2025 Best Nursing Bachelor's Degree Schools in West Virginia

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.

College Factual reviewed 11 schools in West Virginia to determine which ones were the best for bachelor's degree seekers in the field of nursing. When you put them all together, these colleges and universities awarded 704 bachelor's degrees in nursing during the 2022-2023 academic year.

Jump to one of the following sections: * Our Methodology

• Best Bachelor’s Degree Schools List

Choosing a Great Nursing School for Your Bachelor's Degree

The nursing bachelor's 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. 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 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.

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

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 bachelor's 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 easy is it for nursing to pay back their student loans after receiving their bachelor's 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 bachelor's 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 Bachelor's Degree Schools in West Virginia list to help you make the college decision.

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 West Virginia

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

10 Top West Virginia Schools for a Bachelor's in Nursing

1

West Virginia University
Morgantown, WV

186 Annual Graduates

$71,298 Median Starting Salary

$23,840 Median Student Debt

West Virginia University is one of the finest schools in the United States for getting a bachelor's degree in nursing. Located in the city of Morgantown, WVU is a public university with a fairly large student population.

Bachelor's students who receive their degree from the nursing program make an average of $71,298 in the first couple years of working.

More information about a bachelor’s in nursing from West Virginia University

2

Marshall University
Huntington, WV

106 Annual Graduates

$69,176 Median Starting Salary

It's difficult to beat Marshall University if you want to pursue a bachelor's degree in nursing. Located in the city of Huntington, Marshall University is a public university with a large student population.

Bachelor's students who receive their degree from the nursing program make about $69,176 for their early career.

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

3

Wheeling University
Wheeling, WV

14 Annual Graduates

Wheeling University is a wonderful option for individuals pursuing a bachelor's degree in nursing. Wheeling University is a small private not-for-profit university located in the city of Wheeling.More information about a bachelor’s in nursing from Wheeling University

4

Shepherd University
Shepherdstown, WV

66 Annual Graduates

$75,914 Median Starting Salary

$25,306 Median Student Debt

Shepherd University is one of the finest schools in the country for getting a bachelor's degree in nursing. Shepherd University is a small public university located in the rural area of Shepherdstown.

Bachelor's recipients from the nursing degree program at Shepherd University make $3,060 above the standard college grad with the same degree when they enter the workforce.

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

5

West Virginia Wesleyan College
Buckhannon, WV

17 Annual Graduates

Located in the remote town of Buckhannon, West Virginia Wesleyan is a private not-for-profit college with a small student population.More information about a bachelor’s in nursing from West Virginia Wesleyan College

6

American Public University System
Charles Town, WV

119 Annual Graduates

$85,161 Median Starting Salary

Located in the town of Charles Town, American Military University is a private for-profit university with a fairly large student population.

Nursing bachelor's degree recipients from American Public University System get an earnings boost of about $12,307 above the typical income of nursing graduates.

More information about a bachelor’s in nursing from American Public University System

7

Fairmont State University
Fairmont, WV

39 Annual Graduates

$77,962 Median Starting Salary

Located in the distant town of Fairmont, Fairmont State is a public university with a small student population.

Nursing bachelor's degree recipients from Fairmont State University earn a boost of around $5,108 over the average earnings of nursing graduates.

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

8

University of Charleston
Charleston, WV

58 Annual Graduates

$69,468 Median Starting Salary

Located in the city of Charleston, UC is a private not-for-profit university with a small student population.

Bachelor's students who receive their degree from the nursing program make an average of $69,468 for their early career.

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

9

West Liberty University
West Liberty, WV

26 Annual Graduates

$71,848 Median Starting Salary

West Liberty University is a small public university located in the rural area of West Liberty.

Bachelor's students who receive their degree from the nursing program make about $71,848 in the first couple years of working.

More information about a bachelor’s in nursing from West Liberty University

10

West Virginia University at Parkersburg
Parkersburg, WV

25 Annual Graduates

$73,315 Median Starting Salary

Located in the rural area of Parkersburg, West Virginia University at Parkersburg is a public university with a small student population.

After graduation, nursing bachelor's recipients typically make about $73,315 in the first five years of their career.

More information about a bachelor’s in nursing from West Virginia University at Parkersburg

Best Nursing Colleges in the Southeast Region

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

State	Colleges	Degrees Awarded
Florida	225	9,015
Georgia	224	3,954
Tennessee	220	3,180
North Carolina	213	3,488
Virginia	213	3,096
South Carolina	195	1,605
Kentucky	187	2,530
Alabama	184	2,607
Louisiana	171	1,963
Mississippi	169	1,307
Arkansas	167	1,371

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	704

Majors Similar to Nursing

Related Major	Annual Graduates
Other Health Professions	211
Health & Medical Administrative Services	184
Public Health	158
Health/Medical Prep Programs	132
Communication Sciences	109
Health Sciences & Services	106
Allied Health Professions	64
Dental Support Services	57
Clinical/Medical Laboratory Science	32
Dietetics & Clinical Nutrition Services	9

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.