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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

In 2020-2021, 322,592 nursing students received a degree or certificate, making the major the #3 most popular in the country.

There are lots of options to pick from today when trying to decide which program is right 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.

To help you arm yourself with the information you need to make your decision, Course Advisor has developed this Best Nursing Doctor's Degree Schools in the Southeast Region ranking. Our analysis looked at 104 schools in the Southeast Region to see which doctor's degree programs offered the best educational experiences for students. To come up with a school's ranking, we analyzed numerous factors related to post-graduation wages, the quality of education offered by the school, average accumulated student debt, and more.

View our full ranking methodology.

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

The colleges and universities below are the best for nursing majors pursuing a doctor's degree.

Top 15% Best Nursing Doctor's Degree Schools

Our analysis found Middle Tennessee School of Anesthesia Inc to be the best school for nursing students who want to pursue a doctor’s degree in the Southeast Region . MTSA is a small private not-for-profit school located in the large city of Madison.

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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 . Located in the medium-sized city of Winston-Salem, Wake Forest University is a private not-for-profit college with a moderately-sized student population.

Full Nursing at Wake Forest University Report

Out of the 104 schools in the Southeast Region that were part of this year’s ranking, Frontier Nursing University landed the # 3 spot on the list. Located in the rural area of Hyden, Frontier Nursing University is a private not-for-profit school with a small student population.

Read full report on Nursing at Frontier Nursing University

You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend Virginia Commonwealth University. It ranked #4 on our 2023 Best Nursing Doctor’s Degree Schools in the Southeast Region list. VCU is a very large public school located in the midsize city of Richmond.

Read full report on Nursing at Virginia Commonwealth University

#5

Vanderbilt University

Nashville, TN

Out of the 104 schools in the Southeast Region that were part of this year’s ranking, Vanderbilt University landed the # 5 spot on the list. Located in the city of Nashville, Vanderbilt is a private not-for-profit school with a fairly large student population.

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#6

Duke University

Durham, NC

Duke University ranked #6 on this year’s Best Nursing Doctor’s Degree Schools in the Southeast Region list. Located in the city of Durham, Duke is a private not-for-profit college with a large student population.

Read full report on Nursing at Duke University

With a ranking of #7, University of Virginia - Main Campus did quite well on this year’s best schools for nursing students working on their doctor’s degree. University of Virginia is a very large public school located in the small suburb of Charlottesville.

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University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill ranked #8 on this year’s Best Nursing Doctor’s Degree Schools in the Southeast Region list. Located in the city of Chapel Hill, UNC Chapel Hill is a public college with a fairly large student population.

Full Nursing at University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Report

#9

Samford University

Birmingham, AL

Samford University came in at #9 in this year’s edition of the Best Nursing Doctor’s Degree Schools in the Southeast Region ranking. Located in the large suburb of Birmingham, Samford is a private not-for-profit school with a medium-sized student population.

Full Nursing at Samford University Report

Medical University of South Carolina landed the #10 spot in the 2023 rankings for the best doctor’s degree nursing programs. MUSC is a small public school located in the medium-sized city of Charleston.

Full Nursing at Medical University of South Carolina Report

University of Southern Mississippi came in at #11 in this year’s edition of the Best Nursing Doctor’s Degree Schools in the Southeast Region ranking. Southern Miss is a large public school located in the small city of Hattiesburg.

Read full report on Nursing at University of Southern Mississippi

#12

Clemson University

Clemson, SC

Clemson University ranked #12 on this year’s Best Nursing Doctor’s Degree Schools in the Southeast Region list. Located in the suburb of Clemson, Clemson is a public college with a very large student population.

Read full report on Nursing at Clemson University

Louisiana State University Health Sciences Center - New Orleans landed the #13 spot in the 2023 rankings for the best doctor’s degree nursing programs. LSU Health - New Orleans is a small public school located in the large city of New Orleans.

Full Nursing at Louisiana State University Health Sciences Center - New Orleans Report

With a ranking of #14, University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences did quite well on this year’s best schools for nursing students working on their doctor’s degree. UAMS is a small public school located in the midsize city of Little Rock.

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#15

University of Florida

Gainesville, FL

With a ranking of #15, University of Florida did quite well on this year’s best schools for nursing students working on their doctor’s degree. Located in the medium-sized city of Gainesville, UF is a public college with a fairly large student population.

Read full report on Nursing at University of Florida

Additional Noteworthy Schools

Here are some additional great schools for Nursing students in the Southeast Region that almost earned our 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
Georgia 7,112
Virginia 6,775
North Carolina 7,425
Florida 21,209
Tennessee 6,004
Kentucky 6,395
South Carolina 3,296
Louisiana 3,502
Arkansas 2,882
Alabama 7,364
Mississippi 2,838
West Virginia 1,771

Nursing is one of 30 different types of programs to choose from.

Majors Similar to Nursing

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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