2025 Best Nursing Practice Doctor's Degree Schools in North Carolina

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 8 schools in North Carolina to determine which ones were the best for doctor's degree seekers in the field of nursing practice. When you put them all together, these colleges and universities awarded 366 doctor's degrees in nursing practice during the 2022-2023 academic year.

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 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.

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 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.

One Size Does Not Fit All

The nursing practice school you choose to invest your time and money in matters. To help you make the decision that is right for you, we've developed a number of major-specific rankings, including this list of the Best Nursing Practice Doctor's Degree Schools in North Carolina.

Best Schools for Doctorate Students to Study Nursing Practice in North Carolina

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

Top North Carolina Schools for a Doctorate in Nursing Practice

1

Duke University
Durham, NC

Doctor's Degree Highest Degree Type

48 Annual Graduates

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

2

University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
Chapel Hill, NC

Doctor's Degree Highest Degree Type

33 Annual Graduates

It's difficult to beat University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill if you wish to pursue a doctor's degree in nursing practice. UNC Chapel Hill is a very large public university located in the city of Chapel Hill.More information about a doctorate in nursing practice from University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

3

East Carolina University
Greenville, NC

Doctor's Degree Highest Degree Type

74 Annual Graduates

East Carolina University is a wonderful decision for students interested in a doctor's degree in nursing practice. ECU is a fairly large public university located in the city of Greenville.More information about a doctorate in nursing practice from East Carolina University

4

University of North Carolina at Greensboro
Greensboro, NC

Doctor's Degree Highest Degree Type

67 Annual Graduates

It is hard to beat University of North Carolina at Greensboro if you wish to pursue a doctor's degree in nursing practice. UNC Greensboro is a fairly large public university located in the large city of Greensboro.More information about a doctorate in nursing practice from University of North Carolina at Greensboro

5

University of North Carolina at Wilmington
Wilmington, NC

Doctor's Degree Highest Degree Type

70 Annual Graduates

Located in the midsize city of Wilmington, UNCW is a public university with a large student population.More information about a doctorate in nursing practice from University of North Carolina at Wilmington

6

University of North Carolina at Charlotte
Charlotte, NC

Doctor's Degree Highest Degree Type

25 Annual Graduates

Located in the large city of Charlotte, UNC Charlotte is a public university with a fairly large student population.More information about a doctorate in nursing practice from University of North Carolina at Charlotte

7

Western Carolina University
Cullowhee, NC

Doctor's Degree Highest Degree Type

19 Annual Graduates

WCU is a fairly large public university located in the town of Cullowhee.More information about a doctorate in nursing practice from Western Carolina University

8

Lenoir - Rhyne University
Hickory, NC

Doctor's Degree Highest Degree Type

16 Annual Graduates

Lenoir - Rhyne University is a small private not-for-profit university located in the small city of Hickory.More information about a doctorate in nursing practice from Lenoir - Rhyne 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
Georgia	190	86
Virginia	182	122
Mississippi	154	45
Tennessee	150	180
Louisiana	146	106
Alabama	139	241
South Carolina	135	35
Kentucky	119	214
Arkansas	74	65
West Virginia	61	10

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
Nursing Science	27
Nurse Anesthetist	24
Family Practice Nurse/Nursing	23
Registered Nursing	14
Adult Health Nurse/Nursing	6
School Nursing	4
Psychiatric/Mental Health Nurse/Nursing	4
Nursing Administration	2

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.