Ranked #2 in popularity, nursing is one of the most sought-after associate degree programs in the nation. This makes choosing the right school a hard decision.
For its 2022 ranking, College Factual looked at 92 schools in California to determine which ones were the most popular for nursing students pursuing a associate degree. When you put them all together, these colleges and universities awarded 5,887 associate degrees in nursing during the 2019-2020 academic year.
Choosing a Great Nursing School for Your Associate Degree
The nursing associate degree program you select can have a big impact on your future.
As an aid in helping you pick the right school for you, we created our Most Popular Associate Degree Colleges for Nursing in California ranking.
While being high in popularity does not always mean a school has a quality nursing program, it is a sign that a large number of students choose the school. This may be due to it being a great value, it offering a stellar educational experience, or the subject is a major focus of the school.
This is not our only ranking, nor the only degree level we have ranked.
In addition to this ranking, you may want to take at the rankings for different degree levels as called out above.
You can also narrow your search by location by filtering for a certain area of the country.
Plus, you can view our other rankings for nursing.
Most Popular Schools for Associate Students to Study Nursing in California
The following list ranks the most popular colleges and universities for pursuing an associate degree in nursing. Only those schools that rank in the top 15% of all the schools we analyze get awarded with a place on this list.
14 Most Well Attended Schools for Nursing Students Working on Their Associate
You'll be surrounded by many like-minded peers at Fresno City College if you want to pursue an associate degree in nursing. Located in the city of Fresno, Fresno City College is a public college with a fairly large student population. Potential students might also be interested to know that the school ranks #4 in quality for associate degrees in nursing in California.
There were roughly 211 nursing students who graduated with this degree at Fresno City College in the most recent data year.
Nursing associate degree recipients from Fresno City College get an earnings boost of approximately $2,408 above the typical income of nursing majors.
You'll be surrounded by many like-minded peers at Riverside City College if you wish to pursue an associate degree in nursing. Riverside City College is a fairly large public college located in the city of Riverside. You also may be intersted to know that the school ranks #8 in quality for associate degrees in nursing in California.
There were roughly 177 nursing students who graduated with this degree at Riverside City College in the most recent data year.
Nursing associate degree recipients from Riverside City College get an earnings boost of about $2,008 above the average income of nursing graduates.
Any student pursuing a degree in an associate degree in nursing has to look into Unitek College. Located in the large suburb of Fremont, Unitek College is a private for-profit college with a small student population.
There were roughly 171 nursing individuals who graduated with this degree at Unitek College in the most recent data year.
Nursing associate degree recipients from Unitek College receive an earnings boost of approximately $9,508 over the typical income of nursing majors.
Every student pursuing a degree in an associate degree in nursing has to check out Bakersfield College. Located in the city of Bakersfield, Bakersfield College is a public college with a very large student population.
There were approximately 122 nursing individuals who graduated with this degree at Bakersfield College in the most recent data year.
Located in the midsize city of Modesto, MJC is a public college with a fairly large student population. This isn't the only ranking where the school placed. It's also #6 in quality for associate degrees in nursing in California.
There were roughly 114 nursing students who graduated with this degree at MJC in the most recent data year.
Nursing associate degree recipients from Modesto Junior College earn a boost of around $12,108 above the average income of nursing graduates.
Located in the large city of Stockton, Delta is a public college with a fairly large student population. You also may be intersted to know that the school ranks #7 in quality for associate degrees in nursing in California.
There were about 110 nursing individuals who graduated with this degree at Delta in the most recent year we have data available.
College of the Canyons is a fairly large public college located in the large suburb of Santa Clarita. You also may be intersted to know that the school ranks #5 in quality for associate degrees in nursing in California.
There were approximately 106 nursing students who graduated with this degree at College of the Canyons in the most recent year we have data available.
Associate recipients from the nursing degree program at College of the Canyons get $6,908 more than the typical graduate with the same degree when they enter the workforce.
College of the Sequoias is a fairly large public college located in the midsize city of Visalia.
There were roughly 98 nursing individuals who graduated with this degree at College of the Sequoias in the most recent data year.
Nursing associate degree recipients from College of the Sequoias get an earnings boost of approximately $8,008 over the average income of nursing graduates.
Located in the city of Los Angeles, L.A. County School of Nursing is a public college with a fairly small student population. You also may be intersted to know that the school ranks #1 in quality for associate degrees in nursing in California.
There were roughly 98 nursing individuals who graduated with this degree at L.A. County School of Nursing in the most recent data year.
These are some additional schools worth mentioning that are also great but just didn't quite make the cut to earn our top Most Popular Associate Degree Colleges for Nursing in California award.
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).
The nursing associate degree program you select can have a big impact on your future.
As an aid in helping you pick the right school for you, we created our Most Popular Associate Degree Colleges for Nursing in California ranking.
