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Best Value Sociology Master's Degree Schools in California

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2023 Best Value Sociology Master's Degree Schools in California

Identifying Quality Schools at More Affordable Prices

19 Colleges
$13,583 Avg Tuition & Fees*
$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.

Along with in-depth profiles of schools and the programs they offer, Grad Degree Search has created the Best Value Sociology Master's Degree 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 master's degree programs offered the best value experiences for sociology students with the aim of identifying those quality schools that are more affordable than some of their counterparts.

Our ranking of value is based on the quality of a program as defined in our per sticker price dollar. 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.

In our regional and nationwide rankings, out-of-state tution and fees are used in our calculations. Average in-state tuition and fees are used for our statewide rankings.

2023 Best Value Sociology Master’s Degree Schools in California

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

Top 10 Best Sociology Master's Degree Schools

Our analysis found San Jose State University to be the best value school for sociology students who want to pursue a master’s degree in California. Located in the large city of San Jose, San Jose State is a public college with a fairly large student population.

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

Full Sociology at San Jose State University Report

You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around you if you attend University of California - Berkeley. The school came in at #2 on this year’s Best Value Sociology Master’s Degree Schools in California list. Located in the midsize city of Berkeley, UC Berkeley is a public school with a fairly large student population.

In-state tuition fees for graduate students at UC Berkeley are $14,160 per year.

UC Berkeley not only placed well in our value ranking, but it is also #2 on our Best Sociology Master’s Degree Schools in California list.

Read full report on Sociology at University of California - Berkeley

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

In-state tuition fees for graduate students at Cal State Fullerton are $8,410 per year.

Read More…

You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend University of California - Los Angeles. It ranked #4 on our 2023 Best Value Sociology Master’s Degree Schools in California list. Located in the large city of Los Angeles, UCLA is a public college with a very large student population.

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

UCLA not only placed well in our value ranking, but it is also #4 on our Best Sociology Master’s Degree Schools in California list.

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

You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around you if you attend University of California - Irvine. The school came in at #5 on this year’s Best Value 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.

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

Read More…

#6

San Diego State University

San Diego, CA

San Diego State University came in at #6 in this year’s edition of the Best Value Sociology Master’s Degree Schools in California ranking. SDSU is a fairly large public school located in the large city of San Diego.

In-state tuition fees for graduate students at SDSU are $9,570 per year.

Read More…

With a ranking of #7, California State University - Sacramento did quite well on this year’s best value schools for sociology students working on their master’s degree. Sac State is a fairly large public school located in the city of Sacramento.

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

Read More…

With a ranking of #8, California State University - Northridge did quite well on this year’s best value schools for sociology students working on their master’s degree. CSUN is a fairly large public school located in the large city of Northridge.

CSUN graduate students pay an average of $8,477 in in-state tuition and fees each year.

Read full report on Sociology at California State University - Northridge

California State University - Dominguez Hills 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 #9 on the list. Located in the city of Carson, CSUDH is a public school with a large student population.

In-state tuition fees for graduate students at CSUDH are $8,494 per year.

Full Sociology at California State University - Dominguez Hills Report

University of California - San Diego came in at #10 in this year’s edition of the Best Value Sociology 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 Sociology Master’s Degree Schools in California list.

Full Sociology at University of California - San Diego Report

Best Value Sociology Colleges in the Far Western US Region

Explore all the Best Value Sociology Colleges 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.

  • 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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