Find Affordable College Courses

What Do You Want to Study?

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.

Top 10 Best Nursing Doctor's Degree Schools

Our analysis found California State University - Fresno to be the best value school for nursing students who want to pursue a doctor’s degree in California. Located in the 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 More…

Request Information

Out of the 18 schools in California that were part of this year’s ranking, California State University - Fullerton landed the # 2 spot on the list. Cal State Fullerton is a fairly 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

Request Information

You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend San Jose State University. It ranked #3 on our 2023 Best Value Nursing Doctor’s Degree Schools in California list. 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 full report on Nursing at San Jose State University

Request Information

You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around you if you attend Point Loma Nazarene University. The school came in at #4 on this year’s Best Value Nursing Doctor’s Degree Schools in California list. PLNU is a small private not-for-profit school located in the 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.

Read full report on Nursing at Point Loma Nazarene University

Request Information

The excellent doctor’s degree programs at University of California - Los Angeles helped the school earn the #5 place on this year’s ranking of the best value nursing schools in California. UCLA is a very large public school located in the large city of Los Angeles.

In-state tuition fees for graduate students at UCLA are $13,036 per year.

UCLA not only placed well in our value ranking, but it is also #4 on our Best Nursing Doctor’s Degree Schools in California list.

Read full report on Nursing at University of California - Los Angeles

Request Information

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 small suburb of Davis.

In-state tuition fees for graduate students at UC Davis are $13,608 per year.

Full Nursing at University of California - Davis Report

Request Information
#7

Brandman University

Irvine, CA

Brandman University landed the #7 spot in the 2023 rankings for the best value doctor’s degree nursing programs. Brandman is a medium-sized private not-for-profit school located in the large city of Irvine.

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

Read More…

Request Information

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 very large public school located in the large city of Irvine.

The average tuition and fees for an in-state graduate student at UC Irvine are $13,356 a year.

Read More…

Request Information

University of St. Augustine for Health Sciences landed the #9 spot in the 2023 rankings for the best value doctor’s degree nursing programs. USAHS is a moderately-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.

Full Nursing at University of St. Augustine for Health Sciences Report

Request Information

Azusa Pacific University came in at #10 in this year’s edition of the Best Value Nursing Doctor’s Degree Schools in California ranking. Azusa Pacific is a medium-sized private not-for-profit school located in the suburb of Azusa.

In-state tuition fees for graduate students at Azusa Pacific are $16,696 per year.

Full Nursing at Azusa Pacific University Report

Request Information

Best Value Nursing Colleges in the Far Western US Region

Explore all the Best Value Nursing Colleges 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.

Find Healthcare Schools Near You

Our free school-matching tool matches students with accredited healthcare schools across the U.S