2025 Best Nursing Master's Degree Schools in New York
Nursing is of the hottest master's degree programs in the United States, coming in as the #2 most popular major in the country. This means there are lots of options to choose from when you decide to get your degree.
For its 2025 ranking, College Factual looked at 34 schools in New York to determine which ones were the best for nursing students pursuing a master's degree. When you put them all together, these colleges and universities awarded 2,591 master's degrees in nursing during the 2021-2022 academic year.
What's on this page: * Our Methodology
Choosing a Great Nursing School for Your Master's Degree
Your choice of nursing for getting your master'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 master'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 consider a school's overall Best Colleges for a Master's Degree 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 master's graduates during the early years of their career. That is, everyone wants their master'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 master'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 master'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 master's 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 Master's Degree Schools in New York.
Best Schools for Master’s Students to Study Nursing in New York
The following list ranks the best colleges and universities for pursuing a master's degree in nursing.
10 Top New York Schools for a Master's in Nursing
New York University is a wonderful decision for individuals pursuing a master's degree in nursing. NYU is a fairly large private not-for-profit university located in the city of New York.
Those nursing students who get their master's degree from New York University earn $13,210 more than the average nursing student.
More information about a master’s in nursing from New York University
It's difficult to beat Stony Brook University if you want to pursue a master's degree in nursing. SUNY Stony Brook is a fairly large public university located in the large suburb of Stony Brook.
Students who graduate with their master's from the nursing program report average early career wages of $126,792.
More information about a master’s in nursing from Stony Brook University
SUNY Downstate Health Sciences University is a wonderful option for students interested in a master's degree in nursing. Located in the large city of Brooklyn, SUNY Downstate is a public university with a small student population.
Master's recipients from the nursing program at SUNY Downstate Health Sciences University get $4,336 more than the typical college graduate in this field shortly after graduation.
More information about a master’s in nursing from SUNY Downstate Health Sciences University
It is hard to beat Molloy College if you wish to pursue a master's degree in nursing. Located in the large suburb of Rockville Centre, Molloy is a private not-for-profit college with a small student population.
Those nursing students who get their master's degree from Molloy College earn $5,809 more than the average nursing graduate.
More information about a master’s in nursing from Molloy College
University of Rochester is a fairly large private not-for-profit university located in the city of Rochester.
After graduating, nursing master's recipients usually make around $104,483 in their early careers.
More information about a master’s in nursing from University of Rochester