2025 Best Nursing Practice Doctor's Degree Schools in the Middle Atlantic Region

If you pursue a doctor's degree in nursing practice, you won't be alone. The field of study is the #7 most popular program in the country. This makes choosing the right school a hard decision.

In 2025, College Factual analyzed 17 schools in order to identify the top ones for its Best Nursing Practice Doctor's Degree Schools in the Middle Atlantic Region ranking. Combined, these schools handed out 615 doctor's degrees in nursing practice to qualified students.

What's on this page: * Our Methodology

• Best Doctor’s Degree Schools List

Choosing a Great Nursing Practice School for Your Doctor's Degree

The nursing practice doctor's degree program you select can have a big impact on your future. Important measures of a quality nursing practice program can vary widely even among the top schools. When choosing a school we recommend considering some of the following factors:

Quality Overall Is Important

A school that excels in educating for a particular major and degree level must be a great school overall as well. To account for this we include a school's overall Best Colleges for a Doctor's Degree ranking which itself looks at a collection of different factors like degree completion, educational resources, student body caliber and post-graduation earnings for the school as a whole.

Other Factors We Consider

The metrics below are just some of the other metrics that we use to determine our rankings.

• Major Focus - How many resources a school devotes to nursing practice students as compared to other majors.
• Major Demand - The number of nursing practice students who choose to seek a doctor's degree at the school.
• Educational Resources - How many resources are allocated to students. These resources may include educational expenditures per student, number of students per instructor, and graduation rate among other things.
• Accreditation - Whether a school is regionally accredited and/or accredited by a recognized nursing practice related body.

Our full ranking methodology documents in more detail how we consider these factors to identify the best colleges for nursing practice students working on their doctor's degree.

More Ways to Rank Nursing Practice Schools

When choosing the right school for you, it's important to arm yourself with all the facts you can. To that end, we've created a number of major-specific rankings, including this Best Nursing Practice Doctor's Degree Schools in the Middle Atlantic Region list to help you make the college decision.

Best Schools for Doctorate Students to Study Nursing Practice in the Middle Atlantic Region

Learn about the top ranked colleges and universities for nursing practice students seeking a a doctor's degree.

10 Top Middle Atlantic Region Schools for a Doctorate in Nursing Practice

1

University of Maryland - Baltimore
Baltimore, MD

Doctor's Degree Highest Degree Type

141 Annual Graduates

University of Maryland - Baltimore is one of the finest schools in the United States for getting a doctor's degree in nursing practice. UMB is a moderately-sized public university located in the large city of Baltimore.More information about a doctorate in nursing practice from University of Maryland - Baltimore

2

Villanova University
Villanova, PA

Doctor's Degree Highest Degree Type

34 Annual Graduates

It's hard to beat Villanova University if you wish to pursue a doctor's degree in nursing practice. Villanova is a fairly large private not-for-profit university located in the suburb of Villanova.More information about a doctorate in nursing practice from Villanova University

3

Thomas Jefferson University
Philadelphia, PA

Doctor's Degree Highest Degree Type

44 Annual Graduates

Thomas Jefferson University is one of the best schools in the United States for getting a doctor's degree in nursing practice. Thomas Jefferson University is a moderately-sized private not-for-profit university located in the large city of Philadelphia.More information about a doctorate in nursing practice from Thomas Jefferson University

4

La Salle University
Philadelphia, PA

Doctor's Degree Highest Degree Type

6 Annual Graduates

It is hard to beat La Salle University if you wish to pursue a doctor's degree in nursing practice. Located in the large city of Philadelphia, La Salle is a private not-for-profit university with a small student population.More information about a doctorate in nursing practice from La Salle University

5

Drexel University
Philadelphia, PA

Doctor's Degree Highest Degree Type

10 Annual Graduates

Drexel is a fairly large private not-for-profit university located in the city of Philadelphia.More information about a doctorate in nursing practice from Drexel University

6

Wagner College
Staten Island, NY

Doctor's Degree Highest Degree Type

10 Annual Graduates

Wagner is a small private not-for-profit college located in the city of Staten Island.More information about a doctorate in nursing practice from Wagner College

7

Widener University
Chester, PA

Doctor's Degree Highest Degree Type

5 Annual Graduates

Located in the suburb of Chester, Widener is a private not-for-profit university with a moderately-sized student population.More information about a doctorate in nursing practice from Widener University

8

Seton Hall University
South Orange, NJ

Doctor's Degree Highest Degree Type

8 Annual Graduates

Located in the large suburb of South Orange, Seton Hall is a private not-for-profit university with a moderately-sized student population.More information about a doctorate in nursing practice from Seton Hall University

9

Duquesne University
Pittsburgh, PA

Doctor's Degree Highest Degree Type

10 Annual Graduates

Duquesne is a moderately-sized private not-for-profit university located in the city of Pittsburgh.More information about a doctorate in nursing practice from Duquesne University

10

Gannon University
Erie, PA

Doctor's Degree Highest Degree Type

14 Annual Graduates

Gannon is a small private not-for-profit university located in the city of Erie.More information about a doctorate in nursing practice from Gannon University

Best Nursing Practice Colleges by State

Explore the best nursing practice colleges for a specific state in the Middle Atlantic Region .

State	Colleges	Degrees Awarded
New York	366	157
Pennsylvania	311	193
Maryland	190	142
New Jersey	165	25
District of Columbia	143	18
Delaware	63	43

View All Rankings >

Nursing Practice Related Rankings by Major

One of 23 majors within the Nursing area of study, Nursing Practice has other similar majors worth exploring.

Most Popular Majors Related to Nursing Practice

Related Major	Annual Graduates
Nursing Science	294
Registered Nursing	231
Nurse Anesthetist	206
Nursing Administration	159
Family Practice Nurse/Nursing	78
Adult Health Nurse/Nursing	40
Clinical Nurse Specialist	31
Other Registered Nursing, Nursing Administration, Nursing Research and Clinical Nursing	27
Psychiatric/Mental Health Nurse/Nursing	22
Critical Care Nursing	14

Notes and References

• The bars on the spread charts above show the distribution of the schools on this list +/- one standard deviation from the mean.
• 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.