2025 Best Nursing Bachelor's Degree Schools in Kentucky
Nursing is of the hottest bachelor's degree programs in the United States, coming in as the #2 most popular major in the country. This makes choosing the right school a hard decision.
For its 2025 ranking, College Factual looked at 20 schools in Kentucky to determine which ones were the best for nursing students pursuing a bachelor's degree. When you put them all together, these colleges and universities awarded 2,851 bachelor's degrees in nursing during the 2022-2023 academic year.
Jump to one of the following sections: * Our Methodology
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. When choosing a school we recommend considering some of the following factors:
Quality Overall Is Important
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 Earnings
To determine the overall quality of a graduate school, one factor we look at is the average early-career salary of those receiving their bachelor's degree from the school. This is because one of the main reasons people pursue their bachelor's degree is to enable themselves to find better-paying positions.
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 complete 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 Kentucky list to help you make the college decision.
In addition to College Factual's rankings, you may want to take a look at College Combat, our unique tool that lets you pit your favorite schools head-to-head and compare how they rate on factors that most interest you.
When you have some time, check it out - you may want to bookmark the link so you don't forget it.
Best Schools for Bachelor’s Students to Study Nursing in Kentucky
The following list ranks the best colleges and universities for pursuing a bachelor's degree in nursing.
10 Top Kentucky Schools for a Bachelor's in Nursing
Galen College of Nursing - Louisville is one of the best schools in the United States for getting a bachelor's degree in nursing. Located in the large city of Louisville, Galen College of Nursing - Louisville is a private for-profit college with a small student population.
Those nursing students who get their bachelor's degree from Galen College of Nursing - Louisville earn $4,402 more than the typical nursing graduate.
More information about a bachelor’s in nursing from Galen College of Nursing - Louisville
It's difficult to beat University of Louisville if you wish to pursue a bachelor's degree in nursing. Located in the city of Louisville, UofL is a public university with a very large student population.
Students who graduate with their bachelor's from the nursing program report average early career earnings of $69,027.
More information about a bachelor’s in nursing from University of Louisville
University of Kentucky is one of the finest schools in the United States for getting a bachelor's degree in nursing. UK is a very large public university located in the city of Lexington.
Soon after graduating, nursing bachelor's recipients usually make an average of $71,461 in the first five years of their career.
More information about a bachelor’s in nursing from University of Kentucky
Bellarmine University is a great decision for individuals interested in a bachelor's degree in nursing. Bellarmine U is a small private not-for-profit university located in the large city of Louisville.
Bachelor's students who receive their degree from the nursing program make about $70,544 for their early career.
More information about a bachelor’s in nursing from Bellarmine University
Located in the city of Bowling Green, WKU is a public university with a fairly large student population.
Bachelor's graduates who receive their degree from the nursing program earn around $68,294 in their early career salary.
More information about a bachelor’s in nursing from Western Kentucky University