2025 Best Nursing Doctor's Degree Schools in the Far Western US Region

Ranked #5 in popularity, nursing is one of the most sought-after doctor's degree programs in the nation. So, there are lots of possibilities to explore when you're trying to determine where you want to get your degree.

College Factual looked at 21 colleges and universities when compiling its 2025 Best Nursing Doctor's Degree Schools in the Far Western US Region ranking. Combined, these schools handed out 1,006 doctor's degrees in nursing to qualified students.

What's on this page: * Our Methodology

• Best Doctor’s Degree Schools List

Choosing a Great Nursing School for Your Doctor's Degree

The nursing doctor's degree program you select can have a big impact on your future. This section explores some of the factors we include in our ranking and how much they vary depending on the school you select. Below we explain some of the most important factors to consider before making your choice:

Overall Quality Is a Must

A school that excels in educating for a particular major and degree level must be a great school overall as well. To take this into account we consider a college's overall Best Colleges for a Doctor's Degree ranking which itself looks at a combination of various factors like degree completion, educational resources, student body caliber and post-graduation earnings for the school as a whole.

Average Early-Career Salaries

Average early-career salary of those graduating with their doctor's degree is one indicator we use in our analysis to find the schools that offer the highest-quality education. That is, everyone wants their doctor's degree to be worth something, and salaries are one measure of determining that.

Other Factors We Consider

The metrics below are just some of the other metrics that we use to determine our rankings.

• Major Focus - How many resources a school devotes to nursing students as compared to other majors.
• Major Demand - How many other nursing students want to attend this school to pursue a doctor's degree.
• Educational Resources - How many resources are allocated to students. These resources may include educational expenditures per student, number of students per instructor, and graduation rate among other things.
• Student Debt - How much debt nursing students go into to obtain their doctor's degree and how well they are able to pay back that debt.
• Accreditation - Whether a school is regionally accredited and/or accredited by a recognized nursing related body.

Our complete ranking methodology documents in more detail how we consider these factors to identify the best schools for nursing students working on their doctor's degree.

More Ways to Rank Nursing Schools

The nursing school you choose to invest your time and money in matters. To help you make the decision that is right for you, we've developed a number of major-specific rankings, including this list of the Best Nursing Doctor's Degree Schools in the Far Western US Region.

Best Schools for Doctorate Students to Study Nursing in the Far Western US Region

Learn about the top ranked colleges and universities for nursing students seeking a a doctor's degree.

10 Top Far Western US Region Schools for a Doctorate in Nursing

1

Samuel Merritt University
Oakland, CA

33 Annual Graduates

$136,861 Median Starting Salary

Samuel Merritt University is a good decision for students interested in a doctor's degree in nursing. Samuel Merritt University is a small private not-for-profit university located in the city of Oakland.

Students who graduate with their doctorate from the nursing program state that they receive average early career wages of $136,861.

More information about a doctorate in nursing from Samuel Merritt University

2

Loma Linda University
Loma Linda, CA

50 Annual Graduates

$135,439 Median Starting Salary

It is difficult to beat Loma Linda University if you wish to pursue a doctor's degree in nursing. Loma Linda University is a small private not-for-profit university located in the suburb of Loma Linda.

Soon after graduation, nursing doctorate recipients typically earn an average of $135,439 in their early careers.

More information about a doctorate in nursing from Loma Linda University

3

Seattle University
Seattle, WA

86 Annual Graduates

It's hard to beat Seattle University if you want to pursue a doctor's degree in nursing. Located in the city of Seattle, Seattle U is a private not-for-profit university with a medium-sized student population.More information about a doctorate in nursing from Seattle University

4

University of Washington - Seattle Campus
Seattle, WA

114 Annual Graduates

$119,434 Median Starting Salary

University of Washington - Seattle Campus is a wonderful decision for students pursuing a doctor's degree in nursing. UW Seattle is a fairly large public university located in the city of Seattle.

After graduation, nursing doctorate recipients typically make around $119,434 in their early careers.

More information about a doctorate in nursing from University of Washington - Seattle Campus

5

University of San Francisco
San Francisco, CA

27 Annual Graduates

$155,566 Median Starting Salary

Located in the city of San Francisco, USFCA is a private not-for-profit university with a medium-sized student population.

Nursing doctor's degree recipients from University of San Francisco receive an earnings boost of around $16,689 over the typical earnings of nursing majors.

More information about a doctorate in nursing from University of San Francisco

6

University of Portland
Portland, OR

12 Annual Graduates

University of Portland is a small private not-for-profit university located in the city of Portland.More information about a doctorate in nursing from University of Portland

7

University of California - Irvine
Irvine, CA

24 Annual Graduates

Located in the city of Irvine, UC Irvine is a public university with a very large student population.More information about a doctorate in nursing from University of California - Irvine

8

University of California - Los Angeles
Los Angeles, CA

18 Annual Graduates

$158,596 Median Starting Salary

UCLA is a fairly large public university located in the large city of Los Angeles.

Nursing doctor's degree recipients from University of California - Los Angeles get an earnings boost of approximately $19,719 above the average earnings of nursing graduates.

More information about a doctorate in nursing from University of California - Los Angeles

9

Gonzaga University
Spokane, WA

36 Annual Graduates

$141,146 Median Starting Salary

Gonzaga is a medium-sized private not-for-profit university located in the medium-sized city of Spokane.

Those nursing students who get their doctor's degree from Gonzaga University make $2,269 more than the typical nursing student.

More information about a doctorate in nursing from Gonzaga University

10

California State University - Fullerton
Fullerton, CA

54 Annual Graduates

$172,766 Median Starting Salary

Cal State Fullerton is a fairly large public university located in the suburb of Fullerton.

Doctorate recipients from the nursing major at California State University - Fullerton get $33,889 above the typical college graduate in this field when they enter the workforce.

More information about a doctorate in nursing from California State University - Fullerton

Best Nursing Colleges by State

Explore the best nursing colleges for a specific state in the Far Western US Region .

State	Colleges	Degrees Awarded
California	180	451
Washington	122	315
Oregon	107	43
Nevada	84	79
Hawaii	53	16
Alaska	19	3

View All Rankings >

Rankings in Majors Related to Nursing

One of 34 majors within the Health Professions area of study, Nursing has other similar majors worth exploring.

Nursing Concentrations

Major	Annual Graduates
Nursing Practice	446
Registered Nursing	210
Family Practice Nurse/Nursing	105
Psychiatric/Mental Health Nurse/Nursing	88
Nurse Anesthetist	44
Nursing Science	37
Nurse Midwife/Nursing Midwifery	20
Geriatric Nurse/Nursing	16
School Nursing	11
Critical Care Nursing	10

Most Popular Related Majors

Related Major	Annual Graduates
Medicine	2,824
Rehabilitation & Therapeutic Professions	2,558
Pharmacy/Pharmaceutical Sciences	1,807
Dentistry	1,089
Alternative Medicine & Systems	706
Chiropractic	450
Optometry	318
Public Health	130
Communication Sciences	112
Mental & Social Health Services	98

Notes and References

• The bars on the spread charts above show the distribution of the schools on this list +/- one standard deviation from the mean.
• 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.