| Fact | Unitek College |
|---|---|
| Type | Private, for-profit nursing and medical assisting college (Unitek Learning); hybrid campus programs plus one online degree |
| Campuses | 9 in 2 states: 8 in California, 1 in Reno, Nevada |
| Credentials | Bachelor’s (BSN), associate (online ASVN; ADN listed at Fremont), diplomas (Vocational Nursing, Practical Nursing, Medical Assisting) |
| Program length | About 33 weeks (Medical Assisting) to as few as 36 months (BSN) |
| Accreditation | ACCSC (national institutional); BSN accredited by CCNE; nursing programs approved by the California and Nevada boards |
| Federal aid | Yes: Pell, FSEOG, Direct and PLUS loans, Federal Work-Study; Cal Grant and Chafee in California |
| Reported 2024 totals | $14,876 (Medical Assisting) to $148,541 (BSN) |
| Founded | 2002, in Fremont, CA; nursing since 2004 |
| Facts checked | 17 October 2026 |
A nursing and medical assisting college in California and Nevada
Unitek College, which also uses the name Unitek College of Nursing, is a private, for-profit college owned by Unitek Learning. It began in Fremont, California in 2002 with a pharmacy technician program and started teaching nursing in 2004. Today it teaches only nursing and medical assisting: a hybrid BSN, a California Vocational Nursing diploma, a Practical Nursing diploma in Reno, an online associate degree for nurses who already hold a VN or PN diploma, and Medical Assisting. Its nine campuses are in California and Reno, Nevada; Ontario was accredited as a branch in 2025. Dental assisting, medical office administration and physical therapist assistant programs are no longer offered.
Unitek programs and where each is taught
| Program | Credential | Length | Delivery | Where | Exam or licence | Reported 2024 total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bachelor of Science in Nursing | BS, 120 credits | As few as 36 months | Hybrid: online theory, in-person labs and clinicals | Bakersfield, Concord, Fremont, Sacramento, San Jose (see below); Reno | NCLEX-RN | $148,541 |
| LVN-to-BSN (Advanced Placement) | BS | Not stated | Hybrid | BSN campuses | NCLEX-RN | Not stated |
| Associate Degree in Nursing | Associate | 24 months | Not stated | Fremont (state board list only) | NCLEX-RN | $55,000 (state board list) |
| Vocational Nursing | Diploma, 1,620 hours | 12 months day; 17 or 20 months evening | Campus, with clinicals | All 8 California campuses | NCLEX-PN; California LVN | $39,751 |
| Practical Nursing | Diploma, 1,620 hours | 12 months day; 17 or 20 months evening | Campus and hybrid, with clinicals | Reno, NV | NCLEX-PN; Nevada LPN | Not available |
| Associate of Science in Vocational Nursing | AS, 35 general education credits | As few as 12 months | Fully online | Online | None (for VN or PN diploma holders) | $19,822 |
| Medical Assisting | Diploma, 29 credits / 779 hours | About 33 weeks | Hybrid, with a 160-hour externship | All 9 campuses | Not named | $14,876 |
Unitek’s website lists San Jose start dates for the BSN, but the California Board of Registered Nursing lists the BSN only at Bakersfield, Concord, Fremont and Sacramento, so San Jose applicants should ask where the program is taught. The same board’s program list shows a 24-month Associate Degree in Nursing at Fremont with 50 places a year; it is not on Unitek’s website, so check whether it is enrolling. Fremont also offers courses for internationally educated nurses.
What the main programs cover
Bachelor of Science in Nursing
The BSN combines 67 nursing credits with 53 general education credits, 120 in all, and the catalog counts 2,310 instructional hours. Students can finish in as few as 36 months. Theory courses are online; skills labs, simulation with high- and mid-fidelity manikins and virtual-reality training happen on campus, and the school arranges supervised clinical placements. Licensed vocational or practical nurses can enter through the LVN-to-BSN advanced-placement track, which the school’s outcome reports treat as a separate cohort. Graduates sit the NCLEX-RN.
Vocational Nursing (California)
The 1,620-hour VN diploma is taught at all eight California campuses and leads to the NCLEX-PN and the California LVN licence. Students choose a full-time day schedule of about 12 months, full-time evening of 17 months or part-time evening of 20 months, though not every campus runs all three. State board records show 36-seat classes. A one-month VN prerequisite course is offered at the California campuses, and the school places students at their clinical sites.
Practical Nursing (Reno)
Reno’s PN diploma is also 1,620 hours, with the same 12-, 17- and 20-month day and evening schedules; the program web page puts part-time at about 75 weeks. The 2026 Nevada catalog lists clinical hours for five courses, from 32 hours each in PN301 and PN303 to 408 in PN305. The catalog calls the program hybrid in one place and residential in another. Graduates sit the NCLEX-PN for the Nevada LPN licence.
Associate of Science in Vocational Nursing (online)
The ASVN is for people who already hold a diploma from a board-approved vocational or practical nursing program. It is fully online and made up of 35 general education credits plus “virtual nursing experiences”, and it can take as few as 12 months. It leads to no new licence: its value is the degree itself and a path toward the BSN, with an alumni grant of up to $5,000 for ASVN graduates who continue. We found no statement of which states’ residents it accepts.
Medical Assisting
The Medical Assisting curriculum was revised in April 2026 to 29 semester credits and 779 clock hours, about 33 weeks; the program’s landing page still says 28 credits. Theory is online, and skills labs are on campus. The program ends with a 160-hour externship that the school arranges. We found no certification exam, such as the CMA or RMA, named in Unitek’s materials, so ask which one, if any, graduates are prepared for.
Cost: one total price per program
Unitek charges one total price per program, with no in-state or out-of-state rates; its 2024 Vocational Nursing and Medical Assisting totals were the same at both California institutions. Its current-year tuition schedule is not published online in a form we could read, so the latest figures are the totals Unitek reported for 2024 in its annual report to California’s Bureau for Private Postsecondary Education: $148,541 for the BSN, $39,751 for Vocational Nursing, $19,822 for the online ASVN, $14,876 for Medical Assisting and $1,855 for the VN prerequisite course. We could not find a Practical Nursing price for Reno. Ask admissions for the current total before you sign.
Unitek takes federal student aid: Pell Grants, FSEOG, Direct and Parent PLUS loans and Federal Work-Study. In 2024, 59% of students at the Fremont institution took federal loans. California students can use Cal Grant and Chafee Grants, WIOA funding is accepted in both states, and the school mentions GI Bill and VA benefits. Need-based alumni grants, paid over the final two semesters, give up to $10,000 to VN or PN graduates entering the BSN, up to $5,000 to ASVN graduates and up to $2,000 to Medical Assisting graduates moving into nursing. There is no student housing.
Admissions and schedules
- All courses are taught in English, without translation, and applicants must be able to read, write and understand English.
- The online ASVN requires a diploma from a board-approved vocational or practical nursing program.
- Unitek’s other entry requirements (entrance exam, background check, minimum age) were not available to check; ask admissions before you apply.
Vocational and practical nursing run on full-time day, full-time evening and part-time evening schedules, but not every campus runs all three. Start dates are posted on the program pages; Reno, for example, listed a Practical Nursing start on 16 November.
ACCSC accreditation and nursing board approvals
Unitek is accredited by the Accrediting Commission of Career Schools and Colleges (ACCSC), a national institutional accreditor, not a regional one. Branch campuses, including Reno and the 2025 Ontario campus, are accredited as branches of a main campus. An ACCSC notice from April 2026 records that Bakersfield’s accreditation was renewed for five years, effective March 2025, after the campus met the commission’s stipulations. California’s Bureau for Private Postsecondary Education licenses Unitek as two institutions, Fremont and Hayward, and Nevada’s Commission on Postsecondary Education authorizes Reno.
The BSN is accredited by the Commission on Collegiate Nursing Education, whose 2019 decision continued it through 31 December 2029, and it is approved by the California Board of Registered Nursing and the Nevada State Board of Nursing. Vocational Nursing is approved by California’s Board of Vocational Nursing and Psychiatric Technicians (BVNPT). Reno’s Practical Nursing program is approved by the Nevada State Board of Nursing and accredited by NLN CNEA.
Hayward vocational nursing admissions restricted since 2023
In August 2023 BVNPT staff recommended rescinding the Hayward campus’s approved pattern of admissions for vocational nursing, citing inadequate faculty and high instructor turnover. Since then each new Hayward VN class has needed the board’s prior approval; the board approved day and evening classes one at a time in 2025.
NCLEX pass rates and completion
California’s Board of Registered Nursing reports a first-time NCLEX-RN pass rate of 86.30% for Unitek’s BSN in 2024-25 (343 testers), after 88.25% in 2023-24 and 81.16% in 2022-23. Unitek reports an 84.77% NCLEX-PN pass rate for its California Vocational Nursing graduates in 2025, without stating the basis; its 2024 state annual report for the Fremont institution gave 92.56%. For Reno’s Practical Nursing program, the school reports 88.37% in 2025, citing the Nevada board.
In Unitek’s ACCSC outcome disclosures, which count graduates within 150% of program length and graduates working in the field before the October 2025 report, Vocational Nursing cohorts that started in 2021 to 2023 had graduation rates of 67% to 96% and employment rates of 67% to 100%, depending on campus and schedule. Medical Assisting cohorts that started in 2023-24 graduated 72% to 81%. Unitek’s two California institutions reported about 9,067 students in 2024.
Before you enroll
- Programs differ by campus. Practical Nursing is only in Reno, Vocational Nursing only in California, and Hayward, Ontario and South San Francisco do not teach the BSN.
- The BSN is expensive: Unitek reported a $148,541 total for 2024, about $50,000 a year over three years. Ask for the current figure: the 2026 schedule is in Unitek’s online California catalog, which we could not read.
- The online ASVN adds a degree but no new licence, and it is open only to nurses who already hold a VN or PN diploma.
- The 84.77% Vocational Nursing pass rate is the school’s own figure; the BSN rate (86.30%, 2024-25) is published by the California Board of Registered Nursing.
- Hayward VN classes were still being approved one at a time by the state board in 2025, so ask whether the class you want has been approved before you commit.
Unitek’s nine campuses
- Bakersfield, CA: 333 Palmer Dr., Suite #200, Bakersfield, CA 93309
- Concord, CA: 1401 Willow Pass Rd., Concord, CA 94520
- Fremont, CA: 4670 Auto Mall Pkwy., Fremont, CA 94538
- Hayward, CA: 21615 Hesperian Blvd., Hayward, CA 94541
- Ontario, CA: 3237 E. Guasti Rd., Third Floor, Ontario, CA 91761
- Reno, NV: 5250 South Virginia St, Suite 110, Reno, NV 89502
- Sacramento, CA: 4330 Watt Avenue, 4th Floor, Sacramento, CA 95821
- San Jose, CA: 6800 Santa Teresa Blvd., Ste #200, San Jose, CA 95119
- San Francisco (South San Francisco), CA: 257 Longford Dr. #5, South San Francisco, CA 94080
California licenses Unitek as two institutions: Fremont, with branches including Bakersfield, Concord, Sacramento and San Jose, and Hayward, with South San Francisco as its branch. Reno is accredited as a branch of Fremont. Online Education is run from the Fremont address and is not a campus, and the corporate office in Irvine is an office, not a campus.
Clinical placements and career help
Unitek lists resume workshops, job placement assistance and career support for alumni, plus tutoring and academic coaching. The school arranges clinical and externship placements, and campuses have simulation labs with high- and mid-fidelity manikins and virtual-reality training.
What students say
On Niche, Unitek’s Fremont page, which also serves as its main Unitek College page, had a 3.62 rating from 180 reviews and a B− grade when we checked on 17 October 2026. Reviewers praise the hands-on clinicals, the night and weekend schedules that let them keep working, and instructors with real nursing experience. Complaints focus on schedule changes at short notice, clinical sites that are often hospices, nursing facilities or daycares rather than hospitals and are assigned rather than chosen, weaker support for online students, and uneven teaching between instructors.
We could not tell whether these reviews were invited by the school or posted in bursts. Niche’s separate Hayward, Concord and Reno pages have about ten reviews each, too few to summarize.
Facts checked October 2026.
Programs & Courses
Nursing
- Bachelor of Science in Nursing (BSN)
- LVN-to-BSN (Advanced Placement)
- Associate Degree in Nursing (Fremont; ask whether enrolling)
- Vocational Nursing (California)
- Practical Nursing (Reno, NV)
- Associate of Science in Vocational Nursing (online, for VN/PN diploma holders)
Allied Health
- Medical Assisting
Campus Locations
Bakersfield, CA 333 Palmer Dr., Suite #200, Bakersfield, CA 93309
Concord, CA 1401 Willow Pass Rd., Concord, CA 94520
Fremont, CA 4670 Auto Mall Pkwy., Fremont, CA 94538
Hayward, CA 21615 Hesperian Blvd., Hayward, CA 94541
Ontario, CA 3237 E. Guasti Rd., Third Floor, Ontario, CA 91761
Reno, NV 5250 South Virginia St, Suite 110, Reno, NV 89502
Sacramento, CA 4330 Watt Avenue, 4th Floor, Sacramento, CA 95821
San Jose, CA 6800 Santa Teresa Blvd., Ste #200, San Jose, CA 95119
San Francisco (South San Francisco), CA 257 Longford Dr. #5, South San Francisco, CA 94080