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Best Nursing Master's Degree Schools in California

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2023 Best Nursing Master's Degree Schools in California

42 Colleges
$98,140 Avg Salary

Finding the Best Nursing Master's Degree School for You

In 2020-2021, nursing students earned 18,329 degrees and certificates from a California school, making the subject the 5th in the state.

With all the programs available today, it can be tough to choose which one is the best for you. 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 Nursing Master's Degree Schools in California to help you in your search for the best school for you. Our analysis looked at 42 schools in California to see which master's degree programs offered the best educational experiences for students. Factors related to overall quality of the school, post-graduation earnings, average student debt, and more accumulated were considered when coming up with this list.

View our full ranking methodology.

2023 Best Nursing Master’s Degree Schools in California

Check out the nursing master's degree programs at these schools if you want to get the best education that money can buy.

Top 10 Best Nursing Master's Degree Schools

Our 2023 rankings named Samuel Merritt University the best school in California for nursing students working on their master’s degree. Samuel Merritt University is a small private not-for-profit school located in the large city of Oakland.

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Out of the 42 schools in California that were part of this year’s ranking, University of Southern California landed the # 2 spot on the list. USC is a fairly large private not-for-profit school located in the city of Los Angeles.

Full Nursing at University of Southern California Report

A rank of #3 on this year’s list means Touro University California is a great place for nursing students working on their master’s degree. Located in the midsize city of Vallejo, TUC is a private not-for-profit college with a small student population.

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Out of the 42 schools in California that were part of this year’s ranking, University of California - San Francisco landed the # 4 spot on the list. UCSF is a small public school located in the large city of San Francisco.

Read full report on Nursing at University of California - San Francisco

#5

Loma Linda University

Loma Linda, CA

You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend Loma Linda University. It ranked #5 on our 2023 Best Nursing Master’s Degree Schools in California list. Located in the large suburb of Loma Linda, Loma Linda University is a private not-for-profit college with a small student population.

Read full report on Nursing at Loma Linda University

University of California - Davis did quite well in this year’s ranking of the best places for nursing students to get a master’s degree. It came in at #6 on the list. Located in the small suburb of Davis, UC Davis is a public college with a fairly large student population.

Full Nursing at University of California - Davis Report

With a ranking of #7, Western University of Health Sciences did quite well on this year’s best schools for nursing students working on their master’s degree. Western University of Health Sciences is a small private not-for-profit school located in the large suburb of Pomona.

Full Nursing at Western University of Health Sciences Report

University of St. Augustine for Health Sciences came in at #8 in this year’s edition of the Best Nursing Master’s Degree Schools in California ranking. Located in the suburb of San Marcos, USAHS is a private for-profit school with a moderately-sized student population.

Read full report on Nursing at University of St. Augustine for Health Sciences

California State University - Stanislaus came in at #9 in this year’s edition of the Best Nursing Master’s Degree Schools in California ranking. Located in the small suburb of Turlock, Stan State is a public school with a large student population.

Full Nursing at California State University - Stanislaus Report

With a ranking of #10, West Coast University - Orange County did quite well on this year’s best schools for nursing students working on their master’s degree. Located in the city of Anaheim, West Coast University - Orange County is a private for-profit college with a small student population.

Read full report on Nursing at West Coast University - Orange County

Best Nursing Colleges in the Far Western US Region

Explore all the Best Nursing Schools in the Far Western US Area or other specific states within that region.

State Degrees Awarded
Washington 3,851
Oregon 1,502
Nevada 2,015
Hawaii 535
Alaska 177

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

Related Major Annual Graduates
Health & Medical Administrative Services 89,359
Allied Health & Medical Assisting Services 84,492
Practical Nursing & Nursing Assistants 84,274
Allied Health Professions 82,308
Public Health 40,596

Notes and References

*These averages are for the top 25 schools only.

  • Read more about our ranking methodology.
  • 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).
  • Credit for the banner image above goes to Aleksahgabrielle.

More about our data sources and methodologies.

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