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Best Value Political Science & Government Schools in California

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2023 Best Value Political Science & Government Schools in California

Highlighting Quality Schools With More Affordable Pricing

63 Colleges
$6,431 Avg Tuition & Fees*
$33,769 Avg Salary

Finding the Best Political Science & Government School for You

With 8,494 degrees and certificates handed out in 2020-2021, political science and government is the #14 most popular major in California.

Today's students have lots of options to pick from when considering higher education opportunities. As online education oppotunities continue to grow, you're not restricted to just schools in your local area anymore. Even some of the 'big name' schools are offering online courses. Also, there are a number of trade schools with offerings that you might find attractive.

Along with in-depth profiles of schools and the programs they offer, Course Advisor has created the Best Value Political Science & Government Schools in California to help you in your search for the best school for you. This report analyzed 63 schools in California to see which ones offered the best value programs for political 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. 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.

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

2023 Best Value Political Science & Government Schools in California

The following schools top our list of the Best Value Political Science & Government Colleges.

Top 10 Best Political Science & Government Schools

#1

Santa Rosa Junior College

Santa Rosa, CA
$1,328 Average Tuition & Fees

Our 2023 rankings named Santa Rosa Junior College the best value school in California for political science and government students. Located in the midsize city of Santa Rosa, SRJC is a public college with a large student population.

SRJC undergraduate students pay an average of $1,328 in in-state tuition and fees each year.

On top of its placing in our value ranking, SRJC also did well on our Best Political Science & Government Schools in California list. It’s in the top 10% of all schools reviewed in this analysis.

Full Political Science & Government at Santa Rosa Junior College Report

#2

East Los Angeles College

Monterey Park, CA
$1,238 Average Tuition & Fees

You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend East Los Angeles College. It ranked #2 on our 2023 Best Value Political Science & Government Schools in California list. Located in the large suburb of Monterey Park, East Los Angeles College is a public college with a fairly large student population.

The average tuition and fees for an in-state undergraduate at East Los Angeles College are $1,238 a year.

Full Political Science & Government at East Los Angeles College Report

#3

American River College

Sacramento, CA

The excellent programs at American River College helped the school earn the #3 place on this year’s ranking of the best political science and government schools in California. American River is a very large public school located in the suburb of Sacramento.

Read full report on Political Science & Government at American River College

$1,104 Average Tuition & Fees

You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend Barstow Community College. It ranked #4 on our 2023 Best Value Political Science & Government Schools in California list. Located in the town of Barstow, Barstow Community College is a public school with a small student population.

In-state tuition fees for undergraduate students at Barstow Community College are $1,104 per year.

Read More…

#5

Mt. San Jacinto College

San Jacinto, CA
$1,406 Average Tuition & Fees

You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend Mt. San Jacinto College. It ranked #5 on our 2023 Best Value Political Science & Government Schools in California list. Located in the suburb of San Jacinto, MSJC is a public school with a fairly large student population.

The average tuition and fees for an in-state undergraduate at MSJC are $1,406 a year.

Read More…

#6

Butte College

Oroville, CA
$1,368 Average Tuition & Fees

Butte College ranked #6 on this year’s Best Value Political Science & Government Schools in California list. Located in the rural area of Oroville, Butte College is a public school with a moderately-sized student population.

Butte College undergraduate students pay an average of $1,368 in in-state tuition and fees each year.

Read full report on Political Science & Government at Butte College

#7

Antelope Valley College

Lancaster, CA
$1,124 Average Tuition & Fees

Antelope Valley College came in at #7 in this year’s edition of the Best Value Political Science & Government Schools in California ranking. Antelope Valley College is a fairly large public school located in the large suburb of Lancaster.

Antelope Valley College undergraduate students pay an average of $1,124 in in-state tuition and fees each year.

Read full report on Political Science & Government at Antelope Valley College

$6,995 Average Tuition & Fees

With a ranking of #8, California State University - East Bay did quite well on this year’s best value schools for political science and government students. Located in the large suburb of Hayward, Cal State East Bay is a public school with a large student population.

Cal State East Bay undergraduate students pay an average of $6,995 in in-state tuition and fees each year. On average, political science graduates from Cal State East Bay take out $15,250 in student loans while working on their degree.

Full Political Science & Government at California State University - East Bay Report

With a ranking of #9, San Jose State University did quite well on this year’s best value schools for political science and government students. San Jose State is a fairly large public school located in the large city of San Jose.

The average tuition and fees for an in-state undergraduate at San Jose State are $7,852 a year.

On top of its placing in our value ranking, San Jose State also did well on our Best Political Science & Government Schools in California list. It’s in the top 20% of all schools reviewed in this analysis.

Full Political Science & Government at San Jose State University Report

$6,653 Average Tuition & Fees

With a ranking of #10, California State University - Fresno did quite well on this year’s best value schools for political science and government students. Located in the large city of Fresno, Fresno State is a public college with a very large student population.

In-state tuition fees for undergraduate students at Fresno State are $6,653 per year. While working on their degree, political science majors at Fresno State accumulate an average of around $15,706 in student debt.

Read full report on Political Science & Government at California State University - Fresno

Honorable Mentions

These are some additional schools worth mentioning that are also great but just didn't quite make the cut to earn our top Best Value Political Science & Government Schools in California award.

Rank College Location
11 California State University - Channel Islands Camarillo, CA
12 San Francisco State University San Francisco, CA

Best Value Political Science & Government Colleges in the Far Western US Region

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

State Degrees Awarded
Washington 984
Oregon 543
Nevada 224
Hawaii 141
Alaska 16

Political Science & Government is one of 12 different types of programs to choose from.

Majors Similar to Political Science

Related Major Annual Graduates
Economics 49,055
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 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 UKWiki at English Wikipedia.

More about our data sources and methodologies.

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