Ph.D. in Nursing

If you are a dreamer, innovator, and inclined to ask challenging questions, we invite you to join our outstanding faculty and the greater community of nurse scholars and earn your Ph.D.!

The University of Iowa College of Nursing Ph.D. program prepares scholars to move nursing science forward. It helps students build on their knowledge base relevant to nursing and contribute to the body of nursing knowledge. The program strengths include student participation with nursing and interdisciplinary faculty engaged in research teams, focused coursework, involvement in presentation and publication of research-based knowledge, and interdisciplinary learning experiences. Graduates of the program are prepared for careers as researchers, college and university faculty members, consultants, and nursing leaders in the profession.

The University of Iowa College of Nursing prepares the next generation of nursing leaders. The college is at the center of innovation and discovery. New ideas for nursing care are developed, tested, applied to patient care, and distributed throughout the world as best practices. Several programs rank among the nation’s very best. From the Clinical Nurse Leader program (ranked No. 4 in the country) and Nursing Service Administration (No. 7) to Adult/Gero Acute Care and Primary Care (both ranked No. 8) to Anesthesia (No. 10), UI's College of Nursing is routinely recognized as one of the elite nursing schools in the country.

In partnership with the University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics (UIHC) – one of the largest teaching and research hospitals in the country – the college operates a state-of-the-art Nursing Clinical Education Center, which features several high-fidelity simulation labs where students practice sophisticated and complex nursing care in specialty and clinical situations to improve health care delivery and practice. As the smallest college of nursing in the Big Ten, the University of Iowa College of Nursing capitalizes on the value of its size and selectivity for sustaining a close intellectual community of carefully chosen faculty members and students.