California State Colleges were brought together as a system by the Donahoe Higher Education Act of 1960. In 1972, the system became The California State University and Colleges, and in 1982 the system became The California State University (CSU).

The Department of Nursing offers a Bachelor of Science in Nursing degree and a Master of Science in Nursing degree. The Department also offers a post-baccalaureate school health services credential program and a post master’s family nurse practitioner certificate program.

CSUB received a 10-year accreditation from the Western Association of Schools and Colleges following a site visit in October 1999. The undergraduate program and the Family Nurse practitioner option in the graduate program received five years continuing approval by the California State Board of Registered Nursing in 1998. Both the undergraduate and graduate programs are accredited by the Commission on Collegiate Nursing Education, and the School Nursing program is approved by the California Commission on Teacher Credentialing. Courses designed to assist Registered Nurses to complete the requirements of the baccalaureate degree are taught at the Bakersfield campus and at two distant community colleges: College of the Sequoias in Visalia (85 miles north of Bakersfield) and Antelope Valley in Lancaster (90 miles east of Bakersfield).