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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

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.

The Most Popular Nursing Master's Degree Schools in California ranking is one of many tools that Grad Degree Search has developed to help you make your educational decision. Our analysis looked at 45 schools in California to see which master's degree programs were the most popular for 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 large city of San Diego.

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

Full Nursing at United States University Report

You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend West Coast University - Orange County. It ranked #2 on our 2023 Most Popular Nursing Master’s Degree Schools in California list. West Coast University - Orange County is a small private for-profit school located in the city of Anaheim.

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

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

The in-demand master’s degree programs at Samuel Merritt University helped the school earn the #3 place on this year’s ranking of the most popular nursing schools in California. Located in the city of Oakland, Samuel Merritt University is a private not-for-profit school 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

Out of the 45 schools in California that were part of this year’s ranking, Charles R Drew University of Medicine and Science landed the # 4 spot on the list. Located in the large suburb of Los Angeles, CDU is a private not-for-profit college with a fairly small student population.

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

Full Nursing at Charles R Drew University of Medicine and Science Report

#5

University of San Francisco

San Francisco, CA

A rank of #5 on this year’s list means University of San Francisco is a great place for nursing students working on their master’s degree. Located in the city of San Francisco, USFCA is a private not-for-profit college with a large student population.

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

Read More…

With a ranking of #6, University of California - Los Angeles did quite well on this year’s most popular schools for nursing students working on their master’s degree. UCLA is a fairly large public school located in the city of Los Angeles.

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

Read More…

With a ranking of #7, Azusa Pacific University did quite well on this year’s most popular schools for nursing students working on their master’s degree. Azusa Pacific is a medium-sized private not-for-profit school located in the 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 did quite well in this year’s ranking of the most popular places for nursing students to get a master’s degree. It came in at #8 on the 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.

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

With a ranking of #9, California State University - Long Beach did quite well on this year’s most popular schools for nursing students working on their master’s degree. 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.

Read full report on Nursing at California State University - Long Beach

University of Southern California landed the #10 spot in the 2023 rankings for the most popular master’s degree nursing programs. Located in the large 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.

Full Nursing at University of Southern California Report

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
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 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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