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Best Value Computer Science Schools in California

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2023 Best Value Computer Science Schools in California

Identifying Quality Schools at More Affordable Prices

28 Colleges
$13,044 Avg Tuition & Fees*
$72,080 Avg Salary

Finding the Best Computer Science School for You

Out of the majors we analyze each year, computer science was ranked 7th in California. In fact, 3,408 were awarded in the state in 2020-2021.

When it comes to higher education, there are a lot of options for students. 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.

Along with in-depth profiles of schools and the programs they offer, Grad Degree Search has created the Best Value Computer Science Schools in California to help you in your search for the best school for you. Our analysis looked at 28 schools in California to see which programs offered the best value experiences for compsci students with the aim of identifying those quality schools that are more affordable than some of their counterparts.

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. More specifically, we discount our quality score by the published tuition and fees charged by a school. This gives the cost per unit of quality for each college. The value is determined by how much quality your dollar buys.

For nationwide and regional rankings, we use out-of-state tuition and fees in our calculations. Average in-state tuition and fees are used for our statewide rankings.

2023 Best Value Computer Science Schools in California

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

Top 10 Best Computer Science Schools

$14,226 Average Tuition & Fees

Our analysis found University of California - Berkeley to be the best value school for computer science students who want to pursue a degree in California. Located in the medium-sized city of Berkeley, UC Berkeley is a public school with a very large student population.

UC Berkeley undergraduate students pay an average of $14,226 in in-state tuition and fees each year.

In addition to its best value ranking, and one of the reasons why the school is on the list, UC Berkeley is ranked #3 for overall quality for compsci in California.

Read More…

$10,195 Average Tuition & Fees

Out of the 28 schools in California that were part of this year’s ranking, California Polytechnic State University - San Luis Obispo landed the # 2 spot on the list. Located in the suburb of San Luis Obispo, Cal Poly San Luis Obispo is a public college with a very large student population.

In-state tuition fees for undergraduate students at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo are $10,195 per year.

Cal Poly San Luis Obispo also claimed a spot on our Best Computer Science Schools in California list. It’s in the top 15% of all schools in this category.

Full Computer Science at California Polytechnic State University - San Luis Obispo Report

$14,700 Average Tuition & Fees

A rank of #3 on this year’s list means University of California - San Diego is a great value for computer science students. UCSD is a very large public school located in the city of La Jolla.

UCSD undergraduate students pay an average of $14,700 in in-state tuition and fees each year.

Full Computer Science at University of California - San Diego Report

$6,817 Average Tuition & Fees

A rank of #4 on this year’s list means California State University - Channel Islands is a great value for computer science students. Located in the medium-sized suburb of Camarillo, CSUCI is a public college with a medium-sized student population.

CSUCI undergraduate students pay an average of $6,817 in in-state tuition and fees each year.

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$6,846 Average Tuition & Fees

Out of the 28 schools in California that were part of this year’s ranking, California State University - Long Beach landed the # 5 spot on the list. Located in the city of Long Beach, CSULB is a public college with a fairly large student population.

CSULB undergraduate students pay an average of $6,846 in in-state tuition and fees each year.

Read full report on Computer Science at California State University - Long Beach

$14,417 Average Tuition & Fees

University of California - Santa Barbara came in at #6 in this year’s edition of the Best Value Computer Science Schools in California ranking. Located in the medium-sized suburb of Santa Barbara, UCSB is a public school with a fairly large student population.

UCSB undergraduate students pay an average of $14,417 in in-state tuition and fees each year.

In addition to its great value ranking, UCSB is in the top 20% of all schools on our Best Computer Science Schools in California list.

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$7,864 Average Tuition & Fees

California State University - Chico did quite well in this year’s ranking of the best value schools for computer science students. It came in at #7 on the list. Located in the city of Chico, Chico State is a public school with a large student population.

Chico State undergraduate students pay an average of $7,864 in in-state tuition and fees each year.

Read full report on Computer Science at California State University - Chico

$7,439 Average Tuition & Fees

California State Polytechnic University - Pomona ranked #8 on this year’s Best Value Computer Science Schools in California list. Cal Poly Pomona is a fairly large public school located in the suburb of Pomona.

The average tuition and fees for an in-state undergraduate at Cal Poly Pomona are $7,439 a year.

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$7,852 Average Tuition & Fees

San Jose State University came in at #9 in this year’s edition of the Best Value Computer Science Schools in California ranking. Located in the large city of San Jose, San Jose State is a public school with a fairly large student population.

The average tuition and fees for an in-state undergraduate at San Jose State are $7,852 a year.

In addition to its great value ranking, San Jose State is in the top 20% of all schools on our Best Computer Science Schools in California list.

Full Computer Science at San Jose State University Report

#10

San Diego State University

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

San Diego State University ranked #10 on this year’s Best Value Computer Science Schools in California list. SDSU is a very large public school located in the large city of San Diego.

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

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Best Value Computer Science Colleges in the Far Western US Region

Explore all the Best Value Computer Science Colleges in the Far Western US Area or other specific states within that region.

State Degrees Awarded
Washington 306
Oregon 202
Nevada 17
Hawaii 20
Alaska 2

One of 9 majors within the area of study, computer science has other similar majors worth exploring.

Related Major Annual Graduates
Computer Information Systems 20,748
Information Technology 10,754
Information Science 6,934
Computer Software & Applications 4,047
Computer Systems Analysis 817

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 Negative Space.

More about our data sources and methodologies.

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