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Best Sociology Master's Degree Schools in California

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2023 Best Sociology Master's Degree Schools in California

19 Colleges
$42,092 Avg Salary

Finding the Best Sociology Master's Degree School for You

In 2020-2021, 269 degrees and certificates were awarded to sociology students who went to a California college or university. This makes it the #69 most popular major in the state.

With all the programs available today, it can be tough to choose which one is the best for you. You can choose a traditional brick and mortar school, or with the growth of online education, you can attend a school half-way across the country without even leaving your house. Also there are many trade schools that offer short-term programs that open up more career options.

To assist you in seeing some of the education options that are available to you, Grad Degree Search has created its Best Sociology 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 educational experiences for students. Factors related to overall quality of the school, post-graduation earnings, average student debt, and more accumulated were considered when coming up with this list.

View our full ranking methodology.

2023 Best Sociology Master’s Degree Schools in California

The following schools top our list of the Best Sociology Master's Degree Colleges.

Top 10 Best Sociology Master's Degree Schools

#1

Stanford University

Stanford, CA

Our analysis found Stanford University to be the best school for sociology students who want to pursue a master’s degree in California. Stanford is a fairly large private not-for-profit school located in the large suburb of Stanford.

Full Sociology at Stanford University Report

The excellent master’s degree programs at University of California - Berkeley helped the school earn the #2 place on this year’s ranking of the best sociology schools in California. Located in the city of Berkeley, UC Berkeley is a public school with a fairly large student population.

Full Sociology at University of California - Berkeley Report

You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around you if you attend University of California - Irvine. The school came in at #3 on this year’s Best Sociology Master’s Degree Schools in California list. Located in the city of Irvine, UC Irvine is a public school with a very large student population.

Read full report on Sociology at University of California - Irvine

You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around you if you attend University of California - Los Angeles. The school came in at #4 on this year’s Best Sociology Master’s Degree Schools in California list. Located in the large city of Los Angeles, UCLA is a public college with a fairly large student population.

Full Sociology at University of California - Los Angeles Report

University of California - San Diego did quite well in this year’s ranking of the best places for sociology students to get a master’s degree. It came in at #6 on the list. UCSD is a fairly large public school located in the city of La Jolla.

Full Sociology at University of California - San Diego Report

With a ranking of #7, San Jose State University did quite well on this year’s best schools for sociology students working on their master’s degree. Located in the large city of San Jose, San Jose State is a public college with a very large student population.

Read full report on Sociology at San Jose State University

With a ranking of #8, University of California - Davis did quite well on this year’s best schools for sociology students working on their master’s degree. Located in the suburb of Davis, UC Davis is a public college with a very large student population.

Full Sociology at University of California - Davis Report

University of California - Santa Barbara came in at #9 in this year’s edition of the Best Sociology Master’s Degree Schools in California ranking. Located in the midsize suburb of Santa Barbara, UCSB is a public college with a very large student population.

Read full report on Sociology at University of California - Santa Barbara

#10

San Diego State University

San Diego, CA

San Diego State University landed the #10 spot in the 2023 rankings for the best master’s degree sociology programs. SDSU is a fairly large public school located in the large city of San Diego.

Full Sociology at San Diego State University Report

Best Sociology Colleges in the Far Western US Region

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

State Degrees Awarded
Washington 11
Oregon 17
Nevada 7
Hawaii 3

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

Majors Similar to Sociology

Related Major Annual Graduates
Economics 6,173
International Relations & National Security 5,010
Political Science & Government 2,664
Geography & Cartography 2,315
Anthropology 1,446

Notes and References

*These averages are for the top 19 schools only.

  • Read more about our ranking methodology.
  • 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 Kontos.

More about our data sources and methodologies.

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