Rankings / Online
Best Online Nursing Programs in Pennsylvania
CollegeRanker Research
What Surprised Us Most
Median graduate earnings across these 50 schools run from $37,439 to $111,371 — a 3.0× gap that shows the category label alone tells you little about payoff.
Bucks County Community College delivers the most per dollar: roughly $47,324 in median earnings against $6,389 a year in net price — the strongest earnings-to-cost ratio on the list.
Westmoreland County Community College is the lowest-cost school here at $5,167 a year in net price.
University of Pennsylvania graduates 97% of its students versus a 53% average across the list — completion, not selectivity, is the clearest sign a degree actually gets finished.
University of Pennsylvania carries the healthiest debt load, with graduates owing just 0.14× their annual earnings.
Surprising Comparisons
- #1 Johnson College ($55,194 earnings) outranks the list's highest earner, University of Pennsylvania ($111,371) — because it does more on mobility and cost.
- Westmoreland County Community College costs $5,167 a year and Saint Joseph's University - Lancaster costs $42,478 — yet their graduates earn $37,439 and $86,881, nowhere near the $37,311 price gap.
- Dollar for dollar, Bucks County Community College beats University of Pennsylvania: comparable career payoff at a fraction of the net price.
The Takeaway
What this ranking consistently reveals: the schools that finish at the top do so not by charging more or rejecting more applicants, but by delivering strong earnings, manageable debt, and real mobility — the outcomes that actually define educational value.
What This Means for Students
For students evaluating these schools, begin with Bucks County Community College and University of Pennsylvania. Look beyond sticker price: pull each school's net price for your income level, compare it against projected earnings, and let the data — not the brand — guide your decision.
At a Glance
How the Top Schools Compare
| School | Earnings | Net Price | Graduation | Score |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 Johnson College #1 overall | $55,194 -3% vs avg | $19,954 | 51% | 100 |
| 2 Pennsylvania State University-World Campus #2 overall | $63,435 +11% vs avg | $19,550 | 34% | 100 |
| 3 Eastern University #3 overall | $51,655 -9% vs avg | $26,662 | 55% | 100 |
| $63,454 +11% vs avg | $27,743 | 62% | 100 | |
| $43,326 -24% vs avg | $21,741 | 50% | 100 |
Score uses our 4-pillar methodology. Earnings % is vs. this list's average.
See full ranking →Key Findings
Best Online Nursing Programs in Pennsylvania
Strongest Earnings-to-Cost Ratio: Bucks County Community College (Net Price: $6,389 | Graduation Rate: 30%)
Strongest Completion Outcomes: University of Pennsylvania (97% completion rate)
Highest Earnings Generator: University of Pennsylvania (Median alumni earnings: $111,371)
Research Note
The most expensive quartile of colleges costs 373% more than the most affordable — but their graduates earn just 34% more.
Why this ranking matters
Healthcare is one of the higher-return fields in the economy — but the payoff depends heavily on where you study it. Graduates of these programs earn a median of about $55K within a decade, and registered nurse roles are projected to grow 6%. We rank programs by the outcomes they produce for graduates, not by reputation.
How we measure this — full methodology →How we rank · 4 pillars
Federal-source data only. Build your own weighting →
Healthcare Workforce Analysis
What does this ranking tell us about the U.S. healthcare workforce?
$55,220
Median earnings (10yr)
58%
Median graduation rate
$21,264
Median net price
1.4%
Avg. mobility rate
Health-professions programs sit at the center of one of the country’s most acute labor stories. An aging population, chronic nursing and allied-health shortages, and relentless demand for clinical services mean that what these programs produce is not just graduates but the staffing of the health system itself. The schools that rise here tend to pair classroom training with real clinical placements and strong licensure pass rates — the difference between a credential and a job.
This list of 50 schools tells a data-driven story about outcomes. Graduates earn a median of $55,220 a decade out, or about $7,220 above the $48,000 a typical American worker earns. The median graduation rate is 58%, and the typical net price runs $21,264 a year with about $25,000 in federal debt. Pell grants reach 33% of students on average, and the average mobility rate — students lifted from bottom to top — is 1.4%.
What we’re seeing: demographic tailwinds keep demand high, and programs with embedded clinical networks convert that demand into employment fastest. Johnson College leads the list, and graduates across these programs earn a median of $55,220 a decade in. The constraint isn’t jobs — it’s clinical capacity and licensure throughput, which is exactly where the strongest programs separate.
The podium
Build your ranking
Drag a pillar — schools re-rank live.
Tip: Check the box on any 2–4 schools below to compare them side by side.
Full rankings
University Park, PA · 91% accepted · $19,550 net
Philadelphia, PA · 89% accepted · $29,689 net
Lancaster, PA · 41% accepted · $42,478 net
Millersville, PA · 86% accepted · $20,787 net
Slippery Rock, PA · 71% accepted · $19,608 net
Sponsored
Featured Programs From Accredited Schools
Accredited schools accepting applicants in this field.
Cut it by what you care about
The same 50 schools, re-ranked by the outcome that matters to you.
Where the programs — and the jobs are
Where these graduates work
Graduates of these programs most often become Registered Nurses and related roles — a field with $86,070 median pay and 6% projected growth.
See the Registered Nurse career guide →This ranking scores 50 institutions on graduation rates, graduate earnings, debt burdens, and social mobility data from Opportunity Insights. Every data point comes from federal sources. No surveys, no opinions.
Social mobility carries the heaviest weight in our algorithm. We use Raj Chetty's Mobility Report Card — built on 30 million anonymized tax records — to measure whether a college changes a family's economic trajectory across generations. Schools that take low-income students and launch them into higher earnings rank higher than schools that admit wealthy students and take credit for their success.
The transparency penalty matters here. Schools that don't report their data get scored lower than schools that do. If an institution won't show you its numbers, we think you should know that before you write them a tuition check.
The story behind the ranking
A ranking gives you an order; these charts give you the shape. They show how this group of schools spreads across the four things that decide whether a degree pays off — what graduates earn, whether they finish, how far they move up, and what it costs. Look for the standouts, the outliers, and the trade-offs the list alone can't show.
Earnings Outcomes
What graduates earn 10 years after enrolling. Data from College Scorecard.
Distribution of Median Earnings
Earnings vs. Net Price
Top-left = best value. Top-ranked schools are highlighted.
Completion & Access
Graduation rates and who gets in. Data from College Scorecard & IPEDS.
Graduation Rates
Pell Grant Rate vs. Graduation Rate
Right = more low-income students. Higher = more graduate.
What the Mobility Data Says
The backbone of this ranking is social-mobility data from Raj Chetty's Mobility Report Card, drawing on over 30 million tax records. Among the 40 schools on this list with available data, the typical mobility rate — the share of students who move from the bottom income quintile to the top — averages 1.4%. Wilkes University leads the group at 2.9%, with Community College of Philadelphia (2.8%) and Robert Morris University (2.5%) close behind.
Who gets in matters as much as what happens after. Across these schools, an average of 9% of students start in the bottom income quintile. Community College of Philadelphia leads at 24.1% — evidence of genuine access, not just selective enrollment of already-advantaged students. Schools that pair high access with high mobility are the ones driving real generational change.
Once low-income students enroll, their odds of reaching the top income quintile average 20.3% across this list. University of Scranton posts the highest success rate at 48.5% — a reminder that access without completion and career momentum is an incomplete picture.
Social capital — measured by economic connectedness, or the degree of cross-class friendships on campus — is another dimension Opportunity Insights ties to long-run outcomes. Across these schools it averages 1.50 (1.0 is the national benchmark); University of Pennsylvania reaches 1.88, the highest on the list.
Mobility, access, and social-capital figures from Raj Chetty's Mobility Report Card & the Opportunity Insights Social Capital Atlas.
Cost & Debt
What families actually pay and what students owe. Data from College Scorecard.
Median Debt at Graduation
Frequently Asked Questions
Best Online Nursing Programs in Pennsylvania: Your Questions, Answered
What is the #1 school in the Best Online Nursing Programs in Pennsylvania ranking? +
Johnson College in Scranton, PA ranks #1 in our 2026 Best Online Nursing Programs in Pennsylvania ranking. It earns the top spot on the strength of a median $55,194 in graduate earnings ten years out and a 51% graduation rate. Our score is built entirely from federal data — graduation rates, graduate earnings, debt, and social-mobility figures — not reputation surveys.
Which school has the highest graduate earnings? +
University of Pennsylvania posts the highest median earnings on this list at $111,371 ten years after enrollment — well above the $56,934 average across the 50 ranked schools with earnings data. Strong earnings relative to cost are what separate a degree that pays off from one that doesn't.
Which school offers the best value? +
On a pure return-on-cost basis, Bucks County Community College leads: graduates earn a median $47,324 against net price of about $6,389 a year, the strongest earnings-to-cost ratio in the ranking. Value-minded applicants should weigh that payback against sticker price, not just prestige.
Which school has the highest graduation rate? +
University of Pennsylvania has the highest graduation rate in this ranking at 97%, compared with a 53% average across the list. Completion matters because the students who finish are the ones who actually capture the earnings and mobility gains a degree promises.
How much does it cost to attend these schools? +
The average net price — what students actually pay after grants and scholarships — is about $21,002 a year across the 50 ranked schools with cost data, with Westmoreland County Community College among the most affordable at roughly $5,167. Net price is a far better guide to affordability than the published sticker price.
How is the Best Online Nursing Programs in Pennsylvania ranking calculated? +
We score every school on a four-pillar algorithm: economic outcomes (graduate earnings and debt), social mobility (Raj Chetty's Mobility Report Card, built on more than 30 million anonymized tax records), academic quality (graduation and retention), and value (net price and loan burden). Social mobility carries the heaviest weight, so schools that lift low-income students into higher earnings rank above those that simply admit wealthy students. Every input comes from federal data, and schools that withhold their numbers are scored lower for it.
How many schools are ranked and where does the data come from? +
This ranking evaluates 50 institutions using the U.S. Department of Education's College Scorecard, the Opportunity Insights Mobility Report Card and Social Capital Atlas, Times Higher Education, and NCES IPEDS. There are no opinion surveys or paid placements — the order is determined by the data alone and refreshed as new federal figures are released.
Sources & Citations
David Krug
Co-Founder, CollegeRanker
David Krug is the co-founder of CollegeRanker and a data systems architect focused on making institutional research accessible to families. He builds the data pipelines and ranking algorithms that power CollegeRanker, drawing from federal datasets and Raj Chetty's Opportunity Insights research to measure what traditional rankings ignore: whether a college actually changes a family's economic trajectory.
Related Rankings
