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Best Nursing Doctor's Degree Schools in the Southeast Region

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2023 Best Nursing Doctor's Degree Schools in the Southeast Region

104 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 77,470 degrees and certificates handed out in 2020-2021.

When it comes to higher education, there are a lot of options for nursing students. 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.

To assist you in seeing some of the education options that are available to you, Nursing Degree Search has created its Best Nursing Doctor's Degree Schools in the Southeast Region ranking. This report analyzed 104 schools in the Southeast Region to see which ones offered the best doctor's degree programs 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 Southeast Region

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

Top 15% Best Nursing Doctor's Degree Schools

Our 2023 rankings named Middle Tennessee School of Anesthesia Inc the best school in the Southeast Region for nursing students working on their doctor’s degree. Located in the city of Madison, MTSA is a private not-for-profit school with a fairly small student population.

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#2

Wake Forest University

Winston-Salem, NC

The excellent doctor’s degree programs at Wake Forest University helped the school earn the #2 place on this year’s ranking of the best nursing schools in the Southeast Region . Wake Forest University is a medium-sized private not-for-profit school located in the midsize city of Winston-Salem.

Read full report on Nursing at Wake Forest University

You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around you if you attend Frontier Nursing University. The school came in at #3 on this year’s Best Nursing Doctor’s Degree Schools in the Southeast Region list. Frontier Nursing University is a small private not-for-profit school located in the rural area of Hyden.

Full Nursing at Frontier Nursing University Report

Out of the 104 schools in the Southeast Region that were part of this year’s ranking, Virginia Commonwealth University landed the # 4 spot on the list. Located in the city of Richmond, VCU is a public college with a fairly large student population.

Read full report on Nursing at Virginia Commonwealth University

#5

Vanderbilt University

Nashville, TN

A rank of #5 on this year’s list means Vanderbilt University is a great place for nursing students working on their doctor’s degree. Vanderbilt is a fairly large private not-for-profit school located in the large city of Nashville.

Full Nursing at Vanderbilt University Report

#6

Duke University

Durham, NC

Duke 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 #6 on the list. Duke is a large private not-for-profit school located in the city of Durham.

Full Nursing at Duke University Report

University of Virginia - Main Campus 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 #7 on the list. Located in the small suburb of Charlottesville, University of Virginia is a public school with a fairly large student population.

Read full report on Nursing at University of Virginia - Main Campus

With a ranking of #8, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill did quite well on this year’s best schools for nursing students working on their doctor’s degree. UNC Chapel Hill is a very large public school located in the city of Chapel Hill.

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#9

Samford University

Birmingham, AL

Samford University ranked #9 on this year’s Best Nursing Doctor’s Degree Schools in the Southeast Region list. Samford is a moderately-sized private not-for-profit school located in the suburb of Birmingham.

Read full report on Nursing at Samford University

Medical University of South Carolina ranked #10 on this year’s Best Nursing Doctor’s Degree Schools in the Southeast Region list. Located in the medium-sized city of Charleston, MUSC is a public college with a small student population.

Full Nursing at Medical University of South Carolina Report

University of Southern Mississippi 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 #11 on the list. Located in the city of Hattiesburg, Southern Miss is a public college with a fairly large student population.

Full Nursing at University of Southern Mississippi Report

#12

Clemson University

Clemson, SC

Clemson University came in at #12 in this year’s edition of the Best Nursing Doctor’s Degree Schools in the Southeast Region ranking. Clemson is a very large public school located in the large suburb of Clemson.

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Louisiana State University Health Sciences Center - New Orleans ranked #13 on this year’s Best Nursing Doctor’s Degree Schools in the Southeast Region list. Located in the large city of New Orleans, LSU Health - New Orleans is a public college with a small student population.

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University of Arkansas for Medical 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 #14 on the list. Located in the midsize city of Little Rock, UAMS is a public college with a small student population.

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#15

University of Florida

Gainesville, FL

University of Florida landed the #15 spot in the 2023 rankings for the best doctor’s degree nursing programs. UF is a very large public school located in the midsize city of Gainesville.

Full Nursing at University of Florida Report

Honorable Mentions

These are some additional schools worth mentioning that are also great but just didn't quite make the cut to earn our top Best Nursing Doctor's Degree Schools in the Southeast Region award.

Rank College Location
16 University of North Georgia Dahlonega, GA
17 The University of Tennessee - Health Science Center Memphis, TN
18 Radford University Radford, VA
19 Eastern Mennonite University Harrisonburg, VA
20 Georgia College & State University Milledgeville, GA

Best Nursing Colleges by State

Explore the best nursing colleges for a specific state in the Southeast region.

State Degrees Awarded
Louisiana 3,502
Mississippi 2,838
Alabama 7,364
Kentucky 6,395
Tennessee 6,004
Florida 21,209
Arkansas 2,882
Georgia 7,112
North Carolina 7,425
West Virginia 1,771
South Carolina 3,296
Virginia 6,775

Nursing Concentrations

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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