2023 Best Master's Degree Schools in California
Today's students have lots of options to pick from when considering higher education opportunities. 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. Also, there are a number of trade schools and bootcamp with offerings that you might find attractive.
Along with in-depth profiles of schools and the programs they offer, Grad Degree Search has created the Best Master's Degree Schools in California to help you in your search for the best school for you. This report analyzed 73 schools in California to see which ones offered the best master's degree programs for students.
View our full ranking methodology.
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Top Master's Degree Schools in California
Learn more about these excellent schools below:
Our 2023 rankings named Stanford University the best school in California for students working on their master’s degree.
Online graduate courses are available at Stanford, but you will need to check with the school to see if they are available for your field of interest. To give an idea of how popular online courses are at the school, 10% of graduates took at least one course online in 2019-2020.
Out of the 73 schools in California that were part of this year’s ranking, University of California - Berkeley landed the # 2 spot on the list.
One thing to take note of is that UC Berkeley does offer online graduate classes in some areas. In 2019-2020 about 90% of the graduate students at the school chose to take one or more online courses.
You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around you if you attend Santa Clara University. The school came in at #3 on this year’s Best Master’s Degree Schools in California list.
SCU does have options available for those who want to take online graduate classes. You will need to check with the school to see if they are available for your specific major. In 2019-2020 about 10% of the graduate students at the school chose to take one or more online courses.
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 Master’s Degree Schools in California list.
Online graduate courses are available at UCLA, but you will need to check with the school to see if they are available for your field of interest. To give an idea of how popular online courses are at the school, 79% of graduates took at least one course online in 2019-2020.
A rank of #5 on this year’s list means University of Southern California is a great place for students working on their master’s degree.
Some students may be able to take online graduate classes at USC. In 2019-2020 about 82% of the graduate students at the school chose to take one or more online courses.
Claremont Graduate University came in at #6 in this year’s edition of the Best Master’s Degree Schools in California ranking.
Claremont Graduate University does have options available for those who want to take online graduate classes. You will need to check with the school to see if they are available for your specific major. In 2019-2020 about 67% of the graduate students at the school chose to take one or more online courses.
With a ranking of #7, California Polytechnic State University - San Luis Obispo did quite well on this year’s best schools for students working on their master’s degree.
Depending on your major, you may be able to take online graduate classes at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo. In 2019-2020 about 95% of the graduate students at the school chose to take one or more online courses.
Full California Polytechnic State University - San Luis Obispo Report
Loyola Marymount University came in at #8 in this year’s edition of the Best Master’s Degree Schools in California ranking.
Since the graduate programs at Loyola Marymount are online, the school is an excellent choice for graduate students who need more flexibility than what is offered at some other schools.
Concordia University, Irvine ranked #9 on this year’s Best Master’s Degree Schools in California list.
Interested in an online degree? Then you definitely want to check out Concordia University, Irvine. Every graduate student at the school took at least one class online.
Saint Mary’s College of California landed the #10 spot in the 2023 rankings for the best master’s degree programs.
University of Redlands did quite well in this year’s ranking of the best places for students to get a master’s degree. It came in at #11 on the list.
Since the graduate programs at University of Redlands are primarily online school, so it is a great choice for returning adults and students who work full time.
The Master’s University and Seminary ranked #12 on this year’s Best Master’s Degree Schools in California list.
One thing to take note of is that The Master’s University does offer online graduate classes in some areas. During the 2019-2020 year, about 15% of the graduate students at the school took at least one online course.
University of San Diego did quite well in this year’s ranking of the best places for students to get a master’s degree. It came in at #13 on the list.
Some students may be able to take online graduate classes at USD. In 2019-2020 about 24% of the graduate students at the school chose to take one or more online courses.
With a ranking of #14, University of San Francisco did quite well on this year’s best schools for students working on their master’s degree.
Online graduate courses are available at USFCA, but you will need to check with the school to see if they are available for your field of interest. In fact, around 100% of the graduate population registered for at least one online class in 2019-2020.
University of California - San Diego came in at #15 in this year’s edition of the Best Master’s Degree Schools in California ranking.
You may have the opportunity to take online graduate classes at UCSD. During the 2019-2020 year, about 65% of the graduate students at the school took at least one online course.
San Jose State University landed the #16 spot in the 2023 rankings for the best master’s degree programs.
You may have the opportunity to take online graduate classes at San Jose State. To give an idea of how popular online courses are at the school, 94% of graduates took at least one course online in 2019-2020.
With a ranking of #17, Middlebury Institute of International Studies at Monterey did quite well on this year’s best schools for students working on their master’s degree.
Interested in an online degree? Then you definitely want to check out Middlebury Institute. Every graduate student at the school took at least one class online.
Read full report on Middlebury Institute of International Studies at Monterey
With a ranking of #18, Dominican University of California did quite well on this year’s best schools for students working on their master’s degree.
Online graduate courses are available at DUofC, but you will need to check with the school to see if they are available for your field of interest. In fact, around 97% of the graduate population registered for at least one online class in 2019-2020.
University of California - Santa Barbara did quite well in this year’s ranking of the best places for students to get a master’s degree. It came in at #19 on the list.
UCSB does offer online graduate classes for certain degree levels. Of all the graduate students enrolled at the school during the 2019-2020 academic year, around 99% took at least some of their classes online.
Read full report on University of California - Santa Barbara
University of California - Davis did quite well in this year’s ranking of the best places for students to get a master’s degree. It came in at #20 on the list.
You may have the opportunity to take online graduate classes at UC Davis. In 2019-2020 about 52% of the graduate students at the school chose to take one or more online courses.
University of the Pacific ranked #21 on this year’s Best Master’s Degree Schools in California list.
Some students may be able to take online graduate classes at Pacific. During the 2019-2020 year, about 1% of the graduate students at the school took at least one online course.
Brandman University did quite well in this year’s ranking of the best places for students to get a master’s degree. It came in at #22 on the list.
Interested in an online degree? Then you definitely want to check out Brandman. Every graduate student at the school took at least one class online.
University of California - Irvine landed the #23 spot in the 2023 rankings for the best master’s degree programs.
Depending on your major, you may be able to take online graduate classes at UC Irvine. In 2019-2020 about 95% of the graduate students at the school chose to take one or more online courses.
Golden Gate University - San Francisco ranked #24 on this year’s Best Master’s Degree Schools in California list.
If you are interested in distance education, be sure to check with the school since Golden Gate University - San Francisco does offer online graduate classes for certain majors. Of all the graduate students enrolled at the school during the 2019-2020 academic year, around 58% took at least some of their classes online.
Pepperdine University came in at #25 in this year’s edition of the Best Master’s Degree Schools in California ranking.
Since the graduate programs at Pepperdine are online, the school is an excellent choice for graduate students who need more flexibility than what is offered at some other schools.
Best Master's Degree Schools in the Far Western US Region
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Notes and References
Footnotes
*These averages are for the top 25 schools only.
References
- 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 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).
- Information about the national average student loan default rate is from the U.S. Department of Education and refers to data about the 2016 borrower cohort tracking period for which the cohort default rate (CDR) was 10.1%.
More about our data sources and methodologies.
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