2025 Best Nursing Practice Doctor's Degree Schools in Virginia

Nursing Practice is of the hottest doctor's degree programs in the United States, coming in as the #7 most popular major in the country. This means there are lots of options to choose from when you decide to get your degree.

In 2025, College Factual analyzed 5 schools in order to identify the top ones for its Best Nursing Practice Doctor's Degree Schools in Virginia ranking. Combined, these schools handed out 129 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. To make it into this list, a school must excel in the following areas.

A Great Overall School

A school that excels in educating for a particular major and degree level must be a great school overall as well. To take this into account we include a school's overall Best Colleges for a Doctor's Degree ranking which itself looks at a combination of various 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 picking the right college can be one of the most important decisions of your life, we've developed the Best Nursing Practice Doctor's Degree Schools in Virginia ranking, along with many other major-related rankings, to help you make that decision.

Best Schools for Doctorate Students to Study Nursing Practice in Virginia

Below you'll see a list of the best colleges and universities for pursuing a doctor's degree in nursing practice.

Top Virginia Schools for a Doctorate in Nursing Practice

1

Virginia Commonwealth University
Richmond, VA

Doctor's Degree Highest Degree Type

13 Annual Graduates

It's hard to beat Virginia Commonwealth University if you wish to pursue a doctor's degree in nursing practice. VCU is a very large public university located in the city of Richmond.More information about a doctorate in nursing practice from Virginia Commonwealth University

2

University of Virginia - Main Campus
Charlottesville, VA

Doctor's Degree Highest Degree Type

21 Annual Graduates

Any student who is interested in a doctor's degree in nursing practice needs to check out University of Virginia - Main Campus. University of Virginia is a very large public university located in the midsize suburb of Charlottesville.More information about a doctorate in nursing practice from University of Virginia - Main Campus

3

Liberty University
Lynchburg, VA

Doctor's Degree Highest Degree Type

36 Annual Graduates

Any student who is interested in a doctor's degree in nursing practice has to take a look at Liberty University. Liberty University is a fairly large private not-for-profit university located in the small city of Lynchburg.More information about a doctorate in nursing practice from Liberty University

4

James Madison University
Harrisonburg, VA

Doctor's Degree Highest Degree Type

11 Annual Graduates

James Madison University is a wonderful option for individuals interested in a doctor's degree in nursing practice. Located in the small city of Harrisonburg, JMU is a public university with a fairly large student population.More information about a doctorate in nursing practice from James Madison University

5

George Mason University
Fairfax, VA

Doctor's Degree Highest Degree Type

38 Annual Graduates

Located in the suburb of Fairfax, GMU is a public university with a fairly large student population.More information about a doctorate in nursing practice from George Mason University

Best Nursing Practice Colleges in the Southeast Region

Explore all the Best Nursing Practice Schools 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
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 >

Nursing Practice Related Rankings by Major

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

Majors Similar to Nursing Practice

Related Major	Annual Graduates
Nurse Anesthetist	52
Other Registered Nursing, Nursing Administration, Nursing Research and Clinical Nursing	45
Nursing Science	11
Psychiatric/Mental Health Nurse/Nursing	8
Registered Nursing	2
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.