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Best Value Communication & Media Studies Schools in California

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2023 Best Value Communication & Media Studies Schools in California

Highlighting Quality Schools With More Affordable Pricing

20 Colleges
$20,213 Avg Tuition & Fees*
$37,861 Avg Salary

Finding the Best Communication & Media Studies School for You

In 2020-2021, 509 degrees and certificates were awarded to communication and media studies students who went to a California college or university. This makes it the #50 most popular major in the state.

There are so many programs in today's world that it can tough to figure out which one is the right one for you. With more and more schools offering online options, you could even register for a great program on the other side of the country. On top of that, there are a considerable number of trade schools that offer fast-track entry to many fields.

To assist you in seeing some of the education options that are available to you, Grad Degree Search has created its Best Value Communication & Media Studies Schools in California ranking. This report analyzed 20 schools in California to see which ones offered the best value programs for communications students. The goal was to highlight schools with more affordable prices than others offering similar quality experiences.

This ranking is not just a list of inexpensive schools. We also consider each school's quality, since we believe a low-quality school may not be a 'bargain' at any price. Specifically, our score for quality is discounted by the published tuition and fees charged by the given college. This gives the cost per unit of quality for each college. The more quality your dollar buys, the better the value.

For nationwide and regional rankings, we use out-of-state tuition and fees in our calculations. For statewide rankings, we use average in-state tuition and fees.

2023 Best Value Communication & Media Studies Schools in California

The following schools top our list of the Best Value Communication & Media Studies Colleges.

Top 10 Best Communication & Media Studies Schools

#1

San Francisco State University

San Francisco, CA
$7,304 Average Tuition & Fees

Our analysis found San Francisco State University to be the best value school for communication and media studies students who want to pursue a degree in California. Located in the large city of San Francisco, SFSU is a public school with a fairly large student population.

In-state tuition fees for undergraduate students at SFSU are $7,304 per year.

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$6,846 Average Tuition & Fees

You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around you if you attend California State University - Long Beach. The school came in at #2 on this year’s Best Value Communication & Media Studies Schools in California list. CSULB is a fairly large public school located in the city of Long Beach.

The average tuition and fees for an in-state undergraduate at CSULB are $6,846 a year.

Read full report on Communication & Media Studies at California State University - Long Beach

$7,392 Average Tuition & Fees

The excellent programs at California State University - Sacramento helped the school earn the #3 place on this year’s ranking of the best communication and media studies schools in California. Located in the large city of Sacramento, Sac State is a public school with a very large student population.

In-state tuition fees for undergraduate students at Sac State are $7,392 per year.

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$14,417 Average Tuition & Fees

You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around you if you attend University of California - Santa Barbara. The school came in at #4 on this year’s Best Value Communication & Media Studies Schools in California list. UCSB is a very large public school located in the medium-sized suburb of Santa Barbara.

The average tuition and fees for an in-state undergraduate at UCSB are $14,417 a year.

UCSB also claimed a spot on our Best Communication & Media Studies Schools in California list. It’s in the top 20% of all schools in this category.

Full Communication & Media Studies at University of California - Santa Barbara Report

#5

San Diego State University

San Diego, CA
$8,136 Average Tuition & Fees

A rank of #5 on this year’s list means San Diego State University is a great value for communication and media studies students. Located in the city of San Diego, SDSU is a public school with a fairly large student population.

The average tuition and fees for an in-state undergraduate at SDSU are $8,136 a year.

Read full report on Communication & Media Studies at San Diego State University

$7,852 Average Tuition & Fees

San Jose State University came in at #6 in this year’s edition of the Best Value Communication & Media Studies Schools in California ranking. San Jose State is a fairly large public school located in the city of San Jose.

In-state tuition fees for undergraduate students at San Jose State are $7,852 per year.

As a testament to the quality of education it offers, San Jose State also is in the top 20% of our Best Communication & Media Studies Schools in California ranking.

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$6,653 Average Tuition & Fees

California State University - Fresno landed the #7 spot in the 2023 rankings for the best value communication and media studies programs. Located in the large city of Fresno, Fresno State is a public college with a very large student population.

In-state tuition fees for undergraduate students at Fresno State are $6,653 per year.

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$6,995 Average Tuition & Fees

California State University - East Bay ranked #8 on this year’s Best Value Communication & Media Studies Schools in California list. Located in the large suburb of Hayward, Cal State East Bay is a public school with a large student population.

Cal State East Bay undergraduate students pay an average of $6,995 in in-state tuition and fees each year.

Full Communication & Media Studies at California State University - East Bay Report

$7,864 Average Tuition & Fees

With a ranking of #9, California State University - Chico did quite well on this year’s best value schools for communication and media studies students. Chico State is a fairly large public school located in the city of Chico.

The average tuition and fees for an in-state undergraduate at Chico State are $7,864 a year.

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$14,700 Average Tuition & Fees

University of California - San Diego came in at #10 in this year’s edition of the Best Value Communication & Media Studies Schools in California ranking. Located in the large city of La Jolla, UCSD is a public school with a very large student population.

In-state tuition fees for undergraduate students at UCSD are $14,700 per year.

Read full report on Communication & Media Studies at University of California - San Diego

Best Value Communication & Media Studies Colleges in the Far Western US Region

Explore all the Best Value Communication & Media Studies Schools in the Far Western US Area or other specific states within that region.

State Degrees Awarded
Washington 62
Oregon 27
Nevada 18
Hawaii 21
Alaska 4

One of 5 majors within the area of study, communication and media studies has other similar majors worth exploring.

Related Major Annual Graduates
Public Relations & Advertising 2,828
Radio, Television & Digital Communication 2,562
Journalism 1,238
Communication & Journalism (Other) 341
Publishing 214

Notes and References

*These averages are for the top 20 schools only.

  • The Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS) from the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES), a branch of the U.S. Department of Education (DOE) serves as the core of the rest of our data about colleges.
  • Some other college data, including much of the graduate earnings data, comes from the U.S. Department of Education’s (College Scorecard).
  • Credit for the banner image above goes to UNU-WIDER from Helsinki, Finland.

More about our data sources and methodologies.

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