Best DNP Programs

Rankings

Best DNP Programs, Ranked On Federal Data

301 institutions with a CCNE-accredited Doctor of Nursing Practice, ordered on three published figures. One row per institution, not per federal filing. Several schools file seven. Accreditation is a condition of appearing here at all rather than something a program earns points for.
By the Best DNP programs editorial team

Reviewed

A nurse in navy scrubs with a red stethoscope reading an imaging film beside a colleague
On this page

Key Takeaways

  1. 1

    Accreditation is the entry condition. All 301 institutions ranked below hold CCNE accreditation for the DNP, so none earns points for holding it and none appears here without it.

  2. 2

    Three published figures decide the order. DNP conferrals carry 50% of the score, published in-state tuition 30% and institution-wide undergraduate completion 20%.

  3. 3

    The tuition figure is annual, not total. It is the institution’s published yearly graduate rate, not a per-credit price and not what a DNP costs end to end — no page here multiplies it out.

  4. 4

    A different question gives a different list. 46% of these programs are delivered at a distance. The affordability list reorders this same set on different weights; the online and leadership lists narrow the population first and then reweight it.

How This Ranking Is Scored

Three published figures, weighted. Scores are relative to the 301 institutions on this page and to nothing else.

  1. 50%

    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.

  2. 30%

    Published in-state graduate tuition

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

  3. 20%

    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.

The National List

Scores are relative to these 301 institutions. A program near the top is not "the best DNP". It is the one that comes out ahead on the three things the federal record actually publishes. What the rubric can and cannot see.

# Program In-state tuition DNP awards UG completion Score of 100
1 of 301 University of Florida Gainesville, FL · Public · offered online $4,477 92 91% 97.4
2 of 301 Louisiana State University Health Sciences Center-New Orleans New Orleans, LA · Public $7,020 71 Not published 97.3
3 of 301 University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences Little Rock, AR · Public $7,362 46 Not published 97.2
4 of 301 Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center Lubbock, TX · Public $6,672 24 Not published 96.5
5 of 301 University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Chapel Hill, NC · Public · offered online $7,019 35 91% 96.5
6 of 301 Florida State University Tallahassee, FL · Public · offered online $4,640 27 86% 96.3
7 of 301 The University of Tennessee Health Science Center Memphis, TN · Public $9,796 84 Not published 96.1
8 of 301 The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston Houston, TX · Public $10,038 44 Not published 96
9 of 301 University of Maryland, Baltimore Baltimore, MD · Public $10,024 156 Not published 96
10 of 301 The University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston Galveston, TX · Public · offered online $8,580 24 Not published 95.7
11 of 301 Walden University Minneapolis, MN · Private for-profit · offered online $10,542 304 Not published 95.7
12 of 301 University of Nebraska Medical Center Omaha, NE · Public $11,416 44 Not published 95.3
13 of 301 University of Wisconsin-Madison Madison, WI · Public $10,006 36 90% 95.2
14 of 301 University of Central Florida Orlando, FL · Public · offered online $4,478 65 78% 94.5
15 of 301 University of South Florida Tampa, FL · Public $4,559 87 77% 94.3
16 of 301 University of California-Irvine Irvine, CA · Public $12,260 26 87% 93.8
17 of 301 Florida International University Miami, FL · Public $4,721 81 74% 93.6
18 of 301 Medical University of South Carolina Charleston, SC · Public · offered online $15,622 57 Not published 93.5
19 of 301 Touro University Nevada Henderson, NV · Private nonprofit · offered online $10,080 22 Not published 93
20 of 301 University of North Carolina Wilmington Wilmington, NC · Public · offered online $4,443 61 71% 93
21 of 301 University of North Carolina at Charlotte Charlotte, NC · Public · offered online $3,812 25 69% 92.8
22 of 301 University of North Florida Jacksonville, FL · Public · offered online $3,996 63 69% 92.7
23 of 301 California State University-Fullerton Fullerton, CA · Public $6,084 51 70% 92.2
24 of 301 Florida Atlantic University Boca Raton, FL · Public $2,522 32 63% 91.9
25 of 301 University of Cincinnati Cincinnati, OH · Public · offered online $11,685 32 75% 91.3
Show the remaining 276 ranked institutions
# Program In-state tuition DNP awards UG completion Score of 100
26 East Carolina University Greenville, NC · Public · offered online $4,452 81 63% 91.2
27 University of Massachusetts-Amherst Amherst, MA · Public · offered online $17,006 34 83% 91.2
28 The University of Tennessee-Knoxville Knoxville, TN · Public $11,560 61 74% 91.1
29 The University of Alabama Tuscaloosa, AL · Public $11,380 50 73% 91
30 University of Missouri-Columbia Columbia, MO · Public $13,658 41 75% 90.6
31 Michigan State University East Lansing, MI · Public $17,739 51 81% 90.5
32 University of Kentucky Lexington, KY · Public · offered online $12,109 36 71% 90.3
33 University of Kansas Lawrence, KS · Public · offered online $10,968 36 69% 90.2
34 University of Utah Salt Lake City, UT · Public · offered online $8,461 91 65% 90.2
35 Florida Gulf Coast University Fort Myers, FL · Public $4,191 32 57% 90
36 Arizona State University Campus Immersion Tempe, AZ · Public $11,478 70 68% 89.8
37 University of Alabama at Birmingham Birmingham, AL · Public $9,048 178 64% 89.8
38 University of Arizona Tucson, AZ · Public $11,835 105 68% 89.7
39 University of North Carolina at Greensboro Greensboro, NC · Public · offered online $4,422 57 56% 89.7
40 University of New Hampshire Durham, NH · Public · offered online $15,520 24 76% 89.4
41 Murray State University Murray, KY · Public $8,604 29 61% 89.3
42 University of Alabama in Huntsville Huntsville, AL · Public · offered online $10,374 28 64% 89.3
43 University of Nevada-Reno Reno, NV · Public · offered online $8,430 37 61% 89.3
44 Montana State University Bozeman, MT · Public $6,299 32 57% 89.2
45 University of Hawaii at Manoa Honolulu, HI · Public $11,304 53 64% 89
46 University of North Dakota Grand Forks, ND · Public $9,237 42 60% 88.8
47 Southern Illinois University Edwardsville Edwardsville, IL · Public · offered online $8,918 77 57% 88.3
48 Washington State University Pullman, WA · Public $11,305 46 60% 88.1
49 University of Illinois Chicago Chicago, IL · Public $12,789 102 62% 88
50 Liberty University Lynchburg, VA · Private nonprofit $15,297 54 65% 87.8
51 University of Louisville Louisville, KY · Public $12,940 31 61% 87.7
52 University of Oklahoma-Health Sciences Center Oklahoma City, OK · Public · offered online $5,539 16 Not published 87.6
53 The University of Texas at Arlington Arlington, TX · Public $9,206 86 54% 87.5
54 University of South Alabama Mobile, AL · Public · offered online $8,976 178 53% 87.4
55 Jacksonville State University Jacksonville, AL · Public · offered online $10,440 31 55% 87.3
56 George Mason University Fairfax, VA · Public $10,392 21 68% 86.9
57 University of Missouri-Kansas City Kansas City, MO · Public · offered online $11,750 36 55% 86.8
58 University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee Milwaukee, WI · Public $8,772 35 49% 86.6
59 Northern Kentucky University Highland Heights, KY · Public · offered online $10,704 99 52% 86.5
60 Northwestern State University of Louisiana Natchitoches, LA · Public · offered online $5,180 26 43% 86.5
61 University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh Oshkosh, WI · Public $7,061 48 46% 86.5
62 Purdue University Global West Lafayette, IN · Public · offered online $10,080 42 50% 86.3
63 Old Dominion University Norfolk, VA · Public · offered online $7,800 49 46% 86.2
64 University of Southern Mississippi Hattiesburg, MS · Public $9,888 37 49% 86.2
65 University of Missouri-St Louis Saint Louis, MO · Public $15,120 32 57% 86.1
66 Oakland University Rochester Hills, MI · Public · offered online $17,167 28 58% 85.6
67 Rush University Chicago, IL · Private nonprofit $33,751 227 Not published 85.4
68 The University of Texas at Austin Austin, TX · Public $11,688 15 89% 84.9
69 Maryville University of Saint Louis Saint Louis, MO · Private nonprofit · offered online $24,766 59 66% 84.6
70 Western Carolina University Cullowhee, NC · Public · offered online $1,000 17 60% 84.6
71 Rutgers University-Camden Camden, NJ · Public $14,222 20 67% 84.4
72 Ohio University Athens, OH · Public $14,158 20 65% 84
73 Missouri State University-Springfield Springfield, MO · Public $8,120 19 58% 83.7
74 Winona State University Winona, MN · Public · offered online $8,388 19 57% 83.4
75 University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire Eau Claire, WI · Public $7,931 17 64% 83
76 Virginia Commonwealth University Richmond, VA · Public · offered online $13,200 19 63% 83
77 University of Michigan-Flint Flint, MI · Public · offered online $13,554 44 40% 82.8
78 New Mexico State University Las Cruces, NM · Public $6,283 18 55% 82.7
79 Grand Canyon University Phoenix, AZ · Private for-profit · offered online $16,473 91 43% 82.5
80 University of Wyoming Laramie, WY · Public $5,190 16 59% 81.8
81 Clemson University Clemson, SC · Public · offered online $14,038 13 87% 81.1
82 Idaho State University Pocatello, ID · Public $6,104 20 39% 81.1
83 Chamberlain University-Illinois Addison, IL · Private for-profit · offered online $20,213 588 42% 80.9
84 East Tennessee State University Johnson City, TN · Public $8,120 17 53% 80.5
85 Robert Morris University Moon Township, PA · Private nonprofit $34,360 24 66% 80.4
86 University of Connecticut Storrs, CT · Public $17,010 14 83% 80.4
87 South Dakota State University Brookings, SD · Public $7,773 15 62% 80.3
88 University of Phoenix-Arizona Phoenix, AZ · Private for-profit · offered online $9,552 31 21% 80.1
89 The College of Saint Scholastica Duluth, MN · Private nonprofit $40,720 40 71% 80
90 University of California-Los Angeles Los Angeles, CA · Public $12,260 11 93% 80
91 Washburn University Topeka, KS · Public · offered online $9,828 17 53% 79.9
92 Creighton University Omaha, NE · Private nonprofit · offered online $46,800 24 83% 79.8
93 Nebraska Methodist College of Nursing & Allied Health Omaha, NE · Private nonprofit · offered online $17,633 18 60% 79.7
94 Gannon University Erie, PA · Private nonprofit $39,270 37 66% 79.4
95 Indiana Wesleyan University-National & Global Marion, IN · Private nonprofit · offered online $8,848 20 35% 79.3
96 Colorado Christian University Lakewood, CO · Private nonprofit · offered online $27,631 20 64% 79
97 The University of Texas at Tyler Tyler, TX · Public $7,020 15 54% 78.8
98 Wilmington University New Castle, DE · Private nonprofit · offered online $12,570 62 20% 78.8
99 James Madison University Harrisonburg, VA · Public $8,150 11 80% 78.6
100 Thomas Edison State University Trenton, NJ · Public · offered online $6,838 11 Not published 78.6
101 Capella University Minneapolis, MN · Private for-profit · offered online $14,400 221 20% 78.1
102 Samuel Merritt University Oakland, CA · Private nonprofit · offered online $50,138 46 Not published 78.1
103 DePaul University Chicago, IL · Private nonprofit $44,601 36 68% 78
104 Marquette University Milwaukee, WI · Private nonprofit $50,070 23 83% 77.8
105 University of Michigan-Ann Arbor Ann Arbor, MI · Public $18,516 11 93% 77.8
106 Thomas Jefferson University Philadelphia, PA · Private nonprofit $46,175 38 69% 77.6
107 University of Central Arkansas Conway, AR · Public $7,500 14 54% 77.4
108 Chatham University Pittsburgh, PA · Private nonprofit · offered online $43,518 61 63% 77.3
109 Sacred Heart University Fairfield, CT · Private nonprofit · offered online $50,084 32 73% 77.1
110 Delta State University Cleveland, MS · Public · offered online $8,435 15 48% 77
111 Quinnipiac University Hamden, CT · Private nonprofit $52,670 52 76% 76.9
112 Duke University Durham, NC · Private nonprofit · offered online $66,325 59 97% 76.7
113 Johns Hopkins University Baltimore, MD · Private nonprofit $64,730 203 94% 76.6
114 University of San Diego San Diego, CA · Private nonprofit $58,420 33 84% 76.6
115 Vanderbilt University Nashville, TN · Private nonprofit · offered online $65,008 55 94% 76.5
116 Wilkes University Wilkes-Barre, PA · Private nonprofit · offered online $41,518 23 63% 76.4
117 Abilene Christian University Abilene, TX · Private nonprofit · offered online $43,900 50 59% 76.2
118 University of Indianapolis Indianapolis, IN · Private nonprofit · offered online $35,448 22 56% 76.2
119 Grand Valley State University Allendale, MI · Public $15,502 13 67% 76.1
120 Waynesburg University Waynesburg, PA · Private nonprofit $28,960 17 66% 76
121 Wayne State University Detroit, MI · Public $14,274 14 58% 75.9
122 Baylor University Waco, TX · Private nonprofit $58,100 147 80% 75.8
123 University of Miami Coral Gables, FL · Private nonprofit $60,720 48 84% 75.8
124 Villanova University Villanova, PA · Private nonprofit · offered online $66,838 46 92% 75.4
125 Barry University Miami, FL · Private nonprofit $33,600 79 38% 75.2
126 Bradley University Peoria, IL · Private nonprofit · offered online $41,210 18 76% 74.9
127 Case Western Reserve University Cleveland, OH · Private nonprofit $66,020 29 87% 74.6
128 Boston College Chestnut Hill, MA · Private nonprofit $69,400 85 91% 74.2
129 Shepherd University Shepherdstown, WV · Public $6,702 12 51% 74.2
130 South University-Savannah Online Savannah, GA · Private for-profit · offered online $17,100 48 7% 74.2
131 Temple University Philadelphia, PA · Public $21,989 12 75% 74.1
132 College of Our Lady of the Elms Chicopee, MA · Private nonprofit $41,300 19 68% 74
133 The University of Texas at El Paso El Paso, TX · Public $7,704 12 50% 73.6
134 Jacksonville University Jacksonville, FL · Private nonprofit $46,963 25 51% 73.4
135 The University of Tennessee-Chattanooga Chattanooga, TN · Public $8,458 12 50% 73.4
136 West Chester University of Pennsylvania West Chester, PA · Public · offered online $7,716 9 71% 73.2
137 Northwestern Oklahoma State University Alva, OK · Public · offered online $5,448 14 30% 72.8
138 University of Virginia Charlottesville, VA · Public $19,472 8 96% 72.5
139 Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi Corpus Christi, TX · Public $4,913 12 40% 72.4
140 Western Kentucky University Bowling Green, KY · Public $11,652 11 56% 72
141 Tennessee Technological University Cookeville, TN · Public · offered online $9,990 10 58% 71.4
142 University of New Mexico Albuquerque, NM · Public $8,502 10 55% 71.2
143 Viterbo University La Crosse, WI · Private nonprofit $33,500 14 68% 71.2
144 University of Arkansas Fayetteville, AR · Public · offered online $7,896 8 71% 71.1
145 Southern University and A&M College Baton Rouge, LA · Public $4,973 13 27% 71
146 University of Massachusetts-Lowell Lowell, MA · Public $16,246 10 65% 70.7
147 University of Massachusetts-Dartmouth North Dartmouth, MA · Public · offered online $14,897 11 52% 70
148 Boise State University Boise, ID · Public · offered online $6,119 8 60% 69.3
149 Emory University Atlanta, GA · Private nonprofit $63,400 17 91% 69.2
150 University of Iowa Iowa City, IA · Public · offered online $9,286 7 75% 69.2
151 Pacific Lutheran University Tacoma, WA · Private nonprofit $50,096 17 69% 69.1
152 Spring Arbor University Spring Arbor, MI · Private nonprofit · offered online $33,344 13 64% 69
153 University of Massachusetts Global Aliso Viejo, CA · Public · offered online $12,000 11 43% 69
154 University of South Carolina-Columbia Columbia, SC · Public · offered online $12,288 7 79% 69
155 Eastern Kentucky University Richmond, KY · Public $10,020 9 50% 67.7
156 Saint Anthony College of Nursing Rockford, IL · Private nonprofit · offered online $26,368 10 Not published 67.7
157 Winston-Salem State University Winston-Salem, NC · Public $3,401 8 47% 67.4
158 Georgia College & State University Milledgeville, GA · Public · offered online $7,696 7 64% 67.3
159 Texas Woman's University Denton, TX · Public · offered online $5,712 8 49% 67
160 Dominican University New York Orangeburg, NY · Private nonprofit $33,120 13 53% 66.7
161 Indiana University-Indianapolis Indianapolis, IN · Public $9,518 8 54% 66.7
162 Belmont University Nashville, TN · Private nonprofit $40,560 12 71% 66.6
163 Wake Forest University Winston-Salem, NC · Private nonprofit · offered online $66,470 16 89% 66.6
164 San Jose State University San Jose, CA · Public $6,084 6 69% 66.4
165 Stockton University Galloway, NJ · Public $13,606 7 69% 66.3
166 Misericordia University Dallas, PA · Private nonprofit $38,400 11 72% 66
167 University of Delaware Newark, DE · Public $14,600 6 81% 66
168 Valdosta State University Valdosta, GA · Public $4,488 8 42% 65.9
169 Northern Arizona University Flagstaff, AZ · Public · offered online $11,378 7 61% 65.3
170 The University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio San Antonio, TX · Public $7,767 6 Not published 65
171 University of Houston Houston, TX · Public $8,685 6 65% 64.6
172 Hawaii Pacific University Honolulu, HI · Private nonprofit · offered online $33,792 14 35% 63.8
173 Pittsburg State University Pittsburg, KS · Public $6,342 6 57% 63.6
174 University of Mary Bismarck, ND · Private nonprofit · offered online $19,940 7 67% 63.6
175 Samford University Birmingham, AL · Private nonprofit · offered online $39,000 9 77% 63.4
176 Lenoir-Rhyne University Hickory, NC · Private nonprofit $31,000 11 48% 63.3
177 Mississippi University for Women Columbus, MS · Public $8,392 7 47% 63.3
178 Bay Path University Longmeadow, MA · Private nonprofit · offered online $37,972 13 44% 63
179 Carlow University Pittsburgh, PA · Private nonprofit · offered online $34,546 10 60% 63
180 George Washington University Washington, DC · Private nonprofit · offered online $67,420 14 84% 62.7
181 Prairie View A&M University Prairie View, TX · Public $7,387 7 43% 62.7
182 Baptist Health Sciences University Memphis, TN · Private nonprofit $12,216 8 40% 62.6
183 Charles R Drew University of Medicine and Science Los Angeles, CA · Private nonprofit $23,000 11 30% 62.2
184 Coppin State University Baltimore, MD · Public $5,032 8 26% 62.1
185 Clarke University Dubuque, IA · Private nonprofit $39,550 11 56% 62
186 Azusa Pacific University Azusa, CA · Private nonprofit $43,758 11 62% 61.9
187 California Baptist University Riverside, CA · Private nonprofit $39,078 10 62% 61.9
188 The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley Edinburg, TX · Public $7,842 6 51% 61.8
189 Duquesne University Pittsburgh, PA · Private nonprofit · offered online $48,986 10 77% 61.6
190 Southeastern Louisiana University Hammond, LA · Public · offered online $5,777 6 45% 61.2
191 University of Detroit Mercy Detroit, MI · Private nonprofit · offered online $32,946 8 67% 61.2
192 University of Rhode Island Kingston, RI · Public $14,630 5 73% 61.2
193 Auburn University Auburn, AL · Public $11,016 4 82% 61
194 Stony Brook University Stony Brook, NY · Public $7,070 4 76% 61
195 Augsburg University Minneapolis, MN · Private nonprofit $44,652 12 52% 60.9
196 California State University-Fresno Fresno, CA · Public · offered online $6,084 5 57% 60.7
197 Illinois State University Normal, IL · Public · offered online $11,215 5 65% 60.7
198 Palm Beach Atlantic University West Palm Beach, FL · Private nonprofit $39,400 10 55% 60.2
199 William Paterson University of New Jersey Wayne, NJ · Public $15,204 7 44% 60.2
200 Cleveland State University Cleveland, OH · Public $12,872 6 51% 60
201 Marymount University Arlington, VA · Private nonprofit · offered online $39,270 10 54% 60
202 Kent State University at Kent Kent, OH · Public · offered online $12,742 5 64% 59.9
203 Salisbury University Salisbury, MD · Public · offered online $7,860 4 68% 59
204 Edgewood College Madison, WI · Private nonprofit $35,860 8 60% 58.6
205 Oklahoma Wesleyan University Bartlesville, OK · Private nonprofit · offered online $31,550 10 35% 58.5
206 Anderson University Anderson, SC · Private nonprofit · offered online $34,020 7 66% 58.3
207 Mount Carmel College of Nursing Columbus, OH · Private nonprofit · offered online $27,600 7 54% 58
208 Auburn University at Montgomery Montgomery, AL · Public · offered online $8,832 6 33% 57.4
209 Mount St. Joseph University Cincinnati, OH · Private nonprofit · offered online $36,950 8 56% 57.4
210 Rhode Island College Providence, RI · Public $9,765 5 48% 57.4
211 University of Colorado Colorado Springs Colorado Springs, CO · Public · offered online $9,022 5 47% 57.4
212 South College Knoxville, TN · Private for-profit · offered online $16,450 6 42% 56.7
213 Drexel University Philadelphia, PA · Private nonprofit · offered online $60,042 9 78% 56.1
214 Saint Francis Medical Center College of Nursing Peoria, IL · Private nonprofit · offered online $20,430 5 Not published 55.6
215 Pennsylvania Western University California, PA · Public · offered online $7,716 4 52% 55.5
216 Messiah University Mechanicsburg, PA · Private nonprofit · offered online $41,300 6 75% 55.1
217 Union University Jackson, TN · Private nonprofit $36,005 6 66% 55
218 University of Hawaii at Hilo Hilo, HI · Public $7,344 4 48% 54.7
219 Westminster University Salt Lake City, UT · Private nonprofit $43,008 7 64% 54.7
220 Valparaiso University Valparaiso, IN · Private nonprofit $46,940 7 70% 54.6
221 Radford University Radford, VA · Public · offered online $8,528 4 49% 54.5
222 Saint Louis University Saint Louis, MO · Private nonprofit $54,760 7 80% 54
223 Northern Illinois University Dekalb, IL · Public · offered online $10,232 4 49% 53.9
224 Morningside University Sioux City, IA · Private nonprofit · offered online $38,017 7 50% 53.4
225 West Virginia University Morgantown, WV · Public · offered online $10,104 3 65% 53.1
226 La Salle University Philadelphia, PA · Private nonprofit $36,000 6 57% 53
227 Gonzaga University Spokane, WA · Private nonprofit $54,380 6 86% 52.9
228 University of South Dakota Vermillion, SD · Public · offered online $7,773 3 60% 52.9
229 Francis Marion University Florence, SC · Public · offered online $10,394 4 43% 52.5
230 Binghamton University Vestal, NY · Public $7,070 2 82% 52.4
231 Lee University Cleveland, TN · Private nonprofit $23,040 4 63% 52.4
232 University of San Francisco San Francisco, CA · Private nonprofit $59,950 8 70% 52.3
233 Walsh University North Canton, OH · Private nonprofit · offered online $31,515 5 58% 51.9
234 Lewis University Romeoville, IL · Private nonprofit · offered online $38,800 5 67% 51.2
235 Point Loma Nazarene University San Diego, CA · Private nonprofit · offered online $45,300 5 77% 51.1
236 McNeese State University Lake Charles, LA · Public · offered online $5,147 3 47% 50.9
237 Loyola University Chicago Chicago, IL · Private nonprofit · offered online $52,230 6 73% 50.8
238 University of Saint Joseph West Hartford, CT · Private nonprofit $46,978 6 64% 50.7
239 University of Akron Main Campus Akron, OH · Public $10,735 3 52% 50
240 Ashland University Ashland, OH · Private nonprofit · offered online $29,940 4 61% 49.5
241 University of the Incarnate Word San Antonio, TX · Private nonprofit $35,050 5 51% 49
242 Fairfield University Fairfield, CT · Private nonprofit $57,450 5 84% 48.4
243 Mary Baldwin University Staunton, VA · Private nonprofit · offered online $20,762 4 39% 47.9
244 Ursuline College Pepper Pike, OH · Private nonprofit · offered online $38,490 4 67% 47.8
245 Seton Hall University South Orange, NJ · Private nonprofit · offered online $50,380 5 69% 47.6
246 New York University New York, NY · Private nonprofit $62,796 5 88% 47.3
247 Goshen College Goshen, IN · Private nonprofit · offered online $38,890 4 65% 47.2
248 Northeastern University Boston, MA · Private nonprofit $64,990 5 91% 47.2
249 University of Louisiana at Lafayette Lafayette, LA · Public · offered online $5,407 2 53% 46.6
250 King University Bristol, TN · Private nonprofit $18,423 3 48% 46.4
251 University of Toledo Toledo, OH · Public · offered online $10,102 2 57% 45.8
252 Alverno College Milwaukee, WI · Private nonprofit $33,216 4 49% 45.7
253 Franklin University Columbus, OH · Private nonprofit · offered online $9,552 4 11% 45.7
254 Madonna University Livonia, MI · Private nonprofit · offered online $28,440 3 60% 45.5
255 Mount Mercy University Cedar Rapids, IA · Private nonprofit $39,878 4 58% 45.3
256 Concordia University-Wisconsin Mequon, WI · Private nonprofit · offered online $34,950 3 68% 44.9
257 Adelphi University Garden City, NY · Private nonprofit $46,784 4 67% 44.8
258 Allen College Waterloo, IA · Private nonprofit $22,624 3 Not published 44.7
259 St. John Fisher University Rochester, NY · Private nonprofit $40,090 3 74% 44.4
260 University of Portland Portland, OR · Private nonprofit $56,800 4 80% 44.2
261 University of Southern Indiana Evansville, IN · Public · offered online $9,036 2 48% 44.1
262 West Coast University-Texas Richardson, TX · Private for-profit · offered online $13,903 4 11% 44.1
263 Bellarmine University Louisville, KY · Private nonprofit · offered online $47,180 4 64% 44
264 The Catholic University of America Washington, DC · Private nonprofit $56,930 4 79% 43.9
265 Texas Christian University Fort Worth, TX · Private nonprofit · offered online $61,650 4 86% 43.8
266 Holy Family University Philadelphia, PA · Private nonprofit $34,080 3 61% 43.7
267 Florida Southern College Lakeland, FL · Private nonprofit $42,900 3 71% 42.8
268 Loyola University New Orleans New Orleans, LA · Private nonprofit · offered online $47,390 4 59% 42.8
269 University of Massachusetts-Boston Boston, MA · Public · offered online $15,278 2 49% 42.1
270 University of Rochester Rochester, NY · Private nonprofit $65,870 4 85% 42
271 Pace University New York, NY · Private nonprofit $51,602 4 60% 41.6
272 MGH Institute of Health Professions Boston, MA · Private nonprofit $85,000 10 Not published 41.5
273 St. Thomas University Miami Gardens, FL · Private nonprofit · offered online $33,580 3 48% 41
274 Briar Cliff University Sioux City, IA · Private nonprofit · offered online $34,230 3 48% 40.8
275 Bellin College Green Bay, WI · Private nonprofit $29,367 2 63% 40.2
276 Felician University Lodi, NJ · Private nonprofit · offered online $36,550 3 47% 39.7
277 D'Youville University Buffalo, NY · Private nonprofit $33,600 2 67% 39.6
278 Millikin University Decatur, IL · Private nonprofit $26,000 2 55% 39.6
279 Le Moyne College Syracuse, NY · Private nonprofit $39,090 2 73% 39
280 Chaminade University of Honolulu Honolulu, HI · Private nonprofit · offered online $30,760 2 55% 37.9
281 West Virginia Wesleyan College Buckhannon, WV · Private nonprofit · offered online $32,648 2 57% 37.7
282 Marian University Indianapolis, IN · Private nonprofit $40,664 2 67% 37.1
283 Texas Wesleyan University Fort Worth, TX · Private nonprofit $34,608 3 32% 37.1
284 Northern Michigan University Marquette, MI · Public · offered online $13,374 1 52% 35.6
285 Saginaw Valley State University University Center, MI · Public $12,930 1 48% 34.9
286 Lourdes University Sylvania, OH · Private nonprofit $26,790 2 32% 34.2
287 Regis University Denver, CO · Private nonprofit · offered online $23,700 1 61% 33.9
288 Seattle University Seattle, WA · Private nonprofit $55,620 2 76% 33.7
289 Eastern Michigan University Ypsilanti, MI · Public $15,920 1 46% 33.3
290 University of St Thomas Houston, TX · Private nonprofit $33,784 1 69% 32.1
291 The University of Tampa Tampa, FL · Private nonprofit · offered online $32,096 1 64% 31.6
292 Oregon Health & Science University Portland, OR · Public $15,624 1 Not published 31
293 University of St Francis Joliet, IL · Private nonprofit · offered online $38,110 1 67% 30.1
294 North Park University Chicago, IL · Private nonprofit $36,070 1 58% 28.8
295 DeSales University Center Valley, PA · Private nonprofit $45,000 1 72% 28.7
296 Simmons University Boston, MA · Private nonprofit $45,534 1 72% 28.5
297 University of Saint Francis-Fort Wayne Fort Wayne, IN · Private nonprofit $35,210 1 55% 28.4
298 University of Scranton Scranton, PA · Private nonprofit $53,208 1 80% 27.6
299 College of Saint Benedict Saint Joseph, MN · Private nonprofit · offered online $54,540 1 77% 26.4
300 Brenau University Gainesville, GA · Private nonprofit $31,470 1 33% 24.9
301 Widener University Chester, PA · Private nonprofit $54,660 1 68% 24.4

What The Score Leaves Out

Two figures the federal survey publishes are deliberately not scored. Undergraduate admission rate would rank a doctorate on who the institution admits to a bachelor's degree seven years earlier, and institution size is not a measure of anything a student receives.

Conferral volume saturates at 25 a year. Above that a program scores full marks and gains nothing further for being larger. An earlier version of this model did not saturate it, and the result ranked the highest-volume distance provider in the country first, arithmetically correct and editorially worthless.

Which Route Fits You

The table above sorts schools. It cannot tell you which of the three doors you are standing at, and that decision changes the length of the degree by years more than the choice of institution does.

BSN to DNP · enters with a bachelor of science in nursing

The route that takes you from a bachelor's straight to the doctorate without stopping at a master's. It is the longest single commitment of the three, and for the right person it is also the most efficient.

Typical length: Three to four years full-time; longer part-time

MSN to DNP · enters with a master of science in nursing

The shortest route to the doctorate, for nurses who already hold a master's. Most of the people on it are working full-time and studying around shifts, and the programs are built assuming exactly that.

Typical length: One to two years full-time; commonly longer part-time

Post-master's DNP · enters with a completed graduate degree in nursing

Structurally close to the MSN-to-DNP route, and named differently because programs use the term for a specific admissions category rather than a different curriculum. The distinction that matters is how prior hours and prior coursework are treated.

Typical length: One to two years, frequently part-time

The Top 25 Best DNP Programs In 2026, In Detail

Each card shows what the federal record publishes for that program, how the three factors combined into its score, and, where one has been written, what the school’s own pages say the program covers and who it suits.

Ranked 1 of 301

University of Florida

Gainesville, FL

97.4 of 100
  • CCNE-accredited
  • Public
  • Doctorate (professional)
  • Offered online

Florida runs two routes into the doctorate and gates them differently. The BSN-to-DNP is built around online coursework for nurses moving up from the bedside. The MSN-to-DNP is open only to applicants holding a master’s in nursing and an active Florida APRN license, and that condition settles the question for most people before anything else does: if you already practice in Florida as an APRN, that is your route, and if you don’t, you’re applying to the longer one. Only five public universities in this dataset sit in the national top fifteen on both DNP output and low published in-state tuition, and Gainesville is one of them. If cohort size and an established placement network matter to you, that combination is the argument for it.

In-State Tuition
$4,477
Out-Of-State
$25,694
DNP Awards
92
UG Completion
91%

Scored on

  • Published in-state graduate tuition 95.9
  • Established program 100
  • Institution-wide undergraduate completion 93.3

Visit University of Florida →

Ranked 2 of 301

Louisiana State University Health Sciences Center-New Orleans

New Orleans, LA

97.3 of 100
  • CCNE-accredited
  • Public
  • Doctorate (professional)

LSU’s health sciences center publishes its DNP as course tables rather than description, including a distinct adult-gerontology acute care sequence, so what the program emphasizes has to be read off the curriculum rather than a summary. One thing it does state plainly is that clinical hours and the three Ps, meaning advanced pathophysiology, pharmacology and physical assessment, are verified at admission rather than assumed, so applicants carrying credits from an earlier master’s should expect them to be audited before enrollment rather than after. This is a small, health-professions-only campus of 2,750 people, which means a cohort you will recognize rather than a faculty you queue to see.

In-State Tuition
$7,020
Out-Of-State
$15,495
DNP Awards
71

Scored on

  • Published in-state graduate tuition 92.8
  • Established program 100

Visit Louisiana State University Health Sciences Center-New Orleans →

Ranked 3 of 301

University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences

Little Rock, AR

97.2 of 100
  • CCNE-accredited
  • Public
  • Doctorate (professional)

UAMS is really three programs with different audiences. The nurse anesthesia route is a 36-month, full-time, entry-to-practice plan of study that takes BSN- or master’s-prepared critical-care nurses to CRNA. Full-time means what it says, so it is not a degree to fit around a roster. The post-master’s leadership track is scoped to applicants already holding a master’s in nursing administration or an APRN specialty. And nurses already licensed and certified as an APRN can use a post-BSN or post-master’s certificate track to add a second population focus, which is a narrower and more useful thing than a general doctorate if you want to practice with a different patient group. Admission runs twice a year: 1 March for August, 1 September for January.

In-State Tuition
$7,362
Out-Of-State
$12,990
DNP Awards
46

Scored on

  • Published in-state graduate tuition 92.4
  • Established program 100

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Ranked 4 of 301

Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center

Lubbock, TX

96.5 of 100
  • CCNE-accredited
  • Public
  • Doctorate (research)

Texas Tech keeps a public archive of its DNP projects, year by year, and it is the most revealing thing the college publishes. Graduates in it work as pediatric intensive care nurses, adult-gerontology acute care practitioners and directors of critical care services, with projects aimed at problems like burnout on level IV neonatal units. That is the range the program actually supports, described by the people who finished it. It is a health sciences center in Lubbock rather than a nursing school inside a general campus, so the faculty around you are all in health professions, and West Texas geography shapes where students end up doing clinical work.

In-State Tuition
$6,672
Out-Of-State
$18,972
DNP Awards
24

Scored on

  • Published in-state graduate tuition 93.2
  • Established program 98.5

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Ranked 5 of 301

University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

Chapel Hill, NC

96.5 of 100
  • CCNE-accredited
  • Public
  • Doctorate (professional)
  • Offered online

Carolina asks you to choose a pathway before a specialty, and publishes three: health care leadership and administration, BSN-to-DNP nurse practitioner areas, and MSN-to-DNP. The coursework spans advanced practice, leadership and practice-based inquiry, ending in an evidence-based DNP project, with 1,000 practice hours inside the credit total. What sets it apart is that the specialty entry expectations are written down rather than implied: pediatric primary care wants roughly six months of full-time RN work in a neonatal, pediatric or child-serving community setting, and the psychiatric-mental health track wants six months in acute or community psychiatric and substance-use care. If you are switching populations rather than deepening the one you know, those are the sentences that decide whether to apply now or work another year first.

In-State Tuition
$7,019
Out-Of-State
$39,228
DNP Awards
35
UG Completion
91%

Scored on

  • Published in-state graduate tuition 92.8
  • Established program 100
  • Institution-wide undergraduate completion 93.3

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Ranked 6 of 301

Florida State University

Tallahassee, FL

96.3 of 100
  • CCNE-accredited
  • Public
  • Doctorate (professional)
  • Offered online

FSU is built for nurses who intend to keep working. Every track runs online, full or part-time, with only minimal on-campus skill practice and testing, though the college is candid that most courses carry a synchronous Zoom component, so evenings are not entirely yours. The executive health systems leadership track is fully online and part-time, and admits experienced nurses holding an MSN, a qualifying master’s, or in some cases a BSN. There is also a post-master’s route for acute care practitioners moving into adult-gerontology. One provision is unique here: a serving preceptor can claim a waiver of six credit hours for every 300 hours of precepting completed, which turns work you may already be doing into progress on the degree.

In-State Tuition
$4,640
Out-Of-State
$19,084
DNP Awards
27
UG Completion
86%

Scored on

  • Published in-state graduate tuition 95.7
  • Established program 100
  • Institution-wide undergraduate completion 87.8

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Ranked 7 of 301

The University of Tennessee Health Science Center

Memphis, TN

96.1 of 100
  • CCNE-accredited
  • Public
  • Doctorate (research)

Memphis runs one of the most concentrated nursing doctorates in the country. Set doctoral output against the size of the institution and this campus ranks fourth of the 307 accredited institutions on this site, because eighty-four DNP graduates a year come out of a place enrolling barely three thousand people, nearly all of them in health professions. There is no undergraduate arts college here for nursing to sit beside. For a working nurse that usually shows up as faculty who teach at doctoral level as their day job rather than as an overload, and as a cohort big enough that courses run when the catalog says they will. Requirements are published per track rather than for the degree, so the track page is where the credit and practicum totals live.

In-State Tuition
$9,796
Out-Of-State
$22,454
DNP Awards
84

Scored on

  • Published in-state graduate tuition 89.5
  • Established program 100

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Ranked 8 of 301

The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston

Houston, TX

96 of 100
  • CCNE-accredited
  • Public
  • Doctorate (research)

2 DNP tracks at this institution, Family nurse practitioner, Nursing practice (general). Ranked once, on the largest.

Cizik School of Nursing sorts applicants by who they already are. The post-master’s tracks are written for practicing nurse practitioners and clinical nurse specialists, and for nurses moving into leadership rather than deeper into clinical work. The BSN-to-DNP routes are described as built for nurses who are still working, and the adult-gerontology acute care track within them prepares you to be the provider for adolescents and adults with complex illness. That is hospital medicine rather than primary care. If you are choosing between a leadership doctorate and an advanced practice one, this is a school that keeps the two visibly separate rather than folding leadership coursework into a clinical track and calling it both.

In-State Tuition
$10,038
Out-Of-State
$37,422
DNP Awards
44

Scored on

  • Published in-state graduate tuition 89.2
  • Established program 100

Visit The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston →

Ranked 9 of 301

University of Maryland, Baltimore

Baltimore, MD

96 of 100
  • CCNE-accredited
  • Public
  • Doctorate (professional)

Maryland’s scale buys specialization most schools cannot staff. Alongside family practice it runs acute care pediatrics and neonatal tracks aimed at genuinely different jobs: acute care pediatric practitioners are hired into pediatric intensive care, inpatient pediatrics, cardiovascular surgery units and emergency departments, while neonatal practitioners go into level II, III and IV neonatal intensive care. The family track deliberately spreads practicum hours across women’s health, adult, geriatric and pediatric populations rather than concentrating them. The school also names the background it wants: emergency, pediatric cardiac surgery ICU, neurosurgical ICU or hematology-oncology experience. That is a clearer signal than a GPA floor. A Conway Scholarship covers half of in-state tuition, fees and books for those who qualify. Its pathways page publishes 37 credits for a nurse already practicing as an APRN against 80 to 93 for bachelor’s entry.

In-State Tuition
$10,024
Out-Of-State
$41,197
DNP Awards
156

Scored on

  • Published in-state graduate tuition 89.3
  • Established program 100

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Ranked 10 of 301

The University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston

Galveston, TX

95.7 of 100
  • CCNE-accredited
  • Public
  • Doctorate (research)
  • Offered online

UTMB draws a hard line between its routes. The BSN-to-DNP nurse anesthesia program is 112 credit hours over an intensive 36 months, which is roughly triple a post-master’s load and the honest price of becoming a CRNA. The executive leadership track works on a different clock: national certification, whether NEA-BC, NE-BC, CNML or CENP, must already be complete before the first practicum course begins, so it is a doctorate for nurses who have finished credentialling, not one that credentials you. Practitioner tracks let you build hours in acute settings, outpatient settings or both. Most post-master’s students accumulate their remaining 500 hours through the scholarly project rather than direct patient care.

In-State Tuition
$8,580
Out-Of-State
$24,189
DNP Awards
24

Scored on

  • Published in-state graduate tuition 91
  • Established program 98.5

Visit The University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston →

Ranked 11 of 301

Walden University

Minneapolis, MN

95.7 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 88.6
  • Established program 100

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Ranked 12 of 301

University of Nebraska Medical Center

Omaha, NE

95.3 of 100
  • CCNE-accredited
  • Public
  • Doctorate (professional)

Nebraska publishes its admission floor instead of leaving you to infer it: a 3.0 GPA for full admission across all three entry routes, with applicants between 2.5 and 2.9 eligible for provisional consideration. That is worth knowing before an application fee. Entry is by BSN-to-DNP for nurses with an accredited bachelor’s, MSN-to-DNP for those with an accredited master’s, or a post-graduate track for holders of a master’s or doctorate, and the accrediting bodies accepted for the prior degree are named rather than assumed. Graduates move into advanced clinical roles as nurse practitioners, clinical nurse specialists and nurse midwives, or into nursing leadership. The school treats those as parallel destinations rather than one being the fallback.

In-State Tuition
$11,416
Out-Of-State
$34,405
DNP Awards
44

Scored on

  • Published in-state graduate tuition 87.6
  • Established program 100

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Ranked 13 of 301

University of Wisconsin-Madison

Madison, WI

95.2 of 100
  • CCNE-accredited
  • Public
  • Doctorate (professional)

Madison solves the problem that stalls more doctorates than coursework does. It runs a Clinical Placement Unit whose job is to secure placements in your population area and make sure the hours needed for certification and graduation are actually obtained, because staff and faculty find the practicum so you do not have to. In a market where preceptors are scarce, that is worth more than any figure on this card, and it is the opposite of schools that leave students to source their own. The scholarly project is organized around the population you intend to serve, whether pediatric primary care, psychiatric-mental health or adult-gerontology acute care. Graduates are prepared for hospitals, intensive care, emergency departments, urgent care, surgical suites and specialty settings. It also caps waivable credits at 18, which sets a floor on how much coursework an MSN-prepared applicant still has to take.

In-State Tuition
$10,006
Out-Of-State
$40,506
DNP Awards
36
UG Completion
90%

Scored on

  • Published in-state graduate tuition 89.3
  • Established program 100
  • Institution-wide undergraduate completion 92.2

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Ranked 14 of 301

University of Central Florida

Orlando, FL

94.5 of 100
  • CCNE-accredited
  • Public
  • Doctorate (professional)
  • Offered online

UCF states its executive track precisely: 42 credit hours of online asynchronous instruction, two required virtual DNP intensives a year, and 1,000 post-baccalaureate clinical hours. It also admits the thing most online programs gloss: the DNP project itself requires in-person clinical hours, so fully remote it is not. There is deliberately no full-time option for the nurse executive track, because the college assumes those students are already working full-time, which tells you exactly who it is designed for: serving managers, not people stepping out of practice. The family and adult-gerontology acute care tracks run mixed-mode with reduced on-campus seat time, a middle setting between the executive track’s near-total flexibility and a conventional campus program. The family practitioner route runs 73 credits against the executive track’s 42, so the track page is what to compare on rather than the program page.

In-State Tuition
$4,478
Out-Of-State
$19,810
DNP Awards
65
UG Completion
78%

Scored on

  • Published in-state graduate tuition 95.9
  • Established program 100
  • Institution-wide undergraduate completion 78.9

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Ranked 15 of 301

University of South Florida

Tampa, FL

94.3 of 100
  • CCNE-accredited
  • Public
  • Doctorate (professional)

USF attaches a geographic condition to the degree that decides it for a lot of applicants: a minimum of 31 credits including at least eight practicum credits and four project credits, all of which must be completed in Florida. If you do not live there, that decides it before anything else does. The plan is lock-step, so the sequence is fixed rather than assembled around your schedule, which is predictable if you want a known end date, inflexible if your work pattern shifts. Practicum hours directly support the DNP project and can include direct patient care or immersion experiences approved by the program director. Both entry routes are open, and the adult-gerontology acute care concentration evaluates prior clinical experience case by case rather than against a fixed threshold.

In-State Tuition
$4,559
Out-Of-State
$15,473
DNP Awards
87
UG Completion
77%

Scored on

  • Published in-state graduate tuition 95.8
  • Established program 100
  • Institution-wide undergraduate completion 77.8

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Ranked 16 of 301

University of California-Irvine

Irvine, CA

93.8 of 100
  • CCNE-accredited
  • Public
  • Doctorate (research)

Irvine’s post-master’s DNP is a two-year, primarily online commitment written for working professionals, and the family nurse practitioner track is the heavy one at 98 units and 1,020 hours of clinical practice, though California counts in quarter units, so the load is less alarming than it looks. The useful provision is that the clinical hours attached to the scholarly project can be completed at your own place of employment or another agency suited to the project, which removes the hardest logistical problem in the degree for anyone already working somewhere appropriate. Cohorts are small and the school says it turns away qualified applicants. Nurses employed on a career appointment within the University of California system can apply for a $10,000 scholarship.

In-State Tuition
$12,260
Out-Of-State
$44,148
DNP Awards
26
UG Completion
87%

Scored on

  • Published in-state graduate tuition 86.6
  • Established program 100
  • Institution-wide undergraduate completion 88.9

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Ranked 17 of 301

Florida International University

Miami, FL

93.6 of 100
  • CCNE-accredited
  • Public
  • Doctorate (professional)

FIU’s DNP leans psychiatric, and its practice sites make that plain: community mental health centers, crisis centers, psychiatric clinics and hospital units, correctional health, and private practice. Correctional health in particular is a setting few nursing schools name, and the placements you do are what you end up competent to handle afterwards. The provision worth knowing if you live anywhere else in Florida is that students in the online specialties may complete clinicals beyond the university’s own service area of Monroe, Miami-Dade, Broward and Palm Beach. Several Florida publics hold their students inside a catchment. This one says in writing that it does not. Its college publishes a plan of study per specialty rather than one for the degree.

In-State Tuition
$4,721
Out-Of-State
$16,529
DNP Awards
81
UG Completion
74%

Scored on

  • Published in-state graduate tuition 95.6
  • Established program 100
  • Institution-wide undergraduate completion 74.4

Visit Florida International University →

Ranked 18 of 301

Medical University of South Carolina

Charleston, SC

93.5 of 100
  • CCNE-accredited
  • Public
  • Doctorate (research)
  • Offered online

MUSC charges one of the ten highest published in-state graduate rates of any public university in this dataset, which inverts the usual reason to look at a state school. The gap between what residents and non-residents pay is also one of the narrower ones among publics here, so a South Carolina address buys you less than it usually would, and out-of-state applicants are closer to parity than they expect. It is a health-professions campus of about three thousand in Charleston, and federal records flag the DNP for distance study, so the program reaches well beyond the Lowcountry. It also confers doctorates at a high rate for its size, thirteenth of the 311 institutions in this dataset measured as awards against total enrollment, which says the nursing doctorate is central to that campus rather than one program among many.

In-State Tuition
$15,622
Out-Of-State
$29,030
DNP Awards
57

Scored on

  • Published in-state graduate tuition 82.6
  • Established program 100

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Ranked 19 of 301

Touro University Nevada

Henderson, NV

93 of 100
  • CCNE-accredited
  • Private nonprofit
  • Doctorate (professional)
  • Offered online

Touro Nevada runs a leadership doctorate and does not pretend otherwise. Its 528 practicum hours are leadership-based and built to support the scholarly project rather than to deliver direct patient care. That is coherent for a post-master’s leadership degree, and worth checking against your board’s expectations if you need clinical hours for a certification. The pace is an explicit choice rather than a negotiation: an accelerated track of one year full-time, or a standard track of two years part-time. Coursework combines didactic and practicum work aimed at leading in varied practice settings, collaborating across professions to improve patient care, and building strategy in advanced practice areas. It suits a nurse already in or moving toward a management role.

In-State Tuition
$10,080
Out-Of-State
$10,080
DNP Awards
22

Scored on

  • Published in-state graduate tuition 89.2
  • Established program 95.2

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Ranked 20 of 301

University of North Carolina Wilmington

Wilmington, NC

93 of 100
  • CCNE-accredited
  • Public
  • Doctorate (professional)
  • Offered online

Wilmington offers five concentrations delivered in a flexible asynchronous online format, and asynchronous here means no fixed class times at all, which is rarer than the word "online" usually implies and the single reason to look here if your roster moves. The family nurse practitioner concentration is aimed at nurses seeking advanced practice skills to deliver primary care across the lifespan, while the nurse executive leadership concentration is 36 credit hours, completable in as few as five semesters, and written for nurses already on a leadership trajectory rather than those hoping to start one. Overall completion runs anywhere from five to fourteen semesters depending on how heavily you study, which the school publishes rather than burying.

In-State Tuition
$4,443
Out-Of-State
$21,318
DNP Awards
61
UG Completion
71%

Scored on

  • Published in-state graduate tuition 95.9
  • Established program 100
  • Institution-wide undergraduate completion 71.1

Visit University of North Carolina Wilmington →

Ranked 21 of 301

University of North Carolina at Charlotte

Charlotte, NC

92.8 of 100
  • CCNE-accredited
  • Public
  • Doctorate (professional)
  • Offered online

Charlotte runs two concentrations that could hardly be less alike. The post-master’s DNP prepares health-system and organizational leaders, explicitly including non-APRNs alongside practicing APRNs, to lead through translating evidence into practice, so a nurse manager without a clinical master’s is not excluded. The BSN-to-DNP in nurse anesthesia across the lifespan is the opposite proposition: taught on campus in partnership with Atrium Health, a hospital-embedded clinical residency rather than something to fit around a job. Clinical hours are shaped to your primary area of interest and the specialty competencies. The university also warns that some states do not permit its online delivery or out-of-state practicum, which is the licensure question to settle before applying. It also publishes its student handbook openly, which is the fastest way to see what the program expects of you before you apply.

In-State Tuition
$3,812
Out-Of-State
$19,065
DNP Awards
25
UG Completion
69%

Scored on

  • Published in-state graduate tuition 96.7
  • Established program 100
  • Institution-wide undergraduate completion 68.9

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Ranked 22 of 301

University of North Florida

Jacksonville, FL

92.7 of 100
  • CCNE-accredited
  • Public
  • Doctorate (professional)
  • Offered online

North Florida frames its DNP for nurses ready to move from clinical expertise into influence, with emphasis on evidence-based practice, organizational and systems leadership, health policy and quality improvement rather than on adding a clinical population. It is delivered fully online with faculty engagement built into each course, and the post-MSN track admits twice a year, autumn and spring. One change is worth planning around: from autumn 2026 the post-MSN route requires full-time enrollment at nine credit hours a term, closing the part-time option many working nurses rely on. Anyone weighing this program should confirm which cohort they would join, because the version described today and the version starting in 2026 ask for different things. Its nurse anesthesia track is accredited by the COA rather than CCNE, a separate accreditation claim from the rest of the degree.

In-State Tuition
$3,996
Out-Of-State
$16,799
DNP Awards
63
UG Completion
69%

Scored on

  • Published in-state graduate tuition 96.4
  • Established program 100
  • Institution-wide undergraduate completion 68.9

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Ranked 23 of 301

California State University-Fullerton

Fullerton, CA

92.2 of 100
  • CCNE-accredited
  • Public
  • Doctorate (professional)

Fullerton asks for one commitment that decides it for a lot of working nurses: students must be available all day on Fridays for the entirety of the program. The format is hybrid, on-site and online, so that standing Friday is the practical constraint to weigh against a rota before anything else. Admission requires a master’s from a regionally accredited institution and a nursing specialty, and the indirect care track narrows that further to a master’s in nursing leadership, administration, education or community health, so this is a doctorate for nurses who have already specialized. Clinical hours can be completed at your own place of employment. The program has been run by the CSUF School of Nursing since 2023, its predecessor consortium having graduated a final cohort in 2024.

In-State Tuition
$6,084
Out-Of-State
$18,684
DNP Awards
51
UG Completion
70%

Scored on

  • Published in-state graduate tuition 93.9
  • Established program 100
  • Institution-wide undergraduate completion 70

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Ranked 24 of 301

Florida Atlantic University

Boca Raton, FL

91.9 of 100
  • CCNE-accredited
  • Public
  • Doctorate (professional)

Florida Atlantic splits the DNP by entry credential. The full-time BSN-to-DNP prepares family, adult-gerontology primary care and psychiatric-mental health practitioners. The post-master’s route runs part-time over eight semesters for APRNs who are already certified, covering leadership, clinical scholarship, nursing theory, cultural competence, population health, strategic healthcare management and evaluation. A minimum of 1,000 clinical hours culminates in a project mapped to the 2021 AACN Essentials. Delivery is four separate choices rather than one: live on campus, synchronous over Zoom, fully asynchronous, or hybrid. That matters because most schools offer a single mode and call it flexible. Its college also charges a per-credit fee on nursing courses on top of tuition, so the published annual rate is not the whole bill.

In-State Tuition
$2,522
Out-Of-State
$14,374
DNP Awards
32
UG Completion
63%

Scored on

  • Published in-state graduate tuition 98.2
  • Established program 100
  • Institution-wide undergraduate completion 62.2

Visit Florida Atlantic University →

Ranked 25 of 301

University of Cincinnati

Cincinnati, OH

91.3 of 100
  • CCNE-accredited
  • Public
  • Doctorate (professional)
  • Offered online

5 DNP tracks at this institution, Adult health, Family nurse practitioner, Nursing practice (general), Pediatric, Psychiatric-mental health NP. Ranked once, on the largest.

Cincinnati builds its DNP curriculum around evidence-based practice, quality improvement, policy, informatics and leadership, and its family track is explicitly aimed at both national certification exams, the ANCC’s FNP-BC and the AANP’s. The pediatric acute care programs prepare nurses for fast-paced clinical settings and family-centerd care. Two structural details are worth knowing before you plan around it. From spring 2027, advanced health assessment students must complete a three-day on-campus immersion and demonstrate competency before beginning practicum, which for a distance-flagged program means three days in Ohio. And each practicum requires at least two DNP project team meetings, so supervision is scheduled rather than left to you to arrange.

In-State Tuition
$11,685
Out-Of-State
$27,019
DNP Awards
32
UG Completion
75%

Scored on

  • Published in-state graduate tuition 87.3
  • Established program 100
  • Institution-wide undergraduate completion 75.6

Visit University of Cincinnati →

How To Choose A DNP Program

The table sorts on three published figures. These are the levers it cannot see, ordered by how much they move the total cost of the degree rather than by how often they get written about.

Start with the route, not the school

Entering with a bachelor’s rather than a master’s changes the degree by years and by most of its cost, and it is settled before any institution is compared. The three routes are set out in Which route fits you above.

Ask who secures your clinical placement

Programs fall into three groups and rarely say which on the program page: the school places you, the school helps and you finish the search, or you find every preceptor yourself. Against 1,000 supervised hours this is the largest cost nobody prints, and it is the thing most likely to decide whether you finish on schedule. The answer is usually in the student handbook rather than the brochure.

Ask what happens if the doctoral project overruns

Some programs bill continuation credits, or a candidacy fee, for each additional term a project runs. It appears in no published tuition schedule, it is charged exactly when a student is least able to absorb it, and it can exceed the gap between two schools in the table above.

Check residency before assuming the in-state rate

Across the 156 public institutions here that publish both figures, the median out-of-state rate is 2.5 times the in-state one. Studying at a distance does not by itself make you a resident of the state setting the lower figure.

Read the rate, not a total

The tuition column is an annual institutional rate. Most DNP students study part-time and most programs bill by the credit, so multiplying a yearly figure by a program length produces a confident number that is wrong. No page on this site does it.

Confirm the specialty exists before you weigh the school

A university with a strong general doctorate may not run the population focus you want, and a track can be closed to new applicants while the rest of the program keeps recruiting. For the two largest practitioner fields our sister sites rank the programs specifically: family nurse practitioner programs and psychiatric mental health programs.

What &Ldquo;Online” Actually Means For A DNP

The most misunderstood word on this page. A distance flag describes how coursework is delivered and nothing else, and the gap between that and what applicants assume is measured in flights and in hours.

The coursework is online. The practice hours never are

The federal survey records whether taught content can be delivered at a distance. It says nothing about clinical practice, and every accredited DNP carries roughly 1,000 supervised post-baccalaureate hours that happen in a facility with a preceptor physically present. A program marketed as fully online still places its students in buildings.

Campus days exist, and are rarely on the program page

The commitment ranges from none at all, through an orientation and a final defense, to annual multi-day intensives and in some cases a fixed weekday every week. Programs requiring the least tend to say so prominently. Programs requiring more tend to put it in the handbook. Ask for the number of days and the months they fall in, because that is what you hold against a roster.

Immersion does not always mean a campus visit

Some programs use the word for a block of clinical hours served near where you live, and others for days spent on campus. Two different commitments share one label, and the difference between them is a flight.

State authorization decides whether you may enroll at all

A distance program operates under authorization in each state and coverage is not universal. Several publish a list of states they cannot accept students from, a few restrict enrollment to a named group of states, and a program’s authority to enroll you is separate from its ability to place you for clinical hours near you. Settle this first, because it ends the question rather than complicating it.

Distance study does not buy the in-state rate

Residency is set by the state, not by where you sit to watch a lecture, so a distance student from out of state is commonly charged the out-of-state rate, a median of 2.5 times in-state across the publics here. A minority of institutions charge one rate to every online student, which is worth asking about because it is worth more than most differences in the table above.

The distance-ranked list is a different page

This page ranks the whole accredited field. Online DNP programs narrows it to the distance-flagged institutions and reweights the rubric toward programs that are established going concerns, because a thin program costs a distance student more than a campus student.

Applying To A DNP Program

What to have ready, in the order it becomes urgent. The steps that depend on someone else, licensure by endorsement and a letter from a former registrar, are the ones to start first.

  1. 1. Hold an active, unencumbered RN license, in the right state

    Every program requires current licensure. What varies is where: a number require the license to be active in the state where your practicum will happen rather than wherever you hold one now, and some require it in place before the first term rather than at application. Licensure by endorsement takes months, so start it when you apply and not when you are accepted.

  2. 2. Meet the grade floor, and check which grades it counts

    A 3.0 cumulative average is the common floor, with programs setting 3.2, 3.25 or 3.3, and a few asking 3.5 of any prior graduate work. The basis matters as much as the number: several calculate on the last 60 credits of the bachelor’s rather than the whole degree, which helps if you started slowly and finished well.

  3. 3. Check the GRE policy on the program page, not from a summary

    Policy varies by program and has been changing, with schools announcing the requirement dropped or waived. This site publishes no proportion, because only a minority of institutions mention the exam anywhere in their published admission material and any share would describe our reading rather than the field. The program page is the only reliable answer.

  4. 4. Line up references who can speak to the work

    Two or three is standard, and the constraints are where programs differ. Some require one from your current clinical supervisor, some require one from a nurse prepared at doctoral level, and at least one requires a referee who either practices in the role you are seeking or works alongside people who do. A manager who has never done the job may not qualify.

  5. 5. Arrive with a problem, not just an ambition

    Several programs ask the application essay to name a clinical problem in your own practice setting and say what you would do about it, and at least one asks how you would spend your practice hours changing it. That is a project proposal in everything but name, and it is not written the night before a deadline.

  6. 6. Expect an interview, and expect it to matter

    Interviews with graduate faculty are common and usually the last gate. At least one program states plainly that its cohort is capped and that meeting every published minimum does not assure admission, which is the honest version of what a capped cohort means everywhere.

  7. 7. Coming from a master’s: document the hours you already hold

    How many of your master’s practice hours count is the biggest single variable in what this degree costs you in time, and programs will not take your word for it. Expect a verification form, and in several cases an official letter sent directly from the institution that awarded the master’s stating the exact number. Chasing a former registrar takes weeks.

  8. 8. Work backwards from the intake, because some have only one

    Cohorts commonly start once a year, and a program admitting only in the fall means missing the date costs a year rather than a term. Others run two or three intakes, and a few accept applications year round or until the cohort fills, which makes a published deadline a ceiling rather than a target.

The route through the degree itself, from prerequisites to licensure, is set out step by step in how to become a DNP.

What The Degree Does And Does Not Grant

The finding this whole site is built on, and the one most likely to change which program you apply to. A doctorate and a license are different things, awarded by different bodies, for different reasons.

The degree is not the license

A degree confers no prescriptive authority. It comes from a state advanced practice license and the national certification behind it, so a DNP-prepared and a master’s-prepared nurse practitioner holding the same license prescribe the same things.

What the license actually attaches to

NCSBN recognizes 4 advanced practice roles and 6 population foci, and a certification attaches to a pairing of the two rather than to a doctorate. The foci are family or individual across the lifespan, adult-gerontology, neonatal, pediatrics, women’s health and gender-related and psychiatric and mental health. Changing which population you serve means new supervised hours and a new examination, whatever degree you hold.

Accreditation is the gate to the examination

Programmatic accreditation is required for a program preparing an advanced practice role. The bodies that administer the certification exams require the program to be accredited by an agency the Department of Education recognizes, so a graduate of an unaccredited APRN program cannot sit the exam that leads to the license.

Two roles answer to a second accreditor

Nurse anesthesia programs are accredited by the Council on Accreditation of Nurse Anesthesia Educational Programs, and nurse-midwifery programs by the Accreditation Commission for Midwifery Education, on top of the nursing accreditation every institution on this page holds. If either is your destination, that programmatic accreditation is a second thing to verify rather than an alternative to the first.

Where each destination is set out in full

One honest page per destination, with the federal wage data and the downsides attached: nurse practitioner, nurse anesthetist, nurse midwife, nurse educator and chief nursing officer. Where prescriptive authority comes from is set out in can a DNP prescribe medication.

Cost Beyond Published Tuition

The tuition column is one line of a longer bill. Where a figure is not published by a source this site can cite, it says so rather than estimating, because an invented number here is worse than none.

Fees, which the tuition column excludes

The federal survey publishes tuition. Institutions charge fees on top of it, and the ones billed per credit rather than per term are the ones that accumulate: technology, general student, distance learning and program fees all appear at this level. No national source collects them, so this site publishes no figure and the number has to come from the school.

Clinical placement charges

Some programs bill a placement or clinical fee per term or per rotation. At least one states outright that practicum brings travel, onboarding fees, per-term charges and liability insurance, which is more candor than most programs offer and no reason to think it unusual.

Malpractice cover, sometimes yours to carry

At least one program requires doctoral students to hold their own malpractice insurance for the duration of the degree. It is not large next to tuition, but it is a condition of enrollment rather than an optional extra, and it is easy to miss.

Continuation credits, when the project runs long

Billed per additional term by the programs that charge them, and invisible in every published schedule. Doctoral projects overrun for ordinary reasons, and at least one catalog carries a zero-credit course whose stated purpose is letting a student stay enrolled while finishing, with a candidacy fee attached to it.

Travel, for the campus days you already counted

An annual intensive is a flight, a hotel and days not worked, repeated for the length of the program. For a distance student living far from campus this is frequently the second largest cost after tuition, and it is the one most often left out of a comparison.

Certification and licensure, after you graduate

The examination fee, the state license application and the recurring renewal are real costs and none is set by the school. This site publishes no figures for them: they are set by the certifying bodies and the state boards, they change independently of anything here, and they would be stale before they were useful. The certifying body for your role publishes the current fee.

What can be set against these, including the federal repayment programs and their service commitments, is in paying for a DNP.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the best DNP program?

There is no single answer, and any page giving you one is ranking on something it has chosen for you. This list orders 301 accredited institutions on doctoral conferrals, published in-state tuition and institution-wide completion. Change the weights and the order changes, which is what the affordability and online lists on this site do.

How long does a DNP take?

It depends on the door you come in at rather than the school. Entering with a bachelor's is three to four years full-time; longer part-time. Entering with a master's in nursing is one to two years full-time; commonly longer part-time. The difference is most of the coursework and, on many programs, most of the practice hours.

How many clinical hours does a DNP require?

Around 1,000 supervised post-baccalaureate practice hours. What varies between programs is how many of them you arrive holding: some count a master's practicum in full, some cap what transfers, and some require every hour to be earned inside the program.

Is a DNP worth it over a master’s?

That turns on what you want to do rather than on what you will be allowed to do. Both routes reach the same advanced practice license, so the doctorate does not widen your scope. It is worth it where the destination is leading a service, teaching, or work that expects a terminal degree, and it is a long detour where the destination is a clinical panel.

Does every program on this list hold accreditation?

Yes, and it is the condition for appearing rather than a factor in the score. All 301 institutions hold CCNE accreditation for the DNP, so none earns points for it and none is listed without it.

Sources

  1. 1 CCNE accredited program directory Which institutions hold accreditation for the DNP.
  2. 2 IPEDS Published tuition, conferrals and completion, and the in-state against out-of-state rates the 2.5x median is computed from across 156 public institutions.
  3. 3 AACN DNP frequently asked questions The 1,000 post-baccalaureate practice hours every DNP carries, which no delivery format removes.
  4. 4 NCSBN, APRN regulation The 4 advanced practice roles and 6 population foci a certification attaches to.
  5. 5 ACEN, Accreditation And Certification Eligibility That the certifying bodies require an accredited program before a graduate may sit the examination.
  6. 6 COA, Council on Accreditation of Nurse Anesthesia Educational Programs Programmatic accreditation for nurse anesthesia programs.
  7. 7 ACME, Accreditation Commission for Midwifery Education Programmatic accreditation for nurse-midwifery and midwifery programs.

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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