Best PhD in Nursing Programs in Puerto Rico, Ranked (2026)
Puerto Rico has one nursing research doctorate, and it is at the University of Puerto Rico Medical Sciences Campus in San Juan. The program is taught on campus and awards a Doctor of Philosophy in Nursing, listed in its own catalogue as the Doctorado en Filosofia en Enfermeria. If you want PhD in nursing programs in Puerto Rico without leaving the island, this is the list, and it has one entry.
Last updated
Programs ranked
1
Universities
1
How We Ranked the Best PhD in Nursing Programs in Puerto Rico
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.
Doctor of Philosophy in Nursing (Ph.D.) / Doctorado en Filosofia en Enfermeria
San Juan, PR · Public ยท scores 44.1
No GRE
Coursework runs in Spanish on the Medical Sciences Campus in San Juan, with English reading and writing required on top, and none of it is online. You're doing a research doctorate in two languages, in a classroom, on the island.
Where it wins. Admission is scored out of 100 with no standardized test anywhere in it, and the weighting is unusual: your writing sample alone counts 30 points, more than your BSN and master's GPAs combined at 20. A strong writer with an ordinary transcript has a genuine route in here.
What you give up. Tuition is $8,000 a year flat, not per credit, and the handbook allows four to eight years. Finish at the minimum and the degree costs $32,000; drift to the maximum and it's $64,000. Daytime classes also run 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. on weekdays.
Funding. No guaranteed funding package. Doctoral tuition is a flat annual rate of $8,000.00 ('costo anual') rather than per-credit. Support is applied for through the Decanato de Estudiantes aid program (becas, prestamos bancarios, ayudas institucionales, Estudio y Trabajo), the Programa de Ayudantias Graduadas for teaching or research assistantships (requires a 3.00 GPA or higher), and the Rosa Echegaray / Sixto Moreira endowment scholarship, which funds 111 awards of $1,000 across undergraduate and graduate nursing students system-wide.
Escuela de Enfermeria (School of Nursing), Recinto de Ciencias Medicas
Entry points
MSN-to-PhD, post-master's
GRE
Not required
Minimum GPA
3
Applications close
May 22, 2026
Dissertation
Required
On the timeline
4-8 (lockstep four-year sequence; the doctoral handbook requires all requirements to be met in 'un minimo de cuatro (4) anos y un maximo de ocho (8) anos' after initial enrollment)
What Nursing Faculty and Nurse Researchers Earn in Puerto Rico
The federal wage survey publishes no separate figures for postsecondary nursing instructors in Puerto Rico, so the number to plan against is the national one: a $80,250 median for nursing faculty, with the bottom 10% at $48,800 and the top 10% at $129,500. Island salaries in health care generally sit below mainland ones, and a nurse weighing this degree should ask the school directly what its own graduates went into and at what rank, because that answer will be more useful here than any national median.
One program means the decision is not which program. It is whether this one fits, and if it does not, whether you are willing to study in English, online, at a school on the mainland.
The UPR program is 51 credits and the doctoral handbook sets the completion window at four to eight years from enrolment. It does not require the GRE. It is public, which matters more here than it would in a state with private alternatives, because there is no second option to price it against.
The realistic alternative is an online nursing PhD based on the mainland. Those programs do not care where you live, they are delivered at a distance, and most of them take part-time students who are working. What they will ask is that you travel to campus a few days a year, which from San Juan is a flight rather than a drive. That cost is worth pricing before you assume online is the flexible option.
Questions About Nursing PhD Programs in Puerto Rico
How many PhD in nursing programs are there in Puerto Rico?
1, at 1 university. 1 is campus-based and 0 run online.
Is there a PhD in nursing program in Puerto Rico?
Yes, one. The University of Puerto Rico Medical Sciences Campus in San Juan awards a Doctor of Philosophy in Nursing, taught on campus, at 51 credits.
Can Puerto Rico nurses do an online nursing PhD from a mainland school?
Yes. An online nursing PhD is delivered at a distance and does not require you to live in the state that runs it. Check the residency line on each one, because most still bring you to campus for a few days a year.
What do nursing professors earn in Puerto Rico?
The national median for postsecondary nursing instructors is $80,250, with the bottom 10% at $29,000 and the top 10% far above it. The state-by-state table is here.
Can you do a nursing PhD in Puerto Rico without moving?
Every nursing PhD program in Puerto Rico is campus-based, so studying in state means commuting or moving. The alternative is an online program based elsewhere, and those are ranked here.