Nursing Degrees & Schools / Best Schools Nevada
There’s a lot to love about Nevada. With a growing job market, no state income tax, no sales tax on home sales, food, or medicine, and some of the lowest property taxes in the country, it’s a great place to establish your roots and start a career.
If you’re considering nursing school in Nevada, the state has numerous high quality options that accommodate entry into the profession as well as advancement to the highest levels of the career. Once you have your license, you’ll find it one of the best states for a nurse to live, with 59 different hospitals paying average salaries above the national average.
Nevada’s top nursing programs:
- University of Nevada, Reno
- Nevada State College
- Roseman University of Health Sciences
- Touro University Nevada
- University of Nevada, Las Vegas
- Arizona College of Nursing–Las Vegas
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1. University of Nevada, Reno – Score 73
NCLEX Pass Rate – 89.19%
Annual In-State Tuition: $7,680
Annual Out-of-State Tuition: $24,222
With more than 60 years of nurse education experience and a 58% graduation rate, UNR’s Orvis School of Nursing is constantly upgrading and expanding its program offerings. The school’s BSN, MSN, post-graduate certification programs, and DNP programs are all accredited by the Commission on Collegiate Nursing Education, and students have access to resources including pre-nursing group advising and a robust student nurses’ association.
In 2021, the online graduate program was ranked among the nation’s best by U.S. News and World Report.
AACN-accredited programs offered:
- BSN
- Accelerated BSN
- RN-BSN
- MSN
- BSN-DNP
- MSN-DNP
2. Nevada State College – Score 67
NCLEX Pass Rate – 93.68%
Annual In-State Tuition: $5,693
Annual Out-of-State Tuition: $14,082
The nursing programs offered by Nevada State College were designed with flexibility and efficiency in mind. The school offers both a full- and part-time pre-licensure BSN program, as well as a post-licensure RN-to-BSN program available online.
The school, which has a graduation rate of 28%, partners with local hospitals and clinics as well as community organizations to provide students with real-life hands-on experience. It also has a dynamic Nursing Student Success Center that offers academic success coaching and tracking, peer tutoring, alumni mentoring for career transition, and more.
CCNE-accredited programs offered:
- BSN
- RN-BSN
3. Roseman University of Health Sciences – Score 60
NCLEX Pass Rate – 89.57%
Annual Tuition: $22,680
Roseman University of Health Sciences has been offering healthcare education for over twenty years. The multiple paths offered by its nursing program include an accelerated BSN program that can be taken on-campus or in a hybrid format, an online RN-to-BSN program, and highly respected graduate level programs.
The school, which has a graduation rate of 82%, has made a commitment to the advancement of America’s veterans that has led to their unique Veteran-to-BSN pathway. It allows military veterans the opportunity to receive academic credit for their military training and experience in place of prerequisites and identified nursing courses.
CCNE-accredited programs offered:
- Accelerated BSN
- RN-BSN
- MSN/FNP
- DNP
4. Touro University Nevada – Score 60
NCLEX Pass Rate – N/A
Annual Tuition: $10,290
Unlike many other nursing programs, Touro University Nevada’s CCNE-accredited programs are only available to those who are already registered nurses who either want to earn their BSN or pursue a postgraduate degree.
With an 88% graduation rate, the program offers online classes to help students retain flexibility with other obligations. It also offers practicum placement for those who need it, the ability to specialize as a family nurse practitioner, and affiliation with JBI, an international not-for-profit, membership-based research institute based at the University of Adelaide in South Australia.
CCNE-accredited programs offered:
- RN-BSN
- MSN
- Post-MSN-FNP
- DNP
5. University of Nevada, Las Vegas – Score 57
NCLEX Pass Rate – 88.57%
Annual In-State Tuition: $8,893
Annual Out-of-State Tuition: $24,984
Educating nurses since 1965, the University of Nevada at Las Vegas School of Nursing has a 52% graduation rate and is the only nursing program in the state to offer a PhD in nursing. They also offer Continuing Education opportunities so nurses can continue to advance their professional skills and knowledge.
In addition, the school offers “Nurse Camp,” a one-week interactive day-camp that places juniors, seniors, and recent high school graduates alongside clinical nurses and nurse educators so they can take part in hands-on labs, take CPR and Stop the Bleed classes, learn to check vital signs, and more.
CCNE-accredited programs offered:
- BSN
- RN-BSN
- MSN-Nurse Educator
- MSN-Family Nurse Practitioner
- MSN-Psychiatric Mental Health Nurse Practitioner
6. Arizona College of Nursing–Las Vegas – Score 33
NCLEX Pass Rate – 90.91%
Annual Tuition: $18,272
Arizona College of Nursing’s Las Vegas Nursing School offers a three-year BSN program that distinguished itself with a 96% NCLEX pass rate in 2020. It offers convenient evening General Education courses, is helpfully located near St. Rose San Martin Hospital, and is CCNE-Accredited. The school offers flexible scheduling and helpful, one-on-one career support.
CCNE-accredited programs offered:
- BSN Program
How to choose the right nursing program
You choose a nursing school for its reputation and curriculum, but there are so many other things to consider. There’s the cost of tuition, commuting time between classes and your job, as well as the degree of flexibility the program’s schedule offers. Each factor will weigh differently on each prospective student based on their own priorities and needs.
Location
Nevada is an enormous state, with urban and rural areas, as well as tremendous diversity in its landscapes and culture. While three quarters of the population live in the area surrounding Las Vegas, there are plenty of reasons to choose a school in Reno, with its easy access to the outdoor activities of Lake Tahoe.
If you are currently working in one of the state’s many hospitals, you’ll want to choose a program that offers a convenient commute, or classes online and with clinicals offered nearby as well.
Tuition
Every student needs to consider the costs involved with attending a school. When investigating each program, be sure to investigate the availability of scholarships, and if you are already working as a nurse, look into whether your employer offers tuition reimbursement. Also be sure to fill out the FAFSA form as soon as you submit your applications in order to put yourself at the front of the line for federal student aid.
NCLEX pass rate
Nursing school administrators know that their own reputation rests in large part on the success of their graduates, so they work hard to ensure that students are well prepared before they sit for the NCLEX exam. The NCLEX pass rate is an excellent measure of whether a nursing school is academically rigorous. You also may want to check to see whether the schools to which you apply offer free NCLEX prep classes as part of their curriculum.
Programs offered
Not every nursing school offers the exact program that you are most interested in, or that you need. If you have already earned your ADN degree, make sure that the schools that you’re investigating offer RN-to-BSN programs. Likewise, if you are interested in pursuing an Advanced Placement Registered Nurse degree, make sure that the program to which you’re applying offers the Nurse Practitioner specialty that you’re most interested in.
Graduation rate
Schools often have reputations that exceed the actual success of their students. One good measure of a nursing program’s commitment to its students’ success is their six-year graduation rate. Schools whose students leave before completing their programs may be failing to engage.
Next steps
Choosing which of the many excellent Nevada nursing programs most interests you is just the first in a long series of steps on your educational journey. Once you’ve found the program that best suits your career goals and your financial needs and fits into your day-to-day schedule, you need to be diligent and organized about filling out applications, collecting and submitting personal references and transcripts, and making sure that everything has been received in time for each school’s deadlines. It’s work, but it’s exciting too!
After you’ve graduated, you’ll be qualified to move on to bigger and better things, and Incredible Health will be there to help you with your job search. We provide you with all the resources you need to stay up-to-date on Nevada state licensing, certification opportunities, and continuing education requirements, including the ability to reach out to a community of Nevada nurses who are eager to answer all of your questions and provide you with valuable information to help you along the way.
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Methodology
In order to determine the best nursing schools in a state, Incredible Health compared the top schools among five categories: graduation rate, tuition, NCLEX pass rate, accreditation, and the number of nursing programs offered.
Each metric was scored on a 100-point scale with 100 representing the highest total for that category. Then we compiled the individual scores to get an overall score.
We used data from:
- University of Nevada Reno
- Nevada State College
- Roseman University of Health Sciences
- Nevada State Board of Nursing
- Touro University Nevada
- University of Nevada Las Vegas
- Arizona College of Nursing – Las Vegas
- U.S. Department of Education’s College Scorecard
- American Association of Colleges of Nursing
- Accreditation Commission for Education in Nursing
- U.S. News & World Report Best Colleges Rankings
Sources
- “Career Services.” Arizona College. Accessed July 24, 2022.
- “Complete the FAFSA Form.” Federal Student Aid. Accessed July 24, 2022.
- “DPN Fact Sheet.” American Association of Colleges of Nursing. Accessed July 24, 2022.
- “Find Hospitals.” Nevada Hospital Association. Accessed July 24, 2022.
- “More than 75 percent of Nevada’s population lives in Clark County. True.” Downtown Vegas Alliance. Accessed July 24, 2022.
- “Nevada Labor Market Information.” Nevada Work Force. Accessed July 24, 2022.
- “Nurse Camp.” UNLV. Accessed July 24, 2022.
- “Nursing Student Success Center.” Nevada State College. Accessed July 24, 2022.
- “Orvis School of Nursing Online Graduate Program Ranked Among Nation’s Best.” Nevada Today. Accessed July 24, 2022.
- “Taxes in Nevada.” Tax Foundation. Accessed July 24, 2022.
- “The Future of Nursing: Best Cities and States to Work.” Drexel University. Accessed July 24, 2022.
- “Veteran to BSN Pathway.” Roseman University. Accessed July 24, 2022.
- “We Get You NCLEX-Ready.” Arizona College of Nursing. Accessed July 24, 2022.
- Most college students don’t graduate in four years, so college and the government count six years as “success”. Hechinger Report. Accessed July 24, 2022.
