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Best Value Nursing Bachelor's Degree Schools in California

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2023 Best Value Nursing Bachelor's Degree Schools in California

Identifying Quality Schools at More Affordable Prices

54 Colleges
$8,013 Avg Tuition & Fees*
$64,238 Avg Salary

Finding the Best Nursing Bachelor'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.

To help you arm yourself with the information you need to make your decision, Nursing Degree Search has developed this Best Value Nursing Bachelor's Degree Schools in California ranking. Our analysis looked at 54 schools in California to see which bachelor's degree 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.

This ranking is not just a list of inexpensive schools. We also consider each school's quality, since we believe a low-quality school may not be a 'bargain' at any price. 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.

For nationwide and regional rankings, we use out-of-state tuition and fees in our calculations. Average in-state tuition and fees are used for our statewide rankings.

2023 Best Value Nursing Bachelor’s Degree Schools in California

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

Top 10 Best Nursing Bachelor's Degree Schools

Our analysis found California State University - Dominguez Hills to be the best value school for nursing students who want to pursue a bachelor’s degree in California. Located in the city of Carson, CSUDH is a public school with a fairly large student population.

In-state tuition fees for undergraduate students at CSUDH are $7,060 per year. The average amount in student loans that nursing majors at CSUDH take out while working on their Bachelor's Degree is $20,803.

CSUDH did well in our overall quality rankings, too. It placed #3 on our Best Nursing Bachelor’s Degree Schools in California list.

Full Nursing at California State University - Dominguez Hills Report

Out of the 54 schools in California that were part of this year’s ranking, California State University - Monterey Bay landed the # 2 spot on the list. CSUMB is a moderately-sized public school located in the suburb of Seaside.

In-state tuition fees for undergraduate students at CSUMB are $7,218 per year. While working on their Bachelor's Degree, nursing majors at CSUMB accumulate an average of around $16,909 in student debt.

In addition to its best value ranking, and one of the reasons why the school is on the list, CSUMB is ranked #1 for overall quality for nursing in California.

Read full report on Nursing at California State University - Monterey Bay

You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around you if you attend California State University - Channel Islands. The school came in at #3 on this year’s Best Value Nursing Bachelor’s Degree Schools in California list. Located in the medium-sized suburb of Camarillo, CSUCI is a public college with a moderately-sized student population.

In-state tuition fees for undergraduate students at CSUCI are $6,817 per year. On average, nursing graduates from CSUCI take out $23,499 in student loans while working on their Bachelor's Degree.

Read More…

#4

United States University

San Diego, CA

You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around you if you attend United States University. The school came in at #4 on this year’s Best Value Nursing Bachelor’s Degree Schools in California list. Located in the city of San Diego, USU is a private for-profit school with a small student population.

In-state tuition fees for undergraduate students at USU are $5,700 per year.

Full Nursing at United States University Report

You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend California State University - Sacramento. It ranked #5 on our 2023 Best Value Nursing Bachelor’s Degree Schools in California list. Sac State is a fairly large public school located in the large city of Sacramento.

The average tuition and fees for an in-state undergraduate at Sac State are $7,392 a year. On average, nursing graduates from Sac State take out $20,623 in student loans while working on their Bachelor's Degree.

In addition to its best value ranking, and one of the reasons why the school is on the list, Sac State is ranked #5 for overall quality for nursing in California.

Full Nursing at California State University - Sacramento Report

#6

Sonoma State University

Rohnert Park, CA

With a ranking of #6, Sonoma State University did quite well on this year’s best value schools for nursing students working on their bachelor’s degree. Located in the suburb of Rohnert Park, SSU is a public school with a moderately-sized student population.

In-state tuition fees for undergraduate students at SSU are $7,988 per year. The average amount in student loans that nursing majors at SSU take out while working on their Bachelor's Degree is $18,756.

SSU also made our Best Nursing Bachelor’s Degree Schools in California list, coming in at #4.

Full Nursing at Sonoma State University Report

With a ranking of #7, California State University - Stanislaus did quite well on this year’s best value schools for nursing students working on their bachelor’s degree. Located in the small suburb of Turlock, Stan State is a public college with a large student population.

The average tuition and fees for an in-state undergraduate at Stan State are $7,644 a year. After completing their Bachelor's Degree, nursing graduates from Stan State carry an average student debtload of $22,964.

Stan State also claimed a spot on our Best Nursing Bachelor’s Degree Schools in California list. It’s in the top 20% of all schools in this category.

Full Nursing at California State University - Stanislaus Report

California State University - East Bay came in at #8 in this year’s edition of the Best Value Nursing Bachelor’s Degree Schools in California ranking. Cal State East Bay is a fairly large public school located in the large suburb of Hayward.

The average tuition and fees for an in-state undergraduate at Cal State East Bay are $6,995 a year. Nursing majors at Cal State East Bay take out an average of $20,897 in student loans while working on their Bachelor's Degree.

Read More…

California State University - Fresno came in at #9 in this year’s edition of the Best Value Nursing Bachelor’s Degree Schools in California ranking. Fresno State is a fairly large public school located in the large city of Fresno.

The average tuition and fees for an in-state undergraduate at Fresno State are $6,653 a year. While working on their Bachelor's Degree, nursing majors at Fresno State accumulate an average of around $19,835 in student debt.

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With a ranking of #10, California State University - Long Beach did quite well on this year’s best value schools for nursing students working on their bachelor’s degree. Located in the city of Long Beach, CSULB is a public college with a fairly large student population.

The average tuition and fees for an in-state undergraduate at CSULB are $6,846 a year. On average, nursing graduates from CSULB take out $19,510 in student loans while working on their Bachelor's Degree.

Read More…

Best 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
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 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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