2023 Best Value Nursing Doctor's Degree Schools in California
Identifying Quality Schools at More Affordable Prices
Finding the Best Nursing Doctor'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 Value Nursing Doctor's Degree Schools in California to help you in your search for the best school for you. This report analyzed 18 schools in California to see which ones offered the best value doctor's degree programs for nursing students. The goal was to highlight schools with more affordable prices than others offering similar quality experiences.
Our ranking of value is based on the quality of a program as defined in our per sticker price dollar. More specifically, we discount our quality score by the published tuition and fees charged by a school. This gives the cost per unit of quality for each college. The value is determined by how much quality your dollar buys.
In our regional and nationwide rankings, out-of-state tution and fees are used in our calculations. Average in-state tuition and fees are used for our statewide rankings.
Top 10 Best Nursing Doctor's Degree Schools
Our analysis found California State University - Fresno to be the best value school for nursing students who want to pursue a doctor’s degree in California. Fresno State is a fairly large public school located in the city of Fresno.
In-state tuition fees for graduate students at Fresno State are $8,087 per year.
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You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend California State University - Fullerton. It ranked #2 on our 2023 Best Value Nursing Doctor’s Degree Schools in California list. Located in the suburb of Fullerton, Cal State Fullerton is a public college with a fairly large student population.
Cal State Fullerton graduate students pay an average of $8,410 in in-state tuition and fees each year.
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You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around you if you attend San Jose State University. The school came in at #3 on this year’s Best Value Nursing Doctor’s Degree Schools in California list. Located in the city of San Jose, San Jose State is a public college with a fairly large student population.
The average tuition and fees for an in-state graduate student at San Jose State are $9,286 a year.
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Out of the 18 schools in California that were part of this year’s ranking, Point Loma Nazarene University landed the # 4 spot on the list. Located in the city of San Diego, PLNU is a private not-for-profit school with a small student population.
PLNU graduate students pay an average of $11,880 in in-state tuition and fees each year.
In addition to its great value ranking, PLNU is in the top 10% of all schools on our Best Nursing Doctor’s Degree Schools in California list.
Full Nursing at Point Loma Nazarene University Report
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Out of the 18 schools in California that were part of this year’s ranking, University of California - Los Angeles landed the # 5 spot on the list. Located in the large city of Los Angeles, UCLA is a public college with a fairly large student population.
UCLA graduate students pay an average of $13,036 in in-state tuition and fees each year.
On top of its placing in our value ranking, UCLA also did well on our Best Nursing Doctor’s Degree Schools in California list. It’s in the top 20% of all schools reviewed in this analysis.
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University of California - Davis landed the #6 spot in the 2023 rankings for the best value doctor’s degree nursing programs. Located in the small suburb of Davis, UC Davis is a public college with a very large student population.
In-state tuition fees for graduate students at UC Davis are $13,608 per year.
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Brandman University landed the #7 spot in the 2023 rankings for the best value doctor’s degree nursing programs. Located in the city of Irvine, Brandman is a private not-for-profit college with a medium-sized student population.
Brandman graduate students pay an average of $12,720 in in-state tuition and fees each year.
As a testament to the quality of education it offers, Brandman also is in the top 20% of our Best Nursing Doctor’s Degree Schools in California ranking.
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University of California - Irvine came in at #8 in this year’s edition of the Best Value Nursing Doctor’s Degree Schools in California ranking. Located in the city of Irvine, UC Irvine is a public college with a very large student population.
In-state tuition fees for graduate students at UC Irvine are $13,356 per year.
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University of St. Augustine for Health Sciences came in at #9 in this year’s edition of the Best Value Nursing Doctor’s Degree Schools in California ranking. Located in the large suburb of San Marcos, USAHS is a private for-profit school with a medium-sized student population.
The average tuition and fees for an in-state graduate student at USAHS are $26,247 a year.
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Azusa Pacific University did quite well in this year’s ranking of the best places for nursing students to get a doctor’s degree. It came in at #10 on the list. Located in the suburb of Azusa, Azusa Pacific is a private not-for-profit college with a moderately-sized student population.
In-state tuition fees for graduate students at Azusa Pacific are $16,696 per year.
Read full report on Nursing at Azusa Pacific University
Request InformationBest Value Nursing Colleges in the Far Western US Region
Explore all the Best Value Nursing Colleges 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 |
More Nursing Rankings in California
Majors Related to Nursing
Nursing is one of 30 different types of programs to choose from.
Most Popular Related Majors
| 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 18 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).
- Credit for the banner image above goes to Aleksahgabrielle.
More about our data sources and methodologies.
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