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Best Value Political Science & Government Schools in California

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2023 Best Value Political Science & Government Schools in California

Identifying Quality Schools at More Affordable Prices

19 Colleges
$13,390 Avg Tuition & Fees*
$33,769 Avg Salary

Finding the Best Political Science & Government School for You

In 2020-2021, 243 degrees and certificates were awarded to political science and government students who went to a California college or university. This makes it the #80 most popular major in the state.

When it comes to higher education, there are a lot of options for students. With more and more schools offering online options, you could even register for a great program on the other side of the country. On top of that, there are a considerable number of trade schools that offer fast-track entry to many fields.

Along with in-depth profiles of schools and the programs they offer, Grad Degree Search has created the Best Value Political Science & Government Schools in California to help you in your search for the best school for you. Our analysis looked at 19 schools in California to see which programs offered the best value experiences for political science 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 Political Science & Government Schools in California

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

Top 10 Best Political Science & Government Schools

$14,226 Average Tuition & Fees

Our 2023 rankings named University of California - Berkeley the best value school in California for political science and government students. 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.

UC Berkeley did well in our overall quality rankings, too. It placed #3 on our Best Political Science & Government Schools in California list.

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#2

San Francisco State University

San Francisco, CA
$7,304 Average Tuition & Fees

Out of the 19 schools in California that were part of this year’s ranking, San Francisco State University landed the # 2 spot on the list. SFSU is a very large public school located in the large city of San Francisco.

The average tuition and fees for an in-state undergraduate at SFSU are $7,304 a year.

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$13,258 Average Tuition & Fees

The excellent programs at University of California - Los Angeles helped the school earn the #3 place on this year’s ranking of the best political science and government schools in California. Located in the large city of Los Angeles, UCLA is a public college with a very large student population.

The average tuition and fees for an in-state undergraduate at UCLA are $13,258 a year.

As a testament to the quality of education it offers, UCLA also is in the top 10% of our Best Political Science & Government Schools in California ranking.

Full Political Science & Government at University of California - Los Angeles Report

$7,392 Average Tuition & Fees

The excellent programs at California State University - Sacramento helped the school earn the #4 place on this year’s ranking of the best political science and government schools in California. Sac State is a fairly large public school located in the large city of Sacramento.

In-state tuition fees for undergraduate students at Sac State are $7,392 per year.

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$7,864 Average Tuition & Fees

You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend California State University - Chico. It ranked #5 on our 2023 Best Value Political Science & Government Schools in California list. Located in the city of Chico, Chico State is a public college with a large student population.

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

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$6,976 Average Tuition & Fees

With a ranking of #6, California State University - Fullerton did quite well on this year’s best value schools for political science and government students. Located in the suburb of Fullerton, Cal State Fullerton is a public school with a fairly large student population.

In-state tuition fees for undergraduate students at Cal State Fullerton are $6,976 per year.

Full Political Science & Government at California State University - Fullerton Report

$6,785 Average Tuition & Fees

California State University - Los Angeles did quite well in this year’s ranking of the best value schools for political science and government students. It came in at #7 on the list. Cal State LA is a fairly large public school located in the large city of Los Angeles.

Cal State LA undergraduate students pay an average of $6,785 in in-state tuition and fees each year.

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$14,417 Average Tuition & Fees

University of California - Santa Barbara did quite well in this year’s ranking of the best value schools for political science and government students. It came in at #7 on the list. Located in the medium-sized suburb of Santa Barbara, UCSB is a public college with a fairly large student population.

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

UCSB also claimed a spot on our Best Political Science & Government Schools in California list. It’s in the top 20% of all schools in this category.

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$6,846 Average Tuition & Fees

California State University - Long Beach landed the #9 spot in the 2023 rankings for the best value political science and government programs. Located in the city of Long Beach, CSULB is a public college with a very large student population.

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

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$13,775 Average Tuition & Fees

University of California - Irvine did quite well in this year’s ranking of the best value schools for political science and government students. It came in at #10 on the list. Located in the large city of Irvine, UC Irvine is a public school with a very large student population.

In-state tuition fees for undergraduate students at UC Irvine are $13,775 per year.

Full Political Science & Government at University of California - Irvine Report

Best Value Political Science & Government Colleges in the Far Western US Region

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

State Degrees Awarded
Washington 27
Oregon 14
Nevada 13
Hawaii 9

One of 12 majors within the area of study, political science and government has other similar majors worth exploring.

Related Major Annual Graduates
Economics 6,173
International Relations & National Security 5,010
Geography & Cartography 2,315
Sociology 1,907
Anthropology 1,446

Notes and References

*These averages are for the top 19 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 UKWiki at English Wikipedia.

More about our data sources and methodologies.

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