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Best Value Computer Science Master's Degree Schools in California

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2023 Best Value Computer Science Master's Degree Schools in California

Identifying Quality Schools at More Affordable Prices

27 Colleges
$12,598 Avg Tuition & Fees*
$99,796 Avg Salary

Finding the Best Computer Science Master's Degree 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.

To assist you in seeing some of the education options that are available to you, Grad Degree Search has created its Best Value Computer Science Master's Degree Schools in California ranking. Our analysis looked at 27 schools in California to see which master's degree 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 Master’s Degree Schools in California

The following schools top our list of the Best Value Computer Science Master's Degree Colleges.

Top 10 Best Computer Science Master's Degree Schools

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

The average tuition and fees for an in-state graduate student at UC Berkeley are $14,160 a year.

UC Berkeley also took the #2 spot in our Best Computer Science Master’s Degree Schools in California rankings.

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You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend California Polytechnic State University - San Luis Obispo. It ranked #2 on our 2023 Best Value Computer Science Master’s Degree Schools in California list. Located in the suburb of San Luis Obispo, Cal Poly San Luis Obispo is a public college with a fairly large student population.

Cal Poly San Luis Obispo graduate students pay an average of $11,629 in in-state tuition and fees each year.

Cal Poly San Luis Obispo also claimed a spot on our Best Computer Science Master’s Degree Schools in California list. It’s in the top 10% of all schools in this category.

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

You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around you if you attend University of California - San Diego. The school came in at #3 on this year’s Best Value Computer Science Master’s Degree Schools in California list. UCSD is a fairly large public school located in the city of La Jolla.

The average tuition and fees for an in-state graduate student at UCSD are $13,564 a year.

UCSD also claimed a spot on our Best Computer Science Master’s Degree Schools in California list. It’s in the top 20% of all schools in this category.

Full Computer Science at University of California - San Diego Report

Out of the 27 schools in California that were part of this year’s ranking, California State University - Channel Islands landed the # 4 spot on the list. Located in the suburb of Camarillo, CSUCI is a public college with a moderately-sized student population.

The average tuition and fees for an in-state graduate student at CSUCI are $8,251 a year.

Full Computer Science at California State University - Channel Islands Report

You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend California State University - Long Beach. It ranked #5 on our 2023 Best Value Computer Science Master’s Degree Schools in California list. Located in the city of Long Beach, CSULB is a public college with a very large student population.

In-state tuition fees for graduate students at CSULB are $8,280 per year.

Full Computer Science at California State University - Long Beach Report

University of California - Santa Barbara landed the #6 spot in the 2023 rankings for the best value master’s degree computer science programs. Located in the midsize suburb of Santa Barbara, UCSB is a public college with a very large student population.

The average tuition and fees for an in-state graduate student at UCSB are $13,581 a year.

Read full report on Computer Science at University of California - Santa Barbara

California State University - Chico landed the #7 spot in the 2023 rankings for the best value master’s degree computer science programs. Located in the medium-sized city of Chico, Chico State is a public school with a fairly large student population.

In-state tuition fees for graduate students at Chico State are $9,298 per year.

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

California State Polytechnic University - Pomona landed the #8 spot in the 2023 rankings for the best value master’s degree computer science programs. Cal Poly Pomona is a fairly large public school located in the large suburb of Pomona.

The average tuition and fees for an in-state graduate student at Cal Poly Pomona are $8,873 a year.

Read full report on Computer Science at California State Polytechnic University - Pomona

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

San Jose State graduate students pay an average of $9,286 in in-state tuition and fees each year.

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#10

San Diego State University

San Diego, CA

San Diego State University landed the #10 spot in the 2023 rankings for the best value master’s degree computer science programs. SDSU is a fairly large public school located in the city of San Diego.

The average tuition and fees for an in-state graduate student at SDSU are $9,570 a year.

Read full report on Computer Science at San Diego State University

Best Value Computer Science Colleges in the Far Western US Region

Explore all the Best Value Computer Science Schools 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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