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Most Popular Online Nursing Doctor's Degree Schools

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2023 Most Popular Online Nursing Doctor's Degree Schools

173 Colleges
$115,233 Avg Salary

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.

To assist you in seeing some of the education options that are available to you, Course Advisor has created its Most Popular Online Nursing Doctor's Degree Schools ranking. This report analyzed 173 schools in the United States to see which ones were the most popular online doctor's degree programs for students. To create this ranking we looked at how many students graduated from schools with online programs.

Check out the online nursing doctor's degree programs at these schools if you want to attend one of the most popular in the United States.

Our analysis found Chamberlain University - Illinois to be the most popular school for nursing students who want to pursue an online doctor’s degree in the United States. Chamberlain - Illinois is a very large private for-profit school located in the large suburb of Addison.

About 93% of the students majoring in nursing at the school are women while 7% are male.

Full Nursing at Chamberlain University - Illinois Report

#2

Grand Canyon University

Phoenix, AZ

A rank of #2 on this year’s list means Grand Canyon University is a great place for nursing students working on their online doctor’s degree. Grand Canyon University is a very large private for-profit school located in the large city of Phoenix.

About 90% of the students majoring in nursing at the school are women while 10% are male.

Full Nursing at Grand Canyon University Report

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. Located in the rural area of Hyden, Frontier Nursing University is a private not-for-profit school with a small student population.

About 92% of the students majoring in nursing at the school are women while 8% are male.

Read full report on Nursing at Frontier Nursing University

#5

Capella University

Minneapolis, MN

Out of the 173 online programs at schools in the United States that were part of this year’s ranking, Capella University landed the # 5 spot on the list. Capella University is a very large private for-profit school located in the large city of Minneapolis.

Women make up 94% of the nursing majors at the school.

Full Nursing at Capella University Report

University of South Alabama came in at #6 in this year’s edition of the Most Popular Online Nursing Doctor’s Degree Schools ranking. USA is a fairly large public school located in the midsize city of Mobile.

About 92% of the students majoring in nursing at the school are women while 8% are male.

Full Nursing at University of South Alabama Report

#7

Brandman University

Irvine, CA

Brandman University ranked #7 on this year’s Most Popular Online Nursing Doctor’s Degree Schools list. Located in the city of Irvine, Brandman is a private not-for-profit school with a moderately-sized student population.

Of the 113 students majoring in nursing at Brandman, 16% are male and 84% are female.

Read full report on Nursing at Brandman University

#8

Samford University

Birmingham, AL

Samford University landed the #8 spot in the 2023 rankings for the most popular online doctor’s degree nursing programs. Located in the large suburb of Birmingham, Samford is a private not-for-profit school with a moderately-sized student population.

Women make up 89% of the nursing majors at the school.

Read More…

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 very large public school located in the city of Birmingham.

Women make up 73% of the nursing majors at the school.

Read More…

University of North Carolina at Greensboro landed the #10 spot in the 2023 rankings for the most popular online doctor’s degree nursing programs. Located in the large city of Greensboro, UNC Greensboro is a public school with a fairly large student population.

About 80% of the students majoring in nursing at the school are women while 20% are male.

Full Nursing at University of North Carolina at Greensboro Report

#11

Northern Kentucky University

Highland Heights, KY

With a ranking of #11, Northern Kentucky University did quite well on this year’s most popular schools for nursing students working on their online doctor’s degree. NKU is a fairly large public school located in the large suburb of Highland Heights.

About 87% of the students majoring in nursing at the school are women while 13% are male.

Read full report on Nursing at Northern Kentucky University

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 online doctor’s degree. Located in the suburb of Saint Louis, Maryville U is a private not-for-profit school with a large student population.

Women make up 91% of the nursing majors at the school.

Read full report on Nursing at Maryville University of Saint Louis

#13

Chatham University

Pittsburgh, PA

Chatham University landed the #13 spot in the 2023 rankings for the most popular online doctor’s degree nursing programs. Located in the city of Pittsburgh, Chatham is a private not-for-profit school with a small student population.

Of the 74 students majoring in nursing at Chatham, 11% are male and 89% are female.

Full Nursing at Chatham University Report

#14

University of North Florida

Jacksonville, FL

With a ranking of #14, University of North Florida did quite well on this year’s most popular schools for nursing students working on their online doctor’s degree. Located in the city of Jacksonville, UNF is a public school with a large student population.

Of the 102 students majoring in nursing at UNF, 14% are male and 86% are female.

Read full report on Nursing at University of North Florida

#15

University of Florida

Gainesville, FL

University of Florida came in at #15 in this year’s edition of the Most Popular Online Nursing Doctor’s Degree Schools ranking. Located in the medium-sized city of Gainesville, UF is a public school with a very large student population.

Women make up 92% of the nursing majors at the school.

Full Nursing at University of Florida Report

#16

Purdue University Global

Indianapolis, IN

Purdue University Global landed the #16 spot in the 2023 rankings for the most popular online doctor’s degree nursing programs. Purdue University Global is a fairly large public school located in the city of Indianapolis.

About 97% of the students majoring in nursing at the school are women while 3% are male.

Full Nursing at Purdue University Global Report

With a ranking of #17, Virginia Commonwealth University did quite well on this year’s most popular schools for nursing students working on their online doctor’s degree. VCU is a fairly large public school located in the medium-sized city of Richmond.

About 67% of the students majoring in nursing at the school are women while 33% are male.

Full Nursing at Virginia Commonwealth University Report

With a ranking of #18, University of Massachusetts Amherst did quite well on this year’s most popular schools for nursing students working on their online doctor’s degree. Located in the large suburb of Amherst, UMass Amherst is a public school with a fairly large student population.

Women make up 85% of the nursing majors at the school.

Read More…

#19

East Carolina University

Greenville, NC

East Carolina University did quite well in this year’s ranking of the most popular online places for nursing students to get a doctor’s degree. It came in at #19 on the list. ECU is a very large public school located in the city of Greenville.

Of the 51 students majoring in nursing at ECU, 8% are male and 92% are female.

Read More…

#20

University of Kansas

Lawrence, KS

University of Kansas ranked #20 on this year’s Most Popular Online Nursing Doctor’s Degree Schools list. KU is a fairly large public school located in the city of Lawrence.

Of the 80 students majoring in nursing at KU, 19% are male and 81% are female.

Full Nursing at University of Kansas Report

#21

University of Iowa

Iowa City, IA

University of Iowa landed the #21 spot in the 2023 rankings for the most popular online doctor’s degree nursing programs. Iowa is a fairly large public school located in the small city of Iowa City.

Women make up 82% of the nursing majors at the school.

Read More…

University of Missouri - Kansas City came in at #21 in this year’s edition of the Most Popular Online Nursing Doctor’s Degree Schools ranking. UMKC is a large public school located in the city of Kansas City.

About 81% of the students majoring in nursing at the school are women while 19% are male.

Read full report on Nursing at University of Missouri - Kansas City

University of Central Florida ranked #21 on this year’s Most Popular Online Nursing Doctor’s Degree Schools list. UCF is a very large public school located in the suburb of Orlando.

Of the 47 students majoring in nursing at UCF, 9% are male and 91% are female.

Read More…

The University of Texas at Arlington did quite well in this year’s ranking of the most popular online places for nursing students to get a doctor’s degree. It came in at #24 on the list. Located in the city of Arlington, UT Arlington is a public college with a very large student population.

Women make up 94% of the nursing majors at the school.

Full Nursing at The University of Texas at Arlington Report

University of St. Augustine for Health Sciences landed the #25 spot in the 2023 rankings for the most popular online doctor’s degree nursing programs. Located in the suburb of San Marcos, USAHS is a private for-profit school with a moderately-sized student population.

About 82% of the students majoring in nursing at the school are women while 18% are male.

Read More…

Additional Noteworthy Schools

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

Rank College Location
27 Old Dominion University Norfolk, VA
27 Bradley University Peoria, IL
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

View the Most Popular Online 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 is one of 30 different types of programs to choose from.

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 26 schools only.

  • 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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