Find Grad Schools

Study Area & Zipcode

Best Value International Studies Schools in California

Find Schools Near

2023 Best Value International Studies Schools in California

Highlighting Quality Schools With More Affordable Pricing

5 Colleges
$36,472 Avg Tuition & Fees*
$34,635 Avg Salary

Finding the Best International Studies School for You

International Studies is the #156 most popular major in California with 59 degrees and certificates awarded in 2020-2021.

Today's students have lots of options to pick from when considering higher education opportunities. As online education oppotunities continue to grow, you're not restricted to just schools in your local area anymore. Even some of the 'big name' schools are offering online courses. Also, there are a number of trade schools with offerings that you might find attractive.

To help you arm yourself with the information you need to make your decision, Grad Degree Search has developed this Best Value International Studies Schools in California ranking. This report analyzed 5 schools in California to see which ones offered the best value programs for international studies 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 International Studies Schools in California

Check out the international studies programs at these schools if you want to get the best value for your educational dollar.

Best California Schools for Affordable Quality in International Studies

$14,226 Average Tuition & Fees

Our analysis found University of California - Berkeley to be the best value school for international studies students who want to pursue a degree in California. UC Berkeley is a fairly large public school located in the midsize city of Berkeley.

In-state tuition fees for undergraduate students at UC Berkeley are $14,226 per year.

UC Berkeley did well in our overall quality rankings, too. It placed #3 on our Best International Studies Schools in California list.

Read full report on International Studies at University of California - Berkeley

$14,417 Average Tuition & Fees

The excellent programs at University of California - Santa Barbara helped the school earn the #2 place on this year’s ranking of the best international studies schools in California. UCSB is a fairly large public school located in the medium-sized suburb of Santa Barbara.

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

On top of its placing in our value ranking, UCSB also did well on our Best International Studies Schools in California list. It’s in the top 20% of all schools reviewed in this analysis.

Read More…

$38,740 Average Tuition & Fees

The excellent programs at Concordia University, Irvine helped the school earn the #3 place on this year’s ranking of the best international studies schools in California. 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 International Studies Schools in California list. It’s in the top 15% of all schools reviewed in this analysis.

Read More…

$61,503 Average Tuition & Fees

A rank of #4 on this year’s list means University of Southern California is a great value for international studies students. Located in the city of Los Angeles, USC is a private not-for-profit college with a very large student population.

USC undergraduate students pay an average of $61,503 in in-state tuition and fees each year.

USC also claimed a spot on our Best International Studies Schools in California list. It’s in the top 10% of all schools in this category.

Read full report on International Studies at University of Southern California

#5

University of San Francisco

San Francisco, CA
$53,472 Average Tuition & Fees

You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend University of San Francisco. It ranked #5 on our 2023 Best Value International Studies Schools in California list. Located in the city of San Francisco, USFCA is a private not-for-profit college with a fairly large student population.

The average tuition and fees for an in-state undergraduate at USFCA are $53,472 a year.

On top of its placing in our value ranking, USFCA also did well on our Best International Studies Schools in California list. It’s in the top 20% of all schools reviewed in this analysis.

Read full report on International Studies at University of San Francisco

Best Value International Studies Colleges in the Far Western US Region

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

State Degrees Awarded
Washington 15
Oregon 38
Hawaii 0

One of 36 majors within the area of study, international studies has other similar majors worth exploring.

Related Major Annual Graduates
Other Multi/Interdisciplinary Studies 2,491
Sustainability Science 1,547
Nutrition Science 1,496
Behavioral Science 1,358
Computational Science 1,063

Notes and References

*These averages are for the top 5 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 Yerpo.

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.