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Best Value Nursing & Nursing Assistants Schools in California

2023 Best Value Nursing & Nursing Assistants Schools in California

Highlighting Quality Schools With More Affordable Pricing

76 Colleges
$2,537 Avg Tuition & Fees*
$40,752 Avg Salary

Finding the Best Practical Nursing & Nursing Assistants School for You

With 1,055 degrees and certificates handed out in 2020-2021, practical nursing and nursing assistants is the #90 most popular major in California.

It's not easy to decide which program to enroll in when you have so many options available. As online education oppotunities continue to grow, you're not restricted to just schools in your local area anymore. Even some of the 'big name' schools are offering online courses. Also, there are a number of trade schools with offerings that you might find attractive.

Along with in-depth profiles of schools and the programs they offer, Course Advisor has created the Best Value Nursing & Nursing Assistants Schools in California to help you in your search for the best school for you. Our analysis looked at 76 schools in California to see which programs offered the best value experiences for practical nursing students with the aim of identifying those quality schools that are more affordable than some of their counterparts.

Our ranking of value is based on the quality of a program as defined in our per sticker price dollar. Specifically, our score for quality is discounted by the published tuition and fees charged by the given college. This gives the cost per unit of quality for each college. The more quality your dollar buys, the better the value.

In our regional and nationwide rankings, out-of-state tution and fees are used in our calculations. For statewide rankings, we use average in-state tuition and fees.

Top 15% Best Practical Nursing & Nursing Assistants Schools

#1

Merced College

Merced, CA

Our 2023 rankings named Merced College the best value school in California for practical nursing and nursing assistants students. Located in the city of Merced, Merced Community College District is a public school with a moderately-sized student population.

Merced Community College District undergraduate students pay an average of $1,180 in in-state tuition and fees each year.

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#2

Butte College

Oroville, CA
$1,368 Average Tuition & Fees

A rank of #2 on this year’s list means Butte College is a great value for practical nursing and nursing assistants students. Located in the rural area of Oroville, Butte College is a public school with a moderately-sized student population.

In-state tuition fees for undergraduate students at Butte College are $1,368 per year.

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#3

Cuesta College

San Luis Obispo, CA

You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around you if you attend Cuesta College. The school came in at #3 on this year’s Best Value Nursing & Nursing Assistants Schools in California list. Located in the small suburb of San Luis Obispo, Cuesta College is a public college with a moderately-sized student population.

The average tuition and fees for an in-state undergraduate at Cuesta College are $1,338 a year.

In addition to its great value ranking, Cuesta College is in the top 20% of all schools on our Best Nursing & Nursing Assistants Schools in California list.

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#4

College of the Sequoias

Visalia, CA
$1,394 Average Tuition & Fees

The excellent programs at College of the Sequoias helped the school earn the #4 place on this year’s ranking of the best practical nursing and nursing assistants schools in California. Located in the midsize city of Visalia, College of the Sequoias is a public school with a large student population.

In-state tuition fees for undergraduate students at College of the Sequoias are $1,394 per year.

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#5

Santa Rosa Junior College

Santa Rosa, CA
$1,328 Average Tuition & Fees

You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around you if you attend Santa Rosa Junior College. The school came in at #5 on this year’s Best Value Nursing & Nursing Assistants Schools in California list. Located in the midsize city of Santa Rosa, SRJC is a public college with a large student population.

SRJC undergraduate students pay an average of $1,328 in in-state tuition and fees each year.

In addition to its great value ranking, SRJC is in the top 10% of all schools on our Best Nursing & Nursing Assistants Schools in California list.

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$1,150 Average Tuition & Fees

Napa Valley College did quite well in this year’s ranking of the best value schools for practical nursing and nursing assistants students. It came in at #6 on the list. Napa Valley College is a small public school located in the city of Napa.

Napa Valley College undergraduate students pay an average of $1,150 in in-state tuition and fees each year.

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#7

Sacramento City College

Sacramento, CA

With a ranking of #7, Sacramento City College did quite well on this year’s best value schools for practical nursing and nursing assistants students. Located in the large city of Sacramento, Sacramento City is a public school with a large student population.

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#8

Santa Barbara City College

Santa Barbara, CA
$1,232 Average Tuition & Fees

Santa Barbara City College did quite well in this year’s ranking of the best value schools for practical nursing and nursing assistants students. It came in at #8 on the list. Located in the city of Santa Barbara, SBCC is a public school with a large student population.

In-state tuition fees for undergraduate students at SBCC are $1,232 per year.

In addition to its great value ranking, SBCC is in the top 15% of all schools on our Best Nursing & Nursing Assistants Schools in California list.

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#9

Riverside City College

Riverside, CA
$1,420 Average Tuition & Fees

Riverside City College came in at #9 in this year’s edition of the Best Value Nursing & Nursing Assistants Schools in California ranking. Riverside City College is a fairly large public school located in the city of Riverside.

Riverside City College undergraduate students pay an average of $1,420 in in-state tuition and fees each year. Practical Nursing majors at Riverside City College take out an average of $9,750 in student loans while working on their egree.

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#10

Modesto Junior College

Modesto, CA
$1,274 Average Tuition & Fees

Modesto Junior College came in at #10 in this year’s edition of the Best Value Nursing & Nursing Assistants Schools in California ranking. MJC is a fairly large public school located in the midsize city of Modesto.

In-state tuition fees for undergraduate students at MJC are $1,274 per year. On average, practical nursing graduates from MJC take out $8,407 in student loans while working on their degree.

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#11

American River College

Sacramento, CA

American River College came in at #11 in this year’s edition of the Best Value Nursing & Nursing Assistants Schools in California ranking. American River is a very large public school located in the large suburb of Sacramento.

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Honorable Mentions

Here are some additional great value schools for Nursing & Nursing Assistants students in the state of California seeking value that almost earned our Best Value Nursing & Nursing Assistants Schools in California award.

Rank College Location
12 College of the Redwoods Eureka, CA
13 Imperial Valley College Imperial, CA
14 College of the Desert Palm Desert, CA
15 Bakersfield College Bakersfield, CA

Best Value Practical Nursing & Nursing Assistants Colleges in the Far Western US Region

Explore all the Best Value Practical Nursing & Nursing Assistants Colleges in the Far Western US Area or other specific states within that region.

State Degrees Awarded
Washington 113
Nevada 0

Practical Nursing & Nursing Assistants is one of 30 different types of programs to choose from.

Majors Similar to Practical Nursing

Related Major Annual Graduates
Nursing 322,592
Health & Medical Administrative Services 89,359
Allied Health & Medical Assisting Services 84,492
Allied Health Professions 82,308
Public Health 40,596

Notes and References

*These averages are for the top 25 schools only.

  • The Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS) from the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES), a branch of the U.S. Department of Education (DOE) serves as the core of the rest of our data about colleges.
  • Some other college data, including much of the graduate earnings data, comes from the U.S. Department of Education’s (College Scorecard).

More about our data sources and methodologies.

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