by our College Data Analytics Team
For this year's Best Nursing Colleges for Non-Traditional Students in the Far Western US Region ranking, we looked at 55 colleges that offer a bachelor's in nursing. This ranking identifies schools with high-quality nursing programs as well as strong support for students classified as non-traditional.
When determining these rankings, we looked at things such as overall quality of the nursing program at the school, affordability, and presence of non-traditional students. For more information, check out our ranking methodology.
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 Nursing Schools for Non-Traditional Students list to help you make the college decision.
To further help you make the college decision, we've developed a unique tool called College Combat that allows you to compare schools based on the factors that matter the most to you. When you have some time, check it out - you may want to bookmark the link so you don't forget it.
The following schools top our list of the Best Nursing Colleges for Non-Traditional Students.
California State University - Sacramento has taken the #1 spot in this year's nursing ranking for non-traditional students. Sac State is a very large public school located in the large city of Sacramento.
The school has a low student loan default rate of 1.7%. There are approximately 16,876 students at Sac State that take at least one class online. About 7,378 of the students at Sac State are attending part time.
Our rankings recognize Azusa Pacific University as the #2 school in this year's rankings. Located in the large suburb of Azusa, Azusa Pacific is a private not-for-profit school with a medium-sized student population. In addition to being on our best for non-traditional students list, Azusa Pacific has also earned the #1 rank in our Best Colleges for Nursing in the Far Western US Region ranking.
The school has a low student loan default rate of 1.1%. Approximately 1,851 students take at least one class online at Azusa Pacific. 2,771 students are part time.
California State University - East Bay comes in at #3 in this year's ranking. Cal State East Bay is a fairly large public school located in the large suburb of Hayward.
The student loan default rate at Cal State East Bay is lower than is typical, just 1.3% of students default in three years. 7,069 students at Cal State East Bay are exclusively online. 3,650 students are part time.
Sonoma State University comes in at #4 in this year's ranking. Located in the suburb of Rohnert Park, SSU is a public college with a medium-sized student population. SSU also claimed a spot on our Best Colleges for Nursing in the Far Western US Region list. It's in the top 20% of all schools in this category.
About 1.4% of SSU students default on their loans in three years, which is lower than average. Approximately 4,146 students take at least one class online at SSU. 1,263 of SSU students are attending part time.
California State University - Fullerton landed the #5 spot in our 2021 best nursing schools for non-traditional students. Located in the suburb of Fullerton, Cal State Fullerton is a public college with a fairly large student population. Cal State Fullerton also claimed a spot on our Best Colleges for Nursing in the Far Western US Region list. It's in the top 20% of all schools in this category.
The student loan default rate at Cal State Fullerton is lower than is typical, just 0.8% of students default in three years. Approximately 25,781 students take at least one class online at Cal State Fullerton. About 10,634 of the students at Cal State Fullerton are attending part time.
Read full report on Nursing at California State University - Fullerton
California State University - Stanislaus earned the #6 spot in our 2021 rankings. Located in the suburb of Turlock, Stan State is a public school with a large student population.
The student loan default rate at Stan State is lower than is typical, just 1.0% of students default in three years. There are approximately 4,993 students at Stan State that take at least one class online. About 2,273 of the students at Stan State are attending part time.
The #7 spot in this year's ranking belongs to Simpson University. Simpson U is a fairly small private not-for-profit school located in the small city of Redding.
About 0.0% of Simpson U students default on their loans in three years, which is lower than average. There are approximately 623 students at Simpson U that take at least one class online. 162 students are part time.
The #8 spot in this year's ranking belongs to University of San Francisco. USFCA is a moderately-sized private not-for-profit school located in the large city of San Francisco. As a testament to the quality of education offered at USFCA, the school also landed the #3 rank in our Best Colleges for Nursing in the Far Western US Region ranking.
The student loan default rate at USFCA is lower than is typical, just 0.5% of students default in three years. There are approximately 5,220 students at USFCA that take at least one class online. 2,299 students are part time.
Our rankings recognize Dominican University of California as the #9 school in this year's rankings. DUofC is a small private not-for-profit school located in the small city of San Rafael. DUofC also took the #2 spot in our Best Colleges for Nursing in the Far Western US Region rankings.
The student loan default rate at DUofC is lower than is typical, just 0.9% of students default in three years. Approximately 628 students take at least one class online at DUofC. 238 students are part time.
Read full report on Nursing at Dominican University of California
San Jose State University landed the #10 spot in our 2021 best nursing schools for non-traditional students. Located in the city of San Jose, San Jose State is a public college with a very large student population.
The school has a low student loan default rate of 0.9%. Approximately 19,939 students take at least one class online at San Jose State. 9,800 of San Jose State students are attending part time.
Explore the best for non-traditional students nursing schools for a specific state in the Far Western US region.
| State | Degrees Awarded |
|---|---|
| California | 8,885 |
| Washington | 1,465 |
| Oregon | 825 |
| Nevada | 1,271 |
| Hawaii | 354 |
| Alaska | 160 |
Nursing is one of 34 different types of Health Professions programs to choose from.
Footnotes
*Avg Cost is for the top 25 schools only.
References
More about our data sources and methodologies.
