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Most Popular Nursing Master's Degree Schools in California

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2023 Most Popular Nursing Master's Degree Schools in California

45 Colleges
$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.

To assist you in seeing some of the education options that are available to you, Healthcare Degree Search has created its Most Popular Nursing Master's Degree Schools in California ranking. Our analysis looked at 45 schools in California to see which master's 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.

The colleges and universities below are the most popular for nursing majors pursuing a master's degree.

#1

United States University

San Diego, CA

Our analysis found United States University to be the most popular 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 city of San Diego.

About 83% of the students majoring in nursing at the school are women while 17% are male.

Read full report on Nursing at United States University

The in-demand master’s degree programs at West Coast University - Orange County helped the school earn the #2 place on this year’s ranking of the most popular nursing schools in California. West Coast University - Orange County is a small private for-profit school located in the large city of Anaheim.

Of the 317 students majoring in nursing at West Coast University - Orange County, 22% are male and 78% are female.

Full Nursing at West Coast University - Orange County Report

You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend Samuel Merritt University. It ranked #3 on our 2023 Most Popular Nursing Master’s Degree Schools in California list. Located in the city of Oakland, Samuel Merritt University is a private not-for-profit college with a small student population.

Of the 217 students majoring in nursing at Samuel Merritt University, 17% are male and 83% are female.

Read full report on Nursing at Samuel Merritt University

The in-demand master’s degree programs at Charles R Drew University of Medicine and Science helped the school earn the #4 place on this year’s ranking of the most popular nursing schools in California. Located in the suburb of Los Angeles, CDU is a private not-for-profit school with a small student population.

Women make up 78% of the nursing majors at the school.

Read More…

#5

University of San Francisco

San Francisco, CA

The in-demand master’s degree programs at University of San Francisco helped the school earn the #5 place on this year’s ranking of the most popular nursing schools in California. Located in the city of San Francisco, USFCA is a private not-for-profit college with a fairly large student population.

Of the 186 students majoring in nursing at USFCA, 18% are male and 82% are female.

Full Nursing at University of San Francisco Report

University of California - Los Angeles landed the #6 spot in the 2023 rankings for the most popular master’s degree nursing programs. UCLA is a very large public school located in the city of Los Angeles.

Women make up 84% of the nursing majors at the school.

Read More…

Azusa Pacific University came in at #7 in this year’s edition of the Most Popular Nursing Master’s Degree Schools in California ranking. Azusa Pacific is a medium-sized private not-for-profit school located in the large suburb of Azusa.

Of the 162 students majoring in nursing at Azusa Pacific, 12% are male and 88% are female.

Read full report on Nursing at Azusa Pacific University

University of California - San Francisco ranked #8 on this year’s Most Popular Nursing Master’s Degree Schools in California list. Located in the city of San Francisco, UCSF is a public school with a small student population.

Of the 153 students majoring in nursing at UCSF, 16% are male and 84% are female.

Full Nursing at University of California - San Francisco Report

California State University - Long Beach ranked #9 on this year’s Most Popular Nursing Master’s Degree Schools in California list. CSULB is a fairly large public school located in the large city of Long Beach.

Women make up 83% of the nursing majors at the school.

Full Nursing at California State University - Long Beach Report

With a ranking of #10, University of Southern California did quite well on this year’s most popular schools for nursing students working on their master’s degree. Located in the city of Los Angeles, USC is a private not-for-profit college with a very large student population.

Women make up 89% of the nursing majors at the school.

Read More…

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

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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