| Fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Type | Private, for-profit university for nursing and health sciences; campus programs plus online degrees |
| Campuses | 6 in 3 states: four in California, one in Miami (Doral), FL and the main campus in Richardson, TX, plus the Orange County Learning Site in Anaheim, part of the Orange County campus |
| Credentials | Associate (Miami ADN), bachelor’s, master’s and doctoral degrees, and post-master’s nursing certificates |
| Typical length | BSN 8 semesters at the accelerated pace; ADN about 20 months; graduate programs 6 to 9 trimesters |
| Accreditation | WASC Senior College and University Commission (WSCUC), since 2011; reaffirmed 14 February 2025 |
| Federal aid | Yes; 3-year loan default rate 0% (fiscal year 2021 cohort) |
| Owner | West Coast University, Inc., Irvine, CA |
| Students | 8,911 undergraduate and 2,765 graduate full-time equivalent (WSCUC) |
| Founded | Chartered in California in 1909; focused on health care since 2004 |
| Facts checked | October 2026 |
West Coast University: a nursing-focused university in three states
West Coast University (WCU) is a private, for-profit university owned by West Coast University, Inc., based in Irvine, California. It teaches nursing and health sciences at six campuses: four in California, one in Doral serving Miami, and its main campus in Richardson, in the Dallas area, of which the others are branches. Its campus programs center on prelicensure nursing, chiefly the 120-credit BSN, taught at five of the six campuses. The Center for Graduate Studies in Los Angeles adds pharmacy, physical therapy, occupational therapy and physician assistant degrees, and most master’s and doctoral nursing, health administration and public health programs are online.
WSCUC lists 8,911 undergraduate and 2,765 graduate full-time-equivalent students. In November 2023 California’s Board of Registered Nursing capped WCU’s prelicensure nursing enrollment at 960 students per campus per year, according to news reports, and in October 2026 Miami starts a Direct-Entry MSN.
Programs at WCU’s six campuses
The table shows the campus programs with the estimated total program cost that WCU’s 2027 catalog (effective 1 January 2027) gives for students starting in Fall I 2026. The estimates include tuition, fees, books, supplies and the technology fee; confirm current figures with admissions.
| Program | Credential | Length | Where | Prepares for | Estimated total cost, fall 2026 start |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bachelor of Science in Nursing | BSN, 120 credits | 8 semesters (accelerated) | Los Angeles, Ontario, Orange County, Miami, Texas | NCLEX-RN | $167,928 (CA); $113,459 (TX); $99,447 (FL) |
| LVN to BSN / LPN to BSN | BSN, 120 credits (9 for the licence) | 7 semesters (accelerated) | Los Angeles, Ontario, Orange County, Texas; LPN to BSN in Miami | NCLEX-RN | $147,925 (CA); $100,264 (TX); $91,572 (FL) |
| Associate Degree in Nursing | ADN, 67 credits | 4 semesters, about 20 months | Miami only | NCLEX-RN | $58,030 |
| Direct-Entry MSN | MSN, 83 credits | About 24 months | Miami; first start 26 October 2026 | For bachelor’s holders from other fields | – |
| Dental Hygiene | BSDH, 124 credits | 7 semesters | Orange County (Anaheim) | NBDHE | $140,932 |
| Doctor of Pharmacy | PharmD, 144 credits | 8 trimesters | Center for Graduate Studies (hybrid) | NAPLEX, CPJE | $204,696 |
| Doctor of Physical Therapy | DPT, 133 credits (122 from summer 2027) | 9 trimesters (8 from summer 2027) | Center for Graduate Studies | NPTE | $126,988 |
| Master of Physician Assistant | MPA; 108 credits (CA), 117 (TX) | 6 trimesters | Center for Graduate Studies; Texas | PANCE | $122,472 (CA, before spring 2027); $121,353 (TX) |
| Occupational Therapy | MSOT, 96 credits; OTD, 120 credits | 6 trimesters (MSOT); 8 (OTD) | Center for Graduate Studies | NBCOT | $92,880 (MSOT); $115,622 (OTD) |
Online programs, priced in the same catalog, are open to students in states that take part in the NC-SARA distance-education agreement, though WCU says not all programs are offered in all states:
| Online program | Credits | Estimated total cost (2027 catalog) |
|---|---|---|
| RN to BSN (licensed RNs) | 30 credits at WCU | $16,400 to $18,050, by pace |
| MSN, Adult-Gerontology Primary Care NP track | 49 credits; clinicals required | $48,367 to $49,867 |
| Doctor of Nursing Practice | 30 credits | $36,080 |
| BS Health Administration / BS Public Health | 120 credits | $60,250 to $65,250 |
| Master of Health Administration | 30 credits | $24,900 to $26,400 |
| MBA | 36 credits | $29,450 to $30,950 |
| Master of Public Health (CEPH) | 42 credits | $27,586 to $29,086 |
| Master of Speech-Language Pathology | 56 credits | $64,680 |
| MS Clinical Mental Health Counseling | 60 credits | $42,450 |
Programmatic accreditation, as WCU’s catalog lists it: CCNE for the BSN, MSN, DNP and post-master’s nurse practitioner certificates; initial accreditation from the NLN Commission for Nursing Education Accreditation (CNEA) for the ADN, BSN, MSN and DNP; CODA (Commission on Dental Accreditation of the American Dental Association) for dental hygiene; ACPE for the PharmD; CAPTE for the DPT; ACOTE for occupational therapy; ARC-PA for the physician assistant program; and CEPH for the MPH. The Master of Speech-Language Pathology is a candidate for accreditation by the CAA, a pre-accreditation status. The BS in Business Administration no longer accepts enrollments.
What the main programs cover
Bachelor of Science in Nursing
The BSN is WCU’s main program for people who are not yet nurses. It is a 120-credit degree in semesters, with Fall I, Fall II, Spring I and Spring II starts; the next campus start is 18 January 2027. The standard pace is accelerated, eight semesters. Miami also offers a nine-semester evening and weekend pace and an eleven-semester working-professional pace; in Texas the evening and weekend pace is not enrolling. Each campus that teaches it has nursing simulation labs. The program is approved by the California, Texas and Florida boards of nursing.
LVN to BSN and LPN to BSN
This route is for students who already hold a vocational or practical nursing licence; California and Texas call it LVN to BSN and Florida LPN to BSN. It leads to the same 120-credit BSN as the main program, with 9 credits granted for the licence, so the accelerated pace takes seven semesters instead of eight. Graduates sit the NCLEX-RN, and the California fact sheets report one pass rate for both nursing programs at each campus. WCU has no program that trains new LPNs or LVNs.
Associate Degree in Nursing (Miami)
The ADN is taught only at the Miami campus in Doral and is not offered online. It is 67 credits over four semesters, about 20 months, and holds initial accreditation from the NLN Commission for Nursing Education Accreditation. Graduates sit the NCLEX-RN for a registered nursing license. WCU’s FAQ describes an LPN-to-ADN pathway for practical nurses. Miami students use the campus’s 5,000 sq ft simulation center.
Dental Hygiene (Orange County)
The Bachelor of Science in Dental Hygiene is 124 credits over seven semesters and is taught only at the Orange County campus in Anaheim. Students train in the two dental hygiene clinics in the campus’s Manchester Avenue building. The program is accredited by the Commission on Dental Accreditation (CODA) of the American Dental Association, and graduates prepare for the National Board Dental Hygiene Examination. The catalog’s estimated total includes fees, books and supplies, and the program is WCU’s only dental degree.
Doctor of Pharmacy (hybrid)
The PharmD is an accelerated hybrid program of 144 credits over eight trimesters, run from the Center for Graduate Studies in Los Angeles. Students come to campus for lab immersions in the center’s pharmacy labs. It is accredited by the Accreditation Council for Pharmacy Education, with the current term running to 30 June 2033. Graduates prepare for the NAPLEX and California’s CPJE. It trains pharmacists, not pharmacy technicians.
Master of Physician Assistant
The MPA is a six-trimester graduate program taught at the Center for Graduate Studies in Los Angeles (108 credits) and the Texas campus in Richardson (117 credits). Its accreditation status differs by campus: the Texas program holds ARC-PA Accreditation-Continued, with the next validation review due around April 2036, while the California program holds Accreditation-Provisional. Students in both states follow the same six-trimester structure. Graduates prepare for the PANCE certification exam.
Cost: catalog estimates by state, not by residency
WCU is private, so in-state and out-of-state students pay the same; the price depends on the campus state and the program. For students starting in Fall I 2026, the 2027 catalog estimates the BSN at $167,928 in California (tuition of $16,224 per semester, $129,792 in all, plus a $28,120 core nursing fee), $113,459 in Texas and $99,447 in Florida. The Miami ADN is $58,030 and the Orange County dental hygiene degree $140,932. Graduate programs on campus are charged per credit, from $909 for the Doctor of Physical Therapy (fall 2026 rate) to $1,387 for the PharmD; the California MPA rises from $1,019 to $1,050 per credit from spring 2027.
The catalog also estimates living costs for a 10-month year from Fall I 2026 at $15,190 for students living with parents and $22,900 off campus. Niche shows average net prices of $47,368 a year at Ontario, $28,081 at Orange County and $32,539 at Miami (checked October 2026). WCU takes federal student aid, and its official 3-year cohort default rate was 0% for fiscal year 2021, when 4,713 borrowers were in repayment.
Start dates and study paces
Undergraduate nursing runs in semesters with four start points a year (Fall I, Fall II, Spring I and Spring II); the next BSN start is 18 January 2027. Graduate programs run in trimesters. The next online start is 26 October 2026, the same day as the first Direct-Entry MSN class in Miami. Online programs offer accelerated plus, accelerated and working-professional paces. Campus BSN students in California and Texas take the accelerated eight-semester schedule, since only Miami currently enrolls the slower evening and weekend and working-professional paces.
Accreditation and results
WCU is accredited by the WASC Senior College and University Commission (WSCUC), first in 2011. The commission reaffirmed its accreditation on 14 February 2025 and lists no sanction or notice; the next accreditation visit is set for fall 2034. The Texas campus in Richardson is the main campus for accreditation and federal aid. The BSN is approved by the California Board of Registered Nursing, the Texas Board of Nursing and the Florida Board of Nursing.
| Measure | Result | Period and source |
|---|---|---|
| NCLEX-RN first-time pass rate, all California campuses combined | 90.03% of 3,070 testers | 2024/25, California Board of Registered Nursing |
| NCLEX-RN first-time pass rate, all California campuses combined | 92.94% | 2023/24, California Board of Registered Nursing |
| NCLEX-RN first-time pass rate, Los Angeles campus | 84.4% (858 of 1,016) | Calendar 2024, campus School Performance Fact Sheet |
| NCLEX-RN first-time pass rate, Ontario campus | 94.7% (912 of 963) | Calendar 2024, campus School Performance Fact Sheet |
| NCLEX-RN first-time pass rate, Texas BSN | 91.39% (276 of 302) | Calendar 2024, Texas Board of Nursing |
| BSN on-time completion / employed in the field, Los Angeles | 81% / 79% | 2024, campus School Performance Fact Sheet |
| BSN on-time completion / employed in the field, Ontario | 72% / 83% | 2024, campus School Performance Fact Sheet |
| NAPLEX first-time pass rate, PharmD | 78.9% of 38 (national 85.7%) | 2025, NABP data compiled by ClinCalc |
| NAPLEX first-time pass rate, PharmD | 50.9% of 57 (national 74.3%) | 2024, NABP data compiled by ClinCalc |
California’s combined pass rate rose from 81.09% in 2022/23 to 92.94% and 90.03% in the next two years. We did not find NCLEX-RN pass rates for the Miami or Orange County campuses. The BSN figures for Los Angeles and Ontario come from the December 2025 School Performance Fact Sheets (2024 data) filed with California’s Bureau for Private Postsecondary Education: on-time completion counts graduates who finished within the program’s normal length, and employment in the field means at least 20 hours a week.
Before you enroll
- The same BSN costs very different amounts by state: the catalog estimate for a fall 2026 start is $167,928 in California and $99,447 in Florida.
- In November 2023 California’s Board of Registered Nursing capped WCU’s prelicensure enrollment at 960 students per campus per year, against roughly 3,300 students enrolled at the time, according to an Epoch Times report. Ask how many seats your campus has for your start date.
- The PharmD’s first-time NAPLEX pass rate was below the national rate in every year from 2021 to 2025 except 2022, including 50.9% against 74.3% nationally in 2024.
- Some graduate programs are still building accreditation: the California MPA is ARC-PA Provisional and the speech-language pathology master’s is a CAA candidate. The online MS in Clinical Mental Health Counseling does not meet licensure requirements in Florida, Kentucky, North Carolina or Ohio, and the nurse practitioner tracks for family, adult-gerontology acute and primary care do not meet Kansas educational requirements.
- “LVN to BSN” (LPN to BSN in Florida) is for licensed vocational or practical nurses. WCU has no program that trains new LPNs or LVNs, and its online RN to BSN is only for nurses who already hold an RN license.
Six campuses: what each teaches
| Campus | Address | Programs on site |
|---|---|---|
| Los Angeles | 12215 Victory Boulevard, North Hollywood, CA 91606 | BSN, LVN to BSN |
| Ontario | 2855 East Guasti Road, Ontario, CA 91761 | BSN, LVN to BSN |
| Orange County | 1477 South Manchester Avenue, Anaheim, CA 92802 (Learning Site: 2411 West La Palma Avenue, Anaheim, CA 92801) | BSN, LVN to BSN, Dental Hygiene |
| Center for Graduate Studies | 590 North Vermont Avenue, Los Angeles, CA 90004 | PharmD, DPT, MSOT, OTD, MPA |
| Miami | 9250 NW 36th Street, Doral, FL 33178 | ADN, BSN, LPN to BSN, Direct-Entry MSN (from October 2026) |
| Texas (main campus) | 2323 North Central Expressway, Suite 100, Richardson, TX 75080 | BSN, LVN to BSN, MPA |
Every prelicensure nursing campus has simulation labs. The Orange County Learning Site on West La Palma Avenue in Anaheim holds four nursing simulation labs and nursing faculty offices and is part of the Orange County campus, not a separate campus. WCU’s corporate address in Irvine is not a teaching site.
What students say
Niche has four West Coast University campus pages with more than 25 reviews: Ontario (4.14 out of 5 from 303 reviews), Los Angeles (3.92 from 282), Orange County (3.91 from 268) and Texas (3.96 from 137), a total of 990 reviews averaging about 3.99 (checked 12 October 2026). Reviewers praise caring, knowledgeable instructors, the simulation labs and clinical placements, tutoring and career services, and a fast route to the BSN. The most common complaints are the high cost, with “expensive” the top answer in an Orange County student poll, the stressful accelerated pace, inconsistent grading and a lack of transparency, and short-notice communication about schedules. The Miami page has too few reviews to summarize, and we could not tell whether reviews were invited by the school or posted in bursts.
Sources
Checked October 2026: WSCUC: West Coast University · WCU catalog · 2027 catalog: California undergraduate tuition · Student consumer information · California BRN NCLEX pass rates · Texas Board of Nursing 2024 NCLEX-RN rates · Ontario School Performance Fact Sheet · Niche
Programs & Courses
Nursing for new nurses (campus)
- Bachelor of Science in Nursing (BSN): Los Angeles, Ontario, Orange County, Miami, Texas
- LVN to BSN: Los Angeles, Ontario, Orange County, Texas
- LPN to BSN: Miami
- Associate Degree in Nursing (ADN): Miami
- Direct-Entry MSN: Miami (first start 26 October 2026)
Dental hygiene (campus)
- Bachelor of Science in Dental Hygiene (BSDH): Orange County
Graduate health programs (campus)
- Doctor of Pharmacy (PharmD), accelerated hybrid: Center for Graduate Studies
- Doctor of Physical Therapy (DPT): Center for Graduate Studies
- Master of Science in Occupational Therapy (MSOT): Center for Graduate Studies
- Occupational Therapy Doctorate (OTD): Center for Graduate Studies
- Master of Physician Assistant (MPA): Center for Graduate Studies and Texas
Online nursing (for licensed nurses)
- RN to BSN
- Master of Science in Nursing (MSN) and RN to MSN: Family Nurse Practitioner, Adult-Gerontology Acute Care NP, Adult-Gerontology Primary Care NP, Psychiatric-Mental Health NP, Nurse Educator, Nurse Leader and Informatics tracks
- Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP), Executive Leadership
- Post-master's certificates: Family NP, Adult-Gerontology Acute Care NP, Adult-Gerontology Primary Care NP, Psychiatric-Mental Health NP, Nurse Educator, Nurse Leader
Online health administration and public health
- Bachelor of Science in Health Administration (also Finance and Strategic Management tracks)
- Bachelor of Science in Public Health
- Master of Health Administration (MHA): Informatics, Organizational Leadership, Project Management and Public Health tracks
- Master of Business Administration (MBA): Health Administration & Leadership, Project Management and Public Health tracks
- Master of Public Health (MPH)
Online counseling and speech-language pathology
- Master of Speech-Language Pathology (candidate for CAA accreditation)
- MS in Clinical Mental Health Counseling
Campus Locations
Los Angeles (North Hollywood), CA 12215 Victory Boulevard, North Hollywood, CA 91606
Ontario, CA 2855 East Guasti Road, Ontario, CA 91761
Anaheim, CA 1477 South Manchester Avenue, Anaheim, CA 92802
Los Angeles, CA 590 North Vermont Avenue, Los Angeles, CA 90004
Miami (Doral), FL 9250 NW 36th Street, Doral, FL 33178
Dallas (Richardson), TX 2323 North Central Expressway, Suite 100, Richardson, TX 75080