2023 Best Nursing Doctor's Degree Schools
Finding the Best Nursing Doctor's Degree School for You
With 322,592 degrees and certificates handed out in 2020-2021, nursing is the #3 most popular major in the United States.
With all the programs available today, it can be tough to choose which one is the best for you. As online education oppotunities continue to grow, you're not restricted to just schools in your local area anymore. Even some of the 'big name' schools are offering online courses. Also, there are a number of trade schools with offerings that you might find attractive.
Along with in-depth profiles of schools and the programs they offer, Course Advisor 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 students. Factors related to overall quality of the school, post-graduation earnings, average student debt, and more accumulated were considered when coming up with this list.
View our full ranking methodology.
2023 Best Nursing Doctor’s Degree Schools in the United States
Check out the nursing doctor's degree programs at these schools if you want to get the best education that money can buy.
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 large 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 city of Rochester.
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You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around you if you attend Midwestern University - Glendale. The school came in at #3 on this year’s Best Nursing Doctor’s Degree Schools list. Located in the large suburb of Glendale, Midwestern University - Glendale is a private not-for-profit school with a small student population.
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A rank of #4 on this year’s list means Wake Forest University is a great place for nursing students working on their doctor’s degree. Located in the midsize city of Winston-Salem, Wake Forest University is a private not-for-profit college with a moderately-sized student population.
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A rank of #5 on this year’s list means University of St. Augustine for Health Sciences is a great place for nursing students working on their doctor’s degree. 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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Texas Christian University came in at #6 in this year’s edition of the Best Nursing Doctor’s Degree Schools ranking. 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 school with a small student population.
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Bryan College of Health Sciences landed the #8 spot in the 2023 rankings for the best doctor’s degree nursing programs. Bryan College of Health Sciences is a small private not-for-profit school located in the city of Lincoln.
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Samuel Merritt 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 #9 on the list. Samuel Merritt University is a small private not-for-profit school located in the city of Oakland.
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The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston came in at #10 in this year’s edition of the Best Nursing Doctor’s Degree Schools ranking. Located in the large city of Houston, UTHealth is a public school with a medium-sized student population.
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University of Pennsylvania ranked #11 on this year’s Best Nursing Doctor’s Degree Schools list. Located in the large city of Philadelphia, UPenn is a private not-for-profit college with a very large student population.
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With a ranking of #12, Mount Marty University did quite well on this year’s best schools for nursing students working on their doctor’s degree. Located in the town of Yankton, Mount Marty is a private not-for-profit school with a small student population.
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Villanova University came in at #13 in this year’s edition of the Best Nursing Doctor’s Degree Schools ranking. Located in the large suburb of Villanova, Villanova is a private not-for-profit college with a large student population.
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Baylor College of Medicine came in at #14 in this year’s edition of the Best Nursing Doctor’s Degree Schools ranking. Baylor College of Medicine is a small private not-for-profit school located in the city of Houston.
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With a ranking of #15, Thomas Jefferson University did quite well on this year’s best schools for nursing students working on their doctor’s degree. Thomas Jefferson University is a moderately-sized private not-for-profit school located in the large city of Philadelphia.
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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 midsize city of Richmond.
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Vanderbilt University ranked #17 on this year’s Best Nursing Doctor’s Degree Schools list. Located in the city of Nashville, Vanderbilt is a private not-for-profit school with a large student population.
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Point Loma Nazarene University landed the #18 spot in the 2023 rankings for the best doctor’s degree nursing programs. Located in the city of San Diego, PLNU is a private not-for-profit college with a small student population.
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With a ranking of #19, Texas Wesleyan University did quite well on this year’s best schools for nursing students working on their doctor’s degree. Texas Wesleyan is a small private not-for-profit school located in the large city of Fort Worth.
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With a ranking of #20, Chamberlain University - Illinois did quite well on this year’s best schools for nursing students working on their doctor’s degree. Chamberlain - Illinois is a fairly large private for-profit school located in the suburb of Addison.
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With a ranking of #21, University of California - Los Angeles did quite well on this year’s best schools for nursing students working on their doctor’s degree. Located in the large city of Los Angeles, UCLA is a public school with a fairly large student population.
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The University of Texas Medical Branch landed the #22 spot in the 2023 rankings for the best doctor’s degree nursing programs. Located in the fringe town of Galveston, UTMB Galveston is a public college with a small student population.
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University of Nevada - Las Vegas landed the #23 spot in the 2023 rankings for the best doctor’s degree nursing programs. Located in the city of Las Vegas, UNLV is a public school with a very large student population.
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With a ranking of #24, Rush University did quite well on this year’s best schools for nursing students working on their doctor’s degree. Rush University is a small private not-for-profit school located in the city of Chicago.
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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 #25 on the list. Located in the city of Durham, Duke is a private not-for-profit college with a large student population.
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Remaining Award Winners
This list shows the remainder of the colleges awarded a Best Nursing Doctor's Degree Schools badge. Showing in this list means the college 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 |
More Nursing Rankings
Nursing Related Rankings by Major
Nursing is one of 30 different types of programs to choose from.
Most Popular Related Majors
| Related Major | Annual Graduates |
|---|---|
| Health & Medical Administrative Services | 89,359 |
| Allied Health & Medical Assisting Services | 84,492 |
| Practical Nursing & Nursing Assistants | 84,274 |
| Allied Health Professions | 82,308 |
| Public Health | 40,596 |
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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