2023 Best Value Nursing Graduate Certificate Schools in California
Highlighting Quality Schools With More Affordable Prices
There are lots of options to pick from today when trying to decide which nursing program is right 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 and bootcamps that offer fast-track entry to many fields.
To assist you in seeing some of the education options that are available to you, Nursing Degree Search has created its Best Value Nursing Graduate Certificate Schools in California ranking. This report analyzed 11 schools in California to see which ones offered the best value graduate certificate programs for nursing students. The goal was to highlight schools with more affordable prices than others offering similar quality experiences.
When determining this ranking, we place a high emphasis on the school's quality as well as its sticker price. Even though a college may be affordable, it may not offer value. Specifically, our score for quality is discounted by the published tuition and fees charged by the given college. This gives the cost per unit of quality for each college. The more quality your dollar buys, the better the value.
Our calculations use out-of-state tuition and fees in our nationwide and regional rankings. For statewide rankings, we use average in-state tuition and fees.
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Top Value Nursing Graduate Certificate Schools in California
Learn more about these excellent schools below:
Our analysis found California State University - Dominguez Hills to be the best value school for nursing students who want to pursue a graduate certificate in California. Located in Carson, California, the fairly large public school handed out 4 graduate certificate awards in 2020-2021.
Out-of-state tuition fees for graduate students at CSUDH are $17,998 per year.
You may have the opportunity to take online graduate classes at CSUDH. In fact, around 97% of the graduate population registered for at least one online class in 2019-2020.
CSUDH also took the #1 spot in our Best Nursing Graduate Certificate Schools in California rankings.
You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around you if you attend California State University - Long Beach. The school came in at #2 on this year’s Best Value Nursing Graduate Certificate Schools in California list. CSULB is located in Long Beach, California and has a large student population. In 2020-2021, this school awarded 108 graduate certificates to qualified students.
The average tuition and fees for an out-of-state graduate students at CSULB are $17,784 a year. Graduate Certificate recipients from this school accumulate an average of $18,477 in student debt by the time they complete their degree.
If you are interested in distance education, be sure to check with the school since CSULB does offer online graduate classes for certain majors. During the 2019-2020 year, about 100% of the graduate students at the school took at least one online course.
CSULB also took the #3 spot in our Best Nursing Graduate Certificate Schools in California rankings.
You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend California State University - Los Angeles. It ranked #3 on our 2023 Best Value Nursing Graduate Certificate Schools in California list. Los Angeles, California is the setting for this large institution of higher learning. The public school handed out graduate certificates to 14 students in 2020-2021.
Cal State LA graduate students pay an average of $17,723 in tuition and fees each year.
Online graduate courses are available at Cal State LA, but you will need to check with the school to see if they are available for your field of interest. In 2019-2020 about 100% of the graduate students at the school chose to take one or more online courses.
The excellent graduate certificate programs at San Francisco State University helped the school earn the #4 place on this year’s ranking of the best value nursing schools in California. SFSU is a large public school situated in San Francisco, California. It awarded 7 graduate certificates in 2020-2021.
SFSU graduate students pay an average of $18,242 in tuition and fees each year.
SFSU does offer online graduate classes for certain degree levels. During the 2019-2020 year, about 93% of the graduate students at the school took at least one online course.
You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around you if you attend Point Loma Nazarene University. The school came in at #5 on this year’s Best Value Nursing Graduate Certificate Schools in California list. PLNU is a small private not-for-profit school situated in San Diego, California. It awarded 3 graduate certificates in 2020-2021.
PLNU graduate students pay an average of $11,880 in tuition and fees each year.
PLNU does have options available for those who want to take online graduate classes. You will need to check with the school to see if they are available for your specific major. During the 2019-2020 year, about 56% of the graduate students at the school took at least one online course.
PLNU not only placed well in our value ranking, but it is also #4 on our Best Nursing Graduate Certificate Schools in California list.
Mount Saint Mary’s University did quite well in this year’s ranking of the best value places for nursing students to get a graduate certificate. It came in at #6 on the list. MSMU is located in Los Angeles, California and has a small student population. In 2020-2021, this school awarded 1 graduate certificates to qualified students.
Out-of-state tuition fees for graduate students at MSMU are $13,099 per year.
Online graduate courses are available at MSMU, but you will need to check with the school to see if they are available for your field of interest. Of all the graduate students enrolled at the school during the 2019-2020 academic year, around 99% took at least some of their classes online.
National University did quite well in this year’s ranking of the best value places for nursing students to get a graduate certificate. It came in at #7 on the list. National University is a fairly large private not-for-profit school located in La Jolla, California that handed out 39 graduate certificates in 2020-2021.
National University graduate students pay an average of $15,480 in tuition and fees each year.
If you are interested in distance education, be sure to check with the school since National University does offer online graduate classes for certain majors. In 2019-2020 about 48% of the graduate students at the school chose to take one or more online courses.
In addition to its best value ranking, and one of the reasons why the school is on the list, National University is ranked #2 for overall quality in California.
With a ranking of #7, Brandman University did quite well on this year’s best value schools for nursing students working on their graduate certificate. Brandman is located in Irvine, California and has a medium-sized student population. In 2020-2021, this school awarded 26 graduate certificates to qualified students.
Out-of-state tuition fees for graduate students at Brandman are $12,720 per year.
If you are interested in distance education, Brandman is an excellent choice, since graduate classes are offered online.
University of Phoenix - California ranked #9 on this year’s Best Value Nursing Graduate Certificate Schools in California list. UOPX - California is a private for-profit institution located in Costa Mesa, California. The school has a small population, and it awarded 7 graduate certificates in 2020-2021.
The average tuition and fees for an out-of-state graduate students at UOPX - California are $16,188 a year.
Online graduate courses are available at UOPX - California, but you will need to check with the school to see if they are available for your field of interest. In fact, around 9% of the graduate population registered for at least one online class in 2019-2020.
Holy Names University came in at #10 in this year’s edition of the Best Value Nursing Graduate Certificate Schools in California ranking. HNU is a small private not-for-profit school situated in Oakland, California. It awarded 2 graduate certificates in 2020-2021.
Out-of-state tuition fees for graduate students at HNU are $18,590 per year. By the time they get their graduate certificate, students from this school have racked up an average of $18,972 in student loans.
Interested in an online degree? Then you definitely want to check out HNU. Every graduate student at the school took at least one class online.
University of San Francisco ranked #11 on this year’s Best Value Nursing Graduate Certificate Schools in California list. Located in San Francisco, California, the fairly large private not-for-profit school handed out 1 graduate certificate awards in 2020-2021.
The average tuition and fees for an out-of-state graduate students at USFCA are $27,250 a year.
You may have the opportunity to take online graduate classes at USFCA. In 2019-2020 about 100% of the graduate students at the school chose to take one or more online courses.
USFCA not only placed well in our value ranking, but it is also #5 on our Best Nursing Graduate Certificate Schools in California list.
Best Value Nursing Graduate Certificate Schools in the Far Western US Region
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Notes and References
Footnotes
*These averages are for the top 11 schools only.
References
- 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 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).
- Information about the national average student loan default rate is from the U.S. Department of Education and refers to data about the 2016 borrower cohort tracking period for which the cohort default rate (CDR) was 10.1%.
More about our data sources and methodologies.
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