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Most Popular Nursing Master's Degree Schools in California

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2023 Most Popular Nursing Master's Degree Schools in California

45 Colleges
$98,140 Avg Salary

Finding the Best Nursing Master'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 Most Popular Nursing Master's Degree Schools in California ranking. Our analysis looked at 45 schools in California to see which master's degree 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.

Check out the nursing master's degree programs at these schools if you want to attend one of the most popular in California.

#1

United States University

San Diego, CA

Our analysis found United States University to be the most popular school for nursing students who want to pursue a master’s degree in California. Located in the city of San Diego, USU is a private for-profit college with a small student population.

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

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The in-demand master’s degree programs at West Coast University - Orange County helped the school earn the #2 place on this year’s ranking of the most popular nursing schools in California. Located in the large city of Anaheim, West Coast University - Orange County is a private for-profit college with a small student population.

About 78% of the students majoring in nursing at the school are women while 22% are male.

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Out of the 45 schools in California that were part of this year’s ranking, Samuel Merritt University landed the # 3 spot on the list. Samuel Merritt University is a small private not-for-profit school located in the city of Oakland.

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

Full Nursing at Samuel Merritt University Report

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The in-demand master’s degree programs at Charles R Drew University of Medicine and Science helped the school earn the #4 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.

Of the 214 students majoring in nursing at CDU, 22% are male and 78% are female.

Full Nursing at Charles R Drew University of Medicine and Science Report

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#5

University of San Francisco

San Francisco, CA

The in-demand master’s degree programs at University of San Francisco helped the school earn the #5 place on this year’s ranking of the most popular nursing schools in California. USFCA is a fairly large private not-for-profit 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.

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University of California - Los Angeles ranked #6 on this year’s Most Popular Nursing Master’s Degree Schools in California list. Located in the city of Los Angeles, UCLA is a public school with a fairly large student population.

Of the 179 students majoring in nursing at UCLA, 16% are male and 84% are female.

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Azusa Pacific University did quite well in this year’s ranking of the most popular places for nursing students to get a master’s degree. It came in at #7 on the list. Located in the large suburb of Azusa, Azusa Pacific is a private not-for-profit college with a moderately-sized student population.

About 88% of the students majoring in nursing at the school are women while 12% are male.

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With a ranking of #8, University of California - San Francisco did quite well on this year’s most popular schools for nursing students working on their master’s degree. UCSF is a small public school located in the city of San Francisco.

About 84% of the students majoring in nursing at the school are women while 16% are male.

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California State University - Long Beach ranked #9 on this year’s Most Popular Nursing Master’s Degree Schools in California list. Located in the city of Long Beach, CSULB is a public college 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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University of Southern California landed the #10 spot in the 2023 rankings for the most popular master’s degree nursing programs. USC is a very large private not-for-profit school located in the city of Los Angeles.

Of the 100 students majoring in nursing at USC, 11% are male and 89% are female.

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Best Nursing Colleges in the Far Western US Region

Explore all the Most Popular Nursing Colleges 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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