Best degree programs for Nursing Instructors and Teachers, Postsecondary, ranked by enrollment
23 college programs and 2,148 schools train Nursing Instructors and Teachers, Postsecondary. Compare graduates per year, cost and pay, $80,250 median wage, 77,960 U.S. jobs. Federal data.
23 college programs at 2,148 schools train nursing instructors and teachers, postsecondary, graduating 314,152 people a year (IPEDS completions). The largest is Registered Nursing/Registered Nurse. The job pays a median of $80,250 (BLS OEWS May 2025).
About nursing instructors and teachers, postsecondary
Demonstrate and teach patient care in classroom and clinical units to nursing students. Includes both teachers primarily engaged in teaching and those who do a combination of teaching and research.
Fields of study that lead to this job
Grouped at the 4-digit CIP level, the tier our program pages are built on. Numbers are graduates per year.
23 degree programs that lead to this job
Ranked by graduates per year (IPEDS completions). Graduate earnings and debt are College Scorecard figures for people who finished the program, reported at the 4-digit CIP level, so specializations within one field share a figure. That is a different measurement from the occupation-wide wages further down this page.
| # | Program | Graduates / yr | Share of pipeline | Schools | Grad earnings (1 yr) | Median debt |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | CIP 51.3801 | 263,325 | 83.8% | 2,067 | $71,623 | $25,750 |
| 2 | CIP 51.3805 | 14,703 | 4.7% | 293 | $71,623 | $25,750 |
| 3 | CIP 51.3818 | 9,384 | 3.0% | 322 | $71,623 | $25,750 |
| 4 | CIP 51.3810 | 5,358 | 1.7% | 179 | $71,623 | $25,750 |
| 5 | CIP 51.3808 | 4,605 | 1.5% | 148 | $71,623 | $25,750 |
| 6 | CIP 51.3203 | 3,970 | 1.3% | 161 | $99,851 | $21,475 |
| 7 | CIP 51.3899 | 3,940 | 1.3% | 99 | $71,623 | $25,750 |
| 8 | CIP 51.3804 | 2,183 | 0.7% | 72 | $71,623 | $25,750 |
| 9 | CIP 51.3803 | 2,125 | 0.7% | 75 | $71,623 | $25,750 |
| 10 | CIP 51.3811 | 934 | 0.3% | 21 | $71,623 | $25,750 |
| 11 | CIP 51.3821 | 680 | 0.2% | 43 | $71,623 | $25,750 |
| 12 | CIP 51.3820 | 588 | 0.2% | 24 | $71,623 | $25,750 |
| 13 | CIP 51.3807 | 530 | 0.2% | 22 | $71,623 | $25,750 |
| 14 | CIP 51.3814 | 505 | 0.2% | 39 | $71,623 | $25,750 |
| 15 | CIP 51.3809 | 389 | 0.1% | 36 | $71,623 | $25,750 |
| 16 | CIP 51.3822 | 350 | 0.1% | 15 | $71,623 | $25,750 |
| 17 | CIP 51.3812 | 150 | 0.0% | 10 | $71,623 | $25,750 |
| 18 | CIP 51.3806 | 149 | 0.0% | 14 | $71,623 | $25,750 |
| 19 | CIP 51.3813 | 135 | 0.0% | 22 | $71,623 | $25,750 |
| 20 | CIP 51.3816 | 83 | 0.0% | 9 | $71,623 | $25,750 |
| 21 | CIP 51.3824 | 26 | 0.0% | 4 | $71,623 | $25,750 |
| 22 | CIP 51.3815 | 21 | 0.0% | 3 | $71,623 | $25,750 |
| 23 | CIP 51.3819 | 19 | 0.0% | 3 | $71,623 | $25,750 |
Top 50 schools by graduates into this job
Counting every feeder program a school offers, not just its largest one.
| # | School | Graduates / yr | Top feeder program | Grad rate | Net price | Acceptance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Chamberlain University - Illinois Addison, IL Private for-profit · 8 feeder programs | 12,147 | Registered Nursing/Registered Nurse | 42% | $29,024 | 83% |
| 2 | Capella University Minneapolis, MN Private for-profit · 4 feeder programs | 10,331 | Registered Nursing/Registered Nurse | 20% | $19,369 | — |
| 3 | Western Governors University Salt Lake City, UT Private not-for-profit · 5 feeder programs | 6,676 | Registered Nursing/Registered Nurse | 46% | $11,580 | — |
| 4 | Walden University Minneapolis, MN Private for-profit · 8 feeder programs | 5,276 | Registered Nursing/Registered Nurse | — | — | — |
| 5 | Grand Canyon University Phoenix, AZ Private not-for-profit · 5 feeder programs | 4,398 | Registered Nursing/Registered Nurse | 43% | $21,535 | 79% |
| 6 | The University of Texas at Arlington Arlington, TX Public · 5 feeder programs | 3,599 | Registered Nursing/Registered Nurse | 54% | — | 80% |
| 7 | Galen College of Nursing - Louisville Louisville, KY Private for-profit · 2 feeder programs | 1,841 | Registered Nursing/Registered Nurse | 61% | — | — |
| 8 | West Coast University - Anaheim - Orange County Anaheim, CA Private for-profit · 5 feeder programs | 1,705 | Registered Nursing/Registered Nurse | 60% | $36,879 | — |
| 9 | Ivy Tech Community College Indianapolis, IN Public · 1 feeder programs | 1,617 | Registered Nursing/Registered Nurse | 40% | — | — |
| 10 | Joyce University of Nursing and Health Sciences Draper, UT Private for-profit · 1 feeder programs | 1,474 | Registered Nursing/Registered Nurse | 54% | $30,922 | 62% |
| 11 | NUC University Bayamon, PR Private for-profit · 3 feeder programs | 1,405 | Registered Nursing/Registered Nurse | 54% | $9,377 | — |
| 12 | University of South Alabama Mobile, AL Public · 4 feeder programs | 1,387 | Registered Nursing/Registered Nurse | 53% | — | 71% |
| 13 | Keiser University - Ft Lauderdale Fort Lauderdale, FL Private not-for-profit · 4 feeder programs | 1,296 | Registered Nursing/Registered Nurse | 61% | $35,483 | 97% |
| 14 | Purdue University Global West Lafayette, IN Public · 7 feeder programs | 1,295 | Psychiatric/Mental Health Nurse/Nursing | 50% | — | — |
| 15 | Nightingale College Salt Lake City, UT Private for-profit · 3 feeder programs | 1,279 | Registered Nursing/Registered Nurse | 21% | $30,235 | — |
| 16 | Ohio University - Main Campus Athens, OH Public · 5 feeder programs | 1,217 | Registered Nursing/Registered Nurse | 65% | — | 85% |
| 17 | ECPI University Virginia Beach, VA Private for-profit · 2 feeder programs | 1,205 | Registered Nursing/Registered Nurse | 42% | $21,909 | 75% |
| 18 | Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center Lubbock, TX Public · 6 feeder programs | 1,130 | Registered Nursing/Registered Nurse | — | — | — |
| 19 | Frontier Nursing University Versailles, KY Private not-for-profit · 5 feeder programs | 1,084 | Nurse Midwife/Nursing Midwifery | — | — | — |
| 20 | Aspen University Phoenix, AZ Private for-profit · 2 feeder programs | 1,059 | Public Health/Community Nurse/Nursing | 27% | — | — |
| 21 | University of Cincinnati - Main Campus Cincinnati, OH Public · 13 feeder programs | 1,051 | Registered Nursing/Registered Nurse | 75% | — | 85% |
| 22 | University of Alabama at Birmingham Birmingham, AL Public · 3 feeder programs | 1,045 | Registered Nursing/Registered Nurse | 64% | — | 88% |
| 23 | West Coast University - Los Angeles North Hollywood, CA Private for-profit · 1 feeder programs | 1,027 | Registered Nursing/Registered Nurse | — | — | — |
| 24 | South University - Savannah Online Savannah, GA Private for-profit · 5 feeder programs | 1,009 | Family Practice Nurse/Nursing | 7% | $28,691 | — |
| 25 | Miami Regional University Miami Springs, FL Private for-profit · 3 feeder programs | 1,003 | Family Practice Nurse/Nursing | 84% | $31,560 | — |
| 26 | West Coast University - Ontario Ontario, CA Private for-profit · 1 feeder programs | 994 | Registered Nursing/Registered Nurse | 39% | $48,053 | — |
| 27 | South College Knoxville, TN Private for-profit · 4 feeder programs | 992 | Registered Nursing/Registered Nurse | 42% | $20,346 | — |
| 28 | Weber State University Ogden, UT Public · 4 feeder programs | 987 | Registered Nursing/Registered Nurse | 46% | — | — |
| 29 | Herzing University - Madison Madison, WI Private not-for-profit · 7 feeder programs | 985 | Psychiatric/Mental Health Nurse/Nursing | 28% | $20,965 | 94% |
| 30 | Northern Kentucky University Highland Heights, KY Public · 3 feeder programs | 985 | Registered Nursing/Registered Nurse | 52% | — | 68% |
| 31 | Miami Dade College Miami, FL Public · 1 feeder programs | 977 | Registered Nursing/Registered Nurse | 46% | — | — |
| 32 | University of North Carolina Wilmington Wilmington, NC Public · 4 feeder programs | 953 | Registered Nursing/Registered Nurse | 71% | — | 64% |
| 33 | Rasmussen University - Florida Ocala, FL Private for-profit · 1 feeder programs | 951 | Registered Nursing/Registered Nurse | 42% | $20,261 | — |
| 34 | University of Central Florida Orlando, FL Public · 2 feeder programs | 944 | Registered Nursing/Registered Nurse | 78% | — | 40% |
| 35 | Excelsior University Albany, NY Private not-for-profit · 3 feeder programs | 908 | Registered Nursing/Registered Nurse | — | — | — |
| 36 | University of Phoenix - Arizona Phoenix, AZ Private for-profit · 4 feeder programs | 866 | Registered Nursing/Registered Nurse | 21% | $15,478 | — |
| 37 | Texas Woman's University Denton, TX Public · 5 feeder programs | 857 | Registered Nursing/Registered Nurse | 49% | — | 96% |
| 38 | Central Georgia Technical College Warner Robins, GA Public · 1 feeder programs | 828 | Registered Nursing/Registered Nurse | 47% | — | — |
| 39 | The University of Texas at Tyler Tyler, TX Public · 6 feeder programs | 807 | Registered Nursing/Registered Nurse | 54% | — | 94% |
| 40 | Galen College of Nursing - San Antonio San Antonio, TX Private for-profit · 1 feeder programs | 779 | Registered Nursing/Registered Nurse | 81% | $31,019 | — |
| 41 | Jersey College Teterboro, NJ Private for-profit · 1 feeder programs | 773 | Registered Nursing/Registered Nurse | 45% | $29,255 | 68% |
| 42 | Arkansas State University Jonesboro, AR Public · 6 feeder programs | 762 | Registered Nursing/Registered Nurse | 55% | — | 82% |
| 43 | Nova Southeastern University Fort Lauderdale, FL Private not-for-profit · 3 feeder programs | 759 | Registered Nursing/Registered Nurse | 63% | $31,672 | 73% |
| 44 | Emory University Atlanta, GA Private not-for-profit · 8 feeder programs | 758 | Registered Nursing/Registered Nurse | 91% | $20,586 | 11% |
| 45 | Southern New Hampshire University Manchester, NH Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs | 729 | Registered Nursing/Registered Nurse | 43% | $34,565 | 100% |
| 46 | William Paterson University of New Jersey Wayne, NJ Public · 3 feeder programs | 726 | Registered Nursing/Registered Nurse | 44% | — | 90% |
| 47 | United States University Sandy Springs, CA Private for-profit · 4 feeder programs | 723 | Family Practice Nurse/Nursing | — | $21,557 | — |
| 48 | Indiana University - Indianapolis Indianapolis, IN Public · 11 feeder programs | 720 | Registered Nursing/Registered Nurse | 54% | — | 76% |
| 49 | Maryville University of Saint Louis Saint Louis, MO Private not-for-profit · 8 feeder programs | 719 | Family Practice Nurse/Nursing | 66% | $24,921 | 95% |
| 50 | Samuel Merritt University Oakland, CA Private not-for-profit · 4 feeder programs | 719 | Registered Nursing/Registered Nurse | — | — | — |
What nursing instructors and teachers, postsecondary earn
What people already working in this job earn (BLS OEWS May 2025). Not graduate earnings.
Top-paying states
Top-paying metro areas
Job outlook
Bureau of Labor Statistics Employment Projections, 2024 to 2034.
Where the jobs are, state by state
Pick a state for in-state pay, the schools there, and the programs they run.
| State | Median pay | Jobs | Concentration | Schools | Graduates / yr |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Texas | $84,930 | 6,830 | 0.97× | 121 | 23,452 |
| Florida | $82,410 | 4,320 | 0.87× | 102 | 21,737 |
| California | $81,960 | 5,610 | 0.61× | 161 | 21,516 |
| Minnesota | $81,280 | 1,340 | 0.91× | 50 | 20,414 |
| Illinois | $79,150 | 4,940 | 1.62× | 85 | 19,578 |
| New York | $82,950 | 6,340 | 1.30× | 114 | 15,801 |
| Utah | $82,320 | 580 | 0.67× | 19 | 12,859 |
| Ohio | $76,700 | 4,290 | 1.54× | 113 | 12,283 |
| Arizona | $78,980 | 1,930 | 1.19× | 37 | 11,598 |
| Pennsylvania | $78,460 | 4,290 | 1.41× | 95 | 10,801 |
| Georgia | $77,720 | 1,590 | 0.65× | 59 | 8,434 |
| North Carolina | $80,400 | 2,560 | 1.03× | 91 | 7,745 |
| Kentucky | $71,920 | 1,130 | 1.12× | 43 | 7,716 |
| Virginia | $82,550 | 1,670 | 0.81× | 64 | 7,108 |
| Alabama | $79,690 | 1,460 | 1.38× | 40 | 7,026 |
| Indiana | $76,080 | 1,520 | 0.95× | 34 | 6,918 |
| New Jersey | $76,980 | 2,000 | 0.93× | 51 | 6,547 |
| Michigan | $78,870 | 1,740 | 0.79× | 59 | 6,498 |
| Tennessee | $80,050 | 1,150 | 0.70× | 49 | 6,495 |
| Massachusetts | $85,130 | 2,280 | 1.25× | 46 | 5,677 |
| Wisconsin | $84,700 | 1,760 | 1.19× | 44 | 5,490 |
| Missouri | $76,340 | 1,040 | 0.70× | 55 | 5,459 |
| Washington | $81,630 | 1,300 | 0.73× | 41 | 4,028 |
| Maryland | $84,050 | 840 | 0.61× | 28 | 3,817 |
| South Carolina | $79,540 | 1,150 | 1.00× | 37 | 3,655 |
| Louisiana | $79,960 | 440 | 0.46× | 30 | 3,649 |
| Oklahoma | $67,840 | 640 | 0.74× | 30 | 3,368 |
| Connecticut | $95,500 | 1,380 | 1.63× | 15 | 3,314 |
| Colorado | $82,530 | 1,350 | 0.93× | 27 | 3,292 |
| Arkansas | $63,090 | 830 | 1.27× | 36 | 3,218 |
| Mississippi | $75,060 | 1,050 | 1.80× | 24 | 2,830 |
| Iowa | $77,360 | 770 | 0.98× | 35 | 2,566 |
| Nevada | $96,500 | 870 | 1.11× | 14 | 2,374 |
| Kansas | $62,870 | 470 | 0.65× | 38 | 2,366 |
| West Virginia | $62,210 | 400 | 1.14× | 25 | 2,271 |
| Oregon | $78,050 | 450 | 0.46× | 23 | 1,897 |
| New Hampshire | $78,310 | 320 | 0.92× | 18 | 1,864 |
| Nebraska | $82,720 | 300 | 0.58× | 16 | 1,766 |
| Idaho | $90,890 | 430 | 1.00× | 12 | 1,619 |
| New Mexico | $79,380 | 320 | 0.73× | 21 | 1,446 |
| Maine | $79,600 | 420 | 1.31× | 15 | 1,192 |
| Rhode Island | $78,340 | 260 | 1.04× | 6 | 976 |
| North Dakota | $80,710 | 150 | 0.68× | 13 | 958 |
| District of Columbia | $107,770 | 110 | 0.32× | 7 | 923 |
| Delaware | $98,170 | 240 | 1.00× | 5 | 923 |
| South Dakota | $66,630 | 250 | 1.10× | 12 | 911 |
| Hawaii | $129,530 | 1,890 | 6.02× | 8 | 691 |
| Montana | $77,980 | 240 | 0.94× | 13 | 677 |
| Vermontmoderate | $66,660 | — | — | 3 | 449 |
| Wyoming | $72,590 | 150 | 1.07× | 8 | 418 |
| Alaskamoderate | $85,650 | — | — | 3 | 209 |
Skills and tools
From O*NET, the U.S. Department of Labor's occupational database. Importance is a 1 to 5 scale.
What they do day to day
- Evaluate and grade students' class work, laboratory and clinic work, assignments, and papers.
- Supervise students' laboratory and clinical work.
- Initiate, facilitate, and moderate classroom discussions.
- Assess clinical education needs and patient and client teaching needs using a variety of methods.
- Compile, administer, and grade examinations, or assign this work to others.
- Prepare and deliver lectures to undergraduate or graduate students on topics such as pharmacology, mental health nursing, and community health care practices.
- Prepare course materials, such as syllabi, homework assignments, and handouts.
- Demonstrate patient care in clinical units of hospitals.
Skills
- Speaking4.1
- Learning Strategies4.1
- Active Listening4.0
- Reading Comprehension4.0
- Writing4.0
- Monitoring3.9
- Critical Thinking3.9
- Active Learning3.9
Knowledge areas
- Medicine and Dentistry4.6
- Education and Training4.5
- Psychology4.5
- English Language4.4
- Biology4.1
- Customer and Personal Service3.9
Abilities
- Oral Comprehension4.1
- Written Comprehension4.1
- Oral Expression4.1
- Written Expression4.0
- Speech Clarity4.0
- Inductive Reasoning3.9
Core activities
- Training and Teaching Others4.9
- Updating and Using Relevant Knowledge4.7
- Getting Information4.7
- Assisting and Caring for Others4.6
- Establishing and Maintaining Interpersonal Relationships4.6
- Working with Computers4.6
Tools and technology
hotmarks an O*NET hot technologyHow to get in
How to become a Nursing Instructor
Job zone 5 of 5 · SVP 8.0 and above- Typical entry education
- Doctoral or professional degree
- Work experience needed
- Less than 5 years
Most of these occupations require graduate school. For example, they may require a master's degree, and some require a Ph.D., M.D., or J.D. (law degree).
Extensive skill, knowledge, and experience are needed for these occupations. Many require more than five years of experience. For example, surgeons must complete four years of college and an additional five to seven years of specialized medical training to be able to do their job.
Employees may need some on-the-job training, but most of these occupations assume that the person will already have the required skills, knowledge, work-related experience, and/or training.
Every major mapped to this job
The official federal mapping behind the rankings above.
All 23 majors mapped to Nursing Instructors and Teachers, Postsecondary23 of them graduated someone in the latest IPEDS year. NCES CIP 2020 → SOC 2018 crosswalk.+
- 51.3203Nursing Education
- 51.3801Registered Nursing/Registered Nurse
- 51.3803Adult Health Nurse/Nursing
- 51.3804Nurse Anesthetist
- 51.3805Family Practice Nurse/Nursing
- 51.3806Maternal/Child Health and Neonatal Nurse/Nursing
- 51.3807Nurse Midwife/Nursing Midwifery
- 51.3808Nursing Science
- 51.3809Pediatric Nurse/Nursing
- 51.3810Psychiatric/Mental Health Nurse/Nursing
- 51.3811Public Health/Community Nurse/Nursing
- 51.3812Perioperative/Operating Room and Surgical Nurse/Nursing
- 51.3813Clinical Nurse Specialist
- 51.3814Critical Care Nursing
- 51.3815Occupational and Environmental Health Nursing
- 51.3816Emergency Room/Trauma Nursing
- 51.3818Nursing Practice
- 51.3819Palliative Care Nursing
- 51.3820Clinical Nurse Leader
- 51.3821Geriatric Nurse/Nursing
- 51.3822Women's Health Nurse/Nursing
- 51.3824Forensic Nursing
- 51.3899Registered Nursing, Nursing Administration, Nursing Research and Clinical Nursing, Other
Related careers
Jobs O*NET identifies as close to this one, with their own pay and outlook.
Common questions
What degree do you need to become a Nursing Instructor?+
Doctoral or professional degree is the typical entry-level education BLS reports for this occupation. The most common program people actually graduate from is Registered Nursing/Registered Nurse, which awarded 263,325 degrees in 2024-25, 83.8% of everyone graduating from a program that feeds this career.
Which college majors lead to becoming a Nursing Instructor?+
The NCES CIP-to-SOC crosswalk maps 23 programs to this occupation. The largest are Registered Nursing, Health Professions Education. Together they graduate about 314,152 people a year.
How much do nursing instructors and teachers, postsecondary earn?+
The median is $80,250 a year (BLS OEWS May 2025). The middle range runs from $48,800 at the 10th percentile to $129,500 at the 90th. This is pay for people already working in the occupation, not the same thing as graduate earnings one year after finishing a degree.
Is demand for nursing instructors and teachers, postsecondary growing?+
BLS projects a +16.8% change in employment between 2024 and 2034, much faster than average, with roughly 8,600 openings a year nationally once retirements and job changes are counted.
How many schools offer programs for this career?+
2,148 institutions reported graduates from at least one of the 23 programs that feed this occupation in IPEDS 2024-25. Rankings on this page use graduates per year, because the federal data publishes no enrollment count by program.
What other job titles do nursing instructors and teachers, postsecondary work under?+
Employers advertise this work under many names. O*NET records Professor, Nursing Professor, Nursing Instructor, Assistant Professor among the most commonly reported, all mapping to SOC 25-1072.
About the data on this page
Rankings use IPEDS completions 2024-25, degrees awarded per year. That is the closest federal measure of how many people a program puts into a career, because no federal dataset publishes enrollment by program. Wages and employment come from BLS OEWS May 2025, growth and openings from BLS Employment Projections 2024-34, and which majors lead to which jobs from the NCES CIP 2020 to SOC 2018 crosswalk. Occupation descriptions, tasks, skills and tools are O*NET 30.3 (CC BY 4.0, U.S. Department of Labor/ETA).
BLS Occupational Employment & Wage Statistics
May 2025Wages, employment counts, location quotients and metro breakdowns.
BLS Employment Projections
2024–34Projected growth, annual openings and typical entry-level education.
IPEDS Completions
2024-25 (provisional)Graduates per year by program and institution — the ranking metric.
College Scorecard, Field of Study
2020-21 cohortsMedian graduate earnings one year after completion, and median debt.
Census Post-Secondary Employment Outcomes
latest availableGraduate earnings 1/5/10 years out, where the state participates.
NCES CIP 2020 and the CIP-to-SOC 2018 crosswalk
CIP 2020 / SOC 2018Which college programs officially lead to this occupation.
O*NET Database 30.3
30.3Tasks, skills, knowledge, tools, job zone and alternate job titles.
Official source →CC BY 4.0, U.S. Department of Labor / ETA
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