2025 Best Nursing Practice Doctor's Degree Schools in Kentucky

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 7 schools in order to identify the top ones for its Best Nursing Practice Doctor's Degree Schools in Kentucky ranking. Combined, these schools handed out 232 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 consider a college'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 complete ranking methodology documents in more detail how we consider these factors to identify the best schools for nursing practice students working on their doctor's degree.

More Ways to Rank Nursing Practice Schools

Since the program you select can have a significant impact on your future, we've developed a number of rankings, including this Best Nursing Practice Doctor's Degree Schools in Kentucky list, to help you choose the best school for you.

Best Schools for Doctorate Students to Study Nursing Practice in Kentucky

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

Top Kentucky Schools for a Doctorate in Nursing Practice

1

University of Louisville
Louisville, KY

Doctor's Degree Highest Degree Type

25 Annual Graduates

University of Louisville is one of the best schools in the United States for getting a doctor's degree in nursing practice. UofL is a fairly large public university located in the large city of Louisville.More information about a doctorate in nursing practice from University of Louisville

2

University of Kentucky
Lexington, KY

Doctor's Degree Highest Degree Type

35 Annual Graduates

University of Kentucky is a great decision for individuals pursuing a doctor's degree in nursing practice. Located in the large city of Lexington, UK is a public university with a very large student population.More information about a doctorate in nursing practice from University of Kentucky

3

Northern Kentucky University
Highland Heights, KY

Doctor's Degree Highest Degree Type

105 Annual Graduates

Northern Kentucky University is one of the finest schools in the United States for getting a doctor's degree in nursing practice. Located in the suburb of Highland Heights, NKU is a public university with a large student population.More information about a doctorate in nursing practice from Northern Kentucky University

4

Bellarmine University
Louisville, KY

Doctor's Degree Highest Degree Type

10 Annual Graduates

Bellarmine University is one of the finest schools in the United States for getting a doctor's degree in nursing practice. Located in the city of Louisville, Bellarmine U is a private not-for-profit university with a small student population.More information about a doctorate in nursing practice from Bellarmine University

5

Western Kentucky University
Bowling Green, KY

Doctor's Degree Highest Degree Type

14 Annual Graduates

WKU is a fairly large public university located in the city of Bowling Green.More information about a doctorate in nursing practice from Western Kentucky University

6

Eastern Kentucky University
Richmond, KY

Doctor's Degree Highest Degree Type

19 Annual Graduates

Located in the distant town of Richmond, Eastern is a public university with a fairly large student population.More information about a doctorate in nursing practice from Eastern Kentucky University

7

Murray State University
Murray, KY

Doctor's Degree Highest Degree Type

23 Annual Graduates

Murray State is a moderately-sized public university located in the distant town of Murray.More information about a doctorate in nursing practice from Murray State University

Best Nursing Practice Colleges in the Southeast Region

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

State	Colleges	Degrees Awarded
Florida	217	511
North Carolina	190	282
Georgia	190	86
Virginia	182	122
Mississippi	154	45
Tennessee	150	180
Louisiana	146	106
Alabama	139	241
South Carolina	135	35
Arkansas	74	65
West Virginia	61	10

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
Other Registered Nursing, Nursing Administration, Nursing Research and Clinical Nursing	179
Nursing Administration	6
Nursing Science	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.