2025 Best Nursing Doctor's Degree Schools in Minnesota

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 9 schools in Minnesota 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 768 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 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 Minnesota ranking, along with many other major-related rankings, to help you make that decision.

Best Schools for Doctorate Students to Study Nursing in Minnesota

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

Top Minnesota Schools for a Doctorate in Nursing

1

Mayo Clinic School of Medicine
Rochester, MN

28 Annual Graduates

$189,790 Median Starting Salary

Any student who is interested in a doctor's degree in nursing needs to look into Mayo Clinic School of Medicine. Mayo Clinic School of Medicine is a small private not-for-profit school located in the city of Rochester.

Nursing doctor's degree recipients from Mayo Clinic School of Medicine earn a boost of about $65,526 over the typical income of nursing majors.

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

2

Winona State University
Winona, MN

53 Annual Graduates

$111,705 Median Starting Salary

It is difficult to beat Winona State University if you wish to pursue a doctor's degree in nursing. Winona State is a moderately-sized public university located in the distant town of Winona.

After graduation, nursing doctorate recipients typically earn around $111,705 in their early careers.

More information about a doctorate in nursing from Winona State University

3

University of Minnesota - Twin Cities
Minneapolis, MN

118 Annual Graduates

$117,039 Median Starting Salary

University of Minnesota - Twin Cities is one of the finest schools in the country for getting a doctor's degree in nursing. Located in the city of Minneapolis, UMN Twin Cities is a public 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 $117,039.

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

4

St Catherine University
Saint Paul, MN

38 Annual Graduates

$110,870 Median Starting Salary

St Catherine University is a good choice for individuals pursuing a doctor's degree in nursing. Located in the city of Saint Paul, St. Kate's is a private not-for-profit university with a small student population.

Soon after graduation, nursing doctorate recipients typically make around $110,870 in the first five years of their career.

More information about a doctorate in nursing from St Catherine University

5

The College of Saint Scholastica
Duluth, MN

39 Annual Graduates

$114,210 Median Starting Salary

Located in the city of Duluth, St. Scholastica is a private not-for-profit college with a small student population.

Soon after graduating, nursing doctorate recipients typically earn an average of $114,210 in the first five years of their career.

More information about a doctorate in nursing from The College of Saint Scholastica

6

Rasmussen University - Minnesota
St. Cloud, MN

12 Annual Graduates

Rasmussen University - Minnesota is a moderately-sized private for-profit university located in the city of St. Cloud.More information about a doctorate in nursing from Rasmussen University - Minnesota

7

Minnesota State University - Mankato
Mankato, MN

19 Annual Graduates

Located in the small city of Mankato, Minnesota State Mankato is a public university with a large student population.More information about a doctorate in nursing from Minnesota State University - Mankato

8

Augsburg University
Minneapolis, MN

23 Annual Graduates

$124,788 Median Starting Salary

Located in the city of Minneapolis, Augsburg is a private not-for-profit university with a small student population.

Doctorate graduates who receive their degree from the nursing program earn an average of $124,788 in the first couple years of their career.

More information about a doctorate in nursing from Augsburg University

9

Metropolitan State University
Saint Paul, MN

15 Annual Graduates

$100,485 Median Starting Salary

Located in the large city of Saint Paul, Metro State is a public university with a medium-sized student population.

Soon after graduation, nursing doctorate recipients generally earn about $100,485 in the first five years of their career.

More information about a doctorate in nursing from Metropolitan State University

Best Nursing Colleges in the Plains States Region

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

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

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	495
Nursing Administration	126
Nursing Science	74
Nurse Anesthetist	28
Family Practice Nurse/Nursing	22
Critical Care Nursing	13
Adult Health Nurse/Nursing	6
Psychiatric/Mental Health Nurse/Nursing	4

Most Popular Related Majors

Related Major	Annual Graduates
Rehabilitation & Therapeutic Professions	378
Medicine	333
Public Health	205
Pharmacy/Pharmaceutical Sciences	168
Chiropractic	140
Dentistry	124
Health & Medical Administrative Services	58
Mental & Social Health Services	32
Bioethics/Medical Ethics	32
Health Sciences & Services	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.