Best Nursing Instructor programs in Pennsylvania, ranked by enrollment
Demonstrate and teach patient care in classroom and clinical units to nursing students.
95 schools in Pennsylvania run programs that feed this job, graduating 10,801 people a year. The job pays a median of $78,460 in Pennsylvania across about 4,290 jobs (BLS OEWS May 2025).
Fields of study in Pennsylvania that lead to this job
Grouped at the 4-digit CIP level. Numbers are graduates per year in this state.
20 programs in Pennsylvania that lead to this job
Ranked by graduates per year in Pennsylvania (IPEDS completions). Graduate earnings and debt are national College Scorecard figures reported at the 4-digit CIP level, so specializations within one field share a figure. Each program also links to its own Pennsylvania page.
| # | Program | Graduates / yr | Share of pipeline | Schools | Grad earnings (1 yr) | Median debt |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | CIP 51.3801In Pennsylvania → | 8,418 | 77.9% | 80 | $71,623 | $25,750 |
| 2 | CIP 51.3899In Pennsylvania → | 808 | 7.5% | 21 | $71,623 | $25,750 |
| 3 | CIP 51.3805In Pennsylvania → | 359 | 3.3% | 17 | $71,623 | $25,750 |
| 4 | CIP 51.3808In Pennsylvania → | 324 | 3.0% | 5 | $71,623 | $25,750 |
| 5 | CIP 51.3818In Pennsylvania → | 261 | 2.4% | 19 | $71,623 | $25,750 |
| 6 | CIP 51.3804In Pennsylvania → | 182 | 1.7% | 8 | $71,623 | $25,750 |
| 7 | CIP 51.3812In Pennsylvania → | 118 | 1.1% | 3 | $71,623 | $25,750 |
| 8 | CIP 51.3810In Pennsylvania → | 100 | 0.9% | 8 | $71,623 | $25,750 |
| 9 | CIP 51.3803In Pennsylvania → | 40 | 0.4% | 5 | $71,623 | $25,750 |
| 10 | CIP 51.3809In Pennsylvania → | 37 | 0.3% | 3 | $71,623 | $25,750 |
| 11 | CIP 51.3807In Pennsylvania → | 33 | 0.3% | 3 | $71,623 | $25,750 |
| 12 | CIP 51.3203In Pennsylvania → | 29 | 0.3% | 11 | $99,851 | $21,475 |
| 13 | CIP 51.3813In Pennsylvania → | 28 | 0.3% | 3 | $71,623 | $25,750 |
| 14 | CIP 51.3820In Pennsylvania → | 15 | 0.1% | 3 | $71,623 | $25,750 |
| 15 | CIP 51.3822In Pennsylvania → | 13 | 0.1% | 2 | $71,623 | $25,750 |
| 16 | CIP 51.3821In Pennsylvania → | 12 | 0.1% | 4 | $71,623 | $25,750 |
| 17 | CIP 51.3811In Pennsylvania → | 10 | 0.1% | 1 | $71,623 | $25,750 |
| 18 | CIP 51.3814In Pennsylvania → | 7 | 0.1% | 2 | $71,623 | $25,750 |
| 19 | CIP 51.3824In Pennsylvania → | 5 | 0.0% | 1 | $71,623 | $25,750 |
| 20 | CIP 51.3806In Pennsylvania → | 2 | 0.0% | 1 | $71,623 | $25,750 |
Top 25 schools in Pennsylvania
Ranked by graduates per year into this job. Graduate earnings are reported for 68 of the 95 schools in this state.
| # | School | Graduates / yr | Top feeder program | Grad earnings (1 yr) | Grad rate | Net price | Acceptance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Thomas Jefferson University Philadelphia, PA Private not-for-profit · 4 feeder programs | 656 | Registered Nursing/Registered Nurse | $85,656 | 69% | $26,034 | 81% |
| 2 | Drexel University Philadelphia, PA Private not-for-profit · 3 feeder programs | 593 | Registered Nursing/Registered Nurse | $85,441 | 78% | $36,004 | 79% |
| 3 | Harrisburg Area Community College Harrisburg, PA Public · 1 feeder programs | 455 | Registered Nursing/Registered Nurse | $73,041 | 21% | — | — |
| 4 | University of Pennsylvania Philadelphia, PA Private not-for-profit · 10 feeder programs | 437 | Registered Nursing/Registered Nurse | $80,943 | 97% | $22,055 | 5% |
| 5 | Wilkes University Wilkes-Barre, PA Private not-for-profit · 2 feeder programs | 435 | Registered Nursing/Registered Nurse | $77,226 | 63% | $27,082 | 91% |
| 6 | University of Pittsburgh - Pittsburgh Campus Pittsburgh, PA Public · 10 feeder programs | 366 | Registered Nursing/Registered Nurse | $72,251 | 85% | — | 58% |
| 7 | Saint Joseph's University - Lancaster Lancaster, PA Private not-for-profit · 5 feeder programs | 345 | Registered Nursing/Registered Nurse | $74,676 | 69% | $36,413 | 41% |
| 8 | Holy Family University Philadelphia, PA Private not-for-profit · 3 feeder programs | 320 | Registered Nursing/Registered Nurse | $83,363 | 61% | $12,163 | 71% |
| 9 | Duquesne University Pittsburgh, PA Private not-for-profit · 7 feeder programs | 302 | Nursing Science | $70,265 | 77% | $32,060 | 84% |
| 10 | Villanova University Villanova, PA Private not-for-profit · 4 feeder programs | 291 | Registered Nursing/Registered Nurse | $86,241 | 92% | $33,774 | 27% |
| 11 | Community College of Allegheny County Pittsburgh, PA Public · 1 feeder programs | 255 | Registered Nursing/Registered Nurse | $62,668 | 24% | — | — |
| 12 | Commonwealth University of Pennsylvania Bloomsburg, PA Public · 2 feeder programs | 242 | Registered Nursing/Registered Nurse | $77,809 | 54% | — | 93% |
| 13 | La Salle University Philadelphia, PA Private not-for-profit · 8 feeder programs | 234 | Registered Nursing/Registered Nurse | $84,400 | 57% | $21,997 | 97% |
| 14 | UPMC Shadyside School of Nursing Pittsburgh, PA Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs | 230 | Registered Nursing/Registered Nurse | $63,308 | 75% | $23,522 | 78% |
| 15 | West Chester University of Pennsylvania West Chester, PA Public · 2 feeder programs | 224 | Registered Nursing/Registered Nurse | — | 71% | — | 78% |
| 16 | Widener University Chester, PA Private not-for-profit · 5 feeder programs | 191 | Registered Nursing/Registered Nurse | $83,528 | 68% | $29,049 | 71% |
| 17 | St Lukes Hospital School of Nursing Bethlehem, PA Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs | 176 | Registered Nursing, Nursing Administration, Nursing Research and Clinical Nursing, Other | $79,203 | — | — | — |
| 18 | Pennsylvania Western University California, PA Public · 1 feeder programs | 175 | Registered Nursing/Registered Nurse | $70,857 | 52% | — | 94% |
| 19 | York College of Pennsylvania York, PA Private not-for-profit · 4 feeder programs | 165 | Registered Nursing/Registered Nurse | $77,469 | 64% | $18,682 | 74% |
| 20 | Gwynedd Mercy University Gwynedd Valley, PA Private not-for-profit · 5 feeder programs | 163 | Registered Nursing/Registered Nurse | $82,372 | 57% | $25,843 | 90% |
| 21 | Carlow University Pittsburgh, PA Private not-for-profit · 5 feeder programs | 158 | Registered Nursing/Registered Nurse | $70,269 | 60% | $19,953 | 87% |
| 22 | Indiana University of Pennsylvania Indiana, PA Public · 2 feeder programs | 148 | Registered Nursing/Registered Nurse | $68,936 | 56% | — | 91% |
| 23 | Millersville University of Pennsylvania Millersville, PA Public · 4 feeder programs | 136 | Nursing Science | $82,137 | 58% | — | 86% |
| 24 | Moravian University Bethlehem, PA Private not-for-profit · 6 feeder programs | 134 | Registered Nursing/Registered Nurse | $82,585 | 72% | $28,454 | 54% |
| 25 | Pennsylvania State University - Main Campus University Park, PA Public · 1 feeder programs | 132 | Registered Nursing, Nursing Administration, Nursing Research and Clinical Nursing, Other | $77,955 | 86% | — | 61% |
All 95 schools in Pennsylvania
Every school in Pennsylvania with a program that feeds this job, ordered by graduates per year. Earnings are shown for the ranked schools above; open a school profile for the rest.
| School | City | Control | Graduates / yr | Feeder programs |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Thomas Jefferson University | Philadelphia | Private not-for-profit | 656 | 4 |
| Drexel University | Philadelphia | Private not-for-profit | 593 | 3 |
| Harrisburg Area Community College | Harrisburg | Public | 455 | 1 |
| University of Pennsylvania | Philadelphia | Private not-for-profit | 437 | 10 |
| Wilkes University | Wilkes-Barre | Private not-for-profit | 435 | 2 |
| University of Pittsburgh - Pittsburgh Campus | Pittsburgh | Public | 366 | 10 |
| Saint Joseph's University - Lancaster | Lancaster | Private not-for-profit | 345 | 5 |
| Holy Family University | Philadelphia | Private not-for-profit | 320 | 3 |
| Duquesne University | Pittsburgh | Private not-for-profit | 302 | 7 |
| Villanova University | Villanova | Private not-for-profit | 291 | 4 |
| Community College of Allegheny County | Pittsburgh | Public | 255 | 1 |
| Commonwealth University of Pennsylvania | Bloomsburg | Public | 242 | 2 |
| La Salle University | Philadelphia | Private not-for-profit | 234 | 8 |
| UPMC Shadyside School of Nursing | Pittsburgh | Private not-for-profit | 230 | 1 |
| West Chester University of Pennsylvania | West Chester | Public | 224 | 2 |
What nursing instructors and teachers, postsecondary earn in Pennsylvania
What people already working in this job earn (BLS OEWS May 2025). Not graduate earnings.
U.S. median $80,250. Pennsylvania pays below the national figure.
Concentrated here: Pennsylvania employs more of this job per worker than the U.S. average.
Metro areas in Pennsylvania
Job outlook
Bureau of Labor Statistics Employment Projections, 2024 to 2034.
Growth and openings are national. The Bureau of Labor Statistics does not publish employment projections at state level, so these figures describe the occupation across the whole U.S., not this state alone.
How to get in
The full skills, tools, and day-to-day breakdown lives on the national Nursing Instructors and Teachers, Postsecondary page.
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.
Top skills
The same job in other states
Where else this occupation employs the most people, and what it pays there.
Related careers in Pennsylvania
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
Common questions
Answers for people weighing nursing instructors and teachers, postsecondary programs in Pennsylvania.
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 8,418 degrees in Pennsylvania in 2024-25, 77.9% 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 20 programs to this occupation. The largest are Registered Nursing, Health Professions Education. Together they graduate about 10,801 people a year in Pennsylvania.
How much do nursing instructors and teachers, postsecondary earn in Pennsylvania?+
The median is $78,460 a year (BLS OEWS May 2025). That is 2.2% below the U.S. median of $80,250. 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 in Pennsylvania?+
95 institutions in Pennsylvania reported graduates from at least one of the 20 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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