Find Grad Schools

Study Area & Zipcode

Best Value Communication & Journalism Schools in California

Find Schools Near

2023 Best Value Communication & Journalism Schools in California

Highlighting Quality Schools With More Affordable Pricing

25 Colleges
$21,607 Avg Tuition & Fees*
$35,856 Avg Salary

Finding the Best Communication & Journalism School for You

In 2020-2021, 858 degrees and certificates were awarded to communication and journalism students who went to a California college or university. This makes it the #18 most popular major in the state.

Today's students have lots of options to pick from when considering higher education opportunities. You can choose a traditional brick and mortar school, or with the growth of online education, you can attend a school half-way across the country without even leaving your house. Also there are many trade schools that offer short-term programs that open up more career options.

The Best Value Communication & Journalism Schools in California ranking is one of many tools that Grad Degree Search has developed to help you make your educational decision. This report analyzed 25 schools in California to see which ones offered the best value programs for communication and journalism students. The goal was to highlight schools with more affordable prices than others offering similar quality experiences.

When determining this ranking, we place a high emphasis on the school's quality as well as its sticker price. Even though a college may be affordable, it may not offer value. 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.

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

2023 Best Value Communication & Journalism Schools in California

The colleges and universities below are the best value schools for communication and journalism majors pursuing a .

Top 10 Best Communication & Journalism Schools

$6,846 Average Tuition & Fees

Our 2023 rankings named California State University - Long Beach the best value school in California for communication and journalism students. CSULB is a fairly large public school located in the large city of Long Beach.

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

Full Communication & Journalism at California State University - Long Beach Report

$7,392 Average Tuition & Fees

Out of the 25 schools in California that were part of this year’s ranking, California State University - Sacramento landed the # 2 spot on the list. Located in the large city of Sacramento, Sac State is a public school with a very large student population.

The average tuition and fees for an in-state undergraduate at Sac State are $7,392 a year.

Full Communication & Journalism at California State University - Sacramento Report

#3

San Diego State University

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

You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around you if you attend San Diego State University. The school came in at #3 on this year’s Best Value Communication & Journalism Schools in California list. Located in the city of San Diego, SDSU is a public school with a fairly large student population.

SDSU undergraduate students pay an average of $8,136 in in-state tuition and fees each year.

Full Communication & Journalism at San Diego State University Report

$14,417 Average Tuition & Fees

Out of the 25 schools in California that were part of this year’s ranking, University of California - Santa Barbara landed the # 4 spot on the list. UCSB is a fairly large public school located in the suburb of Santa Barbara.

In-state tuition fees for undergraduate students at UCSB are $14,417 per year.

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

Full Communication & Journalism at University of California - Santa Barbara Report

#5

San Francisco State University

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

Out of the 25 schools in California that were part of this year’s ranking, San Francisco State University landed the # 5 spot on the list. Located in the city of San Francisco, SFSU is a public school with a very large student population.

The average tuition and fees for an in-state undergraduate at SFSU are $7,304 a year.

Full Communication & Journalism at San Francisco State University Report

$14,645 Average Tuition & Fees

University of California - Davis ranked #6 on this year’s Best Value Communication & Journalism Schools in California list. UC Davis is a very large public school located in the small suburb of Davis.

The average tuition and fees for an in-state undergraduate at UC Davis are $14,645 a year.

Read More…

$7,852 Average Tuition & Fees

San Jose State University landed the #7 spot in the 2023 rankings for the best value communication and journalism programs. 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 & Journalism Schools in California ranking.

Full Communication & Journalism at San Jose State University Report

$6,653 Average Tuition & Fees

California State University - Fresno ranked #8 on this year’s Best Value Communication & Journalism Schools in California list. Located in the large city of Fresno, Fresno State is a public school with a fairly large student population.

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

Full Communication & Journalism at California State University - Fresno Report

$6,995 Average Tuition & Fees

California State University - East Bay ranked #9 on this year’s Best Value Communication & Journalism Schools in California list. Located in the suburb of Hayward, Cal State East Bay is a public college with a large student population.

In-state tuition fees for undergraduate students at Cal State East Bay are $6,995 per year.

Read More…

$7,864 Average Tuition & Fees

California State University - Chico landed the #10 spot in the 2023 rankings for the best value communication and journalism programs. Chico State is a 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.

Full Communication & Journalism at California State University - Chico Report

Best Value Communication & Journalism Colleges in the Far Western US Region

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

State Degrees Awarded
Washington 243
Oregon 115
Nevada 30
Hawaii 26
Alaska 4

Communication & Journalism Majors to Study

Major Annual Graduates
Communication & Media Studies 5,059
Public Relations & Advertising 2,828
Radio, Television & Digital Communication 2,562
Journalism 1,238
Communication & Journalism (Other) 341
Publishing 214

Related Major Annual Graduates
Education 199,724
Psychology 42,013
Social Sciences 22,292
Library Science 5,929
History 4,391

Notes and References

*These averages are for the top 25 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 Josh Hallett.

More about our data sources and methodologies.

Featured Schools

Find Graduate Schools Near You

Our free school finder matches students with accredited graduate schools across the U.S.