Doctoral Nursing Degrees: Every Type, Compared

What Are The Types Of Doctoral Nursing Degrees?

Doctoral nursing degrees split into two families. A practice doctorate trains you to apply evidence in patient care and health systems, and it ends in a project that changes practice. A research doctorate trains you to produce new evidence, and it ends in a dissertation. The DNP and the DNAP are practice doctorates. The PhD, the DNS and most nursing EdDs sit in AACN’s research-focused group, which counted 158 programs across those titles in 2025.

Every one of these doctoral nursing degrees is a terminal degree. None of them is a step toward another, and none outranks the rest. They lead to different work.

• DNP 452 schools

  Doctor of Nursing Practice

  Built for

  Clinical practice, leadership, quality and systems

  Final work

  A practice-change project

  Accredited by

  CCNE or ACEN; anesthesia and midwifery tracks also COA or ACME

• PhD 144 programs

  Doctor of Philosophy in Nursing

  Built for

  Original research and the science behind practice

  Final work

  A dissertation

  Accredited by

  Not accredited by CCNE; the university’s regional accreditor

• DNS / DNSc 1 program

  Doctor of Nursing Science

  Built for

  Research, in AACN’s research-focused group

  Final work

  A dissertation

  Accredited by

  The university’s regional accreditor

• DNAP 39 entry-level programs

  Doctor of Nurse Anesthesia Practice

  Built for

  Nurse anesthesia practice

  Final work

  A practice doctorate project

  Accredited by

  COA only

• EdD 5 nursing programs

  Doctor of Education

  Built for

  Teaching, curriculum and academic leadership

  Final work

  A dissertation or applied study

  Accredited by

  The university’s regional accreditor

• PhD/DNP 8 programs

  Dual research and practice doctorate

  Built for

  Both, for nurse scientists who also practice

  Final work

  Both a dissertation and a project

  Accredited by

  CCNE or ACEN for the DNP side

Counts from AACN’s DNP fact sheet (schools), AACN’s PhD data (programs, 2025) and COA’s program list as of July 8, 2026. Read 2026-11-10.

Doctor Of Nursing Practice (DNP)

The DNP is the biggest of the doctoral nursing degrees by a wide margin. AACN reports 452 schools of nursing enrolling DNP students, in all 50 states and DC, and more than 90 more programs in planning. Enrollment rose from 42,767 in 2024 to 44,976 in 2025, an increase of 2,209, while graduates slipped from 12,336 to 12,207.

It’s a practice degree. AACN’s guidance is that programs should provide at least 1,000 hours of supervised practice after the bachelor’s, and the program ends in a DNP project that puts evidence to work in a real setting rather than producing new findings. Nurse practitioners, clinical nurse specialists, nurse-midwives, nurse anesthetists and nurse executives all train in DNP programs.

CCNE accredits the practice doctorate only when it is titled DNP, which is part of why the name has become the standard. Our guide to the DNP covers the degree in depth, and the best DNP programs ranking compares the schools.

PhD In Nursing

The PhD in Nursing is the research doctorate. You learn to design studies, win funding and publish, and you finish with a dissertation that adds something new to nursing science. AACN counts 144 PhD programs in 2025, with 4,077 students enrolled and 787 graduating.

It’s shrinking. PhD enrollment has fallen for 11 years in a row, from 5,145 in 2013 to 4,077 in 2025, a drop of 20.8%, according to AACN. Getting in still isn’t automatic: of 4,049 applications, 2,870 met admission requirements and 500 qualified applicants were turned away, about 17% of the qualified pool.

If your goal is a research career, this is the degree that route expects. The DNP vs PhD guide works through that decision, including how each is paid for.

Doctor Of Nursing Science (DNS Or DNSc)

You’ll still see DNS, DNSc and DSN after the names of senior nurse researchers, and AACN’s own DNP fact sheet mentions nurse researchers “prepared in PhD, DNS, and other research-focused nursing doctorates.” As a degree you can enroll in, though, it has nearly gone. AACN’s 2025 count lists 1 Doctor of Nursing Science program against 144 PhDs. If you’re weighing a research doctorate today, you’re weighing a PhD.

Doctor Of Nurse Anesthesia Practice (DNAP)

The DNAP is a practice doctorate for nurse anesthesia only. Every accredited US nurse anesthesia program is at the doctoral degree level. Each program awards either the DNP or the DNAP: on COA’s list as of July 8, 2026, 117 of 156 entry-level programs award the DNP and 39 award the DNAP. Both lead to the same CRNA exam. The difference is accreditation: a DNAP is reviewed by COA alone, since CCNE accredits only the DNP title. DNP vs DNAP covers the pair, and nurse anesthesia programs ranks them.

Doctor Of Education (EdD) In Nursing

An EdD is a doctorate in education. In nursing it prepares people to design curricula, run programs and lead schools of nursing, rather than clinical services or research labs. AACN counts 5 EdD programs in nursing schools in 2025, so it’s a small option. If you want to teach, a DNP or PhD with added education coursework is the more common route, and the CNE certification guide explains why a clinical DNP alone may not count as education preparation.

Dual PhD/DNP Programs

A handful of schools combine both doctoral nursing degrees, for nurses who want to run studies and keep a clinical practice. AACN counts 8 dual PhD/DNP programs in 2025. You complete both a dissertation and a DNP project, so expect a longer program than either degree alone. Few schools offer it, so it suits a narrow group: nurses certain they want both a research program and a clinical role.

How Many Students Each Doctorate Has

For every student in a research-focused nursing doctorate in 2025 there were about 11 in a DNP program. That ratio is the clearest sign of where doctoral nursing education has gone: the profession grew its practice doctorate while the research doctorate shrank.

That matters if you plan to teach. AACN’s 2025 survey found 1,588 full-time faculty vacancies across 863 schools, and 80.9% of them required or preferred a doctorate. With PhD enrollment falling and DNP enrollment rising, DNP graduates make up a growing share of the doctorally prepared nurses those schools are hiring from.

Entry Routes Into A Nursing Doctorate

Where you start decides which programs you can apply to. AACN’s 2025 counts, which overlap because many schools offer more than one route:

• BSN to DNP. 322 schools. You enter with a bachelor’s and an RN license and finish with the doctorate, skipping a separate master’s. See BSN to DNP programs.
• Post-master’s DNP. 414 schools. For nurses who already hold an MSN, often working APRNs. See MSN to DNP programs.
• Entry-level DNP. 7 schools. For people who aren’t nurses yet, usually with a bachelor’s in another field.

PhD programs take both BSN and MSN graduates at many schools. Check each program’s admission page, since the route changes the length and the cost more than the degree title does.

Which Doctoral Nursing Degree Fits Your Goal?

Start from the job you want in ten years, not from the letters. Working backward makes most of these choices easy.

Two checks before you apply to any of them. First, accreditation: a DNP should hold CCNE or ACEN accreditation, and our CCNE accreditation guide explains why it matters for licensure and certification. Second, the practice hours: ask how many the program requires and who arranges the placements, since that varies from school to school.

Frequently Asked Questions