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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 Colleges
$115,233 Avg Salary

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 help you arm yourself with the information you need to make your decision, Healthcare Degree Search has developed this Most Popular Online Nursing Doctor's Degree Schools in California ranking. Our analysis looked at 7 schools in California to see which online doctor's degree programs were the most popular for healthcare students. To create this ranking we looked at how many students graduated from schools with online programs.

The colleges and universities below are the most popular for nursing majors pursuing an online doctor's degree.

#1

Brandman University

Irvine, CA

Our 2023 rankings named Brandman University the most popular online school in California for nursing students working on their doctor’s degree. Brandman is a medium-sized private not-for-profit school located in the city of Irvine.

Of the 113 students majoring in nursing at Brandman, 16% are male and 84% are female.

Full Nursing at Brandman University Report

A rank of #2 on this year’s list means University of St. Augustine for Health Sciences is a great place for nursing students working on their online doctor’s degree. USAHS is a moderately-sized private for-profit school located in the suburb of San Marcos.

About 82% of the students majoring in nursing at the school are women while 18% are male.

Read More…

You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend California State University - Fresno. It ranked #3 on our 2023 Most Popular Online Nursing Doctor’s Degree Schools in California list. Located in the large city of Fresno, Fresno State is a public school with a very large student population.

Of the 12 students majoring in nursing at Fresno State, 8% are male and 92% are female.

Read full report on Nursing at California State University - Fresno

You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend Point Loma Nazarene University. It ranked #4 on our 2023 Most Popular Online Nursing Doctor’s Degree Schools in California list. PLNU is a small private not-for-profit school located in the city of San Diego.

Of the 9 students majoring in nursing at PLNU, 11% are male and 89% are female.

Read full report on Nursing at Point Loma Nazarene University

You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend West Coast University - Orange County. It ranked #5 on our 2023 Most Popular Online Nursing Doctor’s Degree Schools in California list. West Coast University - Orange County is a small private for-profit school located in the large city of Anaheim.

Read full report on Nursing at West Coast University - Orange County

#5

National University

La Jolla, CA

You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend National University. It ranked #5 on our 2023 Most Popular Online Nursing Doctor’s Degree Schools in California list. Located in the large city of La Jolla, National University is a private not-for-profit school with a large student population.

Read full report on Nursing at National University

#5

Northcentral University

San Diego, CA

A rank of #5 on this year’s list means Northcentral University is a great place for nursing students working on their online doctor’s degree. Northcentral University is a large private not-for-profit school located in the city of San Diego.

Full Nursing at Northcentral University Report

Best Nursing Colleges in the Far Western US Region

Explore all the Most Popular 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

More Nursing Rankings in California

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 7 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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