Best Online Nursing Programs and Degrees in 2025

We use a data-driven methodology to rank the best nursing programs, making it easy to find a program that meets your needs. Informed by data from the most reputable sources, including the U.S. Department of Education, our methodology is based on metrics that matter most to nursing students, including academic quality, affordability, reputation, and program offerings. This list is from 2025.

Licensed practical nurses (LPNs), called LVNs in California and Texas, perform entry-level nursing duties in nursing care facilities, hospitals, physicians’ offices, and home healthcare services. Online LPN programs offer one of the quickest routes into nursing.

Typical coursework includes fundamentals of nursing, human anatomy, medications, and disease processes. Students learn skills like checking patients’ vital signs, inserting intravenous lines, administering first aid, and managing patient data.

Online associate degrees in nursing (ADN) provide the fastest path to becoming a registered nurse (RN). Students can earn their ADNs in two years, and graduates can take the NCLEX-RN exam to earn their licenses.

ADN coursework covers health assessment, surgical nursing, and patient care. RNs collaborate with teams of medical professionals to provide patient care, and the ADN curriculum emphasizes safety, ethical and legal practice, and care management. Distance learners complete about 500 hours of on-site clinical rotations.

Four-year online bachelor of science in nursing (BSN) programs can lead to increased job opportunities, responsibilities, and wages compared to ADN programs. BSN holders can also more easily pursue advanced nursing specializations and leadership positions.

Online BSN students train to become RNs who manage and implement patient treatment plans, supervise nursing teams, and educate patients and families regarding care. BSN courses cover anatomy, community nursing, informatics, leadership, pharmacology, and research and statistics. Clinical and lab hours take place onsite.

Online accelerated BSN (ABSN) programs enable students with a non-nursing bachelor’s or graduate degree to earn a nursing degree in two years or less.

Core courses emphasize treating diverse populations across lifespans, building an evidence-based practice, and biomedical ethics. Nursing students also complete in-person clinical hours needed to prepare for the NCLEX exam.

Nursing programs offer MSN degree specializations that advance clinical skills in a particular area of nursing. Students complete coursework and clinical practice requirements.

Popular specializations for MSN programs include:

Completing an MSN program typically takes around two years, though some programs may offer an accelerated option that requires less time.

Nurse practitioner online programs train advanced practice registered nurses (APRNs) who provide primary and specialty care as family nurse practitioners, psychiatric mental health nurse practitioners, and women’s health nurse practitioners.

Popular NP programs include:

NP programs require a minimum of 500 supervised direct patient care clinical hours, preparing graduates for board certification in their specialty area.

Designed for nurses who want to provide care for pregnant individuals, online nurse-midwife programs prepare students for advanced practice nursing care. These programs include courses in postpartum care, advanced health assessment, and fetal evaluation.

In addition to the required courses, nurse-midwife students must complete clinical hour requirements to prepare them with hands-on experience. Graduates can pursue American Midwifery Board Certification, Neonatal Resuscitation Program Certification, and Electronic Fetal Monitoring Certification.

An online MSN in nursing education prepares degree seekers to pursue roles at hospitals, postsecondary schools, and medical centers. Nurse educators teach and train nurses and help develop nursing program curricula.

Students learn about curriculum development, evaluation strategies and methods, and approaches to instruction. Some institutions offer accelerated online options, allowing learners to complete their degree between 16-18 months.

Students can pursue an online nursing leadership degree to become nurse leaders. Nursing leadership master’s programs prepare degree-seekers for careers as nurse managers, nurse executives, directors of health education programs, and directors of community health centers.

The curriculum explores nursing leadership theory and practice, healthcare policy, evidence-based practice, population-based public health nursing interventions, and health disparities.

Degree-holders without a nursing background can pursue a fast-track path to an MSN by enrolling in an online direct-entry MSN program. This program’s curriculum emphasizes health policy and advocacy, theory, and clinical practice to prepare graduates in as little as 15-24 months.

MSN students study specialty areas of nursing, such as family healthcare, nursing education, or nursing leadership. Typically, the first 12 months or four semesters of this program follow a BSN curriculum, then students sit for the NCLEX-RN at the end of the first year and move on to the MSN portion.

Pursuing an online MSN/MHA dual degree prepares learners for careers as healthcare administrators and managers.

While students in both MSN and MHA programs complete courses in leadership, dual degree programs let students maximize credits to satisfy the requirements for each degree and shorten their completion timeline.

Online MSN/MBA dual degree programs allow nurses to earn their nursing and business administration degrees simultaneously. Students focus on advanced nursing and business topics, preparing them for careers as healthcare executives.

MSN/MBA courses focus on topics such as health informatics, advanced health assessment, health economics, and healthcare management.

Earning an online MSN/MPH dual degree prepares learners for careers in nursing and public health. Students interested in supplementing their clinical education can focus on foundational public health knowledge and advanced patient care techniques.

MSN/MPH students can pursue specializations in epidemiology, health services leadership and management, and global health.

Paramedics interested in becoming nurses can enroll in online paramedic-to-RN bridge programs. Each bridge program has unique admission requirements, curriculum components, accreditation, course topics, and program length.

The curriculum explores pharmacology, anatomy and physiology, and lifespan and human development.

Full-time students typically complete their bridge program within 1.5-2 years.

LPN-to-BSN bridge programs and LPN-to-RN programs prepare licensed practical nurses to practice as registered nurses after graduation. Students target different patient populations and develop diagnostic skills and competencies.

Graduates can complete their NCLEX-RN exam to begin practicing professionally across a variety of healthcare settings, including long-term care facilities, government agencies, and health clinics.

One of the most popular bridge programs for nursing students, the online RN-to-BSN option allows RN applicants with ADNs to earn their bachelor’s degree in nursing at an accelerated pace. Enrollees can build on the education from their associate program and job experience.

Upon earning their BSN, graduates work in hospitals, schools, and long-term care facilities. Full-time students can complete their requirements in as little as 12 months.

RN-to-MSN bridge programs, much like ADN-to-MSN degrees, fast track nurses in 30-36 months to an advanced degree by combining curricula geared for bachelor’s and master’s students. The pathway to earn a BSN and an MSN separately typically takes 72-84 months.

After completing undergraduate courses in health assessments, research, pharmacology, and ethics, students gain a specialty in clinical nurse leadership, adult-gerontology, or family health nursing.

Graduates can sit for NP certification exams in their nursing focus.

RNs pursuing academic, leadership, and research positions can enroll in an online RN-to-DNP bridge program to take courses in evidence-based practice, informatics for leadership in health and healthcare, and nursing policy. In addition to their advanced coursework, learners complete clinical practice hours.

These programs can take students between 3-6 years to complete, depending on their educational background and program requirements.

Students who hold a BSN and plan to pursue a DNP can consider enrolling in an online BSN-to-DNP program to quicken program completion. Doctoral programs typically require between 65-90 credits of coursework, taking learners between 3-6 years to finish.

BSN-to-DNP students can often choose an emphasis area, including women’s health, psychiatric mental health, and neonatal nurse practitioner. In addition to required coursework, doctoral students may need to complete clinical or lab components, and a research project, dissertation, or thesis. Curriculum requirements are designed to meet state licensing criteria.