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Best Value General Education Bachelor's Degree Schools in California

2023 Best Value General Education Bachelor's Degree Schools in California

Identifying Quality Schools at More Affordable Prices

10 Colleges
$30,409 Avg Tuition & Fees*
$35,282 Avg Salary

Finding the Best General Education Bachelor's Degree School for You

General Education is the #17 most popular major in California with 7,063 degrees and certificates awarded in 2020-2021.

When it comes to higher education, there are a lot of options for students. As online education oppotunities continue to grow, you're not restricted to just schools in your local area anymore. Even some of the 'big name' schools are offering online courses. Also, there are a number of trade schools with offerings that you might find attractive.

Along with in-depth profiles of schools and the programs they offer, Course Advisor has created the Best Value General Education Bachelor's Degree Schools in California to help you in your search for the best school for you. This report analyzed 10 schools in California to see which ones offered the best value bachelor's degree programs for education students. The goal was to highlight schools with more affordable prices than others offering similar quality experiences.

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.

Top 10 Best General Education Bachelor's Degree Schools

Our 2023 rankings named University of California - San Diego the best value school in California for general education students working on their bachelor’s degree. UCSD is a fairly large public school located in the large city of La Jolla.

UCSD undergraduate students pay an average of $14,700 in in-state tuition and fees each year.

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You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend University of California - Irvine. It ranked #3 on our 2023 Best Value General Education Bachelor’s Degree Schools in California list. Located in the large city of Irvine, UC Irvine is a public school with a very large student population.

In-state tuition fees for undergraduate students at UC Irvine are $13,775 per year. Education majors at UC Irvine take out an average of $15,329 in student loans while working on their Bachelor's Degree. The average monthly payment of a loan this size is about $230, assuming that the borrower is on a 10-year repayment plan.

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#4

Northcentral University

San Diego, CA

Out of the 10 schools in California that were part of this year’s ranking, Northcentral University landed the # 4 spot on the list. Located in the city of San Diego, Northcentral University is a private not-for-profit college with a fairly large student population.

Northcentral University undergraduate students pay an average of $12,594 in in-state tuition and fees each year. Education majors at Northcentral University take out an average of $29,085 in student loans while working on their Bachelor's Degree.

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#5

Mills College

Oakland, CA

You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around you if you attend Mills College. The school came in at #5 on this year’s Best Value General Education Bachelor’s Degree Schools in California list. Located in the large city of Oakland, Mills is a private not-for-profit college with a fairly small student population.

The average tuition and fees for an in-state undergraduate at Mills are $30,950 a year.

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Dominican University of California landed the #6 spot in the 2023 rankings for the best value bachelor’s degree general education programs. DUofC is a small private not-for-profit school located in the city of San Rafael.

The average tuition and fees for an in-state undergraduate at DUofC are $47,910 a year.

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#7

Biola University

La Mirada, CA

Biola University did quite well in this year’s ranking of the best places for general education students to get a bachelor’s degree. It came in at #7 on the list. Biola is a moderately-sized private not-for-profit school located in the suburb of La Mirada.

Biola undergraduate students pay an average of $44,382 in in-state tuition and fees each year.

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#7

Mount Saint Mary's University

Los Angeles, CA

Mount Saint Mary’s University landed the #7 spot in the 2023 rankings for the best value bachelor’s degree general education programs. MSMU is a small private not-for-profit school located in the city of Los Angeles.

In-state tuition fees for undergraduate students at MSMU are $45,388 per year.

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Hope International University did quite well in this year’s ranking of the best places for general education students to get a bachelor’s degree. It came in at #9 on the list. Hope is a small private not-for-profit school located in the large suburb of Fullerton.

Hope undergraduate students pay an average of $35,450 in in-state tuition and fees each year.

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#10

Chapman University

Orange, CA

Chapman University did quite well in this year’s ranking of the best places for general education students to get a bachelor’s degree. It came in at #10 on the list. Chapman is a moderately-sized private not-for-profit school located in the city of Orange.

The average tuition and fees for an in-state undergraduate at Chapman are $58,634 a year. When it comes time to repay the loan, graduates who are on a 10-year repayment plan pay an average monthly payment of $297.

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Best Value General Education Colleges in the Far Western US Region

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

State Degrees Awarded
Washington 728
Oregon 767
Nevada 36
Hawaii 64
Alaska 26

General Education is one of 14 different types of programs to choose from.

Related Major Annual Graduates
Teacher Education Grade Specific 110,226
Educational Administration 46,469
Teacher Education Subject Specific 43,297
Special Education 36,792
Curriculum & Instruction 19,832

Notes and References

*These averages are for the top 10 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 KOKUYO.

More about our data sources and methodologies.

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