There remains a significant shortage of research focused doctorally prepared nurses despite increased numbers of programs and increased enrollment. Attrition rates remain high, and completion rates remain at approximately 50%. The state of current literature regarding doctoral nursing students' persistence is mainly comprised of qualitative literature. There are few quantitative studies that explore the persistence of these students. A cross-sectional, descriptive, correlational study design was used to explore the relationship between peer support and the persistence of research-focused doctoral nursing students. Statistically significant, positive relationships were found between peer support and the persistence of research-focused doctoral nursing students. Additionally, low, but statistically significant relationships were found between gender and age on the overall persistence scale as well as individual subscale scores. The findings of this study support individual student efforts and program design that focus on fostering and facilitating peer engagement and support, may have positive impacts on developing persistence and ultimately improving completion rates of research-focused doctoral nursing students.