2025 Best Nursing Master's Degree Schools in California

Nursing is of the hottest master's degree programs in the United States, coming in as the #2 most popular major in the country. This means there are lots of options to choose from when you decide to get your degree.

For its 2025 ranking, College Factual looked at 31 schools in California to determine which ones were the best for nursing students pursuing a master's degree. Combined, these schools handed out 3,383 master's degrees in nursing to qualified students.

Jump to one of the following sections: * Our Methodology

• Best Master’s Degree Schools List

Choosing a Great Nursing School for Your Master's Degree

The nursing master's degree program you select can have a big impact on your future. Important measures of a quality nursing program can vary widely even among the top schools. To make it into this list, a school must excel in the following areas.

A Great Overall School

A school that excels in educating for a particular major and degree level must be a great school overall as well. To make it into this list a school must rank well in our overall Best Colleges for a Master's Degree ranking. This ranking considered factors such as graduation rates, overall graduate earnings and other educational resources to identify great colleges and universities.

Early-Career Earnings

One measure we use to determine the quality of a school is to look at the average salary of master's graduates during the early years of their career. That is, everyone wants their master'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 master'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 master'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 schools for nursing students working on their master's degree.

One Size Does Not Fit All

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 Master's Degree Schools in California.

Best Schools for Master’s Students to Study Nursing in California

The following list ranks the best colleges and universities for pursuing a master's degree in nursing.

10 Top California Schools for a Master's in Nursing

1

Samuel Merritt University
Oakland, CA

224 Annual Graduates

$141,819 Median Starting Salary

Samuel Merritt University is a wonderful option for individuals interested in a master's degree in nursing. Located in the city of Oakland, Samuel Merritt University is a private not-for-profit university with a small student population.

Master's recipients from the nursing major at Samuel Merritt University make $9,207 above the typical college graduate in this field when they enter the workforce.

More information about a master’s in nursing from Samuel Merritt University

2

University of Southern California
Los Angeles, CA

73 Annual Graduates

$136,250 Median Starting Salary

University of Southern California is one of the best schools in the country for getting a master's degree in nursing. USC is a fairly large private not-for-profit university located in the city of Los Angeles.

Those nursing students who get their master's degree from University of Southern California receive $3,638 more than the standard nursing graduate.

More information about a master’s in nursing from University of Southern California

3

University of San Francisco
San Francisco, CA

174 Annual Graduates

$125,983 Median Starting Salary

University of San Francisco is one of the finest schools in the country for getting a master's degree in nursing. USFCA is a medium-sized private not-for-profit university located in the city of San Francisco.

Soon after graduation, nursing master's recipients usually earn around $125,983 in their early careers.

More information about a master’s in nursing from University of San Francisco

4

University of California - Los Angeles
Los Angeles, CA

156 Annual Graduates

$112,065 Median Starting Salary

University of California - Los Angeles is a wonderful choice for individuals interested in a master's degree in nursing. Located in the large city of Los Angeles, UCLA is a public university with a very large student population.

Soon after graduating, nursing master's recipients generally make around $112,065 in the first five years of their career.

More information about a master’s in nursing from University of California - Los Angeles

5

Azusa Pacific University
Azusa, CA

237 Annual Graduates

$122,638 Median Starting Salary

Azusa Pacific is a moderately-sized private not-for-profit university located in the suburb of Azusa.

Master's students who receive their degree from the nursing program make around $122,638 in their early career salary.

More information about a master’s in nursing from Azusa Pacific University

6

Charles R Drew University of Medicine and Science
Los Angeles, CA

208 Annual Graduates

$127,454 Median Starting Salary

Located in the suburb of Los Angeles, CDU is a private not-for-profit university with a fairly small student population.

Students who graduate with their master's from the nursing program state that they receive average early career earnings of $127,454.

More information about a master’s in nursing from Charles R Drew University of Medicine and Science

7

California State University - Long Beach
Long Beach, CA

94 Annual Graduates

$143,563 Median Starting Salary

CSULB is a very large public university located in the city of Long Beach.

Those nursing students who get their master's degree from California State University - Long Beach earn $10,951 more than the standard nursing grad.

More information about a master’s in nursing from California State University - Long Beach

8

Pacific College
Costa Mesa, CA

15 Annual Graduates

Pacific College is a fairly small private for-profit college located in the city of Costa Mesa.More information about a master’s in nursing from Pacific College

9

West Coast University - Orange County
Anaheim, CA

305 Annual Graduates

$128,308 Median Starting Salary

Located in the city of Anaheim, West Coast University - Orange County is a private for-profit university with a small student population.

Master's graduates who receive their degree from the nursing program make around $128,308 for their early career.

More information about a master’s in nursing from West Coast University - Orange County

10

California State University - Fullerton
Fullerton, CA

31 Annual Graduates

$193,133 Median Starting Salary

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

Master's recipients from the nursing program at California State University - Fullerton get $60,521 more than the standard graduate with the same degree shortly after graduation.

More information about a master’s in nursing from California State University - Fullerton

Best Nursing Colleges in the Far Western US Region

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

State	Colleges	Degrees Awarded
Washington	183	201
Oregon	158	26
Nevada	105	111
Hawaii	85	29
Alaska	52	14

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
Registered Nursing	1,232
Family Practice Nurse/Nursing	1,098
Nursing Administration	388
Other Registered Nursing, Nursing Administration, Nursing Research and Clinical Nursing	213
Clinical Nurse Leader	152
Clinical Nurse Specialist	122
Nursing Science	69
Psychiatric/Mental Health Nurse/Nursing	56
Nurse Anesthetist	26
Public Health/Community Nurse/Nursing	18

Majors Similar to Nursing

Related Major	Annual Graduates
Public Health	1,929
Mental & Social Health Services	1,792
Rehabilitation & Therapeutic Professions	1,050
Health & Medical Administrative Services	813
Communication Sciences	798
Allied Health Professions	713
Alternative Medicine & Systems	283
Medical Illustration & Informatics	216
Health Sciences & Services	193
Pharmacy/Pharmaceutical Sciences	185

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.