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Best Value Nursing Master's Degree Schools in California

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2023 Best Value Nursing Master's Degree Schools in California

Highlighting Quality Schools With More Affordable Pricing

42 Colleges
$9,683 Avg Tuition & Fees*
$98,140 Avg Salary

Finding the Best Nursing Master'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.

The Best Value Nursing Master's Degree Schools in California ranking is one of many tools that Healthcare Degree Search has developed to help you make your educational decision. Our analysis looked at 42 schools in California to see which master'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 Master’s Degree Schools in California

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

Top 10 Best Nursing Master's Degree Schools

#1

United States University

San Diego, CA

Our analysis found United States University to be the best value school for nursing students who want to pursue a master’s degree in California. USU is a small private for-profit school located in the large city of San Diego.

The average tuition and fees for an in-state graduate student at USU are $5,650 a year.

Read More…

Out of the 42 schools in California that were part of this year’s ranking, California State University - Stanislaus landed the # 2 spot on the list. Stan State is a fairly large public school located in the suburb of Turlock.

In-state tuition fees for graduate students at Stan State are $9,078 per year.

As a testament to the quality of education it offers, Stan State also is in the top 15% of our Best Nursing Master’s Degree Schools in California ranking.

Read full report on Nursing at California State University - Stanislaus

The excellent master’s degree programs at California State University - Fullerton helped the school earn the #3 place on this year’s ranking of the best value nursing schools in California. Cal State Fullerton is a very large public school located in the large suburb of Fullerton.

In-state tuition fees for graduate students at Cal State Fullerton are $8,410 per year.

Full Nursing at California State University - Fullerton Report

You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend California State University - Long Beach. It ranked #4 on our 2023 Best Value Nursing Master’s Degree Schools in California list. CSULB is a very large public school located in the city of Long Beach.

CSULB graduate students pay an average of $8,280 in in-state tuition and fees each year.

Full Nursing at California State University - Long Beach Report

#5

Sonoma State University

Rohnert Park, CA

The excellent master’s degree programs at Sonoma State University helped the school earn the #5 place on this year’s ranking of the best value nursing schools in California. SSU is a moderately-sized public school located in the suburb of Rohnert Park.

In-state tuition fees for graduate students at SSU are $9,422 per year.

Read full report on Nursing at Sonoma State University

With a ranking of #6, California State University - Chico did quite well on this year’s best value schools for nursing students working on their master’s degree. Chico State is a large public school located in the city of Chico.

The average tuition and fees for an in-state graduate student at Chico State are $9,298 a year.

Read More…

San Jose State University ranked #7 on this year’s Best Value Nursing Master’s Degree Schools in California list. San Jose State is a very large public school located in the large city of San Jose.

San Jose State graduate students pay an average of $9,286 in in-state tuition and fees each year.

Full Nursing at San Jose State University Report

California State University - Fresno landed the #8 spot in the 2023 rankings for the best value master’s degree nursing programs. Located in the city of Fresno, Fresno State is a public school with a very large student population.

Fresno State graduate students pay an average of $8,087 in in-state tuition and fees each year.

Read full report on Nursing at California State University - Fresno

California State University - Dominguez Hills ranked #9 on this year’s Best Value Nursing Master’s Degree Schools in California list. CSUDH is a large public school located in the city of Carson.

CSUDH graduate students pay an average of $8,494 in in-state tuition and fees each year.

Read full report on Nursing at California State University - Dominguez Hills

California State University - East Bay landed the #10 spot in the 2023 rankings for the best value master’s degree nursing programs. Located in the large suburb of Hayward, Cal State East Bay is a public school with a fairly large student population.

Cal State East Bay graduate students pay an average of $8,429 in in-state tuition and fees each year.

Full Nursing at California State University - East Bay Report

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 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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