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Best Value Area Studies Schools in California

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2023 Best Value Area Studies Schools in California

Identifying Quality Schools at More Affordable Prices

19 Colleges
$19,400 Avg Tuition & Fees*
$29,544 Avg Salary

Finding the Best Area Studies School for You

Area Studies is the #98 most popular major in California with 879 degrees and certificates awarded in 2020-2021.

There are lots of options to pick from today when trying to decide which program is right for you. With more and more schools offering online options, you could even register for a great program on the other side of the country. On top of that, there are a considerable number of trade schools that offer fast-track entry to many fields.

To assist you in seeing some of the education options that are available to you, Course Advisor has created its Best Value Area Studies Schools in California ranking. Our analysis looked at 19 schools in California to see which programs offered the best value experiences for area studies students with the aim of identifying those quality schools that are more affordable than some of their counterparts.

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. 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.

Our calculations use out-of-state tuition and fees in our nationwide and regional rankings. Average in-state tuition and fees are used for our statewide rankings.

2023 Best Value Area Studies Schools in California

Check out the area studies programs at these schools if you want to get the best value for your educational dollar.

Top 10 Best Area Studies Schools

#1

San Diego State University

San Diego, CA
$8,136 Average Tuition & Fees

Our 2023 rankings named San Diego State University the best value school in California for area studies students. SDSU is a very large public school located in the large city of San Diego.

The average tuition and fees for an in-state undergraduate at SDSU are $8,136 a year.

Read More…

$6,846 Average Tuition & Fees

You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend California State University - Long Beach. It ranked #2 on our 2023 Best Value Area Studies Schools in California list. Located in the city of Long Beach, CSULB is a public college with a fairly large student population.

The average tuition and fees for an in-state undergraduate at CSULB are $6,846 a year. After completing their degree, area studies graduates from CSULB carry an average student debtload of $13,367.

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#3

San Francisco State University

San Francisco, CA
$7,304 Average Tuition & Fees

The excellent programs at San Francisco State University helped the school earn the #3 place on this year’s ranking of the best area studies schools in California. SFSU is a fairly large public school located in the large city of San Francisco.

The average tuition and fees for an in-state undergraduate at SFSU are $7,304 a year.

Read full report on Area Studies at San Francisco State University

$6,976 Average Tuition & Fees

Out of the 19 schools in California that were part of this year’s ranking, California State University - Fullerton landed the # 4 spot on the list. Located in the large suburb of Fullerton, Cal State Fullerton is a public school with a very large student population.

The average tuition and fees for an in-state undergraduate at Cal State Fullerton are $6,976 a year. Area Studies majors at Cal State Fullerton take out an average of $19,429 in student loans while working on their egree.

Full Area Studies at California State University - Fullerton Report

$14,226 Average Tuition & Fees

You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around you if you attend University of California - Berkeley. The school came in at #5 on this year’s Best Value Area Studies Schools in California list. Located in the midsize city of Berkeley, UC Berkeley is a public school with a very large student population.

In-state tuition fees for undergraduate students at UC Berkeley are $14,226 per year. After completing their degree, area studies graduates from UC Berkeley carry an average student debtload of $17,000.

UC Berkeley also made our Best Area Studies Schools in California list, coming in at #3.

Read full report on Area Studies at University of California - Berkeley

$7,864 Average Tuition & Fees

California State University - Chico came in at #6 in this year’s edition of the Best Value Area Studies Schools in California ranking. Located in the city of Chico, Chico State is a public college with a fairly large student population.

The average tuition and fees for an in-state undergraduate at Chico State are $7,864 a year. The average amount in student loans that area studies majors at Chico State take out is $15,500.

Read full report on Area Studies at California State University - Chico

$7,043 Average Tuition & Fees

California State University - Northridge came in at #7 in this year’s edition of the Best Value Area Studies Schools in California ranking. CSUN is a very large public school located in the large city of Northridge.

The average tuition and fees for an in-state undergraduate at CSUN are $7,043 a year.

Full Area Studies at California State University - Northridge Report

$13,258 Average Tuition & Fees

University of California - Los Angeles landed the #8 spot in the 2023 rankings for the best value area studies programs. Located in the city of Los Angeles, UCLA is a public school with a fairly large student population.

In-state tuition fees for undergraduate students at UCLA are $13,258 per year. Area Studies majors at UCLA take out an average of $18,252 in student loans while working on their egree.

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

Full Area Studies at University of California - Los Angeles Report

$14,645 Average Tuition & Fees

University of California - Davis ranked #9 on this year’s Best Value Area Studies Schools in California list. Located in the small suburb of Davis, UC Davis is a public school with a fairly large student population.

In-state tuition fees for undergraduate students at UC Davis are $14,645 per year.

In addition to its great value ranking, UC Davis is in the top 15% of all schools on our Best Area Studies Schools in California list.

Read full report on Area Studies at University of California - Davis

$7,392 Average Tuition & Fees

With a ranking of #10, California State University - Sacramento did quite well on this year’s best value schools for area studies students. Sac State is a fairly large public school located in the city of Sacramento.

The average tuition and fees for an in-state undergraduate at Sac State are $7,392 a year.

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Best Value Area Studies Colleges in the Far Western US Region

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

State Degrees Awarded
Washington 236
Oregon 56
Nevada 4
Hawaii 57
Alaska 1

One of 2 majors within the area of study, area studies has other similar majors worth exploring.

Majors Similar to Area Studies

Related Major Annual Graduates
Ethnic Studies 9,231
Ethnic, Culture, & Gender Studies (Other) 46

Notes and References

*These averages are for the top 19 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 Karl Udo Gerth.

More about our data sources and methodologies.

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