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Most Popular Nursing Bachelor's Degree Schools in California

2023 Most Popular Nursing Bachelor's Degree Schools in California

62 Colleges
$64,238 Avg Salary
$28,730 Avg Student Debt

Finding the Best Nursing Bachelor'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 Most Popular Nursing Bachelor's Degree Schools in California to help you in your search for the best school for you. This report analyzed 62 schools in California to see which ones were the most popular bachelor's degree programs for students. To create this ranking we looked at how many students graduated from the Nursing program at each school on the list.

The following schools top our list of the Most Popular Nursing Bachelor's Degree Colleges.

Our 2023 rankings named West Coast University - Orange County the most popular school in California for nursing students working on their bachelor’s degree. Located in the large city of Anaheim, West Coast University - Orange County is a private for-profit college with a small student population.

About 80% of the students majoring in nursing at the school are women while 20% are male.

Nursing majors at West Coast University - Orange County take out an average of $38,539 in student loans while working on their Bachelor's Degree. For students who choose a 10-year repayment plan, the average monthly student loan payment is $665.

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#2

West Coast University - Los Angeles

North Hollywood, CA

You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend West Coast University - Los Angeles. It ranked #2 on our 2023 Most Popular Nursing Bachelor’s Degree Schools in California list. West Coast University - Los Angeles is a small private for-profit school located in the city of North Hollywood.

Women make up 76% of the nursing majors at the school.

After completing their Bachelor's Degree, nursing graduates from West Coast University - Los Angeles carry an average student debt load of $38,539. For students who choose a 10-year repayment plan, the average monthly student loan payment is $665.

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You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend West Coast University - Ontario. It ranked #3 on our 2023 Most Popular Nursing Bachelor’s Degree Schools in California list. West Coast University - Ontario is a small private for-profit school located in the city of Ontario.

Women make up 80% of the nursing majors at the school.

On average, nursing graduates from West Coast University - Ontario take out $38,539 in student loans while working on their Bachelor's Degree. For students who choose a 10-year repayment plan, the average monthly student loan payment is $665.

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Out of the 62 schools in California that were part of this year’s ranking, Samuel Merritt University landed the # 4 spot on the list. Samuel Merritt University is a small private not-for-profit school located in the city of Oakland.

Women make up 78% of the nursing majors at the school.

On average, nursing graduates from Samuel Merritt University take out $28,570 in student loans while working on their Bachelor's Degree. This translates to an average monthly loan payment of $551, based on a 10-year repayment plan.

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You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend Azusa Pacific University. It ranked #5 on our 2023 Most Popular Nursing Bachelor’s Degree Schools in California list. Located in the large suburb of Azusa, Azusa Pacific is a private not-for-profit school with a medium-sized student population.

About 82% of the students majoring in nursing at the school are women while 18% are male.

Nursing majors at Azusa Pacific take out an average of $28,361 in student loans while working on their Bachelor's Degree. Assuming that a graduate chooses a 10-year repayment plan, the average monthly loan payment is $246.

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California State University - Fullerton landed the #6 spot in the 2023 rankings for the most popular bachelor’s degree nursing programs. Located in the suburb of Fullerton, Cal State Fullerton is a public school with a very large student population.

Women make up 82% of the nursing majors at the school.

While working on their Bachelor's Degree, nursing majors at Cal State Fullerton accumulate an average of around $21,365 in student debt.

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#7

National University

La Jolla, CA

National University landed the #7 spot in the 2023 rankings for the most popular bachelor’s degree nursing programs. National University is a fairly large private not-for-profit school located in the large city of La Jolla.

About 75% of the students majoring in nursing at the school are women while 25% are male.

On average, nursing graduates from National University take out $35,476 in student loans while working on their Bachelor's Degree. The average monthly payment of a loan this size is about $198, assuming that the borrower is on a 10-year repayment plan.

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California State University - San Marcos did quite well in this year’s ranking of the most popular places for nursing students to get a bachelor’s degree. It came in at #8 on the list. CSUSM is a fairly large public school located in the suburb of San Marcos.

Of the 294 students majoring in nursing at CSUSM, 22% are male and 78% are female.

The average amount in student loans that nursing majors at CSUSM take out while working on their Bachelor's Degree is $26,292.

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With a ranking of #9, California State University - Sacramento did quite well on this year’s most popular schools for nursing students working on their bachelor’s degree. Sac State is a very large public school located in the city of Sacramento.

Women make up 83% of the nursing majors at the school.

On average, nursing graduates from Sac State take out $20,623 in student loans while working on their Bachelor's Degree.

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#10

San Diego State University

San Diego, CA

With a ranking of #10, San Diego State University did quite well on this year’s most popular schools for nursing students working on their bachelor’s degree. SDSU is a very large public school located in the city of San Diego.

Women make up 81% of the nursing majors at the school.

After completing their Bachelor's Degree, nursing graduates from SDSU carry an average student debt load of $18,998. This translates to an average monthly loan payment of $250, based on a 10-year repayment plan.

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Additional Noteworthy Schools

These are some additional schools worth mentioning that are also popular but just didn't quite make the cut to earn our top Most Popular Nursing Bachelor's Degree Schools in California award.

Rank College Location
11 University of San Francisco San Francisco, CA
12 Loma Linda University Loma Linda, CA

Best Nursing Colleges in the Far Western US Region

Explore all the Most Popular 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

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 25 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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