More than 100 colleges and universities throughout California offer programs for students to achieve an associate degree, or a bachelor's or master's degree in registered nursing. As of January 2011, more than 90 colleges offer associate degrees, with a handful being private schools. Thirty-nine public and private universities offer bachelor's degrees, and 19 institutions offer master's degrees. Some schools offer accelerated fast-track courses. A full listing of the various schools can be found on the Board of Registered Nursing website.
California also is home to a number of schools that offer degrees in five advanced-practice programs: clinical nurse specialist, which is administered at 16 colleges and universities across the state, as of January 2011; nurse anesthesia, which is administered by just three institutions statewide; nurse-midwifery, which is taught at four universities; nurse practitioner, of which 22 programs in California conform to state standards; and public health nursing, which is taught at seven universities statewide.
There are 11 nursing programs in California that only admit registered nurses who are seeking to earn a BA degree in nursing, as of January 2011. The programs, however, are independent of the state Board of Registered Nursing and are neither approved nor disapproved by the BRN. The BRN advises interested parties to contact each school directly for more information. All but two are based in Southern California, with the others being in Oakland and Angwin.
In addition to the various in-state nursing-degree programs, the state also has licensed three online programs under which in-state schools partner with out-of-state online programs. Sonoma State University offers a licensed vocational nurse to bachelor of science in nursing -- or BSN -- program in partnership with Indiana State University. Southwestern College in Chula Vista and San Diego State University both offer an associate-degree nursing program in partnership with the University of Oklahoma's Health Science Center.