2025 Best Nursing Doctor's Degree Schools in Massachusetts

Ranked #5 in popularity, nursing 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 looked at 10 colleges and universities when compiling its 2025 Best Nursing Doctor's Degree Schools in Massachusetts ranking. Combined, these schools handed out 401 doctor's degrees in nursing to qualified students.

What's on this page: * Our Methodology

• Best Doctor’s Degree Schools List

Choosing a Great Nursing School for Your Doctor's Degree

The nursing 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. Below we explain some of the most important factors to consider before making your choice:

Overall Quality Is a Must

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 include a college's overall Best Colleges for a Doctor's Degree ranking which itself looks at a host of different factors like degree completion, educational resources, student body caliber and post-graduation earnings for the school as a whole.

Average Early-Career Salaries

Average early-career salary of those graduating with their doctor's degree is one indicator we use in our analysis to find the schools that offer the highest-quality education. That is, everyone wants their doctor's degree to be worth something, and salaries are one measure of determining that.

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 students as compared to other majors.
• Major Demand - How many other nursing students want to attend this school to pursue a doctor's degree.
• 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.
• Student Debt - How much debt nursing students go into to obtain their doctor's degree and how well they are able to pay back that debt.
• Accreditation - Whether a school is regionally accredited and/or accredited by a recognized nursing related body.

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

More Ways to Rank Nursing Schools

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 Doctor's Degree Schools in Massachusetts list to help you make the college decision.

Best Schools for Doctorate Students to Study Nursing in Massachusetts

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

10 Top Massachusetts Schools for a Doctorate in Nursing

1

Northeastern University
Boston, MA

34 Annual Graduates

Northeastern University is a wonderful decision for individuals pursuing a doctor's degree in nursing. Located in the large city of Boston, Northeastern is a private not-for-profit university with a very large student population.More information about a doctorate in nursing from Northeastern University

2

Boston College
Chestnut Hill, MA

34 Annual Graduates

Boston College is a wonderful option for students pursuing a doctor's degree in nursing. Located in the city of Chestnut Hill, Boston College is a private not-for-profit college with a fairly large student population.More information about a doctorate in nursing from Boston College

3

MGH Institute of Health Professions
Boston, MA

23 Annual Graduates

Every student who is interested in a doctor's degree in nursing needs to check out MGH Institute of Health Professions. MGH Institute of Health Professions is a small private not-for-profit school located in the city of Boston.More information about a doctorate in nursing from MGH Institute of Health Professions

4

Simmons University
Boston, MA

47 Annual Graduates

Simmons University is a good decision for individuals pursuing a doctor's degree in nursing. Located in the large city of Boston, Simmons is a private not-for-profit university with a medium-sized student population.More information about a doctorate in nursing from Simmons University

5

Regis College
Weston, MA

106 Annual Graduates

Located in the suburb of Weston, Regis College is a private not-for-profit college with a small student population.More information about a doctorate in nursing from Regis College

6

Elms College
Chicopee, MA

17 Annual Graduates

Elms College is a small private not-for-profit college located in the large suburb of Chicopee.More information about a doctorate in nursing from Elms College

7

University of Massachusetts Amherst
Amherst, MA

29 Annual Graduates

$127,228 Median Starting Salary

UMass Amherst is a fairly large public university located in the city of Amherst.

Those nursing students who get their doctor's degree from University of Massachusetts Amherst receive $3,670 more than the standard nursing graduate.

More information about a doctorate in nursing from University of Massachusetts Amherst

8

University of Massachusetts - Boston
Boston, MA

21 Annual Graduates

Located in the city of Boston, UMass Boston is a public university with a large student population.More information about a doctorate in nursing from University of Massachusetts - Boston

9

University of Massachusetts - Dartmouth
North Dartmouth, MA

13 Annual Graduates

$123,039 Median Starting Salary

Located in the midsize suburb of North Dartmouth, UMass Dartmouth is a public university with a moderately-sized student population.

After graduation, nursing doctorate recipients generally earn an average of $123,039 at the beginning of their careers.

More information about a doctorate in nursing from University of Massachusetts - Dartmouth

10

University of Massachusetts - Lowell
Lowell, MA

10 Annual Graduates

UMass Lowell is a large public university located in the suburb of Lowell.More information about a doctorate in nursing from University of Massachusetts - Lowell

Best Nursing Colleges in the New England Region

Explore all the Best Nursing Schools in the New England Area or other specific states within that region.

State	Colleges	Degrees Awarded
Connecticut	93	221
Rhode Island	78	14
New Hampshire	47	15
Maine	46	0
Vermont	30	25

View All Rankings >

Rankings in Majors Related to Nursing

One of 34 majors within the Health Professions area of study, Nursing has other similar majors worth exploring.

Nursing Concentrations

Major	Annual Graduates
Nursing Practice	191
Registered Nursing	117
Nursing Science	33
Nurse Anesthetist	23
Family Practice Nurse/Nursing	20
Nursing Administration	12
Other Registered Nursing, Nursing Administration, Nursing Research and Clinical Nursing	3
Psychiatric/Mental Health Nurse/Nursing	2

Most Popular Related Majors

Related Major	Annual Graduates
Rehabilitation & Therapeutic Professions	706
Medicine	668
Pharmacy/Pharmaceutical Sciences	554
Dentistry	467
Optometry	192
Health Sciences & Services	35
Public Health	25
Advanced Dentistry & Oral Sciences	14
Mental & Social Health Services	13
Allied Health Professions	11

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.