2025 Best Nursing Doctor's Degree Schools in Florida

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 16 colleges and universities when compiling its 2025 Best Nursing Doctor's Degree Schools in Florida ranking. Combined, these schools handed out 890 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 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.

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 full 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

The nursing 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 Doctor's Degree Schools in Florida.

Best Schools for Doctorate Students to Study Nursing in Florida

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

10 Top Florida Schools for a Doctorate in Nursing

1

University of Miami
Coral Gables, FL

47 Annual Graduates

$183,575 Median Starting Salary

Any student pursuing a degree in a doctor's degree in nursing needs to take a look at University of Miami. Located in the large suburb of Coral Gables, U Miami is a private not-for-profit university with a large student population.

Nursing doctor's degree recipients from University of Miami get an earnings boost of approximately $55,959 above the average earnings of nursing majors.

More information about a doctorate in nursing from University of Miami

2

University of Florida
Gainesville, FL

113 Annual Graduates

University of Florida is a good decision for students pursuing a doctor's degree in nursing. UF is a fairly large public university located in the midsize city of Gainesville.More information about a doctorate in nursing from University of Florida

3

Keiser University - Ft Lauderdale
Fort Lauderdale, FL

21 Annual Graduates

It's difficult to beat Keiser University - Ft Lauderdale if you want to pursue a doctor's degree in nursing. Located in the medium-sized city of Fort Lauderdale, Keiser University - Ft Lauderdale is a private not-for-profit university with a fairly large student population.More information about a doctorate in nursing from Keiser University - Ft Lauderdale

4

Jacksonville University
Jacksonville, FL

39 Annual Graduates

$113,989 Median Starting Salary

Jacksonville University is a great decision for students pursuing a doctor's degree in nursing. JU is a small private not-for-profit university located in the city of Jacksonville.

Doctorate graduates who receive their degree from the nursing program make around $113,989 in the first couple years of their career.

More information about a doctorate in nursing from Jacksonville University

5

University of North Florida
Jacksonville, FL

110 Annual Graduates

$156,046 Median Starting Salary

UNF is a fairly large public university located in the large city of Jacksonville.

Nursing doctor's degree recipients from University of North Florida earn a boost of approximately $28,430 over the average income of nursing graduates.

More information about a doctorate in nursing from University of North Florida

6

Florida International University
Miami, FL

83 Annual Graduates

Located in the suburb of Miami, FIU is a public university with a very large student population.More information about a doctorate in nursing from Florida International University

7

AdventHealth University
Orlando, FL

26 Annual Graduates

Located in the city of Orlando, AHU is a private not-for-profit university with a small student population.More information about a doctorate in nursing from AdventHealth University

8

University of Central Florida
Orlando, FL

74 Annual Graduates

Located in the suburb of Orlando, UCF is a public university with a very large student population.More information about a doctorate in nursing from University of Central Florida

9

Florida State University
Tallahassee, FL

28 Annual Graduates

$110,260 Median Starting Salary

Florida State is a very large public university located in the medium-sized city of Tallahassee.

Doctorate graduates who receive their degree from the nursing program earn about $110,260 for their early career.

More information about a doctorate in nursing from Florida State University

10

University of South Florida - Main Campus
Tampa, FL

87 Annual Graduates

$135,912 Median Starting Salary

Located in the large city of Tampa, USF Tampa is a public university with a very large student population.

Nursing doctor's degree recipients from University of South Florida - Main Campus receive an earnings boost of around $8,296 over the average earnings of nursing graduates.

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

Best Nursing Colleges in the Southeast Region

Explore all the Best Nursing Colleges in the Southeast Area or other specific states within that region.

State	Colleges	Degrees Awarded
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 >

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	739
Nurse Anesthetist	64
Family Practice Nurse/Nursing	33
Nursing Science	24
Other Registered Nursing, Nursing Administration, Nursing Research and Clinical Nursing	15
Nursing Administration	11
Registered Nursing	4

Most Popular Related Majors

Related Major	Annual Graduates
Medicine	1,443
Pharmacy/Pharmaceutical Sciences	787
Rehabilitation & Therapeutic Professions	696
Dentistry	218
Optometry	132
Public Health	49
Chiropractic	48
Communication Sciences	45
Health Sciences & Services	37
Allied Health Professions	27

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.