Rankings / Online
Best Online Nursing Programs in Texas
CollegeRanker Research
What Surprised Us Most
Graduate earnings span a wide band on this list: $29,288 at the low end to $63,199 at the top, a 2.2× spread that underscores how much outcomes vary within a single category.
Victoria College offers the strongest payback: graduates earn a median of $42,382 against $3,043 in annual net price, the best earnings-to-cost ratio in this ranking.
Cost and quality aren't at odds here: the most affordable school, Victoria College at $3,043 a year in net price, delivers earnings of $42,382 — matching or exceeding the list average.
Completion rates tell a revealing story: University of St Thomas graduates 69% of its students, well above the 38% list average. Finishing what you start matters as much as where you start.
Debt-to-earnings ratios highlight Brazosport College: graduates owe only 0.12× their yearly income, the most manageable debt burden on the list.
Surprising Comparisons
- The ranking's top spot belongs to Lamar University ($49,652 earnings), not the highest earner The University of Texas at Arlington ($63,199) — a direct result of weighting mobility and value over salary alone.
- Price and payoff diverge sharply: Victoria College ($3,043/yr) and LeTourneau University ($28,185/yr) produce graduates earning $42,382 and $57,103 respectively — a much narrower earnings gap than the $25,142 cost difference would suggest.
- On a cost-adjusted basis, Victoria College outperforms The University of Texas at Arlington: similar career earnings at a much lower 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 Victoria College and University of St Thomas. 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 Lamar University #1 overall | $49,652 +7% vs avg | $9,366 | 37% | 100 |
| 2 McMurry University #2 overall | $48,779 +5% vs avg | $19,581 | 41% | 100 |
| 3 Western Texas College #3 overall | $42,508 -9% vs avg | $3,562 | 56% | 100 |
| $56,073 +20% vs avg | $12,723 | 42% | 100 | |
| $29,288 -37% vs avg | $12,709 | 33% | 100 |
Score uses our 4-pillar methodology. Earnings % is vs. this list's average.
See full ranking →Key Findings
Best Online Nursing Programs in Texas
Strongest Earnings-to-Cost Ratio: Victoria College (Net Price: $3,043 | Graduation Rate: 27%)
Strongest Completion Outcomes: University of St Thomas (69% completion rate)
Highest Earnings Generator: The University of Texas at Arlington (Median alumni earnings: $63,199)
Our Analysis Found
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 $46K 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?
$44,346
Median earnings (10yr)
36%
Median graduation rate
$10,967
Median net price
2.4%
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 $44,346 a decade out. The median graduation rate is 36%, and the typical net price runs $10,967 a year with about $14,444 in federal debt. Pell grants reach 36% of students on average, and the average mobility rate — students lifted from bottom to top — is 2.4%.
The pattern across this list: programs with deep clinical partnerships get their graduates into the workforce faster. Lamar University tops the ranking, with graduates earning a median of $44,346 ten years out. In a market where demand outpaces supply, the bottleneck isn't hiring — it's clinical training capacity and credential attainment, precisely where the top programs distinguish themselves.
The podium
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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
Arlington, TX · 80% accepted · $13,951 net
Edinburg, TX · 94% accepted · $4,831 net
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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
Social mobility carries the heaviest weight in this ranking, and it's powered by Raj Chetty's Mobility Report Card — built on more than 30 million anonymized tax records. Across the 37 schools here with that data, the average mobility rate is 2.4%: the share of students who start in the bottom income quintile and climb to the top. Sul Ross State University leads the group at 5.2%, with Odessa College (4.7%) and Brazosport College (3.9%) close behind.
Access varies widely. On average, 13.8% of students at these schools come from families in the bottom income quintile; Sul Ross State University enrolls the most (23.7%), a sign it's reaching the very students mobility is meant to lift. A high mobility rate paired with strong access is the combination that actually moves the needle on a generation.
For the low-income students who do enroll, the success rate — the odds of reaching the top quintile — averages 19.3% across the list, peaking at 44.7% at East Texas A&M University.
Beyond mobility, the social capital of these campuses — the cross-class friendships Opportunity Insights links to long-run economic outcomes — averages an economic connectedness of 1.36 (about 1.0 is the national norm), with Concordia University Texas highest at 1.76.
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 Texas: Your Questions, Answered
What is the #1 school in the Best Online Nursing Programs in Texas ranking? +
Lamar University in Beaumont, TX ranks #1 in our 2026 Best Online Nursing Programs in Texas ranking. It earns the top spot on the strength of a median $49,652 in graduate earnings ten years out and a 37% 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? +
The University of Texas at Arlington posts the highest median earnings on this list at $63,199 ten years after enrollment — well above the $46,541 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, Victoria College leads: graduates earn a median $42,382 against net price of about $3,043 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 St Thomas has the highest graduation rate in this ranking at 69%, compared with a 38% 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 $11,939 a year across the 50 ranked schools with cost data, with Victoria College among the most affordable at roughly $3,043. Net price is a far better guide to affordability than the published sticker price.
How is the Best Online Nursing Programs in Texas 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.
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