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Best Value Geological & Earth Sciences Doctor's Degree Schools in California

2023 Best Value Geological & Earth Sciences Doctor's Degree Schools in California

Identifying Quality Schools at More Affordable Prices

11 Colleges
$21,063 Avg Tuition & Fees*
$56,185 Avg Salary

Finding the Best Geological & Earth Sciences Doctor's Degree School for You

Geological & Earth Sciences is the #96 most popular major in California with 991 degrees and certificates awarded in 2020-2021.

When it comes to higher education, there are a lot of options for students. Along with traditional schools that require in-person attendence, you can attend one of many reputable online schools. Some programs even offer a hybrid experience. Alternatively, you may choose a trade school that prepares you to enter the workforce with knowledge in a specific field.

To help you arm yourself with the information you need to make your decision, Course Advisor has developed this Best Value Geological & Earth Sciences Doctor's Degree Schools in California ranking. This report analyzed 11 schools in California to see which ones offered the best value doctor's degree programs for geology 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.

Top 10 Best Geological & Earth Sciences Doctor's Degree Schools

#1

San Diego State University

San Diego, CA

Our 2023 rankings named San Diego State University the best value school in California for geological and earth sciences students working on their doctor’s degree. SDSU is a fairly large public school located in the city of San Diego.

SDSU graduate students pay an average of $9,570 in in-state tuition and fees each year.

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Out of the 11 schools in California that were part of this year’s ranking, University of California - Santa Barbara landed the # 2 spot on the list. Located in the midsize suburb of Santa Barbara, UCSB is a public college with a fairly large student population.

The average tuition and fees for an in-state graduate student at UCSB are $13,581 a year.

Full Geological & Earth Sciences at University of California - Santa Barbara Report

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You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend University of California - Berkeley. It ranked #3 on our 2023 Best Value Geological & Earth Sciences Doctor’s Degree Schools in California list. Located in the midsize city of Berkeley, UC Berkeley is a public school with a fairly large student population.

UC Berkeley graduate students pay an average of $14,160 in in-state tuition and fees each year.

UC Berkeley also took the #3 spot in our Best Geological & Earth Sciences Doctor’s Degree Schools in California rankings.

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A rank of #4 on this year’s list means University of California - Santa Cruz is a great value for geological and earth sciences students working on their doctor’s degree. UC Santa Cruz is a large public school located in the city of Santa Cruz.

In-state tuition fees for graduate students at UC Santa Cruz are $13,895 per year.

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The excellent doctor’s degree programs at University of California - San Diego helped the school earn the #5 place on this year’s ranking of the best value geological and earth sciences schools in California. UCSD is a fairly large public school located in the city of La Jolla.

In-state tuition fees for graduate students at UCSD are $13,564 per year.

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University of California - Irvine came in at #6 in this year’s edition of the Best Value Geological & Earth Sciences Doctor’s Degree Schools in California ranking. Located in the large city of Irvine, UC Irvine is a public school with a fairly large student population.

In-state tuition fees for graduate students at UC Irvine are $13,356 per year.

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With a ranking of #7, University of California - Davis did quite well on this year’s best value schools for geological and earth sciences students working on their doctor’s degree. Located in the suburb of Davis, UC Davis is a public college with a very large student population.

The average tuition and fees for an in-state graduate student at UC Davis are $13,608 a year.

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University of California - Riverside did quite well in this year’s ranking of the best places for geological and earth sciences students to get a doctor’s degree. It came in at #8 on the list. Located in the large city of Riverside, UCR is a public college with a fairly large student population.

In-state tuition fees for graduate students at UCR are $13,467 per year.

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University of California - Los Angeles ranked #9 on this year’s Best Value Geological & Earth Sciences Doctor’s Degree Schools in California list. Located in the city of Los Angeles, UCLA is a public college with a very large student population.

UCLA graduate students pay an average of $13,036 in in-state tuition and fees each year.

UCLA excels when it comes to quality. It’s ranked in the top 20% of all schools on our Best Geological & Earth Sciences Doctor’s Degree Schools in California list.

Full Geological & Earth Sciences at University of California - Los Angeles Report

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#10

Stanford University

Stanford, CA

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

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Best Value Geological & Earth Sciences Colleges in the Far Western US Region

Explore all the Best Value Geological & Earth Sciences Colleges in the Far Western US Area or other specific states within that region.

State Degrees Awarded
Washington 339
Oregon 137
Nevada 69
Hawaii 42
Alaska 37

One of 8 majors within the area of study, geological and earth sciences has other similar majors worth exploring.

Related Major Annual Graduates
Chemistry 21,239
Physics 13,674
General Physical Sciences 3,823
Astronomy & Astrophysics 1,375
Atmospheric Sciences & Meteorology 1,140

Notes and References

*These averages are for the top 11 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 Kelvinsong.

More about our data sources and methodologies.

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