Best PhD in Nursing Programs in District of Columbia, Ranked (2026)
All three PhD in nursing programs in the District of Columbia sit inside the same city, and all three are private. Catholic University of America, George Washington University, and Georgetown University run them, and there's no public university in the mix, so there's no in-state tuition rate waiting for you. What you get instead is three delivery formats inside one set of city limits. Catholic runs its PhD online, George Washington runs a hybrid, and Georgetown keeps its PhD on campus. Choosing between them has less to do with moving and more to do with how much of your week the program takes.
Last updated
Programs ranked
3
Universities
3
Nursing faculty median
$107,770
Faculty jobs in DC
110
How We Ranked the Best PhD in Nursing Programs in District of Columbia
Campus and online programs are scored on separate models, because they compete on different
things, and this page lists both together with each one's score from its own model. Research
funding comes from NIH RePORTER, doctoral scale from federal IPEDS completions, and the
curriculum, funding and deadline figures from each school's own pages.
The full scoring model is here.
District of Columbia's 3 Nursing PhD Programs, Compared
PhD in nursing programs in District of Columbia, ranked 2026
Nearly all of the federal nursing research money in Washington sits at GW: $6.5 million across eight NINR awards, against $701,029 at Georgetown and none at Catholic. If you want a funded lab to attach a dissertation to, this is the DC one.
Where it wins. You can keep working. The on-campus obligation is Friday and Saturday intensives in fall and spring, everything else online, and Georgetown by contrast won't take you part-time at all. That matters when 57 credits at $1,710 comes to $97,470 in tuition.
What you give up. The scholarship and the day job cancel each other out. Aid requires full-time enrolment and no more than 20 hours of work a week, while anyone working more than 20 hours is routed into part-time study only. Pick one.
Funding. Scholarship funding is available to select applicants; recipients must be enrolled full-time, work no more than 20 hours a week, remain continuously enrolled, and exhaust employer tuition benefits first. Funding is reviewed and awarded annually.
Research. health equity, clinical research, community research, health services research, educational research.
Every published detail for George Washington University
Degree awarded
PhD
Delivery
Hybrid
School
GW School of Nursing
Entry points
MSN-to-PhD, post-master's
GRE
Not required
Minimum GPA
3
Applications close
December 1 (priority); final deadline March 15
Part-time study
Available
Dissertation
Required
On campus
Friday/Saturday weekend intensives on the GW campus during fall and spring semesters until enrollment in dissertation
For a nurse holding a BSN and no master's, this is the way into a Washington PhD. GW and Georgetown both start you at the master's. Catholic takes you from the bachelor's, online, on a rolling application.
Where it wins. Rolling admissions, so you apply when you're ready rather than aiming at a December date and waiting out a year if you miss. Coursework runs in seven and eight week sessions, and at $1,505 a credit it undercuts GW by $205 on every one.
What you give up. No federal nursing research dollars run through this building while GW works through $6.5 million of them, so you'd train as a researcher at the DC school with none of it in-house. The GPA floor is also 3.2 against 3.0 elsewhere.
Georgetown started this PhD in fall 2025, so the first cohort hasn't finished it yet. What you get for taking that on is a 44-credit load, thirteen lighter than GW's, and a curriculum with an ethics scholar sequence built into it.
Where it wins. It's the one Washington program built around you being physically there, full time in the new Capitol Campus building, rather than logging in from home. The Health Justice Scholars Track carries zero credits, so it broadens the degree without adding tuition.
What you give up. You have to quit. Full-time enrolment is required and part-time isn't offered. Georgetown's federal nursing research base is $701,029 across three awards, roughly a ninth of what GW's faculty are working with, so the grant money nearby is thinner.
Funding. The Patrick Healy Graduate Fellowship, a merit-based program that supports students who may not otherwise be able to pursue a PhD, funded a member of the inaugural cohort. Funding is competitive rather than automatic.
Research. ethics, health equity, health disparities, mental health, women's health, cardiovascular science and physiology.
Every published detail for Georgetown University
Degree awarded
PhD
Delivery
On campus
School
Berkley School of Nursing
Entry points
MSN-to-PhD, post-master's
GRE
Not required
Minimum GPA
3
Applications close
December 1
Part-time study
Full time only
Dissertation
Required
On campus
Residential: classes are held on Georgetown's Capitol campus with integrated experiences at the Hilltop campus
What Nursing Faculty and Nurse Researchers Earn in District of Columbia
The median wage for postsecondary nursing instructors in the District of Columbia is $107,770, about $27,500 above the national faculty median of $80,250. It also sits above the District's own RN median of $102,540, and that ordering is unusual, because teaching pays less than staff nursing across most of the country. Read it against the base, though. Only 110 people hold these faculty jobs here, against 11,440 registered nurses, and a base that small lets the median swing hard from one year to the next. The spread is wide as well. The bottom tenth of faculty earn $65,250 and the top tenth earn $173,600, so which school hires you matters more than the headline figure.
No. All three PhD in nursing programs here are private. Catholic University of America, George Washington University, and Georgetown University charge one tuition rate no matter what your address says, so residency doesn't buy you the discount it would at a public school. Budget for the sticker price and work backward from there.
What actually moves the number is credits and pace. The typical nursing PhD in Washington runs about 50.5 credits over four years of full-time study, and one of the three programs offers a part-time track that stretches those same credits across more calendar years. One program admits BSN-prepared nurses directly into the PhD, which cuts out a separate master's and the tuition attached to it. Two of the three skip the GRE, which saves a test fee and a few months of prep, though not much else.
The other lever is funded work. Nursing faculty at these three institutions pulled in $7,239,547 in NIH nursing research awards between FY2021 and FY2025, and Washington schools award roughly 76 nursing doctorates a year. Ask each program directly how much of that award money reaches doctoral students as assistantships or covered tuition, because in a city with no public option that answer is the price negotiation.
Questions About Nursing PhD Programs in District of Columbia
How many PhD in nursing programs are there in District of Columbia?
3, at 3 universities. 2 are campus-based and 1 runs online.
Can you get a PhD in nursing in Washington, DC online?
Yes. Catholic University of America delivers its Doctor of Philosophy in Nursing online, and George Washington University runs its PhD as a hybrid, so you're on campus for part of it rather than all of it. Georgetown University keeps its PhD in Nursing on campus. If you can't relocate to Washington, the online and hybrid options are the two to start with.
How long does a PhD in nursing take in DC, and do you need the GRE?
Plan on about 50.5 credits and four years of full-time study, which is what the typical nursing PhD in Washington asks for. One of the three programs runs a part-time track, so the same credits spread over more years if you're still working. Two of the three don't require the GRE, and one takes BSN-prepared nurses straight into the PhD without a master's in between.
What do nursing professors earn in District of Columbia?
Postsecondary nursing instructors in District of Columbia earn a $107,770 median. The bottom 10% earn $65,250 and the top 10% clear $173,600, across 110 jobs in the state. The national median is $80,250.
Can you do a nursing PhD in District of Columbia without moving?
1 of the 3 programs in District of Columbia runs online. You can also apply to any of the online programs based in other states, since an online nursing PhD does not care where you live. They are all ranked here.