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Best Value Physical Sciences Schools in California

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2023 Best Value Physical Sciences Schools in California

Identifying Quality Schools at More Affordable Prices

19 Colleges
$15,781 Avg Tuition & Fees*
$43,416 Avg Salary

Finding the Best Physical Sciences School for You

Physical Sciences is the #17 most popular major in California with 8,302 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. You can choose a traditional brick and mortar school, or with the growth of online education, you can attend a school half-way across the country without even leaving your house. Also there are many trade schools that offer short-term programs that open up more career options.

To help you arm yourself with the information you need to make your decision, Course Advisor has developed this Best Value Physical Sciences Schools in California ranking. This report analyzed 19 schools in California to see which ones offered the best value programs for physical sciences 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 Physical Sciences Schools in California

The following schools top our list of the Best Value Physical Sciences Colleges.

Top 10 Best Physical Sciences Schools

$7,439 Average Tuition & Fees

Our analysis found California State Polytechnic University - Pomona to be the best value school for physical sciences students who want to pursue a degree in California. Cal Poly Pomona is a very large public school located in the suburb of Pomona.

Cal Poly Pomona undergraduate students pay an average of $7,439 in in-state tuition and fees each year. On average, physical sciences graduates from Cal Poly Pomona take out $18,988 in student loans while working on their degree.

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$7,392 Average Tuition & Fees

The excellent programs at California State University - Sacramento helped the school earn the #2 place on this year’s ranking of the best physical sciences schools in California. Sac State is a fairly large public school located in the city of Sacramento.

In-state tuition fees for undergraduate students at Sac State are $7,392 per year. Physical Sciences majors at Sac State take out an average of $19,079 in student loans while working on their egree.

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$6,846 Average Tuition & Fees

You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend California State University - Long Beach. It ranked #3 on our 2023 Best Value Physical Sciences Schools in California list. Located in the city of Long Beach, CSULB is a public college with a fairly large student population.

CSULB undergraduate students pay an average of $6,846 in in-state tuition and fees each year. On average, physical sciences graduates from CSULB take out $21,750 in student loans while working on their degree.

Full Physical Sciences at California State University - Long Beach Report

#4

San Diego State University

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

You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around you if you attend San Diego State University. The school came in at #4 on this year’s Best Value Physical Sciences Schools in California list. SDSU is a very large public school located in the city of San Diego.

The average tuition and fees for an in-state undergraduate at SDSU are $8,136 a year. While working on their degree, physical sciences majors at SDSU accumulate an average of around $23,936 in student debt.

Full Physical Sciences at San Diego State University Report

$6,976 Average Tuition & Fees

You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around you if you attend California State University - Fullerton. The school came in at #5 on this year’s Best Value Physical Sciences Schools in California list. Located in the suburb of Fullerton, Cal State Fullerton is a public college with a very large student population.

In-state tuition fees for undergraduate students at Cal State Fullerton are $6,976 per year. The average amount in student loans that physical sciences majors at Cal State Fullerton take out is $19,330.

Full Physical Sciences at California State University - Fullerton Report

$6,785 Average Tuition & Fees

California State University - Los Angeles ranked #6 on this year’s Best Value Physical Sciences Schools in California list. Cal State LA is a very large public school located in the city of Los Angeles.

In-state tuition fees for undergraduate students at Cal State LA are $6,785 per year.

Read full report on Physical Sciences at California State University - Los Angeles

$14,226 Average Tuition & Fees

University of California - Berkeley did quite well in this year’s ranking of the best value schools for physical sciences students. It came in at #7 on the list. Located in the midsize city of Berkeley, UC Berkeley is a public college with a very large student population.

The average tuition and fees for an in-state undergraduate at UC Berkeley are $14,226 a year. On average, physical sciences graduates from UC Berkeley take out $14,276 in student loans while working on their degree.

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 physical sciences in California.

Read full report on Physical Sciences at University of California - Berkeley

$14,417 Average Tuition & Fees

University of California - Santa Barbara came in at #8 in this year’s edition of the Best Value Physical Sciences Schools in California ranking. Located in the midsize suburb of Santa Barbara, UCSB is a public college with a very large student population.

In-state tuition fees for undergraduate students at UCSB are $14,417 per year. After completing their degree, physical sciences graduates from UCSB carry an average student debtload of $20,685. When it comes time to repay the loan, graduates who are on a 10-year repayment plan pay an average monthly payment of $343.

In addition to its great value ranking, UCSB is in the top 10% of all schools on our Best Physical Sciences Schools in California list.

Read full report on Physical Sciences at University of California - Santa Barbara

$7,043 Average Tuition & Fees

California State University - Northridge ranked #9 on this year’s Best Value Physical Sciences Schools in California list. CSUN is a very large public school located in the large city of Northridge.

In-state tuition fees for undergraduate students at CSUN are $7,043 per year. Physical Sciences majors at CSUN take out an average of $22,462 in student loans while working on their egree.

Read full report on Physical Sciences at California State University - Northridge

$7,864 Average Tuition & Fees

With a ranking of #10, Humboldt State University did quite well on this year’s best value schools for physical sciences students. Humboldt State University is a medium-sized public school located in the remote town of Arcata.

In-state tuition fees for undergraduate students at Humboldt State University are $7,864 per year. The average amount in student loans that physical sciences majors at Humboldt State University take out is $18,764.

Full Physical Sciences at Humboldt State University Report

Best Value Physical Sciences Colleges in the Far Western US Region

Explore all the Best Value Physical Sciences Schools in the Far Western US Area or other specific states within that region.

State Degrees Awarded
Washington 1,936
Oregon 606
Hawaii 107
Nevada 315
Alaska 60

Physical Sciences Majors to Study

Major Annual Graduates
Chemistry 21,239
Physics 13,674
Geological & Earth Sciences 7,821
General Physical Sciences 3,823
Astronomy & Astrophysics 1,375
Atmospheric Sciences & Meteorology 1,140
Materials Sciences 658
Other Physical Science 538
Physics and Astronomy 38

Majors Similar to Physical Sciences

Related Major Annual Graduates
Computer & Information Sciences 254,454
Engineering 198,468
Biological & Biomedical Sciences 177,778
Engineering Technologies 85,188
Mathematics & Statistics 52,396

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 NASA.

More about our data sources and methodologies.

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