2025 Best Nursing Practice Doctor's Degree Schools in Pennsylvania

Ranked #7 in popularity, nursing practice 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.

College Factual reviewed 11 schools in Pennsylvania to determine which ones were the best for doctor's degree seekers in the field of nursing practice. Combined, these schools handed out 218 doctor's degrees in nursing practice to qualified students.

Jump to one of the following sections: * Our Methodology

• Best Doctor’s Degree Schools List

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

Your choice of nursing practice for getting your doctor's degree school matters. This section explores some of the factors we include in our ranking and how much they vary depending on the school you select. 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 good 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.

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 practice students vs. other majors.
• Major Demand - How many other nursing practice students want to attend this school to pursue a doctor's degree.
• 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.
• 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.

One Size Does Not Fit All

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 Pennsylvania list to help you make the college decision.

Best Schools for Doctorate Students to Study Nursing Practice in Pennsylvania

The following list ranks the best colleges and universities for pursuing a doctor's degree in nursing practice.

10 Top Pennsylvania Schools for a Doctorate in Nursing Practice

1

Villanova University
Villanova, PA

Doctor's Degree Highest Degree Type

34 Annual Graduates

Every student who is interested in a doctor's degree in nursing practice needs to look into Villanova University. Located in the suburb of Villanova, Villanova is a private not-for-profit university with a large student population.More information about a doctorate in nursing practice from Villanova University

2

Thomas Jefferson University
Philadelphia, PA

Doctor's Degree Highest Degree Type

44 Annual Graduates

It's difficult to beat Thomas Jefferson University if you want to pursue a doctor's degree in nursing practice. Located in the city of Philadelphia, Thomas Jefferson University is a private not-for-profit university with a moderately-sized student population.More information about a doctorate in nursing practice from Thomas Jefferson University

3

La Salle University
Philadelphia, PA

Doctor's Degree Highest Degree Type

6 Annual Graduates

Any student who is interested in a doctor's degree in nursing practice has to check out La Salle University. La Salle is a small private not-for-profit university located in the large city of Philadelphia.More information about a doctorate in nursing practice from La Salle University

4

Drexel University
Philadelphia, PA

Doctor's Degree Highest Degree Type

10 Annual Graduates

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

5

Widener University
Chester, PA

Doctor's Degree Highest Degree Type

5 Annual Graduates

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

6

Duquesne University
Pittsburgh, PA

Doctor's Degree Highest Degree Type

10 Annual Graduates

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

7

Gannon University
Erie, PA

Doctor's Degree Highest Degree Type

14 Annual Graduates

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

8

Holy Family University
Philadelphia, PA

Doctor's Degree Highest Degree Type

5 Annual Graduates

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

9

York College of Pennsylvania
York, PA

Doctor's Degree Highest Degree Type

16 Annual Graduates

YCP is a small private not-for-profit college located in the midsize suburb of York.More information about a doctorate in nursing practice from York College of Pennsylvania

10

Wilkes University
Wilkes-Barre, PA

Doctor's Degree Highest Degree Type

18 Annual Graduates

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

Best Nursing Practice Colleges in the Middle Atlantic Region

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

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

View All Rankings >

Rankings in Majors Related to Nursing Practice

Nursing Practice is one of 23 different types of Nursing programs to choose from.

Most Popular Related Majors

Related Major	Annual Graduates
Nurse Anesthetist	154
Registered Nursing	148
Nursing Science	35
Clinical Nurse Specialist	31
Other Registered Nursing, Nursing Administration, Nursing Research and Clinical Nursing	23
Nursing Administration	13
Family Practice Nurse/Nursing	7
Nurse Midwife/Nursing Midwifery	5

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.