2025 Best Nursing Doctor's Degree Schools in the Plains States 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 looked at 34 colleges and universities when compiling its 2025 Best Nursing Doctor's Degree Schools in the Plains States Region ranking. When you put them all together, these colleges and universities awarded 1,704 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 take this into account we include a college's overall Best Colleges for a Doctor's Degree ranking which itself looks at a collection 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

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

Best Schools for Doctorate Students to Study Nursing in the Plains States Region

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

10 Top Plains States Region Schools for a Doctorate in Nursing

1

Mayo Clinic School of Medicine
Rochester, MN

28 Annual Graduates

$189,790 Median Starting Salary

Mayo Clinic School of Medicine is a good option for students pursuing a doctor's degree in nursing. Located in the city of Rochester, Mayo Clinic School of Medicine is a private not-for-profit school with a small student population.

Those nursing students who get their doctor's degree from Mayo Clinic School of Medicine make $63,408 more than the typical nursing graduate.

More information about a doctorate in nursing from Mayo Clinic School of Medicine

2

Creighton University
Omaha, NE

69 Annual Graduates

It's hard to beat Creighton University if you wish to pursue a doctor's degree in nursing. Located in the city of Omaha, Creighton is a private not-for-profit university with a moderately-sized student population.More information about a doctorate in nursing from Creighton University

3

Winona State University
Winona, MN

53 Annual Graduates

$111,705 Median Starting Salary

Any student who is interested in a doctor's degree in nursing needs to check out Winona State University. Located in the distant town of Winona, Winona State is a public university with a medium-sized student population.

After graduation, nursing doctorate recipients usually earn about $111,705 in their early careers.

More information about a doctorate in nursing from Winona State University

4

University of Iowa
Iowa City, IA

68 Annual Graduates

$123,367 Median Starting Salary

It's hard to beat University of Iowa if you wish to pursue a doctor's degree in nursing. Located in the small city of Iowa City, Iowa is a public university with a fairly large student population.

Doctorate students who receive their degree from the nursing program earn about $123,367 in their early career salary.

More information about a doctorate in nursing from University of Iowa

5

Maryville University of Saint Louis
Saint Louis, MO

79 Annual Graduates

$115,625 Median Starting Salary

Maryville U is a medium-sized private not-for-profit university located in the large suburb of Saint Louis.

Students who graduate with their doctorate from the nursing program state that they receive average early career earnings of $115,625.

More information about a doctorate in nursing from Maryville University of Saint Louis

6

University of Minnesota - Twin Cities
Minneapolis, MN

118 Annual Graduates

$117,039 Median Starting Salary

UMN Twin Cities is a very large public university located in the large city of Minneapolis.

Students who graduate with their doctorate from the nursing program state that they receive average early career income of $117,039.

More information about a doctorate in nursing from University of Minnesota - Twin Cities

7

University of Kansas
Lawrence, KS

93 Annual Graduates

Located in the city of Lawrence, KU is a public university with a very large student population.More information about a doctorate in nursing from University of Kansas

8

Saint Louis University
Saint Louis, MO

19 Annual Graduates

Located in the city of Saint Louis, SLU is a private not-for-profit university with a large student population.More information about a doctorate in nursing from Saint Louis University

9

University of Missouri - Kansas City
Kansas City, MO

38 Annual Graduates

$130,567 Median Starting Salary

Located in the large city of Kansas City, UMKC is a public university with a fairly large student population.

Nursing doctor's degree recipients from University of Missouri - Kansas City earn a boost of around $4,185 above the average earnings of nursing graduates.

More information about a doctorate in nursing from University of Missouri - Kansas City

10

Mount Marty University
Yankton, SD

31 Annual Graduates

$207,824 Median Starting Salary

Located in the town of Yankton, Mount Marty is a private not-for-profit university with a small student population.

Those nursing students who get their doctor's degree from Mount Marty University receive $81,442 more than the typical nursing grad.

More information about a doctorate in nursing from Mount Marty University

Best Nursing Colleges by State

Explore the best nursing schools for a specific state in the Plains States Region .

State	Colleges	Degrees Awarded
Missouri	122	380
Minnesota	120	658
Iowa	110	80
Kansas	97	143
Nebraska	70	177
North Dakota	68	39
South Dakota	45	41

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	927
Nurse Anesthetist	250
Family Practice Nurse/Nursing	146
Nursing Administration	135
Nursing Science	119
Registered Nursing	34
Critical Care Nursing	25
Psychiatric/Mental Health Nurse/Nursing	22
Adult Health Nurse/Nursing	14
School Nursing	13

Most Popular Related Majors

Related Major	Annual Graduates
Medicine	2,551
Rehabilitation & Therapeutic Professions	1,996
Pharmacy/Pharmaceutical Sciences	1,069
Chiropractic	1,035
Dentistry	618
Public Health	225
Allied Health Professions	120
Communication Sciences	114
Health Sciences & Services	95
Health & Medical Administrative Services	75

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.