2025 Best Nursing Science Doctor's Degree Schools in the Southeast Region

If you pursue a doctor's degree in nursing science, you won't be alone. The field of study is the #29 most popular program 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 26 schools in order to identify the top ones for its Best Nursing Science Doctor's Degree Schools in the Southeast Region ranking. When you put them all together, these colleges and universities awarded 257 doctor's degrees in nursing science 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 Science School for Your Doctor's Degree

The nursing science doctor's degree program you select can have a big impact on your future. This section explores some of the factors we include in our ranking and how much they vary depending on the school you select. To make it into this list, a school must excel in the following areas.

A Great Overall School

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 many resources a school devotes to nursing science students as compared to other majors.
• Major Demand - The number of nursing science students who choose to seek a doctor's degree at the school.
• 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 science related body.

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

One Size Does Not Fit All

Since picking the right college can be one of the most important decisions of your life, we've developed the Best Nursing Science Doctor's Degree Schools in the Southeast Region ranking, along with many other major-related rankings, to help you make that decision.

Best Schools for Doctorate Students to Study Nursing Science in the Southeast Region

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

10 Top Southeast Region Schools for a Doctorate in Nursing Science

1

Duke University
Durham, NC

Doctor's Degree Highest Degree Type

9 Annual Graduates

Duke University is one of the best schools in the country for getting a doctor's degree in nursing science. Located in the city of Durham, Duke is a private not-for-profit university with a fairly large student population.More information about a doctorate in nursing science from Duke University

2

Emory University
Atlanta, GA

Doctor's Degree Highest Degree Type

6 Annual Graduates

Emory University is one of the best schools in the United States for getting a doctor's degree in nursing science. Located in the large city of Atlanta, Emory is a private not-for-profit university with a fairly large student population.More information about a doctorate in nursing science from Emory University

3

Virginia Commonwealth University
Richmond, VA

Doctor's Degree Highest Degree Type

4 Annual Graduates

Virginia Commonwealth University is one of the best schools in the United States for getting a doctor's degree in nursing science. Located in the city of Richmond, VCU is a public university with a fairly large student population.More information about a doctorate in nursing science from Virginia Commonwealth University

4

The University of Tennessee - Health Science Center
Memphis, TN

Doctor's Degree Highest Degree Type

4 Annual Graduates

The University of Tennessee - Health Science Center is a great choice for individuals interested in a doctor's degree in nursing science. UTHSC is a small public university located in the large city of Memphis.More information about a doctorate in nursing science from The University of Tennessee - Health Science Center

5

University of Florida
Gainesville, FL

Doctor's Degree Highest Degree Type

4 Annual Graduates

Located in the midsize city of Gainesville, UF is a public university with a very large student population.More information about a doctorate in nursing science from University of Florida

6

University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
Chapel Hill, NC

Doctor's Degree Highest Degree Type

6 Annual Graduates

UNC Chapel Hill is a very large public university located in the small city of Chapel Hill.More information about a doctorate in nursing science from University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

7

Louisiana State University Health Sciences Center - New Orleans
New Orleans, LA

Doctor's Degree Highest Degree Type

5 Annual Graduates

LSU Health - New Orleans is a small public university located in the large city of New Orleans.More information about a doctorate in nursing science from Louisiana State University Health Sciences Center - New Orleans

8

Medical University of South Carolina
Charleston, SC

Doctor's Degree Highest Degree Type

3 Annual Graduates

Located in the city of Charleston, MUSC is a public university with a small student population.More information about a doctorate in nursing science from Medical University of South Carolina

9

University of Virginia - Main Campus
Charlottesville, VA

Doctor's Degree Highest Degree Type

7 Annual Graduates

Located in the medium-sized suburb of Charlottesville, University of Virginia is a public university with a very large student population.More information about a doctorate in nursing science from University of Virginia - Main Campus

10

University of Alabama at Birmingham
Birmingham, AL

Doctor's Degree Highest Degree Type

10 Annual Graduates

Located in the midsize city of Birmingham, UAB is a public university with a very large student population.More information about a doctorate in nursing science from University of Alabama at Birmingham

Best Nursing Science Colleges by State

Explore the best nursing science schools for a specific state in the Southeast Region .

State	Colleges	Degrees Awarded
Florida	217	33
North Carolina	190	34
Georgia	190	110
Virginia	182	10
Mississippi	154	5
Tennessee	150	16
Louisiana	146	1
Alabama	139	6
South Carolina	135	8
Kentucky	119	8
Arkansas	74	1
West Virginia	61	1

View All Rankings >

Rankings in Majors Related to Nursing Science

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

Majors Similar to Nursing Science

Related Major	Annual Graduates
Nursing Practice	2,674
Nurse Anesthetist	361
Other Registered Nursing, Nursing Administration, Nursing Research and Clinical Nursing	250
Nursing Administration	117
Family Practice Nurse/Nursing	100
Registered Nursing	29
Psychiatric/Mental Health Nurse/Nursing	17
Adult Health Nurse/Nursing	14
Critical Care Nursing	5
School Nursing	4

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.