To program a set of non-volatile storage elements, a set of programming pulses are applied to the control gates (or other terminals) of the non-volatile storage elements. The programming pulses have a constant pulse width and increasing magnitudes until a maximum voltage is reached. At that point, the magnitude of the programming pulses stops increasing and the programming pulses are applied in a manner to provide varying time duration of the programming signal between verification operations. For example, after the pulses reach the maximum magnitude the pulse widths are increased. Alternatively, after the pulses reach the maximum magnitude multiple program pulses are applied between verification operations.