2025 Best Practical Nursing & Nursing Assistants Associate Degree Schools in California

an associate degree in practical nursing & nursing assistants is more popular than many other degrees. In fact, it ranks #57 out of 328 on popularity of all such degrees in the nation. As a result, there are many college that offer the degree, making your choice of school a hard one.

For its 2025 ranking, College Factual looked at 23 schools in California to determine which ones were the best for practical nursing & nursing assistants students pursuing a associate degree. When you put them all together, these colleges and universities awarded 1,154 associate degrees in practical nursing & nursing assistants during the 2022-2023 academic year.

Jump to one of the following sections: * Our Methodology

• Best Associate Degree Schools List

Choosing a Great Practical Nursing & Nursing Assistants School for Your Associate Degree

Your choice of practical nursing & nursing assistants for getting your associate degree school matters. This section explores some of the factors we include in our ranking and how much they vary depending on the school you select. To make it into this list, a school must excel in the following areas.

A Great Overall School

The overall quality of a associate degree school is important to ensure a quality 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 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

Average early-career salary of those graduating with their associate degree is one indicator we use in our analysis to find the schools that offer the highest-quality education. That is, everyone wants their associate 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 many resources a school devotes to practical nursing & nursing assistants students as compared to other majors.
• Major Demand - How many other practical nursing & nursing assistants students want to attend this school to pursue a associate degree.
• 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 practical nursing & nursing assistants to pay back their student loans after receiving their associate degree.
• Accreditation - Whether a school is regionally accredited and/or accredited by a recognized practical nursing & nursing assistants related body.

Our complete ranking methodology documents in more detail how we consider these factors to identify the best colleges for practical nursing & nursing assistants students working on their associate degree.

One Size Does Not Fit All

When choosing the right school for you, it's important to arm yourself with all the facts you can. To that end, we've created a number of major-specific rankings, including this Best Practical Nursing & Nursing Assistants Associate Degree Schools in California list to help you make the college decision.

Best Schools for Associate Students to Study Practical Nursing & Nursing Assistants in California

Explore the top ranked colleges and universities for practical nursing & nursing assistants students seeking a an associate degree.

10 Top California Schools for an Associate in Practical Nursing

1

Carrington College, Sacramento
Sacramento, CA

94 Annual Graduates

$65,035 Median Starting Salary

It's difficult to beat Carrington College, Sacramento if you wish to pursue an associate degree in practical nursing & nursing assistants. Located in the large suburb of Sacramento, Carrington College, Sacramento is a private for-profit college with a small student population.

Practical Nursing & Nursing Assistants associate degree recipients from Carrington College, Sacramento earn a boost of around $7,043 above the typical income of practical nursing & nursing assistants majors.

More information about a associate in practical nursing & nursing assistants from Carrington College, Sacramento

2

Southwestern College
Chula Vista, CA

25 Annual Graduates

It is difficult to beat Southwestern College if you wish to pursue an associate degree in practical nursing & nursing assistants. Located in the city of Chula Vista, SWC Chula Vista is a public college with a large student population.More information about a associate in practical nursing & nursing assistants from Southwestern College

3

Riverside City College
Riverside, CA

30 Annual Graduates

Any student pursuing a degree in an associate degree in practical nursing & nursing assistants needs to take a look at Riverside City College. Located in the city of Riverside, Riverside City College is a public college with a very large student population.More information about a associate in practical nursing & nursing assistants from Riverside City College

4

Allan Hancock College
Santa Maria, CA

30 Annual Graduates

Allan Hancock College is a wonderful decision for students interested in an associate degree in practical nursing & nursing assistants. Located in the midsize city of Santa Maria, Allan Hancock College is a public college with a large student population.More information about a associate in practical nursing & nursing assistants from Allan Hancock College

5

Butte College
Oroville, CA

27 Annual Graduates

$65,467 Median Starting Salary

Located in the rural area of Oroville, Butte College is a public college with a large student population.

Those practical nursing & nursing assistants students who get their associate degree from Butte College make $7,475 more than the typical practical nursing student.

More information about a associate in practical nursing & nursing assistants from Butte College

6

Cuesta College
San Luis Obispo, CA

17 Annual Graduates

Cuesta College is a large public college located in the rural area of San Luis Obispo.More information about a associate in practical nursing & nursing assistants from Cuesta College

7

Mission College
Santa Clara, CA

24 Annual Graduates

Located in the medium-sized city of Santa Clara, Mission College is a public college with a medium-sized student population.More information about a associate in practical nursing & nursing assistants from Mission College

8

Santa Barbara City College
Santa Barbara, CA

23 Annual Graduates

SBCC is a fairly large public college located in the small city of Santa Barbara.More information about a associate in practical nursing & nursing assistants from Santa Barbara City College

9

Sacramento City College
Sacramento, CA

13 Annual Graduates

Sacramento City is a large public college located in the city of Sacramento.More information about a associate in practical nursing & nursing assistants from Sacramento City College

10

Pacific College
Costa Mesa, CA

86 Annual Graduates

$59,213 Median Starting Salary

Pacific College is a small private for-profit college located in the midsize city of Costa Mesa.

Associate students who receive their degree from the practical nursing program earn about $59,213 for their early career.

More information about a associate in practical nursing & nursing assistants from Pacific College

Best Practical Nursing & Nursing Assistants Colleges in the Far Western US Region

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

State	Colleges	Degrees Awarded
Washington	131	113

View All Rankings >

Rankings in Majors Related to Practical Nursing

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

Practical Nursing Concentrations

Major	Annual Graduates
Licensed Practical/Vocational Nurse Training	814
Other Practical Nursing, Vocational Nursing and Nursing Assistants	340

Most Popular Majors Related to Practical Nursing

Related Major	Annual Graduates
Nursing	5,712
Allied Health Professions	4,271
Health Sciences & Services	4,204
Allied Health & Medical Assisting Services	1,827
Dental Support Services	801
Health & Medical Administrative Services	797
Mental & Social Health Services	406
Public Health	200
Health/Medical Prep Programs	152
Communication Sciences	135

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). More about our data sources and methodologies.