Find Nursing Schools

Study Area & Zipcode

Best Nursing Graduate Certificate Schools in the Far Western US Region

Find Schools Near

2023 Best Nursing Graduate Certificate Schools in the Far Western US Region

21 Colleges
$99,011 Avg Salary
$21,624 Avg Student Debt

Finding the Best Nursing Graduate Certificate School for You

Nursing is the most popular major in the United States with 26,717 degrees and certificates handed out in 2020-2021.

There are lots of options to pick from today when trying to decide which nursing program is right for you. You can choose a traditional brick and mortar school, or with the growth of online education, you can attend a school half-way across the country without even leaving your house. Also there are many trade schools that offer short-term programs that open up more career options.

Along with in-depth profiles of schools and the programs they offer, Nursing Degree Search has created the Best Nursing Graduate Certificate Schools in the Far Western US Region to help you in your search for the best school for you. This report analyzed 21 schools in the Far Western US Region to see which ones offered the best graduate certificate programs for nursing students. To come up with a school's ranking, we analyzed numerous factors related to post-graduation wages, the quality of education offered by the school, average accumulated student debt, and more.

View our full ranking methodology.

2023 Best Nursing Graduate Certificate Schools in the Far Western US Region

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

Top 10 Best Nursing Graduate Certificate Schools

Our analysis found Samuel Merritt University to be the best school for nursing students who want to pursue a graduate certificate in the Far Western US Region . Located in the city of Oakland, Samuel Merritt University is a private not-for-profit school with a small student population.

Read full report on Nursing at Samuel Merritt University

A rank of #2 on this year’s list means West Coast University - Orange County is a great place for nursing students working on their graduate certificate. West Coast University - Orange County is a small private for-profit school located in the city of Anaheim.

Read full report on Nursing at West Coast University - Orange County

A rank of #3 on this year’s list means Western University of Health Sciences is a great place for nursing students working on their graduate certificate. Located in the large suburb of Pomona, Western University of Health Sciences is a private not-for-profit school with a small student population.

Full Nursing at Western University of Health Sciences Report

You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend University of California - San Francisco. It ranked #4 on our 2023 Best Nursing Graduate Certificate Schools in the Far Western US Region list. Located in the large city of San Francisco, UCSF is a public school with a small student population.

Read full report on Nursing at University of California - San Francisco

A rank of #5 on this year’s list means California State University - Dominguez Hills is a great place for nursing students working on their graduate certificate. CSUDH is a large public school located in the small city of Carson.

Full Nursing at California State University - Dominguez Hills Report

#6

National University

La Jolla, CA

With a ranking of #6, National University did quite well on this year’s best schools for nursing students working on their graduate certificate. Located in the city of La Jolla, National University is a private not-for-profit college with a fairly large student population.

Read More…

California State University - Long Beach ranked #7 on this year’s Best Nursing Graduate Certificate Schools in the Far Western US Region list. CSULB is a very large public school located in the city of Long Beach.

Full Nursing at California State University - Long Beach Report

Point Loma Nazarene University came in at #8 in this year’s edition of the Best Nursing Graduate Certificate Schools in the Far Western US Region ranking. PLNU is a small private not-for-profit school located in the large city of San Diego.

Full Nursing at Point Loma Nazarene University Report

#9

University of San Francisco

San Francisco, CA

University of San Francisco landed the #9 spot in the 2023 rankings for the best graduate certificate nursing programs. Located in the city of San Francisco, USFCA is a private not-for-profit college with a large student population.

Full Nursing at University of San Francisco Report

#10

Mount Saint Mary's University

Los Angeles, CA

Mount Saint Mary’s University came in at #10 in this year’s edition of the Best Nursing Graduate Certificate Schools in the Far Western US Region ranking. Located in the city of Los Angeles, MSMU is a private not-for-profit college with a small student population.

Read full report on Nursing at Mount Saint Mary’s University

Best Nursing Colleges by State

Explore the best nursing schools for a specific state in the Far Western US region.

State Degrees Awarded
Washington 3,851
California 18,329
Nevada 2,015
Alaska 177
Hawaii 535
Oregon 1,502

Nursing Concentrations

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

Majors Similar to Nursing

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

Notes and References

*These averages are for the top 21 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.

Featured Schools

Find Nursing Schools Near You

Our free matching tool for schools matches students with nursing schools across the U.S.