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Best Value Library & Information Science Schools in California

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2023 Best Value Library & Information Science Schools in California

Identifying Quality Schools at More Affordable Prices

3 Colleges
$27,878 Avg Tuition & Fees*
$39,173 Avg Salary

Finding the Best Library & Information Science School for You

With 724 degrees and certificates handed out in 2020-2021, library and information science is the #107 most popular major in California.

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.

The Best Value Library & Information Science Schools in California ranking is one of many tools that Course Advisor has developed to help you make your educational decision. This report analyzed 3 schools in California to see which ones offered the best value programs for library science students. The goal was to highlight schools with more affordable prices than others offering similar quality experiences.

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 Library & Information Science Schools in California

The following schools top our list of the Best Value Library & Information Science Colleges.

Best California Schools for Affordable Quality in Library & Information Science

You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend San Jose State University. It ranked #2 on our 2023 Best Value Library & Information Science Schools in California list. Located in the city of San Jose, San Jose State is a public school with a very large student population.

San Jose State undergraduate students pay an average of $7,852 in in-state tuition and fees each year.

San Jose State also claimed a spot on our Best Library & Information Science Schools in California list. It’s in the top 20% of all schools in this category.

Read full report on Library & Information Science at San Jose State University

$61,503 Average Tuition & Fees

A rank of #3 on this year’s list means University of Southern California is a great value for library and information science students. USC is a very large private not-for-profit school located in the city of Los Angeles.

In-state tuition fees for undergraduate students at USC are $61,503 per year.

USC excels when it comes to quality. It’s ranked in the top 10% of all schools on our Best Library & Information Science Schools in California list.

Full Library & Information Science at University of Southern California Report

Best Value Library & Information Science Colleges in the Far Western US Region

Explore all the Best Value Library & Information Science Colleges in the Far Western US Area or other specific states within that region.

State Degrees Awarded
Washington 122
Hawaii 11

Library & Information Science is one of 2 different types of programs to choose from.

Related Major Annual Graduates
Library & Archives Assisting 467
Other Library & Archives Assisting 121

Notes and References

*These averages are for the top 3 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 Diliff.

More about our data sources and methodologies.

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