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Best Value Political Science & Government Master's Degree Schools in California

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2023 Best Value Political Science & Government Master's Degree Schools in California

Identifying Quality Schools at More Affordable Prices

19 Colleges
$14,899 Avg Tuition & Fees*
$50,486 Avg Salary

Finding the Best Political Science & Government Master's Degree 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.

To assist you in seeing some of the education options that are available to you, Grad Degree Search has created its Best Value Political Science & Government Master's Degree Schools in California ranking. Our analysis looked at 19 schools in California to see which master's degree 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 Master’s Degree Schools in California

The colleges and universities below are the best value schools for political science majors pursuing a master's degree.

Top 10 Best Political Science & Government Master's Degree Schools

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

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

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

Read full report on Political Science & Government at University of California - Berkeley

#2

San Francisco State University

San Francisco, CA

The excellent master’s degree programs at San Francisco State University helped the school earn the #2 place on this year’s ranking of the best value political science and government schools in California. SFSU is a very large public school located in the city of San Francisco.

In-state tuition fees for graduate students at SFSU are $8,738 per year.

Full Political Science & Government at San Francisco State University Report

A rank of #3 on this year’s list means University of California - Irvine is a great value for political science and government students working on their master’s degree. Located in the large city of Irvine, UC Irvine is a public college with a very large student population.

The average tuition and fees for an in-state graduate student at UC Irvine are $13,356 a year.

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

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

The average tuition and fees for an in-state graduate student at Sac State are $8,826 a year.

Read full report on Political Science & Government at California State University - Sacramento

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

UCLA graduate students pay an average of $13,036 in in-state tuition and fees each year.

UCLA did well in our overall quality rankings, too. It placed #4 on our Best Political Science & Government Master’s Degree Schools in California list.

Read full report on Political Science & Government at University of California - Los Angeles

California State University - Chico did quite well in this year’s ranking of the best places for political science and government students to get a master’s degree. It came in at #6 on the list. Located in the medium-sized city of Chico, Chico State is a public college 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 Political Science & Government at California State University - Chico

With a ranking of #7, California State University - Fullerton did quite well on this year’s best value schools for political science and government students working on their master’s degree. Located in the large suburb of Fullerton, Cal State Fullerton is a public college with a fairly large student population.

The average tuition and fees for an in-state graduate student at Cal State Fullerton are $8,410 a year.

Read full report on Political Science & Government at California State University - Fullerton

University of California - San Diego came in at #8 in this year’s edition of the Best Value Political Science & Government Master’s Degree Schools in California ranking. UCSD is a very 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 excels when it comes to quality. It’s ranked in the top 20% of all schools on our Best Political Science & Government Master’s Degree Schools in California list.

Full Political Science & Government at University of California - San Diego Report

With a ranking of #9, University of California - Santa Barbara did quite well on this year’s best value schools for political science and government students working on their master’s degree. 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 graduate students at UCSB are $13,581 per year.

Read full report on Political Science & Government at University of California - Santa Barbara

California State University - Los Angeles did quite well in this year’s ranking of the best places for political science and government students to get a master’s degree. It came in at #10 on the list. Cal State LA is a fairly large public school located in the large city of Los Angeles.

In-state tuition fees for graduate students at Cal State LA are $8,219 per year.

Read More…

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

Explore all the Best Value Political Science & Government Schools 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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