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Best Value Economics Master's Degree Schools in California

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2023 Best Value Economics Master's Degree Schools in California

Highlighting Quality Schools With More Affordable Pricing

23 Colleges
$17,226 Avg Tuition & Fees*
$65,318 Avg Salary

Finding the Best Economics Master's Degree School for You

In 2020-2021, 736 degrees and certificates were awarded to economics students who went to a California college or university. This makes it the #35 most popular major in the state.

There are so many programs in today's world that it can tough to figure out which one is the right one for you. Along with traditional schools that require in-person attendence, you can attend one of many reputable online schools. Some programs even offer a hybrid experience. Alternatively, you may choose a trade school that prepares you to enter the workforce with knowledge in a specific field.

Along with in-depth profiles of schools and the programs they offer, Grad Degree Search has created the Best Value Economics Master's Degree Schools in California to help you in your search for the best school for you. This report analyzed 23 schools in California to see which ones offered the best value master's degree programs for economics students. The goal was to highlight schools with more affordable prices than others offering similar quality experiences.

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. 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.

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

2023 Best Value Economics Master’s Degree Schools in California

Check out the economics master's degree programs at these schools if you want to get the best value for your educational dollar.

Top 10 Best Economics Master's Degree Schools

Our 2023 rankings named California State University - East Bay the best value school in California for economics students working on their master’s degree. Located in the suburb of Hayward, Cal State East Bay is a public college with a fairly large student population.

In-state tuition fees for graduate students at Cal State East Bay are $8,429 per year.

Read full report on Economics at California State University - East Bay

Out of the 23 schools in California that were part of this year’s ranking, University of California - Berkeley landed the # 2 spot on the list. UC Berkeley is a very large public school located in the midsize city of Berkeley.

UC Berkeley graduate students pay an average of $14,160 in in-state tuition and fees each year.

UC Berkeley also made our Best Economics Master’s Degree Schools in California list, coming in at #2.

Read More…

Out of the 23 schools in California that were part of this year’s ranking, University of California - Los Angeles landed the # 3 spot on the list. UCLA is a very large public school located in the city of Los Angeles.

The average tuition and fees for an in-state graduate student at UCLA are $13,036 a year.

In addition to its best value ranking, and one of the reasons why the school is on the list, UCLA is ranked #4 for overall quality for economics in California.

Read full report on Economics at University of California - Los Angeles

You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around you if you attend San Jose State University. The school came in at #4 on this year’s Best Value Economics Master’s Degree Schools in California list. San Jose State is a very large public school located in the city of San Jose.

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

Read full report on Economics at San Jose State University

The excellent master’s degree programs at California Polytechnic State University - San Luis Obispo helped the school earn the #5 place on this year’s ranking of the best value economics schools in California. Cal Poly San Luis Obispo is a fairly large public school located in the suburb of San Luis Obispo.

In-state tuition fees for graduate students at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo are $11,629 per year.

Cal Poly San Luis Obispo excels when it comes to quality. It’s ranked in the top 10% of all schools on our Best Economics Master’s Degree Schools in California list.

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University of California - Irvine landed the #6 spot in the 2023 rankings for the best value master’s degree economics programs. UC Irvine is a fairly large public school located in the city of Irvine.

UC Irvine graduate students pay an average of $13,356 in in-state tuition and fees each year.

Full Economics at University of California - Irvine Report

University of California - Santa Barbara came in at #7 in this year’s edition of the Best Value Economics Master’s Degree Schools in California ranking. UCSB is a fairly large public school located in the suburb of Santa Barbara.

UCSB graduate students pay an average of $13,581 in in-state tuition and fees each year.

Read More…

University of California - San Diego landed the #8 spot in the 2023 rankings for the best value master’s degree economics programs. Located in the city of La Jolla, UCSD is a public school with a very large student population.

In-state tuition fees for graduate students at UCSD are $13,564 per year.

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

Read full report on Economics at University of California - San Diego

California State University - Fullerton ranked #9 on this year’s Best Value Economics Master’s Degree Schools in California list. Cal State Fullerton is a fairly large public school located in the large suburb of Fullerton.

Cal State Fullerton graduate students pay an average of $8,410 in in-state tuition and fees each year.

Read full report on Economics at California State University - Fullerton

#10

San Diego State University

San Diego, CA

San Diego State University came in at #10 in this year’s edition of the Best Value Economics Master’s Degree Schools in California ranking. Located in the large city of San Diego, SDSU is a public school with a very large student population.

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

Read full report on Economics at San Diego State University

Best Value Economics Colleges in the Far Western US Region

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

State Degrees Awarded
Washington 50
Oregon 64
Nevada 16
Hawaii 11
Alaska 1

One of 12 majors within the area of study, economics has other similar majors worth exploring.

Related Major Annual Graduates
International Relations & National Security 5,010
Political Science & Government 2,664
Geography & Cartography 2,315
Sociology 1,907
Anthropology 1,446

Notes and References

*These averages are for the top 23 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 pixabay.

More about our data sources and methodologies.

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