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Best Value Liberal Arts & Humanities Bachelor's Degree Schools in California

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2023 Best Value Liberal Arts & Humanities Bachelor's Degree Schools in California

Identifying Quality Schools at More Affordable Prices

47 Colleges
$7,973 Avg Tuition & Fees*
$32,881 Avg Salary

Finding the Best Liberal Arts / Sciences & Humanities Bachelor's Degree School for You

In 2020-2021, liberal arts / sciences and humanities students earned 52,773 degrees and certificates from a California school, making the subject the 3rd in the state.

When it comes to higher education, there are a lot of options for students. 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.

Along with in-depth profiles of schools and the programs they offer, Course Advisor has created the Best Value Liberal Arts & Humanities Bachelor's Degree Schools in California to help you in your search for the best school for you. This report analyzed 47 schools in California to see which ones offered the best value bachelor's degree programs for liberal arts / sciences and humanities 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 Liberal Arts / Sciences & Humanities Bachelor’s Degree Schools in California

Check out the liberal arts / sciences and humanities bachelor's degree programs at these schools if you want to get the best value for your educational dollar.

Top 10 Best Liberal Arts / Sciences & Humanities Bachelor's Degree Schools

#1

Sonoma State University

Rohnert Park, CA

Our 2023 rankings named Sonoma State University the best value school in California for liberal arts / sciences and humanities students working on their bachelor’s degree. Located in the large suburb of Rohnert Park, SSU is a public school with a moderately-sized student population.

The average tuition and fees for an in-state undergraduate at SSU are $7,988 a year.

Read full report on Liberal Arts / Sciences & Humanities at Sonoma State University

A rank of #2 on this year’s list means California State University - East Bay is a great value for liberal arts / sciences and humanities students working on their bachelor’s degree. Cal State East Bay is a large public school located in the large suburb of Hayward.

Cal State East Bay undergraduate students pay an average of $6,995 in in-state tuition and fees each year.

Read full report on Liberal Arts / Sciences & Humanities at California State University - East Bay

A rank of #3 on this year’s list means California State University - Long Beach is a great value for liberal arts / sciences and humanities students working on their bachelor’s degree. Located in the large city of Long Beach, CSULB is a public school with a very large student population.

The average tuition and fees for an in-state undergraduate at CSULB are $6,846 a year.

Read full report on Liberal Arts / Sciences & Humanities at California State University - Long Beach

You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around you if you attend California Polytechnic State University - San Luis Obispo. The school came in at #3 on this year’s Best Value Liberal Arts & Humanities Bachelor’s Degree Schools in California list. Located in the small suburb of San Luis Obispo, Cal Poly San Luis Obispo is a public school with a very large student population.

The average tuition and fees for an in-state undergraduate at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo are $10,195 a year.

Cal Poly San Luis Obispo also claimed a spot on our Best Liberal Arts & Humanities Bachelor’s Degree Schools in California list. It’s in the top 10% of all schools in this category.

Read More…

You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend California State University - Channel Islands. It ranked #5 on our 2023 Best Value Liberal Arts & Humanities Bachelor’s Degree Schools in California list. Located in the medium-sized suburb of Camarillo, CSUCI is a public school with a medium-sized student population.

The average tuition and fees for an in-state undergraduate at CSUCI are $6,817 a year.

Read full report on Liberal Arts / Sciences & Humanities at California State University - Channel Islands

#6

Brandman University

Irvine, CA

Brandman University landed the #6 spot in the 2023 rankings for the best value bachelor’s degree liberal arts / sciences and humanities programs. Located in the city of Irvine, Brandman is a private not-for-profit college with a medium-sized student population.

The average tuition and fees for an in-state undergraduate at Brandman are $12,480 a year.

Brandman also claimed a spot on our Best Liberal Arts & Humanities Bachelor’s Degree Schools in California list. It’s in the top 15% of all schools in this category.

Full Liberal Arts / Sciences & Humanities at Brandman University Report

#7

National University

La Jolla, CA

National University landed the #7 spot in the 2023 rankings for the best value bachelor’s degree liberal arts / sciences and humanities programs. National University is a fairly large private not-for-profit school located in the large city of La Jolla.

National University undergraduate students pay an average of $13,320 in in-state tuition and fees each year.

On top of its placing in our value ranking, National University also did well on our Best Liberal Arts & Humanities Bachelor’s Degree Schools in California list. It’s in the top 20% of all schools reviewed in this analysis.

Full Liberal Arts / Sciences & Humanities at National University Report

With a ranking of #8, California State University - Monterey Bay did quite well on this year’s best value schools for liberal arts / sciences and humanities students working on their bachelor’s degree. CSUMB is a moderately-sized public school located in the suburb of Seaside.

CSUMB undergraduate students pay an average of $7,218 in in-state tuition and fees each year.

Read More…

#9

San Francisco State University

San Francisco, CA

San Francisco State University did quite well in this year’s ranking of the best places for liberal arts / sciences and humanities students to get a bachelor’s degree. It came in at #9 on the list. SFSU is a very 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.

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#10

San Jose State University

San Jose, CA

San Jose State University came in at #10 in this year’s edition of the Best Value Liberal Arts & Humanities Bachelor’s Degree Schools in California ranking. Located in the city of San Jose, San Jose State is a public school with a fairly large student population.

In-state tuition fees for undergraduate students at San Jose State are $7,852 per year.

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Best Value Liberal Arts / Sciences & Humanities Colleges in the Far Western US Region

Explore all the Best Value Liberal Arts / Sciences & Humanities Schools in the Far Western US Area or other specific states within that region.

State Degrees Awarded
Washington 17,408
Oregon 8,599
Hawaii 2,024
Nevada 1,679
Alaska 417

Liberal Arts / Sciences & Humanities Majors to Study

Major Annual Graduates
Liberal Arts General Studies 556,813

Majors Similar to Liberal Arts / Sciences & Humanities

Related Major Annual Graduates
Visual & Performing Arts 149,215
English Language & Literature 54,635
Foreign Languages & Linguistics 33,333
Theology & Religious Vocations 27,459
Philosophy & Religious Studies 19,993

Notes and References

*These averages are for the top 25 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 Jacques Sablet (Switzerland, Morges, 1749-1803).

More about our data sources and methodologies.

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