2025 Best Nursing Doctor's Degree Schools in Texas

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.

For its 2025 ranking, College Factual looked at 14 schools in Texas to determine which ones were the best for nursing students pursuing a doctor's degree. When you put them all together, these colleges and universities awarded 868 doctor's degrees in nursing during the 2022-2023 academic year.

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 school's overall Best Colleges for a Doctor's Degree ranking which itself looks at a collection 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 schools for nursing students working on their doctor's degree.

More Ways to Rank Nursing Schools

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 Texas list, to help you choose the best school for you.

Best Schools for Doctorate Students to Study Nursing in Texas

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

10 Top Texas Schools for a Doctorate in Nursing

1

Texas Christian University
Fort Worth, TX

99 Annual Graduates

$189,282 Median Starting Salary

Any student who is interested in a doctor's degree in nursing needs to check out Texas Christian University. TCU is a fairly large private not-for-profit university located in the city of Fort Worth.

Those nursing students who get their doctor's degree from Texas Christian University earn $44,396 more than the standard nursing student.

More information about a doctorate in nursing from Texas Christian University

2

The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston
Houston, TX

91 Annual Graduates

$178,755 Median Starting Salary

The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston is a good decision for individuals pursuing a doctor's degree in nursing. Located in the city of Houston, UTHealth is a public university with a moderately-sized student population.

Those nursing students who get their doctor's degree from The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston make $33,869 more than the average nursing grad.

More information about a doctorate in nursing from The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston

3

The University of Texas Medical Branch
Galveston, TX

31 Annual Graduates

The University of Texas Medical Branch is one of the best schools in the country for getting a doctor's degree in nursing. Located in the city of Galveston, UTMB Galveston is a public university with a small student population.More information about a doctorate in nursing from The University of Texas Medical Branch

4

Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center
Lubbock, TX

31 Annual Graduates

$151,725 Median Starting Salary

Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center is a great choice for individuals pursuing a doctor's degree in nursing. TTUHSC is a small public university located in the large city of Lubbock.

Doctorate recipients from the nursing degree program at Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center get $6,839 more than the typical college grad in this field when they enter the workforce.

More information about a doctorate in nursing from Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center

5

The University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio
San Antonio, TX

54 Annual Graduates

Located in the city of San Antonio, UT Health San Antonio is a public university with a small student population.More information about a doctorate in nursing from The University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio

6

Baylor University
Waco, TX

142 Annual Graduates

Located in the midsize city of Waco, Baylor is a private not-for-profit university with a very large student population.More information about a doctorate in nursing from Baylor University

7

The University of Texas at Austin
Austin, TX

32 Annual Graduates

UT Austin is a fairly large public university located in the city of Austin.More information about a doctorate in nursing from The University of Texas at Austin

8

The University of Texas at Arlington
Arlington, TX

102 Annual Graduates

$125,851 Median Starting Salary

UT Arlington is a very large public university located in the city of Arlington.

Doctorate graduates who receive their degree from the nursing program make an average of $125,851 for their early career.

More information about a doctorate in nursing from The University of Texas at Arlington

9

The University of Texas at El Paso
El Paso, TX

11 Annual Graduates

UTEP is a fairly large public university located in the city of El Paso.More information about a doctorate in nursing from The University of Texas at El Paso

10

Texas Woman's University
Denton, TX

26 Annual Graduates

$133,130 Median Starting Salary

TWU is a fairly large public university located in the city of Denton.

Soon after graduation, nursing doctorate recipients usually make around $133,130 in their early careers.

More information about a doctorate in nursing from Texas Woman’s University

Best Nursing Colleges in the Southwest Region

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

State	Colleges	Degrees Awarded
Arizona	119	594
Oklahoma	92	63
New Mexico	59	33

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	382
Nurse Anesthetist	254
Family Practice Nurse/Nursing	105
Nursing Science	57
Nursing Administration	37
Psychiatric/Mental Health Nurse/Nursing	17
Nurse Midwife/Nursing Midwifery	8
Clinical Nurse Specialist	4
Geriatric Nurse/Nursing	4

Most Popular Related Majors

Related Major	Annual Graduates
Medicine	1,938
Rehabilitation & Therapeutic Professions	1,181
Pharmacy/Pharmaceutical Sciences	848
Chiropractic	396
Dentistry	317
Optometry	154
Communication Sciences	61
Public Health	29
Mental & Social Health Services	21
Allied Health Professions	20

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.