2023 Best Value Education Schools in California
Highlighting Quality Schools With More Affordable Pricing
Finding the Best Education School for You
Education is one of the most popular subjects to study in California. With 17,606 degrees and certificates handed out in 2020-2021, it ranked 3rd out of all the majors we track in the state.
Today's students have lots of options to pick from when considering higher education opportunities. You're no longer limited to schools in your local area, either, since online programs are becoming more prevalent. Or you may find the programs at a trade school to be a better alternative for you.
To help you arm yourself with the information you need to make your decision, Grad Degree Search has developed this Best Value Education Schools in California ranking. This report analyzed 64 schools in California to see which ones offered the best value programs for education 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.
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2023 Best Value Education Schools in California
Check out the education programs at these schools if you want to get the best value for your educational dollar.
Top 10 Best Education Schools
Our 2023 rankings named Concordia University, Irvine the best value school in California for education students. Concordia University, Irvine is a small private not-for-profit school located in the city of Irvine.
The average tuition and fees for an in-state undergraduate at Concordia University, Irvine are $38,740 a year.
On top of its placing in our value ranking, Concordia University, Irvine also did well on our Best Education Schools in California list. It’s in the top 15% of all schools reviewed in this analysis.
A rank of #2 on this year’s list means California State University - Long Beach is a great value for education students. CSULB is a very large public school located in the city of Long Beach.
CSULB undergraduate students pay an average of $6,846 in in-state tuition and fees each year.
Out of the 64 schools in California that were part of this year’s ranking, California State University - Sacramento landed the # 3 spot on the list. Located in the city of Sacramento, Sac State is a public college with a fairly large student population.
In-state tuition fees for undergraduate students at Sac State are $7,392 per year.
A rank of #4 on this year’s list means California State University - Fullerton is a great value for education students. Cal State Fullerton is a fairly large public school located in the large suburb of Fullerton.
In-state tuition fees for undergraduate students at Cal State Fullerton are $6,976 per year.
Read full report on Education at California State University - Fullerton
You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around you if you attend California State University - Los Angeles. The school came in at #5 on this year’s Best Value Education Schools in California list. Located in the city of Los Angeles, Cal State LA is a public college with a very large student population.
The average tuition and fees for an in-state undergraduate at Cal State LA are $6,785 a year.
Full Education at California State University - Los Angeles Report
The excellent programs at California State University - San Bernardino helped the school earn the #5 place on this year’s ranking of the best education schools in California. Located in the midsize city of San Bernardino, CSUSB is a public school with a large student population.
The average tuition and fees for an in-state undergraduate at CSUSB are $7,213 a year.
Read full report on Education at California State University - San Bernardino
With a ranking of #7, California State University - San Marcos did quite well on this year’s best value schools for education students. Located in the suburb of San Marcos, CSUSM is a public college with a large student population.
In-state tuition fees for undergraduate students at CSUSM are $7,727 per year.
Full Education at California State University - San Marcos Report
California State Polytechnic University - Pomona ranked #8 on this year’s Best Value Education Schools in California list. Located in the large suburb of Pomona, Cal Poly Pomona is a public college with a very large student population.
The average tuition and fees for an in-state undergraduate at Cal Poly Pomona are $7,439 a year.
California State University - Fresno ranked #9 on this year’s Best Value Education 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.
Read full report on Education at California State University - Fresno
California State University - East Bay landed the #10 spot in the 2023 rankings for the best value education programs. Located in the large 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 full report on Education at California State University - East Bay
Honorable Mentions
These are some additional schools worth mentioning that are also great but just didn't quite make the cut to earn our top Best Value Education Schools in California award.
| Rank | College | Location |
|---|---|---|
| 11 | California State University - Northridge | Northridge, CA |
| 12 | San Jose State University | San Jose, CA |
Best Value Education Colleges in the Far Western US Region
Explore all the Best Value Education Schools in the Far Western US Area or other specific states within that region.
| State | Degrees Awarded |
|---|---|
| Washington | 2,740 |
| Oregon | 3,137 |
| Nevada | 702 |
| Hawaii | 401 |
| Alaska | 259 |
More Education Rankings in California
Majors Related to Education
Education Majors to Study
| Major | Annual Graduates |
|---|---|
| Educational Administration | 45,458 |
| Teacher Education Grade Specific | 34,451 |
| Special Education | 25,158 |
| General Education | 21,189 |
| Teacher Education Subject Specific | 20,616 |
| Curriculum & Instruction | 19,784 |
| Student Counseling | 13,840 |
| Instructional Media Design | 8,387 |
| Teaching English or French | 4,743 |
| Other Education | 2,513 |
| Multilingual Education | 1,672 |
| Educational Assessment | 1,215 |
| Education Philosophy | 421 |
| International Education | 257 |
| Teaching Assistants | 20 |
Most Popular Majors Related to Education
| Related Major | Annual Graduates |
|---|---|
| Psychology | 42,013 |
| Social Sciences | 22,292 |
| Communication & Journalism | 12,242 |
| 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 Horadrim.
More about our data sources and methodologies.
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