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Most Popular Online Nursing Doctor's Degree Schools in California

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2023 Most Popular Online Nursing Doctor's Degree Schools in California

7 Schools Ranked
$138,487 Avg Student Debt

It's not easy to decide which nursing program to enroll in when you have so many options available. 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. On top of that, there are a considerable number of trade schools and bootcamps that offer fast-track entry to many fields.

The Most Popular Online Nursing Doctor's Degree Schools in California ranking is one of many tools that Nursing Degree Search has developed to help you make your educational decision. Our analysis looked at 7 schools in California to see which online doctor's degree programs were the most popular for nursing students. To create this ranking we looked at how many students graduated from schools with online programs.

Learn more about these popular schools with online programs:

#1

Brandman University

Irvine, California
158 Total Awards
$13,030 Average Tuition & Fees
$91,106 Avg Student Debt

Our analysis found Brandman University to be the most popular school for nursing students who want to pursue a doctor’s degree in California. Located in Irvine, California, the medium-sized public school handed out 158 doctor’s degree awards in 2021-2022.

Doctor’s Degree recipients from Brandman accumulate an average of $91,106 in student debt by the time they complete their degree. Of those students who received their degree, 80% were women.

Since the graduate programs at Brandman are primarily online school, so it is a great choice for returning adults and students who work full time.

Full Brandman University Report

1,186 Total Awards
$27,171 Average Tuition & Fees
$125,484 Avg Student Debt

You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend University of St. Augustine for Health Sciences. It ranked #2 on our 2023 Most Popular Online Nursing Doctor’s Degree Schools in California list. USAHS is a medium-sized private for-profit school situated in San Marcos, California. It awarded 1,186 doctor’s degrees in 2021-2022.

By the time they get their doctor’s degree, students from this school have racked up an average of $125,484 in student loans. Around 64% of those degree recipients were women.

Since the graduate programs at USAHS are primarily online school, so it is a great choice for returning adults and students who work full time.

Full University of St. Augustine for Health Sciences Report

73 Total Awards
$8,097 Average Tuition & Fees
$56,068 Avg Student Debt

The excellent doctor’s degree programs at California State University - Fresno helped the school earn the #3 place on this year’s ranking of the most popular nursing schools in California. California State University - Fresno is a large public school located in Fresno, California that handed out 73 doctor’s degrees in 2021-2022.

Doctor’s Degree recipients from Fresno State accumulate an average of $56,068 in student debt by the time they complete their degree. Of those students who received their degree, 71% were women.

Around 76% of the graduate population registered for at least one online class in 2020-2021.

Read More…

#4

Point Loma Nazarene University

San Diego, California
2 Total Awards

You’ll be in good company if you attend Point Loma Nazarene University. The school came in at #4 on this year’s Most Popular Online Nursing Doctor’s Degree Schools in California list. San Diego, California is the setting for this small institution of higher learning. The private not-for-profit school handed out doctor’s degrees to 2 students in 2021-2022.

Around 100% of those degree recipients were women.

Of all the graduate students enrolled at the school during the 2020-2021 academic year, around 72% took at least some of their classes online.

Read More…

23 Total Awards
$12,544 Average Tuition & Fees

A rank of #5 on this year’s list means West Coast University - Orange County is a great place for nursing students working on their doctor’s degree. West Coast University - Orange County is a private for-profit institution located in Anaheim, California. The school has a small population, and it awarded 23 doctor’s degrees in 2021-2022.

Around 83% of those degree recipients were women.

West Coast University - Orange County is one of the schools on our list that is primarily online. Each graduate student at the school took at least one class online.

Read full report on West Coast University - Orange County

#5

Northcentral University

San Diego, California
699 Total Awards
$17,998 Average Tuition & Fees
$85,982 Avg Student Debt

Out of the 7 schools in California that were part of this year’s ranking, Northcentral University landed the # 5 spot on the list. Northcentral University is a private not-for-profit institution located in San Diego, California. The school has a fairly large population, and it awarded 699 doctor’s degrees in 2021-2022.

By the time they get their doctor’s degree, students from this school have racked up an average of $85,982 in student loans. Around 72% of those degree recipients were women.

Since the graduate programs at Northcentral University are primarily online school, so it is a great choice for returning adults and students who work full time.

Full Northcentral University Report

#5

National University

San Diego, California
30 Total Awards

Out of the 7 schools in California that were part of this year’s ranking, National University landed the # 5 spot on the list. San Diego, California is the setting for this fairly large institution of higher learning. The private not-for-profit school handed out doctor’s degrees to 30 students in 2021-2022.

Of those students who received their degree, 70% were women.

Around 88% of the graduate population registered for at least one online class in 2020-2021.

Read More…

Most Popular Online Nursing Doctor's Degree Schools in the Far Western US Region

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Notes and References

Footnotes

*These averages are for the top 7 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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