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2023 Best Nursing Doctor's Degree Schools

380 Colleges
$115,233 Avg Salary

Finding the Best Nursing Doctor's Degree School for You

Nursing is the most popular major in the United States with 322,592 degrees and certificates handed out in 2020-2021.

There are so many nursing programs in today's world that it can tough to figure out which one is the right one for you. With more and more schools offering online options, you could even register for a great program on the other side of the country. On top of that, there are a considerable number of trade schools that offer fast-track entry to many fields.

Along with in-depth profiles of schools and the programs they offer, Nursing Degree Search has created the Best Nursing Doctor's Degree Schools to help you in your search for the best school for you. Our analysis looked at 380 schools in the United States to see which doctor's degree programs offered the best educational experiences for nursing students. The factors used to develop this ranking include those related to how in-demand the school is, the overall quality of the school, and post-graduation wages, and more.

View our full ranking methodology.

2023 Best Nursing Doctor’s Degree Schools in the United States

The following schools top our list of the Best Nursing Doctor's Degree Colleges.

Top 25 Top Schools for a Doctorate in Nursing

Our 2023 rankings named Middle Tennessee School of Anesthesia Inc the best school in the United States for nursing students working on their doctor’s degree. MTSA is a small private not-for-profit school located in the city of Madison.

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The excellent doctor’s degree programs at Mayo Clinic School of Medicine helped the school earn the #2 place on this year’s ranking of the best nursing schools in the United States. Mayo Clinic School of Medicine is a small private not-for-profit school located in the medium-sized city of Rochester.

Read full report on Nursing at Mayo Clinic School of Medicine

You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend Midwestern University - Glendale. It ranked #3 on our 2023 Best Nursing Doctor’s Degree Schools list. Located in the large suburb of Glendale, Midwestern University - Glendale is a private not-for-profit college with a small student population.

Full Nursing at Midwestern University - Glendale Report

#4

Wake Forest University

Winston-Salem, NC

You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend Wake Forest University. It ranked #4 on our 2023 Best Nursing Doctor’s Degree Schools list. Located in the medium-sized city of Winston-Salem, Wake Forest University is a private not-for-profit school with a moderately-sized student population.

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You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend University of St. Augustine for Health Sciences. It ranked #5 on our 2023 Best Nursing Doctor’s Degree Schools list. Located in the large suburb of San Marcos, USAHS is a private for-profit school with a moderately-sized student population.

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#6

Texas Christian University

Fort Worth, TX

With a ranking of #6, Texas Christian University did quite well on this year’s best schools for nursing students working on their doctor’s degree. TCU is a fairly large private not-for-profit school located in the city of Fort Worth.

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Frontier Nursing University came in at #7 in this year’s edition of the Best Nursing Doctor’s Degree Schools ranking. Located in the rural area of Hyden, Frontier Nursing University is a private not-for-profit college with a small student population.

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Bryan College of Health Sciences did quite well in this year’s ranking of the best places for nursing students to get a doctor’s degree. It came in at #8 on the list. Bryan College of Health Sciences is a fairly small private not-for-profit school located in the large city of Lincoln.

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Samuel Merritt University ranked #9 on this year’s Best Nursing Doctor’s Degree Schools list. Samuel Merritt University is a small private not-for-profit school located in the large city of Oakland.

Read full report on Nursing at Samuel Merritt University

The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston landed the #10 spot in the 2023 rankings for the best doctor’s degree nursing programs. Located in the city of Houston, UTHealth is a public school with a moderately-sized student population.

Read full report on Nursing at The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston

#11

University of Pennsylvania

Philadelphia, PA

University of Pennsylvania came in at #11 in this year’s edition of the Best Nursing Doctor’s Degree Schools ranking. Located in the city of Philadelphia, UPenn is a private not-for-profit college with a fairly large student population.

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#12

Mount Marty University

Yankton, SD

Mount Marty University landed the #12 spot in the 2023 rankings for the best doctor’s degree nursing programs. Located in the remote town of Yankton, Mount Marty is a private not-for-profit college with a small student population.

Full Nursing at Mount Marty University Report

#13

Villanova University

Villanova, PA

Villanova University landed the #13 spot in the 2023 rankings for the best doctor’s degree nursing programs. Located in the suburb of Villanova, Villanova is a private not-for-profit college with a fairly large student population.

Read full report on Nursing at Villanova University

With a ranking of #14, Baylor College of Medicine did quite well on this year’s best schools for nursing students working on their doctor’s degree. Baylor College of Medicine is a small private not-for-profit school located in the city of Houston.

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#15

Thomas Jefferson University

Philadelphia, PA

Thomas Jefferson University did quite well in this year’s ranking of the best places for nursing students to get a doctor’s degree. It came in at #15 on the list. Thomas Jefferson University is a medium-sized private not-for-profit school located in the city of Philadelphia.

Read full report on Nursing at Thomas Jefferson University

Virginia Commonwealth University did quite well in this year’s ranking of the best places for nursing students to get a doctor’s degree. It came in at #16 on the list. VCU is a fairly large public school located in the medium-sized city of Richmond.

Full Nursing at Virginia Commonwealth University Report

#17

Vanderbilt University

Nashville, TN

Vanderbilt University ranked #17 on this year’s Best Nursing Doctor’s Degree Schools list. Located in the large city of Nashville, Vanderbilt is a private not-for-profit school with a large student population.

Read full report on Nursing at Vanderbilt University

With a ranking of #18, Point Loma Nazarene University did quite well on this year’s best schools for nursing students working on their doctor’s degree. Located in the city of San Diego, PLNU is a private not-for-profit college with a small student population.

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#19

Texas Wesleyan University

Fort Worth, TX

Texas Wesleyan University came in at #19 in this year’s edition of the Best Nursing Doctor’s Degree Schools ranking. Texas Wesleyan is a small private not-for-profit school located in the large city of Fort Worth.

Read full report on Nursing at Texas Wesleyan University

Chamberlain University - Illinois landed the #20 spot in the 2023 rankings for the best doctor’s degree nursing programs. Chamberlain - Illinois is a fairly large private for-profit school located in the large suburb of Addison.

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University of California - Los Angeles landed the #21 spot in the 2023 rankings for the best doctor’s degree nursing programs. Located in the city of Los Angeles, UCLA is a public school with a very large student population.

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With a ranking of #22, The University of Texas Medical Branch did quite well on this year’s best schools for nursing students working on their doctor’s degree. Located in the fringe town of Galveston, UTMB Galveston is a public school with a small student population.

Full Nursing at The University of Texas Medical Branch Report

University of Nevada - Las Vegas ranked #23 on this year’s Best Nursing Doctor’s Degree Schools list. Located in the midsize city of Las Vegas, UNLV is a public school with a fairly large student population.

Full Nursing at University of Nevada - Las Vegas Report

#24

Rush University

Chicago, IL

Rush University landed the #24 spot in the 2023 rankings for the best doctor’s degree nursing programs. Rush University is a small private not-for-profit school located in the city of Chicago.

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#25

Duke University

Durham, NC

Duke University came in at #25 in this year’s edition of the Best Nursing Doctor’s Degree Schools ranking. Located in the large city of Durham, Duke is a private not-for-profit school with a large student population.

Full Nursing at Duke University Report

Rest of the Top Best Nursing Doctor's Degree Schools

#28

Saint Mary's College

Notre Dame, IN
#29

Gonzaga University

Spokane, WA
#31

Wilkes University

Wilkes-Barre, PA
#32

Chatham University

Pittsburgh, PA
#33

University of Virginia - Main Campus

Charlottesville, VA
#34

University of Portland

Portland, OR
#38

Samford University

Birmingham, AL
#39

Webster University

Saint Louis, MO
#40

Touro University Nevada

Henderson, NV
#44

Aspen University

Denver, CO
#47

University of San Francisco

San Francisco, CA
#49

Bradley University

Peoria, IL
#50

Purdue University - Main Campus

West Lafayette, IN

Remaining Award Winners

This section shows the rest of the schools awarded a Best Nursing Doctor's Degree Schools badge. Showing in this list means the school was ranked in the top 15% of the 380 different United States nursing schools we analyzed.

Rank College Location
51 Wagner College Staten Island, NY
52 Gannon University Erie, PA
53 University of St Francis Joliet, IL
54 The Graduate Center, CUNY New York, NY
55 Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center Lubbock, TX
56 University of Kansas Lawrence, KS
57 Otterbein University Westerville, OH

Additional Noteworthy Schools

Here are some additional great schools for Nursing students that almost earned our Best Nursing Doctor's Degree Schools award.

Rank College Location
58 University of North Dakota Grand Forks, ND
59 George Washington University Washington, DC
60 Yale University New Haven, CT
61 University of Nebraska Medical Center Omaha, NE
62 Pennsylvania College of Health Sciences Lancaster, PA
63 Maryville University of Saint Louis Saint Louis, MO
64 West Chester University of Pennsylvania West Chester, PA
65 Fairfield University Fairfield, CT
66 The University of Texas at Austin Austin, TX
67 Monmouth University West Long Branch, NJ
68 Salisbury University Salisbury, MD
69 Drexel University Philadelphia, PA
70 Upstate Medical University Syracuse, NY
71 University of Southern Mississippi Hattiesburg, MS
72 Clemson University Clemson, SC
73 Loma Linda University Loma Linda, CA
74 New York University New York, NY
74 Louisiana State University Health Sciences Center - New Orleans New Orleans, LA
76 Seattle University Seattle, WA

Nursing by Region

View the Best Nursing Doctor's Degree Schools for a specific region near you.

Region
Southeast
New England
Rocky Mountains
Plains States
Middle Atlantic
Far Western US
Southwest
Great Lakes

Nursing Focus Areas

Major Annual Graduates
Registered Nursing 266,651
Family Practice Nurse/Nursing 16,104
Nursing Administration 9,838
Nursing Practice 7,992
Other Registered Nursing, Nursing Administration, Nursing Research and Clinical Nursing 5,092
Nursing Science 4,600
Psychiatric/Mental Health Nurse/Nursing 2,287
Adult Health Nurse/Nursing 2,021
Nurse Anesthetist 1,936
Public Health/Community Nurse/Nursing 1,883
Critical Care Nursing 773
Geriatric Nurse/Nursing 563
School Nursing 553
Nurse Midwife/Nursing Midwifery 509
Clinical Nurse Leader 444
Clinical Nurse Specialist 419
Perioperative/Operating Room and Surgical Nurse/Nursing 331
Maternal/Child Health and Neonatal Nurse/Nursing 181
Occupational and Environmental Health Nursing 57
Emergency Room/Trauma Nursing 53
Palliative Care Nursing 14
Forensic Nursing 14

Related Major Annual Graduates
Practical Nursing & Nursing Assistants 84,274

Notes and References

*These averages are for the top 25 schools only.

  • Read more about our ranking methodology.
  • The Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS) from the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES), a branch of the U.S. Department of Education (DOE) serves as the core of the rest of our data about colleges.
  • Some other college data, including much of the graduate earnings data, comes from the U.S. Department of Education’s (College Scorecard).
  • Credit for the banner image above goes to Aleksahgabrielle.

More about our data sources and methodologies.

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