2025 Best Registered Nursing Doctor's Degree Schools in the Middle Atlantic Region

Ranked #25 in popularity, registered 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 12 schools in the Middle Atlantic Region to determine which ones were the best for registered nursing students pursuing a doctor's degree. When you put them all together, these colleges and universities awarded 231 doctor's degrees in registered nursing during the 2022-2023 academic year.

What's on this page: * Our Methodology

• Best Doctor’s Degree Schools List

Choosing a Great Registered Nursing School for Your Doctor's Degree

The registered 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 consider a school's overall Best Colleges for a Doctor's Degree ranking which itself looks at a combination of different factors like degree completion, educational resources, student body caliber and post-graduation earnings for the school as a whole.

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 registered nursing students as compared to other majors.
• Major Demand - The number of registered nursing students who choose to seek a doctor's degree at the school.
• 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.
• Accreditation - Whether a school is regionally accredited and/or accredited by a recognized registered nursing related body.

Our full ranking methodology documents in more detail how we consider these factors to identify the best schools for registered 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 Registered Nursing Doctor's Degree Schools in the Middle Atlantic Region list, to help you choose the best school for you.

Best Schools for Doctorate Students to Study Registered Nursing in the Middle Atlantic Region

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

10 Top Middle Atlantic Region Schools for a Doctorate in Registered Nursing

1

University of Pennsylvania
Philadelphia, PA

Doctor's Degree Highest Degree Type

33 Annual Graduates

University of Pennsylvania is one of the best schools in the United States for getting a doctor's degree in registered nursing. UPenn is a fairly large private not-for-profit university located in the city of Philadelphia.More information about a doctorate in registered nursing from University of Pennsylvania

2

New York University
New York, NY

Doctor's Degree Highest Degree Type

7 Annual Graduates

New York University is a wonderful option for individuals interested in a doctor's degree in registered nursing. NYU is a fairly large private not-for-profit university located in the city of New York.More information about a doctorate in registered nursing from New York University

3

Johns Hopkins University
Baltimore, MD

Doctor's Degree Highest Degree Type

12 Annual Graduates

Johns Hopkins University is a great decision for students interested in a doctor's degree in registered nursing. Located in the city of Baltimore, Johns Hopkins is a private not-for-profit university with a fairly large student population.More information about a doctorate in registered nursing from Johns Hopkins University

4

Georgetown University
Washington, DC

Doctor's Degree Highest Degree Type

26 Annual Graduates

Georgetown University is a great option for students interested in a doctor's degree in registered nursing. Georgetown is a fairly large private not-for-profit university located in the city of Washington.More information about a doctorate in registered nursing from Georgetown University

5

Villanova University
Villanova, PA

Doctor's Degree Highest Degree Type

10 Annual Graduates

Villanova is a large private not-for-profit university located in the suburb of Villanova.More information about a doctorate in registered nursing from Villanova University

6

University at Buffalo
Buffalo, NY

Doctor's Degree Highest Degree Type

24 Annual Graduates

University at Buffalo is a very large public university located in the suburb of Buffalo.More information about a doctorate in registered nursing from University at Buffalo

7

Pace University - New York
New York, NY

Doctor's Degree Highest Degree Type

9 Annual Graduates

Pace University is a fairly large private not-for-profit university located in the city of New York.More information about a doctorate in registered nursing from Pace University - New York

8

University of Pittsburgh - Pittsburgh Campus
Pittsburgh, PA

Doctor's Degree Highest Degree Type

21 Annual Graduates

Pitt is a fairly large public university located in the large city of Pittsburgh.More information about a doctorate in registered nursing from University of Pittsburgh - Pittsburgh Campus

9

Catholic University of America
Washington, DC

Doctor's Degree Highest Degree Type

4 Annual Graduates

CUA is a moderately-sized private not-for-profit university located in the large city of Washington.More information about a doctorate in registered nursing from Catholic University of America

10

Temple University
Philadelphia, PA

Doctor's Degree Highest Degree Type

13 Annual Graduates

Temple is a very large public university located in the large city of Philadelphia.More information about a doctorate in registered nursing from Temple University

Best Registered Nursing Colleges by State

Explore the best registered nursing schools for a specific state in the Middle Atlantic Region .

State	Colleges	Degrees Awarded
New York	366	4
Pennsylvania	311	148
Maryland	190	7
New Jersey	165	0
District of Columbia	143	8

View All Rankings >

Rankings in Majors Related to Registered Nursing

Registered Nursing is one of 23 different types of Nursing programs to choose from.

Most Popular Related Majors

Related Major	Annual Graduates
Nursing Practice	615
Nursing Science	294
Nurse Anesthetist	206
Nursing Administration	159
Family Practice Nurse/Nursing	78
Adult Health Nurse/Nursing	40
Clinical Nurse Specialist	31
Other Registered Nursing, Nursing Administration, Nursing Research and Clinical Nursing	27
Psychiatric/Mental Health Nurse/Nursing	22
Critical Care Nursing	14

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.