by our College Data Analytics TeamFor its 2024 ranking, College Factual looked at 568 schools in the United States to determine which ones were the best for health professions students pursuing a doctor's degree. When you put them all together, these colleges and universities awarded 86,396 doctor's degrees in health professions during the 2020-2021 academic year.
What's on this page: * Our Methodology
The health professions 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:
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 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 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.
The metrics below are just some of the other metrics that we use to determine our rankings.
Our complete ranking methodology documents in more detail how we consider these factors to identify the best schools for health professions students working on their doctor's degree.
The health professions school you choose to invest your time and money in matters. To help you make the decision that is right for you, we've developed a number of major-specific rankings, including this list of the Best Health Professions Doctor's Degree Schools.
Below you'll see a list of the best colleges and universities for pursuing a doctor's degree in health professions. Only those schools that rank in the top 15% of all the schools we analyze get awarded with a place on this list.
University of St. Augustine for Health Sciences is one of the best schools in the United States for getting a doctor's degree in health professions. Located in the large suburb of San Marcos, USAHS is a private for-profit university with a moderately-sized student population.More information about a doctorate in health professions from University of St. Augustine for Health Sciences
Any student pursuing a degree in a doctor's degree in health professions needs to look into University of Southern California. Located in the large city of Los Angeles, USC is a private not-for-profit university with a very large student population.More information about a doctorate in health professions from University of Southern California
Any student who is interested in a doctor's degree in health professions needs to look into University of Pennsylvania. UPenn is a fairly large private not-for-profit university located in the city of Philadelphia.More information about a doctorate in health professions from University of Pennsylvania
It is hard to beat Stanford University if you want to pursue a doctor's degree in health professions. Located in the large suburb of Stanford, Stanford is a private not-for-profit university with a large student population.More information about a doctorate in health professions from Stanford University
Located in the city of Evanston, Northwestern is a private not-for-profit university with a fairly large student population.More information about a doctorate in health professions from Northwestern University
Located in the large city of Houston, UTHealth is a public university with a medium-sized student population.More information about a doctorate in health professions from The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston
A T Still University of Health Sciences is a small private not-for-profit university located in the remote town of Kirksville.More information about a doctorate in health professions from A T Still University of Health Sciences
Located in the suburb of Elkins Park, Salus University is a private not-for-profit university with a small student population.More information about a doctorate in health professions from Salus University
Located in the city of Nashville, Vanderbilt is a private not-for-profit university with a fairly large student population.More information about a doctorate in health professions from Vanderbilt University
TCU is a fairly large private not-for-profit university located in the city of Fort Worth.More information about a doctorate in health professions from Texas Christian University
Located in the large city of Lubbock, TTUHSC is a public university with a moderately-sized student population.More information about a doctorate in health professions from Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center
Western University of Health Sciences is a small private not-for-profit university located in the large suburb of Pomona.More information about a doctorate in health professions from Western University of Health Sciences
Located in the medium-sized city of Cambridge, Harvard is a private not-for-profit university with a fairly large student population.More information about a doctorate in health professions from Harvard University
Midwestern University - Glendale is a small private not-for-profit university located in the large suburb of Glendale.More information about a doctorate in health professions from Midwestern University - Glendale
UTMB Galveston is a small public university located in the town of Galveston.More information about a doctorate in health professions from The University of Texas Medical Branch
Located in the midsize city of Rochester, Mayo Clinic School of Medicine is a private not-for-profit school with a small student population.More information about a doctorate in health professions from Mayo Clinic School of Medicine
Located in the city of Chicago, Illinois College of Optometry is a private not-for-profit college with a small student population.More information about a doctorate in health professions from Illinois College of Optometry
Located in the large city of Seattle, Seattle U is a private not-for-profit university with a medium-sized student population.More information about a doctorate in health professions from Seattle University
Located in the suburb of North Chicago, RFUMS is a private not-for-profit university with a small student population.More information about a doctorate in health professions from Rosalind Franklin University of Medicine and Science
Duke is a fairly large private not-for-profit university located in the large city of Durham.More information about a doctorate in health professions from Duke University
Frontier Nursing University is a small private not-for-profit university located in the rural area of Versailles.More information about a doctorate in health professions from Frontier Nursing University
UMB is a moderately-sized public university located in the city of Baltimore.More information about a doctorate in health professions from University of Maryland - Baltimore
Samuel Merritt University is a small private not-for-profit university located in the large city of Oakland.More information about a doctorate in health professions from Samuel Merritt University
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 health professions from The University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio
Yale is a fairly large private not-for-profit university located in the midsize city of New Haven.More information about a doctorate in health professions from Yale University
This list shows the remainder of the schools awarded a Best Health Professions Doctor's Degree Schools badge. Showing in this list means the college was ranked in the top 15% of the 568 different United States health professions schools we analyzed.
These are some additional schools worth mentioning that are also great but just didn't quite make the cut to earn our top Best Health Professions Doctor's Degree Schools award.
View the Best Health Professions Doctor's Degree Schools for a specific region near you.
| Major | Annual Graduates |
|---|---|
| Medicine | 28,623 |
| Rehabilitation & Therapeutic Professions | 15,249 |
| Pharmacy/Pharmaceutical Sciences | 15,192 |
| Nursing | 10,943 |
| Dentistry | 6,742 |
| Chiropractic | 2,658 |
| Optometry | 1,803 |
| Alternative Medicine & Systems | 1,176 |
| Communication Sciences | 1,045 |
| Public Health | 981 |
