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2025 Best Nursing Doctor's Degree Schools in North Carolina

9 Colleges in North Carolina
470 Doctor's Degrees
$130,887 Avg Early-Career Salary
Nursing is of the hottest doctor's degree programs in the United States, coming in as the #5 most popular major in the country. This means there are lots of options to choose from when you decide to get your degree.

College Factual reviewed 9 schools in North Carolina to determine which ones were the best for doctor's degree seekers in the field of nursing. When you put them all together, these colleges and universities awarded 470 doctor's degrees in nursing during the 2022-2023 academic year.

Jump to one of the following sections: * Our Methodology

Choosing a Great Nursing School for Your Doctor's Degree

Best Nursing Doctor's Degree Schools in North Carolina 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. To make it into this list, a school must excel in the following areas.

A Great Overall School

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.

Early-Career Earnings

One measure we use to determine the quality of a school is to look at the average salary of doctorate graduates during the early years of their career. This is because one of the main reasons people pursue their doctor's degree is to enable themselves to find better-paying positions.

Other Factors We Consider

In addition to the above, you should consider some of the following factors:

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

Rankings by Location Check Out Other Locales
More Nursing Rankings Other Ranking Categories

When choosing the right school for you, it's important to arm yourself with all the facts you can. To that end, we've created a number of major-specific rankings, including this Best Nursing Doctor's Degree Schools in North Carolina list to help you make the college decision.

Best Schools for Doctorate Students to Study Nursing in North Carolina

The following list ranks the best colleges and universities for pursuing a doctor's degree in nursing.

Top North Carolina Schools for a Doctorate in Nursing

1
Duke crest
Duke University
Durham, NC

Every student who is interested in a doctor's degree in nursing has to look into Duke University. Located in the large city of Durham, Duke is a private not-for-profit university with a fairly large student population.

Those nursing students who get their doctor's degree from Duke University make $25,388 more than the average nursing grad.

More information about a doctorate in nursing from Duke University

2
39 Annual Graduates

University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill is one of the finest schools in the United States for getting a doctor's degree in nursing. UNC Chapel Hill is a very large public university located in the small city of Chapel Hill.More information about a doctorate in nursing from University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

3

East Carolina University is a wonderful choice for individuals pursuing a doctor's degree in nursing. ECU is a very large public university located in the small city of Greenville.

Soon after graduation, nursing doctorate recipients usually earn an average of $106,444 in the first five years of their career.

More information about a doctorate in nursing from East Carolina University

4

University of North Carolina at Greensboro is a great option for individuals pursuing a doctor's degree in nursing. UNC Greensboro is a large public university located in the large city of Greensboro.

Doctorate recipients from the nursing major at University of North Carolina at Greensboro get $18,352 above the average graduate in this field shortly after graduation.

More information about a doctorate in nursing from University of North Carolina at Greensboro

5
70 Annual Graduates

Located in the medium-sized city of Wilmington, UNCW is a public university with a fairly large student population.More information about a doctorate in nursing from University of North Carolina at Wilmington

6
25 Annual Graduates

Located in the large city of Charlotte, UNC Charlotte is a public university with a fairly large student population.More information about a doctorate in nursing from University of North Carolina at Charlotte

7
Gardner - Webb crest
Gardner - Webb University
Boiling Springs, NC

Gardner - Webb is a small private not-for-profit university located in the rural area of Boiling Springs.

Students who graduate with their doctorate from the nursing program state that they receive average early career income of $111,589.

More information about a doctorate in nursing from Gardner - Webb University

8
19 Annual Graduates

WCU is a large public university located in the distant town of Cullowhee.More information about a doctorate in nursing from Western Carolina University

9
16 Annual Graduates

Lenoir - Rhyne University is a small private not-for-profit university located in the small city of Hickory.More information about a doctorate in nursing from Lenoir - Rhyne University

Best Nursing Colleges in the Southeast Region

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

State Colleges Degrees Awarded
Florida 138 636
Virginia 127 237
Georgia 126 236
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 >

Nursing is one of 34 different types of Health Professions programs to choose from.

Nursing Focus Areas

Major Annual Graduates
Nursing Practice 366
Nursing Science 27
Nurse Anesthetist 24
Family Practice Nurse/Nursing 23
Registered Nursing 14
Adult Health Nurse/Nursing 6
School Nursing 4
Psychiatric/Mental Health Nurse/Nursing 4
Nursing Administration 2

Majors Similar to Nursing

Related Major Annual Graduates
Medicine 690
Rehabilitation & Therapeutic Professions 528
Pharmacy/Pharmaceutical Sciences 374
Dentistry 139
Public Health 27
Health & Medical Administrative Services 24
Alternative Medicine & Systems 24
Communication Sciences 23
Movement & Mind-Body Therapies 8
Medical Illustration & Informatics 4

Notes and References

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