The 50 colleges that score highest for Nursing on public federal data: selectivity, graduate earnings, program size, academic strength and graduate depth. It is a starting point for your research, not a judgment of quality.
50 colleges · each name links to its page, with sources · data snapshot October 2, 2026 · Updated October 2, 2026
How we rank programs · showing the top 50 of 50 core colleges ranked, those with enough graduates and earnings data · All top-programs lists
Enter your ZIP to see distances and filter by miles. It stays in your browser.
| Rank | College | State | What we measured | Distance |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | University of Pennsylvania | PA | Median earnings $98,475 · 202 graduates last year · 6% of the school's degrees | |
| 2 | Emory University | GA | Median earnings $101,903 · 152 graduates last year · 6% of the school's degrees | |
| 3 | University of California-Los Angeles | CA | Median earnings $118,566 · 50 graduates last year · under 1% of the school's degrees | |
| 4 | New York University | NY | Median earnings $118,433 · 426 graduates last year · 5% of the school's degrees | |
| 5 | Duke University | NC | Median earnings $87,763 · 206 graduates last year · 8% of the school's degrees | |
| 6 | University of Washington-Seattle Campus | WA | Median earnings $98,632 · 205 graduates last year · 2% of the school's degrees | |
| 7 | University of Miami | FL | Median earnings $92,555 · 234 graduates last year · 7% of the school's degrees | |
| 8 | University of Michigan-Ann Arbor | MI | Median earnings $82,265 · 181 graduates last year · 2% of the school's degrees | |
| 9 | Case Western Reserve University | OH | Median earnings $87,582 · 60 graduates last year · 4% of the school's degrees | |
| 10 | University of California-Irvine | CA | Median earnings $119,502 · 46 graduates last year · under 1% of the school's degrees | |
| 11 | University of Virginia-Main Campus | VA | Median earnings $86,653 · 153 graduates last year · 3% of the school's degrees | |
| 12 | Rutgers University-New Brunswick | NJ | Median earnings $99,155 · 297 graduates last year · 4% of the school's degrees | |
| 13 | Stony Brook University | NY | Median earnings $111,898 · 183 graduates last year · 4% of the school's degrees | |
| 14 | George Washington University | DC | Median earnings $96,741 · 203 graduates last year · 7% of the school's degrees | |
| 15 | The University of Texas at Austin | TX | Median earnings $87,891 · 117 graduates last year · 1% of the school's degrees | |
| 16 | University of Florida | FL | Median earnings $79,839 · 235 graduates last year · 2% of the school's degrees | |
| 17 | University of Rochester | NY | Median earnings $90,038 · 152 graduates last year · 8% of the school's degrees | |
| 18 | University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill | NC | Median earnings $78,585 · 215 graduates last year · 3% of the school's degrees | |
| 19 | University of Wisconsin-Madison | WI | Median earnings $85,579 · 206 graduates last year · 2% of the school's degrees | |
| 20 | University of South Florida | FL | Median earnings $84,694 · 362 graduates last year · 4% of the school's degrees | |
| 21 | Ohio State University-Main Campus | OH | Median earnings $81,795 · 243 graduates last year · 2% of the school's degrees | |
| 22 | Georgetown University | DC | Median earnings $143,686 (field-wide) · 24 graduates last year · 1% of the school's degrees | |
| 23 | University of Pittsburgh-Pittsburgh Campus | PA | Median earnings $83,313 · 249 graduates last year · 5% of the school's degrees | |
| 24 | Purdue University-Main Campus | IN | Median earnings $80,403 · 181 graduates last year · 2% of the school's degrees | |
| 25 | Boston College | MA | Median earnings $94,867 · 95 graduates last year · 3% of the school's degrees | |
| 26 | Northeastern University | MA | Median earnings $91,003 · 96 graduates last year · 2% of the school's degrees | |
| 27 | Baylor University | TX | Median earnings $89,510 · 330 graduates last year · 8% of the school's degrees | |
| 28 | University at Buffalo | NY | Median earnings $93,507 · 170 graduates last year · 3% of the school's degrees | |
| 29 | University of Central Florida | FL | Median earnings $83,737 · 711 graduates last year · 5% of the school's degrees | |
| 30 | Binghamton University | NY | Median earnings $108,691 · 169 graduates last year · 4% of the school's degrees | |
| 31 | University of Connecticut | CT | Median earnings $92,601 · 238 graduates last year · 4% of the school's degrees | |
| 32 | University of Minnesota-Twin Cities | MN | Median earnings $82,960 · 135 graduates last year · 2% of the school's degrees | |
| 33 | Texas A&M University-College Station | TX | Median earnings $81,026 · 235 graduates last year · 2% of the school's degrees | |
| 34 | Villanova University | PA | Median earnings $99,540 · 175 graduates last year · 8% of the school's degrees | |
| 35 | Florida State University | FL | Median earnings $78,811 · 178 graduates last year · 2% of the school's degrees | |
| 36 | University of Arizona | AZ | Median earnings $88,892 · 233 graduates last year · 3% of the school's degrees | |
| 37 | University of Missouri-Columbia | MO | Median earnings $83,231 · 245 graduates last year · 4% of the school's degrees | |
| 38 | Pennsylvania State University-Main Campus | PA | Median earnings $91,032 · 132 graduates last year · 1% of the school's degrees | |
| 39 | San Diego State University | CA | Median earnings $120,799 · 200 graduates last year · 2% of the school's degrees | |
| 40 | University of Massachusetts-Amherst | MA | Median earnings $90,309 · 100 graduates last year · 1% of the school's degrees | |
| 41 | University of Utah | UT | Median earnings $86,243 · 219 graduates last year · 4% of the school's degrees | |
| 42 | The University of Tennessee-Knoxville | TN | Median earnings $77,118 · 256 graduates last year · 4% of the school's degrees | |
| 43 | University of South Carolina-Columbia | SC | Median earnings $80,768 · 260 graduates last year · 4% of the school's degrees | |
| 44 | Drexel University | PA | Median earnings $100,646 · 381 graduates last year · 11% of the school's degrees | |
| 45 | Florida International University | FL | Median earnings $98,635 · 264 graduates last year · 2% of the school's degrees | |
| 46 | Michigan State University | MI | Median earnings $80,129 · 182 graduates last year · 2% of the school's degrees | |
| 47 | CUNY Hunter College | NY | Median earnings $116,361 · 157 graduates last year · 5% of the school's degrees | |
| 48 | Texas Christian University | TX | Median earnings $89,690 · 230 graduates last year · 8% of the school's degrees | |
| 49 | University of Illinois Chicago | IL | Median earnings $87,037 · 367 graduates last year · 7% of the school's degrees | |
| 50 | The University of Alabama | AL | Median earnings $85,532 · 360 graduates last year · 5% of the school's degrees |
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