors Similar to Nursing

Related Major	Annual Graduates
Communication Sciences	518
Public Health	476
Allied Health & Medical Assisting Services	470
Health & Medical Administrative Services	414
Clinical/Medical Laboratory Science	393
Allied Health Professions	384
Pharmacy/Pharmaceutical Sciences	382
Other Health Professions	348
Health Sciences & Services	321
Health/Medical Prep Programs	253

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.