If you are zealous about studying Nursing in one of the best Nursing Schools in California, it might interest you to know that one of these Nursing Schools can help you become a resident Nurse in the state.
In this article, the 10 Best Nursing will be highlighted and communicated to you. This is to guide you in selecting the school that will be best and most affordable to you.
Things to Know About Nursing Schools in California
According to California’s record, there are only 657 registered nurses for every 100,000 people. California’s nurse-to-population ratio is one of the worst in the U.S.
The State’s nursing shortages are most severe in inner city and rural hospitals, though. In the more wealthy parts of Los Angeles and the San Francisco Bay area, there is something of a nursing glut, which may make it difficult for newly licensed Resident Nurses to gain a toehold.
A smart technique for new graduates may be to pay their dues in less stylish healthcare facilities that will prepare the sensitive care experience necessary to land more desirable jobs.
California’s nursing unions are very strong, so California nursing salaries are among the highest in the nation. we have listed the best nursing schools in California in this article to guide you. See Best Medical Schools in North Carolina
Here Are The 10 Best Accredited Nursing Schools In California.
1. University of San Francisco, San Francisco
Things to Know About the School of Nursing and Health Professions:
In 1948, the University of San Francisco, a Jesuit institution of higher learning, implemented a program so that nurses at nearby St. Mary’s Hospital could earn their baccalaureate degrees.
Today, the University’s School of Nursing and Health Professions still adheres to the Jesuit principle of “cura personalis” or “caring for the whole person” in the training and education it provides aspiring nurses.
This nursing school in California is headquartered in Cowell Hall in the heart of the University’s historic Laurel Heights campus.
A simulated hospital environment equipped with state-of-the-art manikins gives students an early start in developing hands-on clinical skills.
Student nurses from the University of San Francisco provide 140,000 hours of services every year as they pursue clinical rotations in trauma centers, acute care hospitals, ambulatory care clinics and other community healthcare agencies throughout the greater San Francisco Bay Area.
Financial Aid: Nursing students attending the School of Nursing and Health Professions are eligible to apply to 10 merit scholarships administered by the institution. Students are encouraged to seek scholarship funds from outside sources as well.
Needs-based federal and state financial aid may be awarded pending review of the Free Application for Financial Aid (FAFSA) and the College Scholarship Service (CSS) profile.
2. California State University, Long Beach
If you’re looking for a great all-around nursing school in CA that will prepare you for any professional challenge that will come your way, this is definitely a school to consider.
A new 10,600-square-foot nursing building contains classrooms, teaching laboratories and a computer laboratory.
Students also have access to a state-of-the-art nursing simulation laboratory that is accommodated at the nearby Long Beach Memorial Medical Center.
As a student here, you’ll have the opportunity to work with the innovative Health on Wheels clinic the nursing school sponsors in collaboration with the city of Norfolk; this clinic provides preventative health care education to parents of students throughout the Norwalk-La Mirada Unified School District.
Students can also pursue clinical rotations at Long Beach Memorial Medical Center, Miller Children’s Hospital, Hoag Hospital, Veterans Administration Long Beach Medical Center and other critical care, acute care and ambulatory health care facilities throughout the metropolitan Long Beach and Newport Beach areas.
Financial Aid: Twelve scholarship opportunities are open to present and prospective students of California State Long Beach’s School of Nursing.
While some of these scholarships are based on academic merit, others are awarded to students who demonstrate financial need or on the basis of specific criteria such as leadership potential.
Scholars may also be eligible for federal and state grants and loans as determined by the submission of FAFSA forms and CSS profiles.
See: California State University, Long Beach Acceptance Rate
3. San Diego State University, San Diego
If you have always known that nursing is the right career for you, then you should look into San Diego State University’s School of Nursing because it is one of the few nursing programs in California that is open to incoming college freshmen.
The website ValueColleges.com has dubbed this nursing school the sixth best in the U.S. As part of the College of Health and Human Sciences, San Diego State University (SDSU) nursing students learn alongside colleagues from the Graduate School of Public Health and the Department of Gerontology.
Facilities include a Media Laboratory, a Nursing Fundamentals Skills Laboratory, a Health Assessment Laboratory and the Sharp Healthcare Human Patient Simulation Lab. See San Diego State University Acceptance Rate.
Once they’ve mastered the fundamentals of bedside nursing, students pursue experiential learning opportunities at the many trauma centers, hospitals and community clinics throughout the San Diego region.
This nursing school also sponsors unique international service-learning opportunities in Sri Lanka, Vietnam, Laos, Fiji, Bali and the Philippines; these internships require students to spend at least 14 days in the country they’ve chosen.
Financial Aid: San Diego State University administers a number of in-house scholarships that are specifically designed to meet the needs of first-time and continuing nursing students.
Additionally, the SDSU Office of Financial Aid and Scholarships can assist you if you want to apply to any of more than 40 nursing scholarships that are funded through external sources.
The Financial Aid Office can also help you fill out your FAFSA and CSS profiles, which are prerequisites for state and federal grants and loans.
4. Azusa Pacific University, Azusa
Are you interested in studying nursing from a Christian perspective? Then the School of Nursing at Azusa Pacific University has much to offer you.
The university was instituted in 1899 as the first Bible college on the West Coast, the university has an excellent reputation as one of the most academically strict Christian institutions of higher learning.
The school views nursing as a calling and teaches aspiring nurses how to care for their patients’ spiritual as well as physical needs.
Building 1 on the west part of campus accommodates classrooms, a nursing library, a nursing research lab and the Skills and Computer Centers.
The skills lab is equipped with manikins that enable neophyte nurses to learn clinical assessment and to practice bedside essentials such as wound care, injections and starting IVs.
Students will have the chance to hone these skills further through practicums in hospitals and healthcare facilities throughout the area.
This school has a reputation for offering longer and more focused clinical rotations than many other nursing schools in California.
Azusa also offers many opportunities for international study; these range from short-term missions in places like Africa, Cambodia, Dominican Republic, Haiti, India, Laos and Mexico to entire semesters abroad.
Financial Aid: Five academic scholarship opportunities are available to entering freshmen, continuing students and transfer students.
Azusa Pacific University also maintains a partnership with a website called RaiseMe that allows nursing students to qualify for incremental scholarships based upon classroom and extracurricular performance.
By filling out a FAFSA form and a CSS profile, you may qualify for need-based aid such as Pell Grants and Cal Grants as well.
5. University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA)
Things to Know About the University of California, Los Angeles
(UCLA) School of Nursing is celebrated both for the education it provides and the research it conducts.
It is one of the few nursing schools in California that consistently ranks among the top 20 nursing colleges in the country according to “U.S. News and World Report” reviews.
Thanks to research initiatives like the Center for Vulnerable Populations Research, the Center for American Indian/Indigenous Research and Education Center for the Advancement of Gerontological Nursing Science, the school is the 24th-largest recipient of NIH nursing grants.
Undergraduate students can participate in an eight-week Summer Research Program, which allows them to be mentored by faculty members in their specific field of interest. See UCLA Acceptance Rate.
In addition to hosting nurse education classrooms, the Louis and Doris Factor Health Sciences Building also accommodates a library that contains more than 530,000 volumes and 6,000 periodicals.
Once aspiring nurses have gained mastery of clinical skills in simulation environments, they pursue clinical rotations at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) Medical Center, Other clinical sites include the Ronald Reagan University of California, Los Angeles, (UCLA) Medical Center, the Santa Monica-University of California, Los Angeles and (UCLA) Medical Center and the Venice Free Clinic.
Financial Aid: The School of Nursing administers several merit-based scholarships that are available to graduate students as well as to undergraduate Scholars in their third and fourth years of study.
Scholars may also be eligible for needs-based Cal Grants, Pell Grants, University grants and various types of loans as determined by the information they submit in their FAFSAs and CSS profiles.
6. West Coast University, North Hollywood
About the West Coast University: If you want to earn a nursing degree in CA quickly, check out the School of Nursing at West Coast University where you can complete your training in as little as 39 months. A new class cycle begins ever 10 weeks, so you won’t have to delay your education.
The University was founded as an ophthalmology school in 1909 before it was acquired in 1979 by a for-profit corporation specializing in the education of ancillary healthcare professionals.
In 2018, this nursing school was named the best school for men in nursing by the American Association for Men in Nursing.
The innovative building on the North Hollywood campus where nursing classes are taught boasts skylights, waterfalls and bamboo piers as well as a high-tech Simulation Center where Scholars practice clinical skills in realistic patient care settings.
Once nursing students have mastered these skills in a safe environment, they go on to experiential learning practicums at some of the most prestigious hospitals and community health agencies in the greater Los Angeles region.
Nursing students participate in community health events like Care Harbor LA, too. Aspiring nurses also have the opportunity to pursue study-abroad options in locations like Argentina, Spain, Belize, Panama and South Korea through the Global Public Health Program.
Financial Aid: West Coast University offers several scholarship and grant opportunities to nursing students such as the Centennial Merit Scholarship, the BSN Pathway Scholarship, the Norma Ford Memorial Scholarship and the West Coast University (WCU) Opportunity Grant.
The university stipulates that these funds may only be used toward the cost of tuition. Scholars may also be eligible for different types of federal and state aid upon the submission of FAFSA and CSS profile forms.
7. University of California, Irvine
About the Sue and Bill Gross School of Nursing: The Sue and Bill School of Nursing is a great place to go if your primary interest is community health.
The school partners with local schools and community groups to enhance health outcomes and to introduce student nurses to the populations they will one day be serving.
See: University of California, Irvine Acceptance Rate and Admission Requirements
Many faculty members are still working as nurses in underserved areas throughout Orange County as well as at the world-renowned University of California Irvine Medical Center.
This nursing school is a top research center, too, looking into topics that range from wellness promotion to community-based interventions that have the potential to eradicate health disparities among vulnerable populations.
Classes take place in the newly renovated Berk Hall. The school is working toward a goal of increasing its use of immersive high-tech simulation activities so that these will ultimately comprise 25 %of each Scholar’s clinical experiences.
Clinical rotations begin in the spring quarter of the junior year, and more than half of them take place at the University of California, Irvine (UCI) Medical Center.
Financial Aid: The University of California, Irvine (UCI) Financial Aid and Scholarship office makes merit-based and needs-based scholarship options available to undergraduate and graduate nursing students.
In order to qualify, you’ll need to fill out the University of California (UC) Application for Undergraduate Admission and Scholarships. Students are encouraged to apply for external scholarships, too.
Students may also be eligible for federal and state grants upon submission of FAFSA and CSS profile forms.
8. California State University, San Marcos
Things to Know About the School of Nursing at California State University, San Marcos (CSUSM):
In 2006, California State University, San Marcos began a two-year nursing program in part as a means of alleviating the chronic shortage of nurses in North County and in 2014, the greater San Diego region; the program was increased to a four-year training curriculum in 2014.
The school operates under the auspices of the College of Education, Health and Human Services. The curriculum is built around a self-care model, which assumes that illnesses, injuries and insufficient knowledge disrupt an individual’s ability to provide for his or her own health needs and that it is this disruption that needs to be addressed through nursing care.
The nursing school also operates a satellite campus in nearby Temecula, which was started because of the need for nurses throughout Riverside County.
A refined simulation laboratory permits nursing Scholars to get hands-on experiences in a virtual hospital before they begin working with actual patients.
Clinical rotations take place at sites that include Kaiser Permanente Medical Centers, Scripps Health, Rady Children’s Hospital and the Richard J. Donovan Correctional Facility.
The Student Healthcare Project affiliated with the nursing school operates free community clinics throughout San Diego County that offer health screenings, medical care and preventative education.
Financial Aid: California State San Marcos administers six scholarships that are specifically designed for nursing students.
Additionally, the university will use the information submitted in your FAFSA and CSS profile forms to determine whether you qualify for other need-based federal and state financial aid.
9. National University, San Diego
Things to Know About the School of Health and Human Services:
In 1971, National University was established in 1971 to meet the demand of adult learners who may be juggling employment, families and other obligations with their desire to learn. Nearly 9% of the university’s Scholars are in active duty with the military.
The university’s nursing classes—like all its other classes—can be taken as four-week modules, and students can enroll in nursing degree programs at any point throughout the year.
The School of Health and Human Services campus is situated in Kearney Mesa. The 12-classroom Technology and Health Sciences Center include a complex computer lab.
The curriculum stresses the vital role nurses play as part of an interdisciplinary team who tries to bring about patient-centric care that results in positive health outcomes.
Scholars participate in clinical rotations overseen by preceptors in clinical settings all through the San Diego area.
Financial Aid: National University funds a variety of scholarship opportunities that are open to nursing students.
These include the Transfer to Success Scholarship, the Collegiate Honor Award, the Presidential Tuition Scholarship and the Veterans’ Victory Scholarship.
These financial aids are designed to aid defer tuition costs, and each has its own application process. Students may also be eligible for federal and state financial basis if their FAFSA and CSS profile forms demonstrate financial need.
10. Samuel Merritt University, Oakland
Things to Know About the School of Nursing at Samuel Merritt University (SMU):
The Samuel Merritt School of Nursing was one of the last nursing schools in California to move from a three-year diploma program to a four-year baccalaureate program.
Students complete their first two years of general education requirements at other colleges and universities.
The school was established in 1909 through a bequest of Dr. Samuel Merritt who was one of Oakland’s earliest mayors.
The Health Education Center is also home to the John A. Graziano Library, which is one of the largest collections of health sciences materials in the East Bay.
Nursing students begin clinical rotations during their first year of enrollment; clinical partners include Children’s Hospital and Research Center of Oakland, Kaiser Foundation Hospital Oakland, Alta Bates Summit Medical Center and Bay Area Community Services.
Financial Aid: Samuel Merritt University offers no endowed scholarships per se, but its financial aid office can help students identify outside scholarships for which those students may qualify.
Students may also be eligible for federal and state grants including federal work-study programs; students must fill out FAFSA and CSS profile forms to determine their eligibility.
Last Updated on July 13, 2023 by Admin
