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 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 college with a very large student population.
The average tuition and fees for an in-state graduate student at CSULB are $8,280 a year.
Read full report on Nursing at California State University - Long Beach
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You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around you if you attend West Coast University - Orange County. The school came in at #3 on this year’s Best Value Nursing Graduate Certificate Schools in California 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.
Full Nursing at West Coast University - Orange County Report
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You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend California State University - Los Angeles. It ranked #4 on our 2023 Best Value Nursing Graduate Certificate Schools in California list. Cal State LA is a very large public school located in the city of Los Angeles.
The average tuition and fees for an in-state graduate student at Cal State LA are $8,219 a year.
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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 very large public school located in the large 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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University of California - San Francisco came in at #6 in this year’s edition of the Best Value Nursing Graduate Certificate Schools in California ranking. UCSF is a small public school located in the city of San Francisco.
The average tuition and fees for an in-state graduate student at UCSF are $12,999 a year.
Full Nursing at University of California - San Francisco Report
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Point Loma Nazarene University ranked #7 on this year’s Best Value Nursing Graduate Certificate Schools in California list. Located in the large city of San Diego, PLNU is a private not-for-profit school with a small student population.
In-state tuition fees for graduate students at PLNU are $11,880 per year.
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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.
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With a ranking of #9, National University did quite well on this year’s best value schools for nursing students working on their graduate certificate. National University is a 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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With a ranking of #9, Brandman University did quite well on this year’s best value schools for nursing students working on their graduate certificate. Located in the large city of Irvine, Brandman is a private not-for-profit school with a medium-sized student population.
In-state tuition fees for graduate students at Brandman are $12,720 per year.
In addition to its great value ranking, Brandman is 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
Request InformationBest Value Nursing Colleges in the Far Western US Region
Explore all the Best Value 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 |
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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.