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Most Popular Nursing Graduate Certificate Schools in California

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2023 Most Popular Nursing Graduate Certificate Schools in California

24 Colleges
$101,387 Avg Salary
$40,791 Avg Student Debt

Finding the Best Nursing Graduate Certificate 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 Most Popular Nursing Graduate Certificate Schools in California ranking. Our analysis looked at 24 schools in California to see which graduate certificate programs were the most popular for nursing students. To create this ranking we looked at how many students graduated from the Nursing program at each school on the list.

The colleges and universities below are the most popular for nursing majors pursuing a graduate certificate.

Our analysis found California State University - Long Beach to be the most popular school for nursing students who want to pursue a graduate certificate in California. Located in the city of Long Beach, CSULB is a public school with a very large student population.

Of the 111 students majoring in nursing at CSULB, 17% are male and 83% are female.

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#2

National University

San Diego, CA

A rank of #2 on this year’s list means National University is a great place for nursing students working on their graduate certificate. Located in the city of San Diego, National University is a private not-for-profit college with a fairly large student population.

About 83% of the students majoring in nursing at the school are women while 17% are male.

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The in-demand graduate certificate programs at Charles R Drew University of Medicine and Science helped the school earn the #3 place on this year’s ranking of the most popular nursing schools in California. CDU is a fairly small private not-for-profit school located in the suburb of Los Angeles.

Women make up 75% of the nursing majors at the school.

Read full report on Nursing at Charles R Drew University of Medicine and Science

Out of the 24 schools in California that were part of this year’s ranking, Western University of Health Sciences landed the # 4 spot on the list. Western University of Health Sciences is a small private not-for-profit school located in the suburb of Pomona.

About 77% of the students majoring in nursing at the school are women while 23% are male.

Read full report on Nursing at Western University of Health Sciences

#5

Brandman University

Irvine, CA

You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend Brandman University. It ranked #5 on our 2023 Most Popular Nursing Graduate Certificate Schools in California list. Brandman is a moderately-sized public school located in the large city of Irvine.

Women make up 90% of the nursing majors at the school.

Read full report on Nursing at Brandman University

University of California - San Francisco ranked #6 on this year’s Most Popular Nursing Graduate Certificate Schools in California list. UCSF is a small public school located in the large city of San Francisco.

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

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

West Coast University - Orange County landed the #7 spot in the 2023 rankings for the most popular graduate certificate nursing programs. Located in the large city of Anaheim, West Coast University - Orange County is a private for-profit school with a small student population.

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

Full Nursing at West Coast University - Orange County Report

With a ranking of #8, California State University - Los Angeles did quite well on this year’s most popular schools for nursing students working on their graduate certificate. Cal State LA is a fairly large public school located in the large city of Los Angeles.

About 76% of the students majoring in nursing at the school are women while 24% are male.

Full Nursing at California State University - Los Angeles Report

Samuel Merritt University came in at #9 in this year’s edition of the Most Popular Nursing Graduate Certificate Schools in California ranking. Samuel Merritt University is a small private not-for-profit school located in the city of Oakland.

Of the 7 students majoring in nursing at Samuel Merritt University, 29% are male and 71% are female.

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#10

San Francisco State University

San Francisco, CA

San Francisco State University came in at #10 in this year’s edition of the Most Popular Nursing Graduate Certificate Schools in California ranking. SFSU is a fairly large public school located in the city of San Francisco.

Read More…

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
Nevada 2,015
Alaska 177
Hawaii 535
Oregon 1,502

Nursing Focus Areas

Major Annual Graduates
Registered Nursing 262,974
Family Practice Nurse/Nursing 16,647
Nursing Practice 8,862
Nursing Administration 8,663
Other Registered Nursing, Nursing Administration, Nursing Research and Clinical Nursing 4,717
Nursing Science 4,701
Psychiatric/Mental Health Nurse/Nursing 2,895
Adult Health Nurse/Nursing 2,075
Public Health/Community Nurse/Nursing 2,011
Nurse Anesthetist 1,768
Critical Care Nursing 747
Geriatric Nurse/Nursing 622
Nurse Midwife/Nursing Midwifery 567
School Nursing 539
Clinical Nurse Leader 502
Clinical Nurse Specialist 340
Perioperative/Operating Room and Surgical Nurse/Nursing 269
Women’s Health Nurse/Nursing 262
Maternal/Child Health and Neonatal Nurse/Nursing 192
Emergency Room/Trauma Nursing 87
Occupational and Environmental Health Nursing 26
Forensic Nursing 23
Palliative Care Nursing 13

Related Major Annual Graduates
Practical Nursing & Nursing Assistants 85,339

Notes and References

*These averages are for the top 24 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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