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Best Nursing Doctor's Degree Schools in Pennsylvania

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2023 Best Nursing Doctor's Degree Schools in Pennsylvania

27 Colleges
$115,233 Avg Salary

Finding the Best Nursing Doctor's Degree School for You

Nursing is the most popular major in Pennsylvania with 11,477 degrees and certificates handed out in 2020-2021.

When it comes to higher education, there are a lot of options for healthcare students. You can choose a traditional brick and mortar school, or with the growth of online education, you can attend a school half-way across the country without even leaving your house. Also there are many trade schools that offer short-term programs that open up more career options.

The Best Nursing Doctor's Degree Schools in Pennsylvania ranking is one of many tools that Healthcare Degree Search has developed to help you make your educational decision. This report analyzed 27 schools in Pennsylvania to see which ones offered the best doctor's degree programs for healthcare 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 Pennsylvania

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

Top 10 Best Nursing Doctor's Degree Schools

#1

University of Pennsylvania

Philadelphia, PA

Our analysis found University of Pennsylvania to be the best school for nursing students who want to pursue a doctor’s degree in Pennsylvania. UPenn is a very large private not-for-profit school located in the city of Philadelphia.

Read full report on Nursing at University of Pennsylvania

#2

Villanova University

Villanova, PA

You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around you if you attend Villanova University. The school came in at #2 on this year’s Best Nursing Doctor’s Degree Schools in Pennsylvania list. Villanova is a fairly large private not-for-profit school located in the suburb of Villanova.

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#3

Thomas Jefferson University

Philadelphia, PA

You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around you if you attend Thomas Jefferson University. The school came in at #3 on this year’s Best Nursing Doctor’s Degree Schools in Pennsylvania list. Located in the large city of Philadelphia, Thomas Jefferson University is a private not-for-profit college with a medium-sized student population.

Read full report on Nursing at Thomas Jefferson University

#4

Wilkes University

Wilkes-Barre, PA

A rank of #4 on this year’s list means Wilkes University is a great place for nursing students working on their doctor’s degree. Located in the city of Wilkes-Barre, Wilkes is a private not-for-profit college with a moderately-sized student population.

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#5

Chatham University

Pittsburgh, PA

A rank of #5 on this year’s list means Chatham University is a great place for nursing students working on their doctor’s degree. Chatham is a small private not-for-profit school located in the large city of Pittsburgh.

Full Nursing at Chatham University Report

University of Pittsburgh - Pittsburgh Campus landed the #6 spot in the 2023 rankings for the best doctor’s degree nursing programs. Pitt is a fairly large public school located in the city of Pittsburgh.

Full Nursing at University of Pittsburgh - Pittsburgh Campus Report

#7

Gannon University

Erie, PA

With a ranking of #7, Gannon University did quite well on this year’s best schools for nursing students working on their doctor’s degree. Located in the city of Erie, Gannon is a private not-for-profit school with a small student population.

Read full report on Nursing at Gannon University

With a ranking of #8, Pennsylvania College of Health Sciences did quite well on this year’s best schools for nursing students working on their doctor’s degree. Located in the large suburb of Lancaster, PA College is a private not-for-profit school with a small student population.

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West Chester University of Pennsylvania landed the #9 spot in the 2023 rankings for the best doctor’s degree nursing programs. Located in the suburb of West Chester, WCUPA is a public school with a large student population.

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#10

Drexel University

Philadelphia, PA

Drexel University ranked #10 on this year’s Best Nursing Doctor’s Degree Schools in Pennsylvania list. Located in the city of Philadelphia, Drexel is a private not-for-profit school with a very large student population.

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Best Nursing Colleges in the Middle Atlantic Region

Explore all the Best Nursing Schools in the Middle Atlantic Area or other specific states within that region.

State Degrees Awarded
New York 17,708
Maryland 4,104
New Jersey 5,648
District of Columbia 990
Delaware 1,267

One of 30 majors within the healthcare area of study, nursing has other similar majors worth exploring.

Nursing Concentrations

Major Annual Graduates
Registered Nursing 266,651
Family Practice Nurse/Nursing 16,104
Nursing Administration 9,838
Nursing Practice 7,992
Other Registered Nursing, Nursing Administration, Nursing Research and Clinical Nursing 5,092
Nursing Science 4,600
Psychiatric/Mental Health Nurse/Nursing 2,287
Adult Health Nurse/Nursing 2,021
Nurse Anesthetist 1,936
Public Health/Community Nurse/Nursing 1,883
Critical Care Nursing 773
Geriatric Nurse/Nursing 563
School Nursing 553
Nurse Midwife/Nursing Midwifery 509
Clinical Nurse Leader 444
Clinical Nurse Specialist 419
Perioperative/Operating Room and Surgical Nurse/Nursing 331
Maternal/Child Health and Neonatal Nurse/Nursing 181
Occupational and Environmental Health Nursing 57
Emergency Room/Trauma Nursing 53
Palliative Care Nursing 14
Forensic Nursing 14

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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