2025 Best Nursing Doctor's Degree Schools in California

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.

For its 2025 ranking, College Factual looked at 9 schools in California to determine which ones were the best for nursing students pursuing a doctor's degree. Combined, these schools handed out 472 doctor's degrees in nursing to qualified students.

Jump to one of the following sections: * Our Methodology

• Best Doctor’s Degree Schools List

Choosing a Great Nursing School for Your Doctor's Degree

Your choice of nursing for getting your doctor's degree school matters. Important measures of a quality nursing program can vary widely even among the top schools. Below we explain some of the most important factors to consider before making your choice:

Overall Quality Is a Must

The overall quality of a doctor's degree school is important to ensure a good education, not just how well they do in a particular major. To make it into this list a school must rank well in our overall Best Colleges for a Doctor's Degree ranking. This ranking considered factors such as graduation rates, overall graduate earnings and other educational resources to identify great colleges and universities.

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

In addition to the above, you should consider some of the following factors:

• Major Focus - How much a school focuses on nursing students vs. other majors.
• Major Demand - The number of nursing students who choose to seek a doctor's degree at the school.
• Educational Resources - The amount of money and other resources allocated to students while they are pursuing their degree. These resources include such things as number of students per instructor and education expenditures per student.
• Student Debt - How easy is it for nursing to pay back their student loans after receiving their doctor's degree.
• 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 colleges for nursing students working on their doctor's degree.

One Size Does Not Fit All

Since the program you select can have a significant impact on your future, we've developed a number of rankings, including this Best Nursing Doctor's Degree Schools in California list, to help you choose the best school for you.

Best Schools for Doctorate Students to Study Nursing in California

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

Top California Schools for a Doctorate in Nursing

1

Samuel Merritt University
Oakland, CA

33 Annual Graduates

$136,861 Median Starting Salary

Every student who is interested in a doctor's degree in nursing needs to check out Samuel Merritt University. Located in the city of Oakland, Samuel Merritt University is a private not-for-profit university with a small student population.

Students who graduate with their doctorate from the nursing program state that they receive average early career income 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

Loma Linda University is one of the best schools in the country for getting a doctor's degree in nursing. Located in the suburb of Loma Linda, Loma Linda University is a private not-for-profit university with a small student population.

After graduating, nursing doctorate recipients generally earn an average of $135,439 at the beginning of their careers.

More information about a doctorate in nursing from Loma Linda University

3

University of San Francisco
San Francisco, CA

27 Annual Graduates

$155,566 Median Starting Salary

It's hard to beat University of San Francisco if you wish to pursue a doctor's degree in nursing. USFCA is a moderately-sized private not-for-profit university located in the city of San Francisco.

Nursing doctor's degree recipients from University of San Francisco get an earnings boost of approximately $2,948 above the typical earnings of nursing majors.

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

4

University of California - Irvine
Irvine, CA

24 Annual Graduates

It is hard to beat University of California - Irvine if you wish to pursue a doctor's degree in nursing. UC Irvine is a very large public university located in the large city of Irvine.More information about a doctorate in nursing from University of California - Irvine

5

University of California - Los Angeles
Los Angeles, CA

18 Annual Graduates

$158,596 Median Starting Salary

Located in the large city of Los Angeles, UCLA is a public university with a very large student population.

Those nursing students who get their doctor's degree from University of California - Los Angeles receive $5,978 more than the standard nursing graduate.

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

6

California State University - Fullerton
Fullerton, CA

54 Annual Graduates

$172,766 Median Starting Salary

Located in the suburb of Fullerton, Cal State Fullerton is a public university with a very large student population.

Those nursing students who get their doctor's degree from California State University - Fullerton receive $20,148 more than the typical nursing student.

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

7

National University
San Diego, CA

16 Annual Graduates

Located in the large city of San Diego, National University is a private not-for-profit university with a fairly large student population.More information about a doctorate in nursing from National University

8

Azusa Pacific University
Azusa, CA

14 Annual Graduates

Azusa Pacific is a medium-sized private not-for-profit university located in the suburb of Azusa.More information about a doctorate in nursing from Azusa Pacific University

9

West Coast University - Orange County
Anaheim, CA

13 Annual Graduates

Located in the large city of Anaheim, West Coast University - Orange County is a private for-profit university with a small student population.More information about a doctorate in nursing from West Coast University - Orange County

Best Nursing Colleges in the Far Western US Region

Explore all the Best Nursing Colleges in the Far Western US Area or other specific states within that region.

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

View All Rankings >

Nursing Related Rankings by Major

Nursing is one of 34 different types of Health Professions programs to choose from.

Nursing Focus Areas

Major	Annual Graduates
Nursing Practice	279
Psychiatric/Mental Health Nurse/Nursing	56
Registered Nursing	53
Family Practice Nurse/Nursing	29
Nursing Science	17
Nurse Anesthetist	16
Nursing Administration	9
Adult Health Nurse/Nursing	5
Other Registered Nursing, Nursing Administration, Nursing Research and Clinical Nursing	4
School Nursing	3

Most Popular Related Majors

Related Major	Annual Graduates
Rehabilitation & Therapeutic Professions	2,127
Medicine	1,839
Pharmacy/Pharmaceutical Sciences	1,244
Dentistry	764
Alternative Medicine & Systems	522
Chiropractic	296
Optometry	227
Mental & Social Health Services	90
Public Health	86
Communication Sciences	77

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.