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Best Value Economics Doctor's Degree Schools in California

2023 Best Value Economics Doctor's Degree Schools in California

Highlighting Quality Schools With More Affordable Pricing

11 Colleges
$23,769 Avg Tuition & Fees*
$99,068 Avg Salary

Finding the Best Economics Doctor's Degree School for You

In 2020-2021, 10,510 degrees and certificates were awarded to economics students who went to a California college or university. This makes it the #12 most popular major in the state.

There are so many programs in today's world that it can tough to figure out which one is the right one for you. You're no longer limited to schools in your local area, either, since online programs are becoming more prevalent. Or you may find the programs at a trade school to be a better alternative for you.

To help you arm yourself with the information you need to make your decision, Course Advisor has developed this Best Value Economics 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 economics 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. Specifically, our score for quality is discounted by the published tuition and fees charged by the given college. This gives the cost per unit of quality for each college. The more quality your dollar buys, the better the value.

For nationwide and regional rankings, we use out-of-state tuition and fees in our calculations. For statewide rankings, we use average in-state tuition and fees.

Top 10 Best Economics Doctor's Degree Schools

Our analysis found University of California - Berkeley to be the best value school for economics students who want to pursue a doctor’s degree in California. UC Berkeley is a fairly large public school located in the city of Berkeley.

The average tuition and fees for an in-state graduate student at UC Berkeley are $14,160 a year.

UC Berkeley also took the #3 spot in our Best Economics Doctor’s Degree Schools in California rankings.

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A rank of #2 on this year’s list means University of California - Los Angeles is a great value for economics students working on their doctor’s degree. UCLA is a very large public school located in the large city of Los Angeles.

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

As a testament to the quality of education it offers, UCLA also is in the top 20% of our Best Economics Doctor’s Degree Schools in California ranking.

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You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend University of California - Santa Barbara. It ranked #3 on our 2023 Best Value Economics Doctor’s Degree Schools in California list. UCSB is a fairly large public school located in the medium-sized suburb of Santa Barbara.

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

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A rank of #4 on this year’s list means University of California - Davis is a great value for economics students working on their doctor’s degree. UC Davis is a very large public school located in the suburb of Davis.

UC Davis graduate students pay an average of $13,608 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 - San Diego landed the # 5 spot on the list. Located in the city of La Jolla, UCSD is a public school with a very large student population.

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

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University of California - Irvine ranked #6 on this year’s Best Value Economics Doctor’s Degree Schools in California list. UC Irvine is a fairly large public school located in the large city of Irvine.

UC Irvine graduate students pay an average of $13,356 in in-state tuition and fees each year.

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With a ranking of #7, University of California - Riverside did quite well on this year’s best value schools for economics students working on their doctor’s degree. UCR is a very large public school located in the city of Riverside.

The average tuition and fees for an in-state graduate student at UCR are $13,467 a year.

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With a ranking of #8, University of California - Santa Cruz did quite well on this year’s best value schools for economics students working on their doctor’s degree. Located in the small city of Santa Cruz, UC Santa Cruz is a public school with a fairly large student population.

The average tuition and fees for an in-state graduate student at UC Santa Cruz are $13,895 a year.

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Claremont Graduate University landed the #9 spot in the 2023 rankings for the best value doctor’s degree economics programs. Located in the large suburb of Claremont, Claremont Graduate University is a private not-for-profit school with a small student population.

The average tuition and fees for an in-state graduate student at Claremont Graduate University are $36,380 a year.

In addition to its best value ranking, and one of the reasons why the school is on the list, Claremont Graduate University is ranked #2 for overall quality for economics in California.

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#10

Stanford University

Stanford, CA

Stanford University ranked #10 on this year’s Best Value Economics Doctor’s Degree Schools in California list. Located in the large suburb of Stanford, Stanford is a private not-for-profit college with a large student population.

Stanford graduate students pay an average of $55,011 in in-state tuition and fees each year.

Stanford also took the #1 spot in our Best Economics Doctor’s Degree Schools in California rankings.

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Best Value Economics Colleges in the Far Western US Region

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

State Degrees Awarded
Washington 713
Oregon 596
Nevada 147
Hawaii 92
Alaska 17

One of 12 majors within the area of study, economics has other similar majors worth exploring.

Related Major Annual Graduates
Political Science & Government 49,282
Sociology 38,475
General Social Sciences 18,997
International Relations & National Security 14,306
Anthropology 11,415

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 pixabay.

More about our data sources and methodologies.

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