Nursing
BSN to DNP pathways with licensed clinical placements; among the most reliable employment outcomes in the US.
Ranked campuses teaching nursing
| # | Institution | City | Control | Students | Admitted | Tuition | Score |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Penn | Philadelphia, PA | private | 28,000 | 5.4% | $61,500 | 93 |
| 2 | Cornell | Ithaca, NY | private | 25,500 | 8% | $62,000 | 92 |
| 3 | Duke | Durham, NC | private | 17,500 | 5.1% | $62,000 | 88 |
| 4 | Hopkins | Baltimore, MD | private | 29,500 | 6% | $63,000 | 87 |
| 5 | UC Berkeley | Berkeley, CA | public | 45,000 | 11% | $14,800 / $36,000 | 85 |
| 6 | UCLA | Los Angeles, CA | public | 46,500 | 9% | $13,500 / $35,500 | 84 |
| 7 | Michigan | Ann Arbor, MI | public | 51,000 | 18% | $17,000 / $39,000 | 83 |
| 8 | WashU | St. Louis, MO | private | 15,500 | 12% | $62,000 | 81 |
| 9 | USC | Los Angeles, CA | private | 49,500 | 10% | $62,000 | 77 |
| 10 | UC San Diego | La Jolla, CA | public | 42,000 | 24% | $14,300 / $36,000 | 76 |
| 11 | Rice | Houston, TX | private | 8,500 | — | $55,000 | 76 |
| 12 | UNC Chapel Hill | Chapel Hill, NC | public | 37,000 | 16% | $9,000 / $39,500 | 75 |
Doctoral programs in this field
30 indexed campuses award research doctorates here. Funding normally arrives through assistantships tied to faculty grants.
University of Pennsylvania
Philadelphia, PA · private · doctorate
Wharton anchors a research university that mixes business, medicine, law and engineering on one walkable West Philadelphia campus.
Cornell University
Ithaca, NY · private · doctorate
A hybrid Ivy: privately governed, with contract colleges for New York residents. Strong in engineering, hospitality, agriculture and computing.
Duke University
Durham, NC · private · doctorate
Research powerhouse of the Research Triangle, pairing a top medical centre with strong public policy, business and computer science.
Johns Hopkins University
Baltimore, MD · private · doctorate
Repeatedly the top recipient of federal biomedical research funding; public health, biotechnology, engineering and international studies are its signature programs.
University of California, Berkeley
Berkeley, CA · public · doctorate
The flagship of the California system: enormous research output across engineering, computing, chemistry and the social sciences.
University of California, Los Angeles
Los Angeles, CA · public · doctorate
One of the most applied-to universities in the country, with leading programs in film, life sciences, engineering and nursing.
University of Michigan
Ann Arbor, MI · public · doctorate
A giant public research university, ranked in the top tier for engineering, business, medicine and public policy.
Washington University in St. Louis
St. Louis, MO · private · doctorate
Private research university with a medical school, strong biomedical engineering and a well-funded undergraduate teaching model.
Enrolment, tuition and acceptance figures are rounded planning values compiled in 2025/26 for orientation. Verify exact numbers with each university's official fact sheet before you apply.