2023 Most Popular Online Nursing Doctor's Degree Schools
When it comes to higher education, there are a lot of options for nursing students. Along with traditional schools that require in-person attendence, you can attend one of many reputable online schools. Some programs even offer a hybrid experience. Or you may find the programs at a trade school or bootcamp to be a better alternative for you.
To assist you in seeing some of the education options that are available to you, Nursing Degree Search has created its Most Popular Online Nursing Doctor's Degree Schools ranking. This report analyzed 174 schools in the United States to see which ones had the most popular online doctor's degree programs for nursing students. To create this ranking we looked at how many students graduated from schools with online programs.
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Most Popular Online Nursing Doctor's Degree Schools in the United States
Learn more about these popular schools with online programs:
Our analysis found Chamberlain University - Illinois to be the most popular school for nursing students who want to pursue a doctor’s degree in the United States. Chamberlain - Illinois is located in Addison, Illinois and has a large student population. In 2020-2021, this school awarded 565 doctor’s degrees to qualified students.
Of those students who received their degree, 93% were women.
If you are interested in distance education, Chamberlain - Illinois is an excellent choice, since graduate classes are offered online.
You’ll be in good company if you attend Grand Canyon University. The school came in at #2 on this year’s Most Popular Online Nursing Doctor’s Degree Schools list. This large private for-profit school is located in Phoenix, Arizona, and it awarded 368 doctor’s degrees in 2020-2021.
Around 90% of those degree recipients were women.
Around 96% of the graduate population registered for at least one online class in 2019-2020.
You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend Frontier Nursing University. It ranked #4 on our 2023 Most Popular Online Nursing Doctor’s Degree Schools list. Hyden, Kentucky is the setting for this small institution of higher learning. The private not-for-profit school handed out doctor’s degrees to 181 students in 2020-2021.
Around 92% of those degree recipients were women.
If you are interested in distance education, Frontier Nursing University is an excellent choice, since graduate classes are offered online.
The excellent doctor’s degree programs at Capella University helped the school earn the #5 place on this year’s ranking of the most popular nursing schools in the United States. Located in Minneapolis, Minnesota, the large private for-profit school awarded 171 diplomas to qualifed doctor’s degree students in 2020-2021.
Around 94% of those degree recipients were women.
Interested in an online degree? Then you definitely want to check out Capella University. Every graduate student at the school took at least one class online.
University of South Alabama landed the #6 spot in the 2023 rankings for the most popular doctor’s degree nursing programs. Located in Mobile, Alabama, the fairly large public school awarded 134 diplomas to qualifed doctor’s degree students in 2020-2021.
Of those students who received their degree, 92% were women.
Of all the graduate students enrolled at the school during the 2019-2020 academic year, around 75% took at least some of their classes online.
Brandman University did quite well in this year’s ranking of the most popular places for nursing students to get a doctor’s degree. It came in at #7 on the list. Located in Irvine, California, the medium-sized private not-for-profit school awarded 113 diplomas to qualifed doctor’s degree students in 2020-2021.
Around 84% of those degree recipients were women.
If you are interested in distance education, Brandman is an excellent choice, since graduate classes are offered online.
Samford University ranked #8 on this year’s Most Popular Online Nursing Doctor’s Degree Schools list. Samford is a private not-for-profit institution located in Birmingham, Alabama. The school has a medium-sized population, and it awarded 129 doctor’s degrees in 2020-2021.
Around 89% of those degree recipients were women.
During the 2019-2020 year, about 53% of the graduate students at the school took at least one online course.
University of Alabama at Birmingham came in at #9 in this year’s edition of the Most Popular Online Nursing Doctor’s Degree Schools ranking. UAB is a public institution located in Birmingham, Alabama. The school has a large population, and it awarded 98 doctor’s degrees in 2020-2021.
Around 73% of those degree recipients were women.
In 2019-2020 about 58% of the graduate students at the school chose to take one or more online courses.
University of North Carolina at Greensboro ranked #10 on this year’s Most Popular Online Nursing Doctor’s Degree Schools list. UNC Greensboro is a public institution located in Greensboro, North Carolina. The school has a fairly large population, and it awarded 89 doctor’s degrees in 2020-2021.
Of those students who received their degree, 80% were women.
During the 2019-2020 year, about 80% of the graduate students at the school took at least one online course.
Northern Kentucky University landed the #11 spot in the 2023 rankings for the most popular doctor’s degree nursing programs. NKU is located in Highland Heights, Kentucky and has a fairly large student population. In 2020-2021, this school awarded 82 doctor’s degrees to qualified students.
Of those students who received their degree, 87% were women.
In 2019-2020 about 96% of the graduate students at the school chose to take one or more online courses.
With a ranking of #12, Maryville University of Saint Louis did quite well on this year’s most popular schools for nursing students working on their doctor’s degree. Located in Saint Louis, Missouri, the fairly large private not-for-profit school handed out 77 doctor’s degree awards in 2020-2021.
Around 91% of those degree recipients were women.
During the 2019-2020 year, about 91% of the graduate students at the school took at least one online course.
Chatham University ranked #13 on this year’s Most Popular Online Nursing Doctor’s Degree Schools list. Located in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, the small private not-for-profit school awarded 74 diplomas to qualifed doctor’s degree students in 2020-2021.
Around 89% of those degree recipients were women.
To give an idea of how popular online courses are at the school, 79% of graduates took at least one course online in 2019-2020.
University of North Florida ranked #14 on this year’s Most Popular Online Nursing Doctor’s Degree Schools list. Located in Jacksonville, Florida, the fairly large public school handed out 102 doctor’s degree awards in 2020-2021.
Around 86% of those degree recipients were women.
To give an idea of how popular online courses are at the school, 94% of graduates took at least one course online in 2019-2020.
University of Florida came in at #15 in this year’s edition of the Most Popular Online Nursing Doctor’s Degree Schools ranking. University of Florida is a large public school located in Gainesville, Florida that handed out 79 doctor’s degrees in 2020-2021.
Around 92% of those degree recipients were women.
In 2019-2020 about 79% of the graduate students at the school chose to take one or more online courses.
Purdue University Global ranked #16 on this year’s Most Popular Online Nursing Doctor’s Degree Schools list. Located in Indianapolis, Indiana, the large public school handed out 59 doctor’s degree awards in 2020-2021.
Around 97% of those degree recipients were women.
If you are interested in distance education, Purdue University Global is an excellent choice, since graduate classes are offered online.
With a ranking of #17, Virginia Commonwealth University did quite well on this year’s most popular schools for nursing students working on their doctor’s degree. This large public school is located in Richmond, Virginia, and it awarded 58 doctor’s degrees in 2020-2021.
Around 67% of those degree recipients were women.
During the 2019-2020 year, about 62% of the graduate students at the school took at least one online course.
University of Massachusetts Amherst came in at #18 in this year’s edition of the Most Popular Online Nursing Doctor’s Degree Schools ranking. UMass Amherst is a large public school situated in Amherst, Massachusetts. It awarded 62 doctor’s degrees in 2020-2021.
Of those students who received their degree, 85% were women.
Around 82% of the graduate population registered for at least one online class in 2019-2020.
East Carolina University landed the #19 spot in the 2023 rankings for the most popular doctor’s degree nursing programs. ECU is a large public school situated in Greenville, North Carolina. It awarded 51 doctor’s degrees in 2020-2021.
Around 92% of those degree recipients were women.
Of all the graduate students enrolled at the school during the 2019-2020 academic year, around 80% took at least some of their classes online.
University of Kansas came in at #20 in this year’s edition of the Most Popular Online Nursing Doctor’s Degree Schools ranking. KU is a large public school situated in Lawrence, Kansas. It awarded 80 doctor’s degrees in 2020-2021.
Around 81% of those degree recipients were women.
During the 2019-2020 year, about 69% of the graduate students at the school took at least one online course.
With a ranking of #21, University of Missouri - Kansas City did quite well on this year’s most popular schools for nursing students working on their doctor’s degree. UMKC is a public institution located in Kansas City, Missouri. The school has a fairly large population, and it awarded 52 doctor’s degrees in 2020-2021.
Around 81% of those degree recipients were women.
During the 2019-2020 year, about 66% of the graduate students at the school took at least one online course.
University of Iowa came in at #21 in this year’s edition of the Most Popular Online Nursing Doctor’s Degree Schools ranking. Iowa is a large public school situated in Iowa City, Iowa. It awarded 51 doctor’s degrees in 2020-2021.
Around 82% of those degree recipients were women.
Of all the graduate students enrolled at the school during the 2019-2020 academic year, around 33% took at least some of their classes online.
University of Central Florida landed the #21 spot in the 2023 rankings for the most popular doctor’s degree nursing programs. UCF is a public institution located in Orlando, Florida. The school has a large population, and it awarded 47 doctor’s degrees in 2020-2021.
Around 91% of those degree recipients were women.
To give an idea of how popular online courses are at the school, 79% of graduates took at least one course online in 2019-2020.
The University of Texas at Arlington landed the #24 spot in the 2023 rankings for the most popular doctor’s degree nursing programs. Located in Arlington, Texas, the large public school awarded 50 diplomas to qualifed doctor’s degree students in 2020-2021.
Of those students who received their degree, 94% were women.
In 2019-2020 about 65% of the graduate students at the school chose to take one or more online courses.
University of St. Augustine for Health Sciences ranked #25 on this year’s Most Popular Online Nursing Doctor’s Degree Schools list. San Marcos, California is the setting for this medium-sized institution of higher learning. The private for-profit school handed out doctor’s degrees to 45 students in 2020-2021.
Around 82% of those degree recipients were women.
Since the graduate programs at USAHS are online, the school is an excellent choice for graduate students who need more flexibility than what is offered at some other schools.
Read full report on University of St. Augustine for Health Sciences
Rest of the Top 15% Most Popular Online Nursing Doctor's Degree Schools in the United States
Not only did these schools make the top most popular online list, but they also landed in the top 15% of this year’s ranking:
Narrow Schools by Region
Honorable Mentions
These schools also performed well in our most popular online nursing schools ranking:
| Rank | School | Location |
|---|---|---|
| 29 | Wilmington University | New Castle, DE |
| 29 | University of Alabama in Huntsville | Huntsville, AL |
| 31 | American Sentinel University | Aurora, CO |
| 32 | Touro University Nevada | Henderson, NV |
| 33 | Wilkes University | Wilkes-Barre, PA |
| 34 | University of Michigan - Flint | Flint, MI |
| 35 | University of Kentucky | Lexington, KY |
Notes and References
Footnotes
*These averages are for the top 25 schools only.
References
- 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 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).
- Information about the national average student loan default rate is from the U.S. Department of Education and refers to data about the 2016 borrower cohort tracking period for which the cohort default rate (CDR) was 10.1%.
More about our data sources and methodologies.
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