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Best Value General Architecture Schools in California

2023 Best Value General Architecture Schools in California

Highlighting Quality Schools With More Affordable Pricing

5 Colleges
$21,324 Avg Tuition & Fees*
$53,889 Avg Salary

Finding the Best General Architecture School for You

In 2020-2021, 335 degrees and certificates were awarded to general architecture students who went to a California college or university. This makes it the #154 most popular major in the state.

Today's students have lots of options to pick from when considering higher education opportunities. 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 help you arm yourself with the information you need to make your decision, Course Advisor has developed this Best Value General Architecture Schools in California ranking. This report analyzed 5 schools in California to see which ones offered the best value programs for architecture students. The goal was to highlight schools with more affordable prices than others offering similar quality experiences.

When determining this ranking, we place a high emphasis on the school's quality as well as its sticker price. Even though a college may be affordable, it may not offer value. Specifically, our score for quality is discounted by the published tuition and fees charged by the given college. This gives the cost per unit of quality for each college. The more quality your dollar buys, the better the value.

Our calculations use out-of-state tuition and fees in our nationwide and regional rankings. For statewide rankings, we use average in-state tuition and fees.

Best California Schools for Affordable Quality in General Architecture

$7,439 Average Tuition & Fees

Our 2023 rankings named California State Polytechnic University - Pomona the best value school in California for general architecture students. Located in the large suburb of Pomona, Cal Poly Pomona is a public school with a fairly large student population.

In-state tuition fees for undergraduate students at Cal Poly Pomona are $7,439 per year. After completing their degree, architecture graduates from Cal Poly Pomona carry an average student debtload of $29,000.

Read full report on General Architecture at California State Polytechnic University - Pomona

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$10,195 Average Tuition & Fees

The excellent programs at California Polytechnic State University - San Luis Obispo helped the school earn the #2 place on this year’s ranking of the best general architecture schools in California. Cal Poly San Luis Obispo is a fairly large public school located in the suburb of San Luis Obispo.

The average tuition and fees for an in-state undergraduate at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo are $10,195 a year. While working on their degree, architecture majors at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo accumulate an average of around $25,127 in student debt. For students who choose a 10-year repayment plan, the average monthly student loan payment is $454.

Cal Poly San Luis Obispo also claimed a spot on our Best General Architecture Schools in California list. It’s in the top 5% of all schools in this category.

Read full report on General Architecture at California Polytechnic State University - San Luis Obispo

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$14,226 Average Tuition & Fees

The excellent programs at University of California - Berkeley helped the school earn the #3 place on this year’s ranking of the best general architecture schools in California. UC Berkeley is a very large public school located in the midsize city of Berkeley.

UC Berkeley undergraduate students pay an average of $14,226 in in-state tuition and fees each year. Architecture majors at UC Berkeley take out an average of $15,000 in student loans while working on their egree.

UC Berkeley not only placed well in our value ranking, but it is also #3 on our Best General Architecture Schools in California list.

Full General Architecture at University of California - Berkeley Report

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$13,258 Average Tuition & Fees

Out of the 5 schools in California that were part of this year’s ranking, University of California - Los Angeles landed the # 4 spot on the list. UCLA is a fairly large public school located in the city of Los Angeles.

UCLA undergraduate students pay an average of $13,258 in in-state tuition and fees each year.

On top of its placing in our value ranking, UCLA also did well on our Best General Architecture Schools in California list. It’s in the top 10% of all schools reviewed in this analysis.

Full General Architecture at University of California - Los Angeles Report

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$61,503 Average Tuition & Fees

The excellent programs at University of Southern California helped the school earn the #5 place on this year’s ranking of the best general architecture schools in California. Located in the city of Los Angeles, USC is a private not-for-profit school with a very large student population.

USC undergraduate students pay an average of $61,503 in in-state tuition and fees each year.

USC also claimed a spot on our Best General Architecture Schools in California list. It’s in the top 10% of all schools in this category.

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Best Value General Architecture Colleges in the Far Western US Region

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

State Degrees Awarded
Washington 46
Oregon 164
Nevada 35
Hawaii 16

General Architecture is one of 8 different types of programs to choose from.

Related Major Annual Graduates
Architectural Sciences & Technology 6,781
Urban & Regional Planning 2,419
Landscape Architecture 905
Environmental Design 741
Interior Architecture 728

Notes and References

*These averages are for the top 5 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 Danichou.

More about our data sources and methodologies.

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