2023 Most Popular Online Nursing Doctor's Degree Schools
Finding the Most Popular Online 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.
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.
2023 Most Popular Online Nursing Doctor’s Degree Schools in the United States
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.
Top 25 Most Popular Online Schools for a Doctorate in Nursing
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 suburb of Addison.
About 93% of the students majoring in nursing at the school are women while 7% are male.
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Out of the 173 online programs at schools in the United States that were part of this year’s ranking, Grand Canyon University landed the # 2 spot on the list. Grand Canyon University is a fairly 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.
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The in-demand online doctor’s degree programs at Frontier Nursing University helped the school earn the #4 place on this year’s ranking of the best nursing schools in the United States. 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.
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A rank of #5 on this year’s list means Capella University is a great place for nursing students working on their online doctor’s degree. Capella University is a very large private for-profit school located in the city of Minneapolis.
Women make up 94% of the nursing majors at the school.
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With a ranking of #6, University of South Alabama did quite well on this year’s most popular schools for nursing students working on their online doctor’s degree. USA is a fairly large public school located in the city of Mobile.
About 92% of the students majoring in nursing at the school are women while 8% are male.
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Brandman University ranked #7 on this year’s Most Popular Online Nursing Doctor’s Degree Schools list. Located in the large city of Irvine, Brandman is a private not-for-profit college with a medium-sized student population.
Of the 113 students majoring in nursing at Brandman, 16% are male and 84% are female.
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Samford 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 #8 on the list. Located in the suburb of Birmingham, Samford is a private not-for-profit college with a moderately-sized student population.
Women make up 89% of the nursing majors at the school.
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University of Alabama at Birmingham landed the #9 spot in the 2023 rankings for the most popular online doctor’s degree nursing programs. UAB is a fairly large public school located in the medium-sized city of Birmingham.
Women make up 73% of the nursing majors at the school.
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University of North Carolina at Greensboro ranked #10 on this year’s Most Popular Online Nursing Doctor’s Degree Schools list. Located in the large city of Greensboro, UNC Greensboro is a public college with a fairly large student population.
About 80% of the students majoring in nursing at the school are women while 20% are male.
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Northern Kentucky 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 #11 on the list. NKU is a 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.
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Maryville University of Saint Louis ranked #12 on this year’s Most Popular Online Nursing Doctor’s Degree Schools list. Located in the suburb of Saint Louis, Maryville U is a private not-for-profit college with a large student population.
Women make up 91% of the nursing majors at the school.
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With a ranking of #13, Chatham University 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 Pittsburgh, Chatham is a private not-for-profit college with a small student population.
Of the 74 students majoring in nursing at Chatham, 11% are male and 89% are female.
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University of North Florida came in at #14 in this year’s edition of the Most Popular Online Nursing Doctor’s Degree Schools ranking. 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.
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University of Florida 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 #15 on the list. Located in the midsize 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.
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With a ranking of #16, Purdue University Global did quite well on this year’s most popular schools for nursing students working on their online doctor’s degree. 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.
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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 very 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.
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University of Massachusetts Amherst came in at #18 in this year’s edition of the Most Popular Online Nursing Doctor’s Degree Schools ranking. Located in the large suburb of Amherst, UMass Amherst is a public school with a very large student population.
Women make up 85% of the nursing majors at the school.
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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.
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With a ranking of #20, University of Kansas did quite well on this year’s most popular schools for nursing students working on their online doctor’s degree. KU is a very large public school located in the small city of Lawrence.
Of the 80 students majoring in nursing at KU, 19% are male and 81% are female.
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University of Iowa 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 #21 on the list. 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.
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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 online doctor’s degree. UMKC is a fairly large public school located in the large city of Kansas City.
About 81% of the students majoring in nursing at the school are women while 19% are male.
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University of Central Florida came in at #21 in this year’s edition of the Most Popular Online Nursing Doctor’s Degree Schools ranking. UCF is a fairly large public school located in the large suburb of Orlando.
Of the 47 students majoring in nursing at UCF, 9% are male and 91% are female.
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With a ranking of #24, The University of Texas at Arlington 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 Arlington, UT Arlington is a public school with a very large student population.
Women make up 94% of the nursing majors at the school.
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University of St. Augustine for Health Sciences ranked #25 on this year’s Most Popular Online Nursing Doctor’s Degree Schools list. Located in the large 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.
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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 |
Most Popular Online Nursing by Region
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 |
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Majors Related to Nursing
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 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.