2025 Best Nursing Bachelor's Degree Schools in the Great Lakes Region
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.
College Factual reviewed 153 schools in the Great Lakes Region to determine which ones were the best for bachelor's degree seekers in the field of nursing. Combined, these schools handed out 25,221 bachelor's degrees in nursing to qualified students.
What's on this page: * Our Methodology
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. Below we explain some of the most important factors to consider before making your choice:
Overall Quality Is a Must
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 host of various factors like degree completion, educational resources, student body caliber and post-graduation earnings for the school as a whole.
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
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 complete 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 picking the right college can be one of the most important decisions of your life, we've developed the Best Nursing Bachelor's Degree Schools in the Great Lakes Region ranking, along with many other major-related rankings, to help you make that decision.
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 the Great Lakes Region
Below you'll see a list of the best colleges and universities for pursuing a bachelor's degree in nursing. Only those schools that rank in the top 20% of all the schools we analyze get awarded with a place on this list.
25 Top Great Lakes Region Schools for a Bachelor's in Nursing
University of Michigan - Ann Arbor is one of the best schools in the country for getting a bachelor's degree in nursing. Located in the medium-sized city of Ann Arbor, U-M is a public university with a very large student population.
Bachelor's recipients from the nursing degree program at University of Michigan - Ann Arbor earn $3,347 more than the standard college grad in this field shortly after graduation.
More information about a bachelor’s in nursing from University of Michigan - Ann Arbor
Loyola University Chicago is a great option for individuals pursuing a bachelor's degree in nursing. Loyola Chicago is a large private not-for-profit university located in the city of Chicago.
Bachelor's recipients from the nursing degree program at Loyola University Chicago make $4,758 more than the standard college graduate in this field shortly after graduation.
More information about a bachelor’s in nursing from Loyola University Chicago
It's difficult to beat Case Western Reserve University if you wish to pursue a bachelor's degree in nursing. Located in the city of Cleveland, Case Western is a private not-for-profit university with a large student population.
Soon after graduating, nursing bachelor's recipients usually earn an average of $69,389 in their early careers.
More information about a bachelor’s in nursing from Case Western Reserve University
Any student pursuing a degree in a bachelor's degree in nursing needs to take a look at Ohio University - Athens Campus. Located in the town of Athens, OHIO Athens is a public university with a fairly large student population.
Nursing bachelor's degree recipients from Ohio University - Athens Campus earn a boost of approximately $3,698 above the typical income of nursing majors.
More information about a bachelor’s in nursing from Ohio University - Athens Campus
Located in the city of Cincinnati, UC is a public university with a very large student population.
Students who graduate with their bachelor's from the nursing program state that they receive average early career earnings of $71,105.
More information about a bachelor’s in nursing from University of Cincinnati - Main Campus
UW - Madison is a fairly large public university located in the city of Madison.
Bachelor's recipients from the nursing degree program at University of Wisconsin - Madison get $3,402 above the typical college grad in this field when they enter the workforce.
More information about a bachelor’s in nursing from University of Wisconsin - Madison
Marquette is a fairly large private not-for-profit university located in the large city of Milwaukee.
Those nursing students who get their bachelor's degree from Marquette University make $2,463 more than the average nursing grad.
More information about a bachelor’s in nursing from Marquette University
IUPUI is a very large public university located in the city of Indianapolis.
Soon after graduating, nursing bachelor's recipients typically make about $68,136 at the beginning of their careers.
More information about a bachelor’s in nursing from Indiana University - Purdue University - Indianapolis
Located in the suburb of Kent, Kent State is a public university with a very large student population.
Soon after graduation, nursing bachelor's recipients typically make around $66,990 in the first five years of their career.
More information about a bachelor’s in nursing from Kent State University at Kent
Located in the city of Columbus, Ohio State is a public university with a very large student population.
After graduating, nursing bachelor's recipients generally make about $71,175 in their early careers.
More information about a bachelor’s in nursing from Ohio State University - Main Campus
