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Best Nursing Doctor's Degree Schools in California

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2023 Best Nursing Doctor's Degree Schools in California

18 Colleges
$115,233 Avg Salary

Finding the Best Nursing Doctor's Degree School for You

Out of the majors we analyze each year, nursing was the most popular one in California. In total, 18,329 people earned a degree or certificate in the field from a school in California.

There are so many nursing programs in today's world that it can tough to figure out which one is the right one for you. With more and more schools offering online options, you could even register for a great program on the other side of the country. On top of that, there are a considerable number of trade schools that offer fast-track entry to many fields.

The Best Nursing Doctor's Degree Schools in California ranking is one of many tools that Nursing Degree Search has developed to help you make your educational decision. This report analyzed 18 schools in California to see which ones offered the best doctor's degree programs for nursing students. The factors used to develop this ranking include those related to how in-demand the school is, the overall quality of the school, and post-graduation wages, and more.

View our full ranking methodology.

2023 Best Nursing Doctor’s Degree Schools in California

The following schools top our list of the Best Nursing Doctor's Degree Colleges.

Top 10 Best Nursing Doctor's Degree Schools

Our 2023 rankings named University of St. Augustine for Health Sciences the best school in California 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 medium-sized student population.

Read full report on Nursing at University of St. Augustine for Health Sciences

You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around you if you attend Samuel Merritt University. The school came in at #2 on this year’s Best Nursing Doctor’s Degree Schools in California list. Samuel Merritt University is a small private not-for-profit school located in the large city of Oakland.

Read full report on Nursing at Samuel Merritt University

The excellent doctor’s degree programs at Point Loma Nazarene University helped the school earn the #3 place on this year’s ranking of the best nursing schools in California. Located in the large city of San Diego, PLNU is a private not-for-profit school with a small student population.

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The excellent doctor’s degree programs at University of California - Los Angeles helped the school earn the #4 place on this year’s ranking of the best nursing schools in California. Located in the large city of Los Angeles, UCLA is a public college with a very large student population.

Full Nursing at University of California - Los Angeles Report

You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around you if you attend Touro University California. The school came in at #5 on this year’s Best Nursing Doctor’s Degree Schools in California list. Located in the medium-sized city of Vallejo, TUC is a private not-for-profit school with a small student population.

Full Nursing at Touro University California Report

University of California - Davis ranked #6 on this year’s Best Nursing Doctor’s Degree Schools in California list. Located in the suburb of Davis, UC Davis is a public school with a very large student population.

Full Nursing at University of California - Davis Report

California State University - Fresno came in at #7 in this year’s edition of the Best Nursing Doctor’s Degree Schools in California ranking. Fresno State is a fairly large public school located in the city of Fresno.

Full Nursing at California State University - Fresno Report

#8

University of San Francisco

San Francisco, CA

With a ranking of #8, University of San Francisco did quite well on this year’s best schools for nursing students working on their doctor’s degree. USFCA is a fairly large private not-for-profit school located in the large city of San Francisco.

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#9

Loma Linda University

Loma Linda, CA

With a ranking of #9, Loma Linda University did quite well on this year’s best schools for nursing students working on their doctor’s degree. Located in the suburb of Loma Linda, Loma Linda University is a private not-for-profit school with a small student population.

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Western University of Health Sciences did quite well in this year’s ranking of the best places for nursing students to get a doctor’s degree. It came in at #10 on the list. Western University of Health Sciences is a small private not-for-profit school located in the suburb of Pomona.

Full Nursing at Western University of Health Sciences Report

Best Nursing Colleges in the Far Western US Region

Explore all the Best Nursing Schools in the Far Western US Area or other specific states within that region.

State Degrees Awarded
Washington 3,851
Nevada 2,015
Alaska 177
Hawaii 535
Oregon 1,502

Nursing Focus Areas

Major Annual Graduates
Registered Nursing 266,651
Family Practice Nurse/Nursing 16,104
Nursing Administration 9,838
Nursing Practice 7,992
Other Registered Nursing, Nursing Administration, Nursing Research and Clinical Nursing 5,092
Nursing Science 4,600
Psychiatric/Mental Health Nurse/Nursing 2,287
Adult Health Nurse/Nursing 2,021
Nurse Anesthetist 1,936
Public Health/Community Nurse/Nursing 1,883
Critical Care Nursing 773
Geriatric Nurse/Nursing 563
School Nursing 553
Nurse Midwife/Nursing Midwifery 509
Clinical Nurse Leader 444
Clinical Nurse Specialist 419
Perioperative/Operating Room and Surgical Nurse/Nursing 331
Maternal/Child Health and Neonatal Nurse/Nursing 181
Occupational and Environmental Health Nursing 57
Emergency Room/Trauma Nursing 53
Palliative Care Nursing 14
Forensic Nursing 14

Related Major Annual Graduates
Practical Nursing & Nursing Assistants 84,274

Notes and References

*These averages are for the top 18 schools only.

  • Read more about our ranking methodology.
  • 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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