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Best Value General Education Bachelor's Degree Schools in California

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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.

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

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

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 very large public school located in the city of La Jolla.

The average tuition and fees for an in-state undergraduate at UCSD are $14,700 a year.

Full General Education at University of California - San Diego Report

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

A rank of #4 on this year’s list means Northcentral University is a great value for general education students working on their bachelor’s degree. Located in the city of San Diego, Northcentral University is a private not-for-profit school with a 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.

Read full report on General Education at Northcentral University

#5

Mills College

Oakland, CA

The excellent bachelor’s degree programs at Mills College helped the school earn the #5 place on this year’s ranking of the best value general education schools in California. Located in the large city of Oakland, Mills is a private not-for-profit school with a small student population.

In-state tuition fees for undergraduate students at Mills are $30,950 per 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 small city of San Rafael.

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

Read full report on General Education at Dominican University of California

#7

Biola University

La Mirada, CA

Biola University landed the #7 spot in the 2023 rankings for the best value bachelor’s degree general education programs. Biola is a medium-sized private not-for-profit school located in the large suburb of La Mirada.

In-state tuition fees for undergraduate students at Biola are $44,382 per year.

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#7

Mount Saint Mary's University

Los Angeles, CA

Mount Saint Mary’s University came in at #7 in this year’s edition of the Best Value General Education Bachelor’s Degree Schools in California ranking. 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.

Full General Education at Mount Saint Mary’s University Report

Hope International University ranked #9 on this year’s Best Value General Education Bachelor’s Degree Schools in California list. Hope is a small private not-for-profit school located in the suburb of Fullerton.

In-state tuition fees for undergraduate students at Hope are $35,450 per year.

Full General Education at Hope International University Report

#10

Chapman University

Orange, CA

Chapman University ranked #10 on this year’s Best Value General Education Bachelor’s Degree Schools in California 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 Schools 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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