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Best Value General Education Doctor's Degree Schools in California

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

Identifying Quality Schools at More Affordable Prices

10 Colleges
$20,345 Avg Tuition & Fees*
$72,973 Avg Salary

Finding the Best General Education Doctor'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 Doctor'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 doctor'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 Doctor’s Degree Schools in California

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

Top 10 Best General Education Doctor's Degree Schools

#1

San Diego State University

San Diego, CA

Our analysis found San Diego State University to be the best value school for general education students who want to pursue a doctor’s degree in California. SDSU is a very 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 full report on General Education at San Diego State University

Out of the 10 schools in California that were part of this year’s ranking, University of California - Berkeley landed the # 2 spot on the list. Located in the 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.

In addition to its best value ranking, and one of the reasons why the school is on the list, UC Berkeley is ranked #3 for overall quality for education in California.

Full General Education at University of California - Berkeley Report

Out of the 10 schools in California that were part of this year’s ranking, Azusa Pacific University landed the # 3 spot on the list. Located in the large suburb of Azusa, Azusa Pacific is a private not-for-profit college with a medium-sized student population.

The average tuition and fees for an in-state graduate student at Azusa Pacific are $16,696 a year.

Read full report on General Education at Azusa Pacific University

A rank of #4 on this year’s list means University of California - San Diego is a great value for general education students working on their doctor’s degree. UCSD is a very large public school located in the large city of La Jolla.

The average tuition and fees for an in-state graduate student at UCSD are $13,564 a year.

Full General Education at University of California - San Diego Report

The excellent doctor’s degree programs at University of California - Los Angeles helped the school earn the #5 place on this year’s ranking of the best value general education schools in California. Located in the city of Los Angeles, UCLA is a public school with a fairly large student population.

The average tuition and fees for an in-state graduate student at UCLA are $13,036 a year.

In addition to its great value ranking, UCLA is in the top 20% of all schools on our Best General Education Doctor’s Degree Schools in California list.

Read full report on General Education at University of California - Los Angeles

University of California - Riverside ranked #6 on this year’s Best Value General Education Doctor’s Degree Schools in California list. Located in the large city of Riverside, UCR is a public college with a very large student population.

The average tuition and fees for an in-state graduate student at UCR are $13,467 a year.

Full General Education at University of California - Riverside Report

With a ranking of #7, Claremont Graduate University did quite well on this year’s best value schools for general education students working on their doctor’s degree. Claremont Graduate University is a small private not-for-profit school located in the large suburb of Claremont.

Claremont Graduate University graduate students pay an average of $36,380 in in-state tuition and fees each year.

Claremont Graduate University did well in our overall quality rankings, too. It placed #2 on our Best General Education Doctor’s Degree Schools in California list.

Full General Education at Claremont Graduate University Report

#8

Northcentral University

San Diego, CA

Northcentral University landed the #8 spot in the 2023 rankings for the best value doctor’s degree general education programs. Located in the large city of San Diego, Northcentral University is a private not-for-profit college with a fairly large student population.

Northcentral University graduate students pay an average of $18,207 in in-state tuition and fees each year.

Full General Education at Northcentral University Report

University of California - Irvine came in at #9 in this year’s edition of the Best Value General Education Doctor’s Degree Schools in California ranking. Located in the city of Irvine, UC Irvine is a public school with a fairly large student population.

UC Irvine graduate students pay an average of $13,356 in in-state tuition and fees each year.

Read full report on General Education at University of California - Irvine

#10

Stanford University

Stanford, CA

Stanford University came in at #10 in this year’s edition of the Best Value General Education Doctor’s Degree Schools in California ranking. Stanford is a fairly large private not-for-profit school located in the suburb of Stanford.

In-state tuition fees for graduate students at Stanford are $55,011 per year.

In addition to its best value ranking, and one of the reasons why the school is on the list, Stanford is ranked #1 for overall quality for education in California.

Full General Education at Stanford University Report

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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