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Best Value Nursing Doctor's Degree Schools in California

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2023 Best Value Nursing Doctor's Degree Schools in California

Identifying Quality Schools at More Affordable Prices

18 Colleges
$20,220 Avg Tuition & Fees*
$115,233 Avg Salary

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.

2023 Best Value Nursing Doctor’s Degree Schools in California

Check out the nursing doctor's degree programs at these schools if you want to get the best value for your educational dollar.

Top 10 Best Nursing Doctor's Degree Schools

Our 2023 rankings named California State University - Fresno the best value school in California for nursing students working on their doctor’s degree. Fresno State is a fairly large public school located in the large city of Fresno.

In-state tuition fees for graduate students at Fresno State are $8,087 per year.

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A rank of #2 on this year’s list means California State University - Fullerton is a great value for nursing students working on their doctor’s degree. Located in the suburb of Fullerton, Cal State Fullerton is a public school 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.

Full Nursing at California State University - Fullerton Report

The excellent doctor’s degree programs at San Jose State University helped the school earn the #3 place on this year’s ranking of the best value nursing schools in California. Located in the city of San Jose, San Jose State is a public college with a very large student population.

San Jose State graduate students pay an average of $9,286 in in-state tuition and fees each 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.

The average tuition and fees for an in-state graduate student at PLNU are $11,880 a year.

On top of its placing in our value ranking, PLNU also did well on our Best Nursing Doctor’s Degree Schools in California list. It’s in the top 10% of all schools reviewed in this analysis.

Read full report on Nursing at Point Loma Nazarene University

You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend University of California - Los Angeles. It ranked #5 on our 2023 Best Value Nursing Doctor’s Degree Schools in California list. Located in the large city of Los Angeles, UCLA is a public school with a fairly large student population.

In-state tuition fees for graduate students at UCLA are $13,036 per 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.

Read full report on Nursing at University of California - Los Angeles

With a ranking of #6, University of California - Davis did quite well on this year’s best value schools for nursing students working on their doctor’s degree. Located in the suburb of Davis, UC Davis is a public school 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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#7

Brandman University

Irvine, CA

Brandman University came in at #7 in this year’s edition of the Best Value Nursing Doctor’s Degree Schools in California ranking. Located in the large city of Irvine, Brandman is a private not-for-profit college with a medium-sized student population.

In-state tuition fees for graduate students at Brandman are $12,720 per 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.

Full Nursing at Brandman University Report

With a ranking of #8, University of California - Irvine did quite well on this year’s best value schools for nursing students working on their doctor’s degree. Located in the city of Irvine, UC Irvine is a public college with a very large student population.

UC Irvine graduate students pay an average of $13,356 in in-state tuition and fees each year.

Full Nursing at University of California - Irvine Report

With a ranking of #9, University of St. Augustine for Health Sciences did quite well on this year’s best value schools for nursing students working on their doctor’s degree. Located in the large suburb of San Marcos, USAHS is a private for-profit school with a moderately-sized student population.

USAHS graduate students pay an average of $26,247 in in-state tuition and fees each year.

Full Nursing at University of St. Augustine for Health Sciences Report

With a ranking of #10, Azusa Pacific University did quite well on this year’s best value schools for nursing students working on their doctor’s degree. Located in the large 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.

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Best 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

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 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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