2024 Best Critical Care Nursing Master's Degree Schools

a master's degree in critical care nursing is more popular than many other degrees. In fact, it ranks #214 out of 1172 on popularity of all such degrees in the nation. This means you won't have too much trouble finding schools that offer the degree.

For its 2024 ranking, College Factual looked at 20 schools in the United States to determine which ones were the best for critical care nursing students pursuing a master's degree. Combined, these schools handed out 583 master's degrees in critical care nursing to qualified students.

Jump to one of the following sections: * Our Methodology

• Best Master’s Degree Schools List

Choosing a Great Critical Care Nursing School for Your Master's Degree

Your choice of critical care nursing for getting your master's degree school matters. Important measures of a quality critical care 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 for a Master's Degree ranking. This ranking considered factors such as graduation rates, overall graduate earnings and other educational resources to identify great colleges and universities.

Other Factors We Consider

In addition to the above, you should consider some of the following factors:

• Major Focus - How many resources a school devotes to critical care nursing students as compared to other majors.
• Major Demand - The number of critical care nursing students who choose to seek a master'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.
• Accreditation - Whether a school is regionally accredited and/or accredited by a recognized critical care nursing related body.

Our complete ranking methodology documents in more detail how we consider these factors to identify the best colleges for critical care nursing students working on their master'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 Critical Care Nursing Master's Degree Schools list, to help you choose the best school for you.

Best Schools for Master’s Students to Study Critical Care Nursing in the United States

Explore the top ranked colleges and universities for critical care nursing students seeking a a master's degree.

10 Top Schools for a Master's in Critical Care Nursing

1

Vanderbilt University
Nashville, TN

Master's Degree Highest Degree Type

38 Annual Graduates

It is hard to beat Vanderbilt University if you wish to pursue a master's degree in critical care nursing. Vanderbilt is a fairly large private not-for-profit university located in the city of Nashville.More information about a master’s in critical care nursing from Vanderbilt University

2

New York University
New York, NY

Doctor's Degree Highest Degree Type

51 Annual Graduates

Every student pursuing a degree in a master's degree in critical care nursing needs to check out New York University. Located in the large city of New York, NYU is a private not-for-profit university with a very large student population.More information about a master’s in critical care nursing from New York University

3

Case Western Reserve University
Cleveland, OH

Master's Degree Highest Degree Type

9 Annual Graduates

Every student who is interested in a master's degree in critical care nursing needs to look into Case Western Reserve University. Case Western is a fairly large private not-for-profit university located in the large city of Cleveland.More information about a master’s in critical care nursing from Case Western Reserve University

4

Maryville University of Saint Louis
Saint Louis, MO

Doctor's Degree Highest Degree Type

106 Annual Graduates

It is hard to beat Maryville University of Saint Louis if you want to pursue a master's degree in critical care nursing. Located in the suburb of Saint Louis, Maryville U is a private not-for-profit university with a medium-sized student population.More information about a master’s in critical care nursing from Maryville University of Saint Louis

5

University of Rochester
Rochester, NY

Master's Degree Highest Degree Type

14 Annual Graduates

Located in the medium-sized city of Rochester, University of Rochester is a private not-for-profit university with a large student population.More information about a master’s in critical care nursing from University of Rochester

6

University of South Carolina - Columbia
Columbia, SC

Master's Degree Highest Degree Type

42 Annual Graduates

UofSC is a fairly large public university located in the city of Columbia.More information about a master’s in critical care nursing from University of South Carolina - Columbia

7

Loyola University Chicago
Chicago, IL

Master's Degree Highest Degree Type

11 Annual Graduates

Located in the city of Chicago, Loyola Chicago is a private not-for-profit university with a large student population.More information about a master’s in critical care nursing from Loyola University Chicago

8

Allen College
Waterloo, IA

Master's Degree Highest Degree Type

10 Annual Graduates

Located in the city of Waterloo, Allen College is a private not-for-profit college with a fairly small student population.More information about a master’s in critical care nursing from Allen College

8

Grand Canyon University
Phoenix, AZ

Master's Degree Highest Degree Type

152 Annual Graduates

Located in the city of Phoenix, Grand Canyon University is a private for-profit university with a very large student population.More information about a master’s in critical care nursing from Grand Canyon University

9

DeSales University
Center Valley, PA

Master's Degree Highest Degree Type

9 Annual Graduates

Located in the rural area of Center Valley, DeSales is a private not-for-profit university with a small student population.More information about a master’s in critical care nursing from DeSales University

Critical Care Nursing by Region

View the Best Critical Care Nursing Master's Degree Schools for a specific region near you.

Region
Southeast
New England
Rocky Mountains
Plains States
Middle Atlantic
Far Western US
Southwest
Other U.S. Territories
Great Lakes

View All Rankings >

Critical Care Nursing Related Rankings by Major

One of 23 majors within the Nursing area of study, Critical Care Nursing has other similar majors worth exploring.

Most Popular Related Majors

Related Major	Annual Graduates
Registered Nursing	18,773
Family Practice Nurse/Nursing	14,286
Nursing Administration	8,411
Other Registered Nursing, Nursing Administration, Nursing Research and Clinical Nursing	1,498
Adult Health Nurse/Nursing	1,456
Nursing Science	1,421
Psychiatric/Mental Health Nurse/Nursing	907
Nurse Anesthetist	878
School Nursing	455
Geriatric Nurse/Nursing	454

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.