Best DNP Programs

Minneapolis-St. Paul metro

Best DNP Programs In Minneapolis-St. Paul 2026

Three accredited institutions that between them conferred 537 doctorates, second only to Chicago across this site, and 525 of those came from two universities that teach the whole country from a Minneapolis address.
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Key Takeaways

  1. 1

    Every one of the 3 is inside the city itself. This guide counts the Minneapolis-St. Paul-Bloomington, MN-WI metropolitan area, which reaches further than the city, but no accredited institution in it sits outside Minneapolis-St. Paul. So the metro definition costs you nothing here and the commute is the city's, not the region's.

  2. 2

    Every institution here is private. No public option means residency buys you nothing in this metro. A private institution charges one rate wherever you live, so an out-of-state applicant is on the same terms as a local one.

  3. 3

    Output is concentrated in one school. Walden University conferred 304 of the 537 DNP awards recorded across this metro, with Capella University next at 221. A number that lopsided says where the cohorts and the placement relationships are, which a ranking position does not.

  4. 4

    2 of 3 reach you at a distance. That many carry the federal distance-education flag, which covers taught content and never the supervised practice hours. Ask for the number of on-campus days and the months they fall in.

The Second-Largest Output On This Site, And Almost None Of It Is Local

Walden University conferred 304 DNP awards in the reporting year and Capella University 221. That is 525 of the 537 recorded across this metro, and it puts Minneapolis-St. Paul second only to Chicago among the eighteen metros here. Both are for-profit universities that enroll nationally and teach at a distance — Walden reports about 49,000 students and Capella about 48,000 — and both are headquartered in Minneapolis.

So the conferral figure is a fact about two national universities with a Minneapolis address, not about studying in Minneapolis. A reader who moves here for a doctorate is not joining a cohort of 525. Federal records file a program under the address of the institution that awards it, which is the right rule for a national dataset and the wrong one to read as geography.

The third institution is the one this metro actually offers on campus. Augsburg University conferred 12 doctorates and publishes $44,652 a year, which is more than four times Walden’s $10,542 and about three times Capella’s $14,400. That is the real choice here: one small campus program at a private price, or two national online programs that would cost the same from anywhere in the country. No public institution in this metro holds an accredited DNP at all.

How This Ranking Is Scored

Three published figures, weighted. Scores are relative to the 3 institutions on this page and to nothing else.

  1. 50%

    Published in-state graduate tuition

    Institution-level. Published annual graduate tuition, not a DNP per-credit rate and not net of aid.

  2. 35%

    Established program

    Program-level. DNP conferrals in this CIP and award level in the reporting year, saturating at 25. Above that a program scores full marks and gains nothing further for size.

  3. 15%

    Institution-wide undergraduate completion

    Institution-level and undergraduate. The IPEDS 150%-of-normal-time rate for first-time, full-time bachelor's students.

Nothing is imputed. A program that does not publish a figure is scored on the ones it does publish, with the remaining weights renormalized; below 2 published figures it is listed without a position rather than ranked on a single number. Accreditation is a condition of appearing at all, not a factor that earns points. What the rubric cannot see.

Accredited Schools In The Minneapolis-St. Paul Metro, Ranked

Ordered on the same three published figures the state guides use: in-state tuition, annual conferrals and completion rate. One row per institution, not per federal filing.

# Program In-state tuition DNP awards UG completion Score of 100
1 of 3 Walden University Minneapolis, MN · Private for-profit · offered online $10,542 304 Not published 100
2 of 3 Capella University Minneapolis, MN · Private for-profit · offered online $14,400 221 20% 79.3
3 of 3 Augsburg University Minneapolis, MN · Private nonprofit $44,652 12 52% 15

What This Guide Counts As The Minneapolis-St. Paul Metro

This guide follows the Minneapolis-St. Paul-Bloomington metropolitan statistical area. All three institutions report Minneapolis itself as their city. Read the section below before treating this as a local shortlist: two of the three are national online universities, and the number of doctorates recorded here says almost nothing about how many people study in Minneapolis.

Municipalities Included

  • Minneapolis, MN

Deliberately Not Included

  • Saint Paul, MN Named in the metro title, but no institution in the accredited dataset reports it as its city.
  • Duluth and Winona, MN Separate Minnesota metros, each with an accredited institution of its own.
  • Saint Joseph, MN The St. Cloud area, about an hour north-west and separately delineated.

The Best 3 DNP Programs In Minneapolis-St. Paul, Ranked

Every scored institution above, with what it publishes and what it does not.

Ranked 1 of 3

Walden University

Minneapolis, MN

100 of 100
  • CCNE-accredited
  • Private for-profit
  • Doctorate (research)
  • Offered online

Walden is the largest DNP program in the country and is explicit about the arithmetic that catches people out. Completion needs 1,000 post-BSN practicum hours with at least 400 at doctoral level, and a student admitted with fewer than 600 documented hours takes up to eight extra credits to close the gap, and one credit carries 80 practicum hours. Students already holding APRN licensure receive prior credit and complete at least 500. Coursework and the project run online on your own schedule, but the practicum happens in a physical healthcare setting, and the university runs a dedicated field office to help students find one. It also states what most online programs leave out: practicum brings travel, onboarding fees, per-quarter fees and liability insurance.

In-State Tuition
$10,542
Out-Of-State
$10,542
DNP Awards
304

Scored on

  • Published in-state graduate tuition 100
  • Established program 100

Visit Walden University →

Ranked 2 of 3

Capella University

Minneapolis, MN

79.3 of 100
  • CCNE-accredited
  • Private for-profit
  • Doctorate (research)
  • Offered online

Capella runs its DNP in two different measurement systems, and which one you are in changes how you plan. The standard route counts quarter credits, at least 52 of them, across 11 quarters, which the university puts at two years and nine months. The self-paced route counts program points instead, at least 26, and how fast you finish depends on how fast you complete rather than on a semester calendar. Both carry the same minimum of 1,000 practicum hours, so the flexibility is in the coursework rather than in the clinical requirement. You need an unrestricted RN license, or to be within six months of holding one, before you start.

In-State Tuition
$14,400
Out-Of-State
$14,400
DNP Awards
221
UG Completion
20%

Scored on

  • Published in-state graduate tuition 88.7
  • Established program 100
  • Institution-wide undergraduate completion 0

Visit Capella University →

Ranked 3 of 3

Augsburg University

Minneapolis, MN

15 of 100
  • CCNE-accredited
  • Private nonprofit
  • Doctorate (professional)

Augsburg runs a 33-credit transcultural nursing doctorate over two to three years, with full-time and part-time options and a single fall start. The focus is stated rather than implied: holistic practice modalities, immersion experiences and independent practicums, which is a different emphasis from the systems-leadership framing most programs use. The bachelor’s track is built by exemption, completing every master’s course except four specifically named ones, so what you take is defined against an existing degree rather than assembled fresh. For a private university of about 3,200 students it confers a substantial number of nursing doctorates a year, which places it in the upper third nationally for output against size.

In-State Tuition
$44,652
Out-Of-State
$44,652
DNP Awards
12
UG Completion
52%

Scored on

  • Published in-state graduate tuition 0
  • Established program 0
  • Institution-wide undergraduate completion 100

Visit Augsburg University →

Choosing A DNP Program In Minneapolis-St. Paul

What studying in the Minneapolis-St. Paul metro changes. The questions that apply wherever you study are on the national ranking page.

A field of 3 is small enough to contact all of it

Augsburg University, Capella University and Walden University are the accredited doctorates in the Minneapolis-St. Paul metro, which is few enough that writing to every one of them is a morning's work rather than a project. It is also the fastest way to learn what no program page prints: who secures your clinical placement, what the school charges if a doctoral project runs past its term, and which tracks are open to new applicants this cycle. Against a field this size, a reply beats a rubric.

The Minnesota board of nursing decides the license, not the diploma

No doctorate confers authority to practice or prescribe. That authority comes from an advanced practice license the state issues and the national certification behind it, which is why a DNP-prepared and a master's-prepared nurse practitioner on the same license prescribe the same things. What varies between states is the licensure requirement itself, so take it from the board rather than from a program page, and take it early: several programs want an active license in the state where your practicum will happen rather than wherever you hold one now, and licensure by endorsement runs to months. What the degree does and does not grant sets out the distinction.

Capella University and Walden University carry the distance flag

2 of the 3 measured institutions in the Minneapolis-St. Paul metro carry it. That flag records only that taught content can be delivered at a distance. It says nothing about campus days, and nothing about the supervised practice hours, which happen in a building with a preceptor present wherever you enroll. Ask for the number of on-campus days and the months they fall in, because that is what you hold against a roster. Online DNP programs ranks the distance-flagged field nationally.

Every measured program here is private, so residency buys you nothing

All 3 measured institutions in the Minneapolis-St. Paul metro are private, and a private institution charges one rate regardless of where you live. That removes the largest variable on most state pages: moving, or establishing residency, changes nothing about what you pay here. Compare instead on the published rate, on who arranges your clinical placement, and on what the school charges when a doctoral project runs past its scheduled term.

A metro is a commute, and Minnesota is the field

This page covers the institutions inside the Minneapolis-St. Paul area because a campus you can reach on a weekday is a different proposition from one you cannot. It is a narrower field than the one you are actually choosing from: DNP programs in Minnesota carries every accredited institution in the state, and for a program you would attend at a distance the metro boundary means nothing at all.

Who Licenses You In The Minneapolis-St. Paul Metro

Practice environment from AANP’s own state fact sheets, read 2026-09-08; AANP last revised the classification 05/2026. Boards from the NCSBN member directory, read 2026-09-08.

Minnesota
Full Practice
Minnesota Board of Nursing

Every institution on this page sits in Minnesota, so one board licenses all of them and AANP classifies the jurisdiction as full practice. The school does not grant practice authority and never has; the license and the certification behind it do.

The board detail, the full AANP definition and the license verification route are on the state guide: DNP programs in Minnesota . AANP is reading state statute rather than issuing a federal designation, and statutes move each legislative session, so confirm with the board before you rely on it.

What The Work Pays In The Minneapolis-St. Paul Metro

BLS OEWS, May 2025, metropolitan area cut for Minneapolis-St. Paul-Bloomington, MN-WI, read 2026-09-10. BLS classifies by occupation, not by credential: there is no DNP wage series, and every figure here covers everyone in the occupation regardless of which degree they hold.

OccupationMedian, Minneapolis-St. Paul metroEmployedNational median
Nurse Practitioners29-1171$133,3704,900$132,300
Nurse Anesthetists29-1151$258,5701,250$236,590
Registered Nurses29-1141$103,04043,600$97,550
Nursing Instructors and Teachers, Postsecondary25-1072$83,950790$80,250

Nurse practitioners in the Minneapolis-St. Paul metro have a median of $133,370, across about 4,900 of them, which is within $1,070 of the national $132,300.

A median is the midpoint of what people in the occupation are paid, so half earn less and half earn more; it is not a starting salary and not an offer. The metropolitan cut is a different survey area from the state one, so these figures will not reconcile with the state page and are not meant to. How BLS defines these areas .

Shortage Areas, And The Debt Relief Attached To Them

HRSA designated primary-care Health Professional Shortage Areas, read 2026-09-08. These are state counts, not metro ones.

Minnesota, designated areas
199
Minnesota, of those rural
140

These figures cover Minnesota in full rather than the Minneapolis-St. Paul metro specifically. HRSA publishes designations at the level of the individual area, and rolling them into a metro needs a county crosswalk this guide does not hold, so the state count is what is shown and it is shown as a state count. What follows from it still applies here, because eligibility never attached to a jurisdiction in the first place.

Both federal loan repayment routes open to advanced practice nurses require working at an approved site inside a designated area, and the area’s score sets funding priority when applications outrun the money: Nurse Corps Loan Repayment Program and NHSC Loan Repayment Program. HPSA primary-care scores run 0-25; funding priority for loan repayment follows the score.

In a metro that is mostly urban the practical consequence is that eligible sites are a smaller share of the employers you are likely to interview with than the state count suggests, and they are usually federally qualified health centers, public hospital systems and university clinics rather than private practices. Whether a particular employer counts is settled by the program rather than by the designation, so check the site before you take the job.

HRSA’s shortage-area data portal maps the designations to the address. Paying for a DNP covers the routes that do not depend on where you practice, and the state guide breaks the designations down further: Minnesota.

Studying From Outside The Minneapolis-St. Paul Metro

Most of the measured field here is distance-flagged, 2 of 3 accredited doctorates in the Minneapolis-St. Paul metro, so the question is less whether you can study at a distance and more whether an out-of-state program offers anything the local ones do not. Either way it turns on one thing this site cannot answer for you.

Authority to enroll a distance student is set per institution and per state, and the federal flag this page counts records delivery rather than permission, so only the school can answer it. Ask two things before tuition enters the conversation: whether the program can enroll a resident of the Minneapolis-St. Paul metro this cycle, and whether it will place you for supervised clinical hours near where you live.

Which Minneapolis-St. Paul Option Fits Your Situation

Each of these routes to a published figure or a named institution. None is a recommendation, and none is a statement about whether a school will admit you.

If you already hold an advanced practice credential: Augsburg University

Augsburg University publishes a post-master's route, the shorter way in when your master's already carries supervised hours. Ask how many transfer; the ceilings differ sharply.

If you cannot relocate: 2 institutions here carry the distance flag

Capella University, Walden University carry it. The flag covers taught content only. Supervised hours still happen near you, and campus days are the school's to set, so ask for the count and the months.

If residency is out of reach: the private rate does not depend on it

A private institution charges one figure wherever you live, so without residency the comparison is against the out-of-state public rate. In Minneapolis-St. Paul the cheapest published rate in the state belongs to one of its 3 private institutions.

What The Figures On This Page Are

Tuition is the institution’s published annual graduate rate, not a per-credit price and not a program total. Awards are conferrals in the reporting year. Completion is the federal undergraduate rate, the weakest input in the model, and no federal series reports DNP completion. Wages are the metropolitan cut of the federal survey, a different survey area from the state one. How this site scores programs sets out each input and its weight in full.

Frequently Asked Questions

How many DNP programs are there in Minneapolis-St. Paul?

3 institutions in the Minneapolis-St. Paul metro hold CCNE accreditation for the Doctor of Nursing Practice. This guide counts the Minneapolis-St. Paul-Bloomington, MN-WI metropolitan statistical area rather than the city limits, so the figure includes institutions in 1 municipalities.

What counts as the Minneapolis-St. Paul metro on this page?

The Minneapolis-St. Paul-Bloomington, MN-WI metropolitan statistical area. In practice that means these municipalities: Minneapolis, MN. Places deliberately left out are listed on this page with the reason.

Is it cheaper to study for a DNP in Minneapolis-St. Paul than online?

Neither is reliably cheaper. Published in-state tuition at a public institution is usually the lowest figure available to someone who qualifies for it, and distance programs charge a single rate to everyone regardless of where they live. Which comes out lower depends entirely on whether you hold in-state status somewhere, so compare the published rates rather than the format.

Do these figures include fees and clinical costs?

No. Every tuition figure on this page is the published rate an institution reports to the federal government, which excludes fees, health insurance, textbooks and the travel a clinical placement can require. Treat it as a floor for comparison between institutions rather than a total cost of attendance.

Related Pages

Sources

  1. 1 CCNE Directory Of Accredited Programs Which institutions hold accreditation.
  2. 2 IPEDS Published tuition, conferrals and completion.
  3. 3 Metro Definition The Minneapolis-St. Paul-Bloomington, MN-WI metropolitan statistical area, rolled up to the municipalities listed above. Institutions are matched on city and state.

Every federal figure on this site is read from the administering agency’s own page, never from a secondary aggregator, and the reading date is recorded beside it.

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