Which California nursing program has the lowest debt?

Cal State Monterey Bay reports the lowest median federal debt, $9,489, with first-year pay of $117,088.

How much do nursing graduates earn in California?

The median across 35 California nursing bachelor's programs is $102,324 in the first year after graduating and $118,467 five years after. Registered nurses in California earn a median of $140,270 across all experience levels.

How many nursing bachelor's programs are in California?

35 California programs report first-year pay for their graduates, and 35 of them also report federal debt.

Nursing (BSN) Programs in California, Ranked by Graduate Pay and Debt

35 programs report first-year pay
35 also report federal debt
Bachelor's in Registered Nursing, Nursing Administration, Nursing Research and Clinical Nursing

College Scorecard June 2026 release · BLS wages May 2025

The short answer

The median California nursing bachelor's program pays its graduates $102,324 in their first year, $27,886 more than the national median. Sonoma State reports the highest first-year pay ($125,646), and Cal State Monterey Bay the lowest median debt ($9,489).

Median first-year pay$102,324National $74,438

Median pay after 5 years$118,467National $81,525

Median federal debt$20,816National $27,000

Debt-to-earnings20%National 36%

All 35 programs, ranked

Each figure is the median for the program's graduates. Programs that don't report a figure are listed last when you sort by it.

#	School	Year 1 pay	Year 5 pay	Debt	Debt to pay
1	Sonoma StateRohnert Park · public	$125,646	$131,431	$19,750	16%
2	Cal State East BayHayward · public	$124,392	$160,918	$18,875	15%
3	Samuel Merritt UniversityOakland · private nonprofit	$119,486	$148,857	$25,000	21%
4	Stanislaus StateTurlock · public	$119,356	$122,838	$23,450	20%
5	Pacific Union CollegeAngwin · private nonprofit	$119,258	$139,771	$31,000	26%
6	San Francisco StateSan Francisco · public	$117,532	$144,430	$16,875	14%
7	Cal State Monterey BaySeaside · public	$117,088	$132,226	$9,489	8%
8	Sacramento StateSacramento · public	$116,001	$138,606	$19,000	16%
9	Chico StateChico · public	$113,181	$120,599	$20,125	18%
10	Cal State Dominguez HillsCarson · public	$110,626	$122,899	$18,750	17%
11	CSUNNorthridge · public	$106,780	$119,562	$20,000	19%
12	Azusa Pacific UniversityAzusa · private nonprofit	$105,521	$119,455	$26,898	25%
13	Cal State San MarcosSan Marcos · public	$103,799	$105,792	$25,047	24%
14	Cal State Channel IslandsCamarillo · public	$103,484	$111,071	$19,750	19%
15	Cal State FullertonFullerton · public	$103,028	$116,259	$17,375	17%
16	Vanguard University of Southern CaliforniaCosta Mesa · private nonprofit	$102,915	$113,933	$20,832	20%
17	Simpson UniversityRedding · private nonprofit	$102,613	$109,928	$28,635	28%
18	Concordia University-IrvineIrvine · private nonprofit	$102,324	$109,911	$30,500	30%
19	University of San FranciscoSan Francisco · private nonprofit	$101,731	$149,741	$27,000	27%
20	Touro University CaliforniaVallejo · private nonprofit	$100,956	$95,304	$16,002	16%
21	San Diego StateSan Diego · public	$100,221	$109,894	$18,875	19%
22	Cal State Long BeachLong Beach · public	$100,178	$113,863	$18,661	19%
23	National UniversitySan Diego · private nonprofit	$99,714	$108,119	$37,375	37%
24	Mount Saint Mary's UniversityLos Angeles · private nonprofit	$99,457	$117,093	$27,000	27%
25	Cal State LALos Angeles · public	$98,811	$120,317	$18,964	19%
26	Loma Linda UniversityLoma Linda · private nonprofit	$98,610	$109,875	$31,645	32%
27	Dominican University of CaliforniaSan Rafael · private nonprofit	$97,762	$149,349	$27,000	28%
28	Point Loma Nazarene UniversitySan Diego · private nonprofit	$97,296	$108,557	$27,000	28%
29	Fresno StateFresno · public	$96,890	$113,245	$17,938	19%
30	American University of Health SciencesSignal Hill · private for-profit	$94,816	$122,088	$48,042	51%
31	UCLALos Angeles · public	$94,611	$123,885	$20,800	22%
32	Biola UniversityLa Mirada · private nonprofit	$93,629	$88,061	$29,375	31%
33	Cal State San BernardinoSan Bernardino · public	$93,142	$109,558	$18,116	19%
34	California Baptist UniversityRiverside · private nonprofit	$92,441	$101,705	$35,718	39%
35	UC IrvineIrvine · public	$87,715	$118,467	$13,400	15%

Some nursing bachelor's programs are for nurses who are already licensed and working (RN-to-BSN). College Scorecard counts them with programs for new students, and their graduates' pay reflects years of nursing experience, so high pay at a program here may not mean higher starting pay for a new nurse.

One more program reports debt but not pay, so it isn't listed.

Debt and first-year pay at every California nursing program

Programs in the upper left give graduates higher pay for less debt. Dashed lines mark the California medians.

Hover over or tap a dot to see the school. Only the 35 programs that report both earnings and debt are shown.

Quick picks

Highest first-year pay

Lowest median debt

Lowest debt for the pay

"Debt for the pay" is median debt divided by first-year pay. Only programs that report both figures are included.

What registered nurses earn in California

Pay for registered nurses in California, across all experience levels, from the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Registered Nurses

$140,270

Median pay in California. 338,940 people work in this job in California. Nationally, jobs are projected to grow 6% from 2025 to 2035, with about 180,800 openings a year. Typical education to start: bachelor's degree.

Bottom 10%: $101,260Top 10%: $213,320

Common questions

Sonoma State in Rohnert Park reports the highest median first-year pay, $125,646. Its median federal debt is $19,750.

Nursing (BSN) programs in the US, ranked895 programs by pay and debt Nursing (ADN) programs in California, ranked53 programs by pay and debt

About this data

Earnings and debt only include students who received federal financial aid, and earnings only count graduates who were working and not enrolled in more school.
Debt only includes federal loans. Private loans and credit cards are not counted.
Some schools with several campuses report one combined figure for all of them. We count each of those schools once, and leave them out of California rankings when their main campus is in another state.
Medians are across the nursing bachelor's programs that report each figure, so the counts differ by figure. Scorecard figures describe graduating classes from several years ago. BLS wages are from May 2025.

Sources

U.S. Department of Education, College Scorecard, field of study and institution files, June 2026 release
Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025
Bureau of Labor Statistics, Employment Projections 2025 to 2035
NCES, CIP 2020 to SOC 2018 crosswalk, and IPEDS institution directory, 2024