Find Healthcare Schools

Study Area & Zipcode

Best Value Nursing Doctor's Degree Schools in California

Find Schools Near

2023 Best Value Nursing Doctor's Degree Schools in California

Highlighting Quality Schools With More Affordable Pricing

18 Colleges
$20,220 Avg Tuition & Fees*
$115,233 Avg Salary

Finding the Best Nursing Doctor's Degree School for You

Nursing is the most popular major in California with 18,329 degrees and certificates handed out in 2020-2021.

There are lots of options to pick from today when trying to decide which healthcare 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 that offer fast-track entry to many fields.

To assist you in seeing some of the education options that are available to you, Healthcare Degree Search has created its Best Value Nursing Doctor's Degree Schools in California ranking. Our analysis looked at 18 schools in California to see which doctor'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.

Our ranking of value is based on the quality of a program as defined in our per sticker price dollar. 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.

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

2023 Best Value Nursing Doctor’s Degree Schools in California

Check out the nursing doctor's degree programs at these schools if you want to get the best value for your educational dollar.

Top 10 Best Nursing Doctor's Degree Schools

Our 2023 rankings named California State University - Fresno the best value school in California for nursing students working on their doctor’s degree. Located in the large city of Fresno, Fresno State is a public school with a very large student population.

The average tuition and fees for an in-state graduate student at Fresno State are $8,087 a year.

Read full report on Nursing at California State University - Fresno

You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend California State University - Fullerton. It ranked #2 on our 2023 Best Value Nursing Doctor’s Degree Schools in California list. Cal State Fullerton is a very large public school located in the suburb of Fullerton.

Cal State Fullerton graduate students pay an average of $8,410 in in-state tuition and fees each year.

Read full report on Nursing at California State University - Fullerton

A rank of #3 on this year’s list means San Jose State University is a great value for nursing students working on their doctor’s degree. San Jose State is a very large public school located in the city of San Jose.

The average tuition and fees for an in-state graduate student at San Jose State are $9,286 a year.

Read More…

A rank of #4 on this year’s list means Point Loma Nazarene University is a great value for nursing students working on their doctor’s degree. PLNU is a small private not-for-profit school located in the large city of San Diego.

PLNU graduate students pay an average of $11,880 in in-state tuition and fees each year.

PLNU not only placed well in our value ranking, but it is also #3 on our Best Nursing Doctor’s Degree Schools in California list.

Full Nursing at Point Loma Nazarene University Report

You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around you if you attend University of California - Los Angeles. The school came in at #5 on this year’s Best Value Nursing Doctor’s Degree Schools in California list. UCLA is a very large public school located in the large city of Los Angeles.

UCLA graduate students pay an average of $13,036 in in-state tuition and fees each year.

UCLA did well in our overall quality rankings, too. It placed #4 on our Best Nursing Doctor’s Degree Schools in California list.

Full Nursing at University of California - Los Angeles Report

University of California - Davis did quite well in this year’s ranking of the best places for nursing students to get a doctor’s degree. It came in at #6 on the list. UC Davis is a very large public school located in the suburb of Davis.

UC Davis graduate students pay an average of $13,608 in in-state tuition and fees each year.

Full Nursing at University of California - Davis Report

#7

Brandman University

Irvine, CA

Brandman University ranked #7 on this year’s Best Value Nursing Doctor’s Degree Schools in California list. Brandman is a medium-sized private not-for-profit school located in the city of Irvine.

In-state tuition fees for graduate students at Brandman are $12,720 per year.

Read More…

University of California - Irvine landed the #8 spot in the 2023 rankings for the best value doctor’s degree nursing programs. UC Irvine is a fairly large public school located in the large city of Irvine.

In-state tuition fees for graduate students at UC Irvine are $13,356 per year.

Full Nursing at University of California - Irvine Report

University of St. Augustine for Health Sciences did quite well in this year’s ranking of the best places for nursing students to get a doctor’s degree. It came in at #9 on the list. USAHS is a medium-sized private for-profit school located in the large suburb of San Marcos.

The average tuition and fees for an in-state graduate student at USAHS are $26,247 a year.

Read full report on Nursing at University of St. Augustine for Health Sciences

Azusa Pacific University did quite well in this year’s ranking of the best places for nursing students to get a doctor’s degree. It came in at #10 on the list. Azusa Pacific is a medium-sized private not-for-profit school located in the large suburb of Azusa.

The average tuition and fees for an in-state graduate student at Azusa Pacific are $16,696 a year.

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
Oregon 1,502
Washington 3,851
Nevada 2,015
Hawaii 535
Alaska 177

One of 30 majors within the healthcare area of study, nursing has other similar majors worth exploring.

Nursing Concentrations

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
Health & Medical Administrative Services 89,359
Allied Health & Medical Assisting Services 84,492
Practical Nursing & Nursing Assistants 84,274
Allied Health Professions 82,308
Public Health 40,596

Notes and References

*These averages are for the top 18 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.

Featured Schools

Find Healthcare Schools Near You

Our free school finder matches students with accredited healthcare schools across the U.S.