2026 Best Clinical Nurse Specialist Schools in California
Clinical Nurse Specialist is a field worth a close look when choosing where to study. The schools below stand out for the quality of their clinical nurse specialist programs.
College Factual analyzed 4 schools to build this 2026 ranking of the best clinical nurse specialist schools.
What’s on this page:
Best Schools for Clinical Nurse Specialist in California
If you are not interested in a particular degree level and want to know which schools are the overall best at delivering an education for the clinical nurse specialist degrees they offer, see the list below.
Top Schools in Clinical Nurse Specialist
University Of San Francisco tops our 2026 ranking of the best clinical nurse specialist schools. University Of San Francisco is a large private not-for-profit school located in the city of San Francisco. Roughly 70% of students complete a degree within six years here. About 140 clinical nurse specialist degrees were awarded at University Of San Francisco in the most recent year. Students who receive their clinical nurse specialist degree from University Of San Francisco earn around $127,760 in the first couple years of their career. University Of San Francisco graduates carry a median of $27,000 in student loans.
Get the full clinical nurse specialist details for University Of San Francisco
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Notes and References
This ranking is produced by College Factual (MF_RANKING_2025), 2026 edition. The methodology weighs graduation rate, post-graduation earnings, cost, and program quality, drawn primarily from the U.S. Department of Education (IPEDS and College Scorecard).
Ranking method: College Major Top Ranked · 4 schools evaluated.
- 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 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.
