Background & Aims: Quality assurance of higher education, especially philosophiae doctor (PhD) education, is one of the concerns and priorities of higher education planning planners. Comparing educational systems can help to improve the quality of nursing programe. The purpose of this study was to compare the educational system of Nursing Ph.D in Iran with The University of Pennsylvania, Johns Hopkins University and Duke University.

Results: the structure of nursing Ph.D program in Iran and the top three nursing schools in the world are approximately similar to each. But, there are differences in the mission, general purpose, the content of courses and their relevance to the needs of society, the allocation of units to research and theoretical courses, training approaches and perspectives on clinical nursing.

Conclusion: Given the comparisons and curriculum advantages of the top three Universities, it is appropriate for Iranian nursing education planners to makefundamental changes to the curriculum of this section in terms of mission, goals, courses, and pay attention to student’s critical thinking, educational needs, and competencies of the graduates.