2023 Most Popular Nursing Associate Degree Schools in California
Finding the Best Nursing Associate 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.
Along with in-depth profiles of schools and the programs they offer, Healthcare Degree Search has created the Most Popular Nursing Associate Degree Schools in California to help you in your search for the best school for you. Our analysis looked at 93 schools in California to see which associate degree programs were the most popular for healthcare students. To create this ranking we looked at how many students graduated from the Nursing program at each school on the list.
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2023 Most Popular Nursing Associate Degree Schools in California
The following schools top our list of the Most Popular Nursing Associate Degree Colleges.
Top 15% Most Popular Nursing Associate Degree Schools
Our analysis found Fresno City College to be the most popular school for nursing students who want to pursue a associate degree in California. Located in the city of Fresno, Fresno City College is a public college with a very large student population.
Women make up 78% of the nursing majors at the school.
On average, nursing graduates from Fresno City College take out $11,400 in student loans while working on their Associate Degree.
A rank of #2 on this year’s list means Riverside City College is a great place for nursing students working on their associate degree. Riverside City College is a fairly large public school located in the large city of Riverside.
About 76% of the students majoring in nursing at the school are women while 24% are male.
On average, nursing graduates from Riverside City College take out $15,050 in student loans while working on their Associate Degree.
The in-demand associate degree programs at Bakersfield College helped the school earn the #3 place on this year’s ranking of the most popular nursing schools in California. Bakersfield College is a very large public school located in the large city of Bakersfield.
About 78% of the students majoring in nursing at the school are women while 22% are male.
On average, nursing graduates from Bakersfield College take out $14,858 in student loans while working on their Associate Degree.
The in-demand associate degree programs at San Joaquin Delta College helped the school earn the #4 place on this year’s ranking of the most popular nursing schools in California. Located in the city of Stockton, Delta is a public college with a fairly large student population.
Women make up 68% of the nursing majors at the school.
On average, nursing graduates from Delta take out $15,248 in student loans while working on their Associate Degree.
You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend Butte College. It ranked #5 on our 2023 Most Popular Nursing Associate Degree Schools in California list. Located in the rural area of Oroville, Butte College is a public school with a moderately-sized student population.
Women make up 76% of the nursing majors at the school.
On average, nursing graduates from Butte College take out $19,826 in student loans while working on their Associate Degree.
With a ranking of #6, Modesto Junior College did quite well on this year’s most popular schools for nursing students working on their associate degree. MJC is a large public school located in the medium-sized city of Modesto.
About 78% of the students majoring in nursing at the school are women while 22% are male.
Nursing majors at MJC take out an average of $16,015 in student loans while working on their Associate Degree.
Career Networks Institute ranked #7 on this year’s Most Popular Nursing Associate Degree Schools in California list. Located in the city of Orange, CNI College is a private for-profit college with a fairly small student population.
Women make up 73% of the nursing majors at the school.
After completing their Associate Degree, nursing graduates from CNI College carry an average student debt load of $33,332.
Mt. San Antonio College did quite well in this year’s ranking of the most popular places for nursing students to get a associate degree. It came in at #8 on the list. Mt. SAC is a very large public school located in the large suburb of Walnut.
About 69% of the students majoring in nursing at the school are women while 31% are male.
While working on their Associate Degree, nursing majors at Mt. SAC accumulate an average of around $16,459 in student debt.
Santa Monica College came in at #9 in this year’s edition of the Most Popular Nursing Associate Degree Schools in California ranking. Located in the small city of Santa Monica, SMC is a public college with a fairly large student population.
Women make up 75% of the nursing majors at the school.
On average, nursing graduates from SMC take out $16,693 in student loans while working on their Associate Degree.
Antelope Valley College did quite well in this year’s ranking of the most popular places for nursing students to get a associate degree. It came in at #10 on the list. Antelope Valley College is a fairly large public school located in the large suburb of Lancaster.
Women make up 84% of the nursing majors at the school.
Nursing majors at Antelope Valley College take out an average of $15,472 in student loans while working on their Associate Degree.
San Bernardino Valley College landed the #11 spot in the 2023 rankings for the most popular associate degree nursing programs. Located in the city of San Bernardino, San Bernardino Valley College is a public school with a moderately-sized student population.
Women make up 84% of the nursing majors at the school.
Pacific Union College came in at #12 in this year’s edition of the Most Popular Nursing Associate Degree Schools in California ranking. PUC is a small private not-for-profit school located in the rural area of Angwin.
About 74% of the students majoring in nursing at the school are women while 26% are male.
After completing their Associate Degree, nursing graduates from PUC carry an average student debt load of $29,980. The average monthly payment of a loan this size is about $222, assuming that the borrower is on a 10-year repayment plan.
With a ranking of #13, College of the Sequoias did quite well on this year’s most popular schools for nursing students working on their associate degree. Located in the city of Visalia, College of the Sequoias is a public college with a fairly large student population.
Women make up 78% of the nursing majors at the school.
After completing their Associate Degree, nursing graduates from College of the Sequoias carry an average student debt load of $15,483.
Solano Community College ranked #13 on this year’s Most Popular Nursing Associate Degree Schools in California list. Solano College is a moderately-sized public school located in the medium-sized suburb of Fairfield.
About 83% of the students majoring in nursing at the school are women while 17% are male.
On average, nursing graduates from Solano College take out $14,561 in student loans while working on their Associate Degree.
Honorable Mentions
These are some additional schools worth mentioning that are also popular but just didn't quite make the cut to earn our top Most Popular Nursing Associate Degree Schools in California award.
| Rank | College | Location |
|---|---|---|
| 15 | Saddleback College | Mission Viejo, CA |
| 16 | Glendale Community College | Glendale, CA |
| 17 | Gurnick Academy of Medical Arts | San Mateo, CA |
| 18 | Golden West College | Huntington Beach, CA |
Best Nursing Colleges in the Far Western US Region
Explore all the Most Popular 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 |
Nursing Related Majors
One of 30 majors within the healthcare area of study, nursing has other similar majors worth exploring.
Nursing Concentrations
Most Popular Related Majors
| 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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