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Best Value Nursing Graduate Certificate Schools in California

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2023 Best Value Nursing Graduate Certificate Schools in California

Identifying Quality Schools at More Affordable Prices

16 Colleges
$18,067 Avg Tuition & Fees*
$99,011 Avg Salary

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.

2023 Best Value Nursing Graduate Certificate Schools in California

The following schools top our list of the Best Value Nursing Graduate Certificate Colleges.

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 city of Carson, CSUDH is a public college with a large student population.

The average tuition and fees for an in-state graduate student at CSUDH are $8,494 a year.

Full Nursing at California State University - Dominguez Hills Report

You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around you if you attend California State University - Long Beach. The school came in at #2 on this year’s Best Value Nursing Graduate Certificate Schools in California list. Located in the large city of Long Beach, CSULB is a public school with a fairly large student population.

In-state tuition fees for graduate students at CSULB are $8,280 per year.

Read full report on Nursing at California State University - Long Beach

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 large 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.

Read More…

A rank of #4 on this year’s list means California State University - Los Angeles is a great value for nursing students working on their graduate certificate. Cal State LA is a very large public school located in the large city of Los Angeles.

In-state tuition fees for graduate students at Cal State LA are $8,219 per year.

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

#5

San Francisco State University

San Francisco, CA

You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend San Francisco State University. It ranked #5 on our 2023 Best Value Nursing Graduate Certificate Schools in California list. SFSU is a fairly large public school located in the city of San Francisco.

In-state tuition fees for graduate students at SFSU are $8,738 per year.

Read full report on Nursing at San Francisco State University

University of California - San Francisco did quite well in this year’s ranking of the best places for nursing students to get a graduate certificate. It came in at #6 on the list. UCSF is a small public school located in the large city of San Francisco.

In-state tuition fees for graduate students at UCSF are $12,999 per year.

Full Nursing at University of California - San Francisco Report

Point Loma Nazarene University came in at #7 in this year’s edition of the Best Value Nursing Graduate Certificate Schools in California ranking. Located in the 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.

Read full report on Nursing at Point Loma Nazarene University

#8

Mount Saint Mary's University

Los Angeles, CA

With a ranking of #8, Mount Saint Mary’s University did quite well on this year’s best value schools for nursing students working on their graduate certificate. MSMU is a small private not-for-profit school located in the city of Los Angeles.

MSMU graduate students pay an average of $13,099 in in-state tuition and fees each year.

Read More…

#9

Brandman University

Irvine, CA

Brandman University landed the #9 spot in the 2023 rankings for the best value graduate certificate nursing programs. Located in the large city of Irvine, Brandman is a private not-for-profit school with a medium-sized student population.

The average tuition and fees for an in-state graduate student at Brandman are $12,720 a year.

Brandman excels when it comes to quality. It’s ranked in the top 20% of all schools on our Best Nursing Graduate Certificate Schools in California list.

Read full report on Nursing at Brandman University

#9

National University

La Jolla, CA

National University did quite well in this year’s ranking of the best places for nursing students to get a graduate certificate. It came in at #9 on the list. National University is a fairly large private not-for-profit school located in the large city of La Jolla.

The average tuition and fees for an in-state graduate student at National University are $15,480 a year.

Read More…

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 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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