2025 Best Nursing Bachelor's Degree Schools in Iowa

If you pursue a bachelor's degree in nursing, you won't be alone. The field of study is the #2 most popular program in the country. So, there are lots of possibilities to explore when you're trying to determine where you want to get your degree.

In 2025, College Factual analyzed 16 schools in order to identify the top ones for its Best Nursing Bachelor's Degree Schools in Iowa ranking. Combined, these schools handed out 1,169 bachelor's degrees in nursing to qualified students.

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. Below we explain some of the most important factors to consider before making your choice:

Overall Quality Is a Must

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.

Average Early-Career Salaries

Average early-career salary of those graduating with their bachelor's degree is one indicator we use in our analysis to find the schools that offer the highest-quality education. After all, your bachelor's degree won't mean much if it doesn't help you find a job that will help you earn a living.

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

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 Iowa list, to help you choose the best school for you.

To further help you make the college decision, we've developed a unique tool called College Combat that allows you to compare schools based on the factors that matter the most to you. Go ahead and give it a try, or bookmark the link so you can check it out later.

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

Below you'll see a list of the best colleges and universities for pursuing a bachelor's degree in nursing.

10 Top Iowa Schools for a Bachelor's in Nursing

1

University of Iowa
Iowa City, IA

229 Annual Graduates

$69,368 Median Starting Salary

$18,520 Median Student Debt

It's difficult to beat University of Iowa if you wish to pursue a bachelor's degree in nursing. Iowa is a fairly large public university located in the small city of Iowa City.

Bachelor's students who receive their degree from the nursing program make around $69,368 in their early career salary.

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

2

Allen College
Waterloo, IA

110 Annual Graduates

$65,924 Median Starting Salary

Every student who is interested in a bachelor's degree in nursing needs to check out Allen College. Located in the city of Waterloo, Allen College is a private not-for-profit college with a small student population.

Soon after graduation, nursing bachelor's recipients generally earn around $65,924 in the first five years of their career.

More information about a bachelor’s in nursing from Allen College

3

Mercy College of Health Sciences
Des Moines, IA

286 Annual Graduates

$66,309 Median Starting Salary

$34,595 Median Student Debt

Mercy College of Health Sciences is one of the finest schools in the country for getting a bachelor's degree in nursing. Located in the medium-sized city of Des Moines, Mercy College of Health Sciences is a private not-for-profit college with a fairly small student population.

Bachelor's graduates who receive their degree from the nursing program make about $66,309 for their early career.

More information about a bachelor’s in nursing from Mercy College of Health Sciences

4

Iowa State University
Ames, IA

10 Annual Graduates

It is hard to beat Iowa State University if you wish to pursue a bachelor's degree in nursing. Located in the city of Ames, Iowa State is a public university with a very large student population.More information about a bachelor’s in nursing from Iowa State University

5

Graceland University - Lamoni
Lamoni, IA

65 Annual Graduates

$66,955 Median Starting Salary

Graceland Lamoni is a small private not-for-profit university located in the remote area of Lamoni.

Soon after graduation, nursing bachelor's recipients generally make an average of $66,955 in their early careers.

More information about a bachelor’s in nursing from Graceland University - Lamoni

6

Saint Ambrose University
Davenport, IA

77 Annual Graduates

$66,151 Median Starting Salary

$46,056 Median Student Debt

Located in the midsize city of Davenport, St. Ambrose University is a private not-for-profit university with a small student population.

Bachelor's students who receive their degree from the nursing program earn about $66,151 in their early career salary.

More information about a bachelor’s in nursing from Saint Ambrose University

7

Mount Mercy University
Cedar Rapids, IA

78 Annual Graduates

$66,647 Median Starting Salary

$23,187 Median Student Debt

Mount Mercy is a small private not-for-profit university located in the midsize city of Cedar Rapids.

Bachelor's graduates who receive their degree from the nursing program earn about $66,647 in their early career salary.

More information about a bachelor’s in nursing from Mount Mercy University

8

Luther College
Decorah, IA

31 Annual Graduates

$75,533 Median Starting Salary

Luther is a small private not-for-profit college located in the remote town of Decorah.

Bachelor's recipients from the nursing program at Luther College get $7,355 above the average graduate with the same degree shortly after graduation.

More information about a bachelor’s in nursing from Luther College

9

Morningside College
Sioux City, IA

33 Annual Graduates

$68,397 Median Starting Salary

Located in the city of Sioux City, Morningside is a private not-for-profit college with a small student population.

Soon after graduation, nursing bachelor's recipients usually earn an average of $68,397 in their early careers.

More information about a bachelor’s in nursing from Morningside College

10

Clarke University
Dubuque, IA

19 Annual Graduates

$62,676 Median Starting Salary

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

Bachelor's students who receive their degree from the nursing program make around $62,676 for their early career.

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

Best Nursing Colleges in the Plains States Region

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

State	Colleges	Degrees Awarded
Missouri	228	3,224
Minnesota	215	6,914
Kansas	184	1,454
Nebraska	180	1,229
North Dakota	149	589
South Dakota	148	814

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	1,167
Nursing Practice	2

Most Popular Related Majors

Related Major	Annual Graduates
Communication Sciences	120
Public Health	111
Health Sciences & Services	106
Allied Health Professions	95
Health & Medical Administrative Services	91
Alternative Medicine & Systems	47
Health/Medical Prep Programs	39
Dietetics & Clinical Nutrition Services	38
Rehabilitation & Therapeutic Professions	31
Clinical/Medical Laboratory Science	13

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.