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Best Value Nursing Graduate Certificate Schools in California

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2023 Best Value Nursing Graduate Certificate Schools in California

Highlighting Quality Schools With More Affordable Pricing

16 Colleges
$18,067 Avg Tuition & Fees*
$99,011 Avg Salary

Finding the Best Nursing Graduate Certificate School for You

Out of the majors we analyze each year, nursing was ranked 5th in California. In fact, 3,819 were awarded in the state in 2020-2021.

It's not easy to decide which program to enroll in when you have so many options available. Along with traditional schools that require in-person attendence, you can attend one of many reputable online schools. Some programs even offer a hybrid experience. Alternatively, you may choose a trade school that prepares you to enter the workforce with knowledge in a specific field.

Along with in-depth profiles of schools and the programs they offer, Grad Degree Search has created the Best Value Nursing Graduate Certificate Schools in California to help you in your search for the best school for you. This report analyzed 16 schools in California to see which ones offered the best value graduate certificate programs for nursing students. The goal was to highlight schools with more affordable prices than others offering similar quality experiences.

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 Graduate Certificate Schools in California

The following schools top our list of the Best Value Nursing Graduate Certificate Colleges.

Top 10 Best Nursing Graduate Certificate Schools

Our analysis found California State University - Dominguez Hills to be the best value school for nursing students who want to pursue a graduate certificate in California. CSUDH is a fairly large public school located in the city of Carson.

In-state tuition fees for graduate students at CSUDH are $8,494 per year.

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You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around you if you attend California State University - Long Beach. The school came in at #2 on this year’s Best Value Nursing Graduate Certificate Schools in California list. CSULB is a fairly 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.

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A rank of #3 on this year’s list means West Coast University - Orange County is a great value for nursing students working on their graduate certificate. West Coast University - Orange County is a small private for-profit school located in the city of Anaheim.

The average tuition and fees for an in-state graduate student at West Coast University - Orange County are $10,989 a year.

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You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around you if you attend California State University - Los Angeles. The school came in at #4 on this year’s Best Value Nursing Graduate Certificate Schools in California list. Located in the city of Los Angeles, Cal State LA is a public college with a fairly large student population.

Cal State LA graduate students pay an average of $8,219 in in-state tuition and fees each year.

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

#5

San Francisco State University

San Francisco, CA

The excellent graduate certificate programs at San Francisco State University helped the school earn the #5 place on this year’s ranking of the best value nursing schools in California. Located in the large city of San Francisco, SFSU is a public college with a very large student population.

SFSU graduate students pay an average of $8,738 in in-state tuition and fees each year.

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University of California - San Francisco ranked #6 on this year’s Best Value Nursing Graduate Certificate Schools in California list. Located in the city of San Francisco, UCSF is a public college with a small student population.

In-state tuition fees for graduate students at UCSF are $12,999 per year.

Read full report on Nursing at University of California - San Francisco

Point Loma Nazarene University landed the #7 spot in the 2023 rankings for the best value graduate certificate nursing programs. PLNU is a small private not-for-profit school located in the large city of San Diego.

The average tuition and fees for an in-state graduate student at PLNU are $11,880 a year.

Full Nursing at Point Loma Nazarene University Report

#8

Mount Saint Mary's University

Los Angeles, CA

With a ranking of #8, Mount Saint Mary’s University did quite well on this year’s best value schools for nursing students working on their graduate certificate. Located in the large city of Los Angeles, MSMU is a private not-for-profit college with a small student population.

In-state tuition fees for graduate students at MSMU are $13,099 per year.

Full Nursing at Mount Saint Mary’s University Report

#9

National University

La Jolla, CA

National University ranked #9 on this year’s Best Value Nursing Graduate Certificate Schools in California list. Located in the large city of La Jolla, National University is a private not-for-profit college with a fairly large student population.

National University graduate students pay an average of $15,480 in in-state tuition and fees each year.

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#9

Brandman University

Irvine, CA

Brandman University landed the #9 spot in the 2023 rankings for the best value graduate certificate nursing programs. Brandman is a medium-sized private not-for-profit school located in the large city of Irvine.

The average tuition and fees for an in-state graduate student at Brandman are $12,720 a year.

In addition to its great value ranking, Brandman is in the top 20% of all schools on our Best Nursing Graduate Certificate Schools in California list.

Read full report on Nursing at Brandman University

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
Washington 561
Oregon 69
Nevada 211
Hawaii 46
Alaska 17

One of 29 majors within the area of study, nursing has other similar majors worth exploring.

Related Major Annual Graduates
Medicine 28,629
Rehabilitation & Therapeutic Professions 24,774
Public Health 19,473
Health & Medical Administrative Services 17,335
Pharmacy/Pharmaceutical Sciences 16,952

Notes and References

*These averages are for the top 16 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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