Top four-year colleges and universities for nursing in California

Did you know that most employers in the state of California (and across the nation) prefer to hire nurses with a bachelor’s or master’s degree? In fact, hundreds of hospitals throughout the U.S. say the minimum acceptable education requirement for their nurses is a bachelor’s degree from an accredited four-year college or university.

A four-year college may be a private, independent institution or the undergraduate division of a university. Colleges offer instruction in the sciences, humanities, or a professional, vocational, or technical field leading to a bachelor’s degree. A university is a larger institution for higher learning authorized to grant degrees in various fields including law, medicine, theology, and the arts and sciences. Universities typically consist of an undergraduate division (college) that awards bachelor's degrees, as well as a graduate school and professional schools that award master's degrees and doctorates.

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Some of the largest and most well-respected nursing programs in the state of California are offered at colleges and universities. These include University of California, San Francisco (UCSF); University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA); Mount St. Mary's College in Los Angeles; and Loma Linda University.

Many of California’s top nursing employers actively recruit nurses with advancement potential from these and other prominent programs throughout the state. California’s top nursing employers include Laguna Honda Hospital and Rehabilitation Center in San Francisco; Cedars Sinai Medical Center and Lac+USC Medical Center, both in Los Angeles; Fairview Developmental Center in Costa Mesa; and Loma Linda University Medical Center.

Below is a complete list of four-year colleges and universities in California that offer accredited programs in one or more nursing career paths.