2025 Best Nursing Doctor's Degree Schools
Ranked #5 in popularity,
nursing is one of the most sought-after doctor's degree programs in the nation. So, there are lots of possibilities to explore when you're trying to determine where you want to get your degree.
In 2025, College Factual analyzed 254 schools in order to identify the top ones for its Best Nursing Doctor's Degree Schools ranking. Combined, these schools handed out 12,107 doctor's degrees in nursing to qualified students.
Jump to one of the following sections: * Our Methodology
Choosing a Great Nursing School for Your Doctor's Degree
Your choice of nursing for getting your doctor's degree school matters. Important measures of a quality nursing program can vary widely even among the top schools. Below we explain some of the most important factors to consider before making your choice:
Overall Quality Is a Must
The overall quality of a doctor's degree school is important to ensure a quality education, not just how well they do in a particular major. To make it into this list a school must rank well in our overall Best Colleges for a Doctor's Degree ranking. This ranking considered factors such as graduation rates, overall graduate earnings and other educational resources to identify great colleges and universities.
Average Early-Career Salaries
Average early-career salary of those graduating with their doctor's degree is one indicator we use in our analysis to find the schools that offer the highest-quality education. That is, everyone wants their doctor's degree to be worth something, and salaries are one measure of determining that.
Other Factors We Consider
In addition to the above, you should consider some of the following factors:
- Major Focus - How much a school focuses on nursing students vs. other majors.
- Major Demand - The number of nursing students who choose to seek a doctor's degree at the school.
- Educational Resources - The amount of money and other resources allocated to students while they are pursuing their degree. These resources include such things as number of students per instructor and education expenditures per student.
- Student Debt - How easy is it for nursing to pay back their student loans after receiving their doctor's degree.
- Accreditation - Whether a school is regionally accredited and/or accredited by a recognized nursing related body.
Our complete ranking methodology documents in more detail how we consider these factors to identify the best schools for nursing students working on their doctor's degree.
One Size Does Not Fit All
Since picking the right college can be one of the most important decisions of your life, we've developed the Best Nursing Doctor's Degree Schools ranking, along with many other major-related rankings, to help you make that decision.
Best Schools for Doctorate Students to Study Nursing in the United States
Learn about the top ranked colleges and universities for nursing students seeking a a doctor's degree. Only those schools that rank in the top 20% of all the schools we analyze get awarded with a place on this list.
25 Top Schools for a Doctorate in Nursing
Samuel Merritt University is one of the finest schools in the country for getting a doctor's degree in nursing. Located in the city of Oakland, Samuel Merritt University is a private not-for-profit university with a small student population.
Students who graduate with their doctorate from the nursing program state that they receive average early career income of $136,861.
More information about a doctorate in nursing from Samuel Merritt University
It's hard to beat University of Pennsylvania if you want to pursue a doctor's degree in nursing. Located in the city of Philadelphia, UPenn is a private not-for-profit university with a fairly large student population.
Those nursing students who get their doctor's degree from University of Pennsylvania earn $55,741 more than the typical nursing grad.
More information about a doctorate in nursing from University of Pennsylvania
New York University is one of the finest schools in the United States for getting a doctor's degree in nursing. Located in the large city of New York, NYU is a private not-for-profit university with a fairly large student population.
Those nursing students who get their doctor's degree from New York University earn $27,604 more than the typical nursing graduate.
More information about a doctorate in nursing from New York University
Every student who is interested in a doctor's degree in nursing needs to take a look at Duke University. Located in the city of Durham, Duke is a private not-for-profit university with a large student population.
Doctorate recipients from the nursing major at Duke University earn $20,092 above the standard graduate with the same degree when they enter the workforce.
More information about a doctorate in nursing from Duke University
Located in the large city of Fort Worth, TCU is a private not-for-profit university with a large student population.
Nursing doctor's degree recipients from Texas Christian University get an earnings boost of approximately $53,099 over the average earnings of nursing majors.
More information about a doctorate in nursing from Texas Christian University
