2023 Best Value Nursing Graduate Certificate Schools in California
Identifying Quality Schools at More Affordable Prices
Finding the Best Nursing Graduate Certificate 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.
To help you arm yourself with the information you need to make your decision, Course Advisor has developed this Best Value Nursing Graduate Certificate Schools in California ranking. Our analysis looked at 16 schools in California to see which graduate certificate programs offered the best value experiences for 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. 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 Graduate Certificate Schools
Our 2023 rankings named California State University - Dominguez Hills the best value school in California for nursing students working on their graduate certificate. Located in the small city of Carson, CSUDH is a public college with a fairly large student population.
The average tuition and fees for an in-state graduate student at CSUDH are $8,494 a year.
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Out of the 16 schools in California that were part of this year’s ranking, California State University - Long Beach landed the # 2 spot on the list. Located in the large city of Long Beach, CSULB is a public school with a very large student population.
In-state tuition fees for graduate students at CSULB are $8,280 per year.
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Out of the 16 schools in California that were part of this year’s ranking, West Coast University - Orange County landed the # 3 spot on the list. Located in the city of Anaheim, West Coast University - Orange County is a private for-profit college with a small student population.
In-state tuition fees for graduate students at West Coast University - Orange County are $10,989 per year.
Full Nursing at West Coast University - Orange County Report
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The excellent graduate certificate programs at California State University - Los Angeles helped the school earn the #4 place on this year’s ranking of the best value nursing schools in California. Cal State LA is a fairly large public school located in the city of Los Angeles.
Cal State LA graduate students pay an average of $8,219 in in-state tuition and fees each year.
Full Nursing at California State University - Los Angeles Report
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You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around you if you attend San Francisco State University. The school came in at #5 on this year’s Best Value Nursing Graduate Certificate Schools in California list. SFSU is a fairly large public school located in the city of San Francisco.
SFSU graduate students pay an average of $8,738 in in-state tuition and fees each year.
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With a ranking of #6, University of California - San Francisco did quite well on this year’s best value schools for nursing students working on their graduate certificate. UCSF is a small public school located in the city of San Francisco.
In-state tuition fees for graduate students at UCSF are $12,999 per year.
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Point Loma Nazarene University landed the #7 spot in the 2023 rankings for the best value graduate certificate nursing programs. Located in the large city of San Diego, PLNU is a private not-for-profit college with a small student population.
PLNU graduate students pay an average of $11,880 in in-state tuition and fees each year.
Full Nursing at Point Loma Nazarene University Report
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Mount Saint Mary’s University ranked #8 on this year’s Best Value Nursing Graduate Certificate Schools in California list. MSMU is a small private not-for-profit school located in the large city of Los Angeles.
MSMU graduate students pay an average of $13,099 in in-state tuition and fees each year.
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National University ranked #9 on this year’s Best Value Nursing Graduate Certificate Schools in California list. National University is a fairly large private not-for-profit school located in the city of La Jolla.
National University graduate students pay an average of $15,480 in in-state tuition and fees each year.
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Brandman University came in at #9 in this year’s edition of the Best Value Nursing Graduate Certificate Schools in California ranking. Located in the city of Irvine, Brandman is a private not-for-profit college with a moderately-sized student population.
Brandman graduate students pay an average of $12,720 in in-state tuition and fees each year.
Brandman also claimed a spot on our Best Nursing Graduate Certificate Schools in California list. It’s in the top 20% of all schools in this category.
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 16 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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