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

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 reviewed 71 schools in the Southeast Region to determine which ones were the best for doctor's degree seekers in the field of nursing. When you put them all together, these colleges and universities awarded 3,832 doctor's degrees in nursing 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 School for Your Doctor's Degree

Your choice of nursing for getting your doctor's degree school matters. Important measures of a quality nursing program can vary widely even among the top schools. 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 good 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.

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

In addition to the above, you should consider some of the following factors:

• Major Focus - How much a school focuses on nursing students vs. other majors.
• Major Demand - The number of nursing 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.
• Student Debt - How easy is it for nursing to pay back their student loans after receiving their doctor's degree.
• 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.

One Size Does Not Fit All

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

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

Explore the top ranked colleges and universities for nursing students seeking a a doctor's degree. Only those schools that rank in the top 20% of all the schools we analyze get awarded with a place on this list.

14 Top Southeast Region Schools for a Doctorate in Nursing

1

Duke University
Durham, NC

97 Annual Graduates

$156,275 Median Starting Salary

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

Doctorate recipients from the nursing major at Duke University earn $19,053 more than the average graduate in this field shortly after graduation.

More information about a doctorate in nursing from Duke University

2

Emory University
Atlanta, GA

53 Annual Graduates

$109,067 Median Starting Salary

It is hard to beat Emory University if you wish to pursue a doctor's degree in nursing. Located in the city of Atlanta, Emory is a private not-for-profit university with a fairly large student population.

Students who graduate with their doctorate from the nursing program state that they receive average early career wages of $109,067.

More information about a doctorate in nursing from Emory University

3

Virginia Commonwealth University
Richmond, VA

69 Annual Graduates

$203,129 Median Starting Salary

Virginia Commonwealth University is one of the best schools in the country for getting a doctor's degree in nursing. Located in the city of Richmond, VCU is a public university with a fairly large student population.

Nursing doctor's degree recipients from Virginia Commonwealth University earn a boost of approximately $65,907 above the average income of nursing majors.

More information about a doctorate in nursing from Virginia Commonwealth University

4

Samford University
Birmingham, AL

103 Annual Graduates

$107,827 Median Starting Salary

It is difficult to beat Samford University if you want to pursue a doctor's degree in nursing. Located in the large suburb of Birmingham, Samford is a private not-for-profit university with a medium-sized student population.

Students who graduate with their doctorate from the nursing program state that they receive average early career income of $107,827.

More information about a doctorate in nursing from Samford University

5

University of Miami
Coral Gables, FL

47 Annual Graduates

$183,575 Median Starting Salary

U Miami is a fairly large private not-for-profit university located in the large suburb of Coral Gables.

Nursing doctor's degree recipients from University of Miami receive an earnings boost of approximately $46,353 over the typical earnings of nursing majors.

More information about a doctorate in nursing from University of Miami

6

The University of Tennessee - Health Science Center
Memphis, TN

80 Annual Graduates

UTHSC is a small public university located in the city of Memphis.More information about a doctorate in nursing from The University of Tennessee - Health Science Center

7

University of Florida
Gainesville, FL

113 Annual Graduates

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

8

Union University
Jackson, TN

39 Annual Graduates

$184,840 Median Starting Salary

Union is a small private not-for-profit university located in the small city of Jackson.

Doctorate recipients from the nursing major at Union University earn $47,618 more than the typical college graduate in this field shortly after graduation.

More information about a doctorate in nursing from Union University

9

University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
Chapel Hill, NC

39 Annual Graduates

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

10

Keiser University - Ft Lauderdale
Fort Lauderdale, FL

21 Annual Graduates

Keiser University - Ft Lauderdale is a fairly large private not-for-profit university located in the city of Fort Lauderdale.More information about a doctorate in nursing from Keiser University - Ft Lauderdale

11

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

70 Annual Graduates

$191,694 Median Starting Salary

LSU Health - New Orleans is a small public university located in the city of New Orleans.

Nursing doctor's degree recipients from Louisiana State University Health Sciences Center - New Orleans earn a boost of around $54,472 over the average earnings of nursing majors.

More information about a doctorate in nursing from Louisiana State University Health Sciences Center - New Orleans

12

Medical University of South Carolina
Charleston, SC

80 Annual Graduates

$109,222 Median Starting Salary

Located in the medium-sized city of Charleston, MUSC is a public university with a small student population.

Doctorate graduates who receive their degree from the nursing program make about $109,222 for their early career.

More information about a doctorate in nursing from Medical University of South Carolina

13

University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences
Little Rock, AR

34 Annual Graduates

Located in the city of Little Rock, UAMS is a public university with a small student population.More information about a doctorate in nursing from University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences

14

University of Virginia - Main Campus
Charlottesville, VA

28 Annual Graduates

$131,091 Median Starting Salary

Located in the suburb of Charlottesville, University of Virginia is a public university with a very large student population.

Doctorate students who receive their degree from the nursing program earn an average of $131,091 in their early career salary.

More information about a doctorate in nursing from University of Virginia - Main Campus

Additional Noteworthy Schools

Here are some additional great schools for Nursing students in the Southeast Region that almost earned our Best Nursing Doctor's Degree Schools in the Southeast Region award.

Rank	College	Location
15	University of Alabama at Birmingham	Birmingham, AL
16	University of South Carolina - Columbia	Columbia, SC
17	Jacksonville University	Jacksonville, FL
18	University of Louisville	Louisville, KY
19	Mercer University	Macon, GA
20	University of Kentucky	Lexington, KY
21	University of South Alabama	Mobile, AL
22	University of North Florida	Jacksonville, FL
23	East Carolina University	Greenville, NC

Best Nursing Colleges by State

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

State	Colleges	Degrees Awarded
Florida	138	636
Virginia	127	237
Georgia	126	236
North Carolina	115	372
Mississippi	113	50
Louisiana	103	147
Tennessee	102	344
Alabama	98	490
South Carolina	91	79
Kentucky	87	404
Arkansas	58	66
West Virginia	49	36

View All Rankings >

Nursing Related Rankings by Major

Nursing is one of 34 different types of Health Professions programs to choose from.

Nursing Focus Areas

Major	Annual Graduates
Nursing Practice	2,674
Nurse Anesthetist	361
Nursing Science	257
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

Most Popular Related Majors

Related Major	Annual Graduates
Medicine	7,234
Pharmacy/Pharmaceutical Sciences	3,638
Rehabilitation & Therapeutic Professions	3,614
Dentistry	1,241
Chiropractic	568
Allied Health Professions	380
Optometry	355
Public Health	238
Communication Sciences	218
Health & Medical Administrative Services	109

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.