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Best Value Sociology Doctor's Degree Schools in California

2023 Best Value Sociology Doctor's Degree Schools in California

Highlighting Quality Schools With More Affordable Pricing

11 Colleges
$21,662 Avg Tuition & Fees*
$72,774 Avg Salary

Finding the Best Sociology Doctor's Degree School for You

Sociology is one of the most popular subjects to study in California. With 15,498 degrees and certificates handed out in 2020-2021, it ranked 6th out of all the majors we track in the state.

It's not easy to decide which program to enroll in when you have so many options available. 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.

Along with in-depth profiles of schools and the programs they offer, Course Advisor has created the Best Value Sociology Doctor's Degree Schools in California to help you in your search for the best school for you. This report analyzed 11 schools in California to see which ones offered the best value doctor's degree programs for sociology students. The goal was to highlight schools with more affordable prices than others offering similar quality experiences.

Our ranking of value is based on the quality of a program as defined in our per sticker price dollar. 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.

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

Top 10 Best Sociology Doctor's Degree Schools

Our 2023 rankings named University of California - Berkeley the best value school in California for sociology students working on their doctor’s degree. UC Berkeley is a fairly large public school located in the medium-sized city of Berkeley.

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

UC Berkeley also made our Best Sociology Doctor’s Degree Schools in California list, coming in at #3.

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Out of the 11 schools in California that were part of this year’s ranking, University of California - Los Angeles landed the # 2 spot on the list. UCLA is a very large public school located in the city of Los Angeles.

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

In addition to its great value ranking, UCLA is in the top 20% of all schools on our Best Sociology Doctor’s Degree Schools in California list.

Full Sociology at University of California - Los Angeles Report

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The excellent doctor’s degree programs at University of California - Irvine helped the school earn the #3 place on this year’s ranking of the best value sociology schools in California. UC Irvine is a very large public school located in the city of Irvine.

The average tuition and fees for an in-state graduate student at UC Irvine are $13,356 a year.

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You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around you if you attend University of California - Davis. The school came in at #4 on this year’s Best Value Sociology Doctor’s Degree Schools in California list. UC Davis is a fairly large public school located in the small suburb of Davis.

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

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You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around you if you attend University of California - Santa Barbara. The school came in at #5 on this year’s Best Value Sociology Doctor’s Degree Schools in California list. UCSB is a fairly large public school located in the medium-sized suburb of Santa Barbara.

In-state tuition fees for graduate students at UCSB are $13,581 per year.

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With a ranking of #6, University of California - San Diego did quite well on this year’s best value schools for sociology students working on their doctor’s degree. 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 - Riverside did quite well in this year’s ranking of the best places for sociology students to get a doctor’s degree. It came in at #7 on the list. UCR is a very large public school located in the large city of Riverside.

UCR graduate students pay an average of $13,467 in in-state tuition and fees each year.

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University of California - Santa Cruz landed the #8 spot in the 2023 rankings for the best value doctor’s degree sociology programs. Located in the city of Santa Cruz, UC Santa Cruz is a public school with a large student population.

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

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With a ranking of #9, University of California - Merced did quite well on this year’s best value schools for sociology students working on their doctor’s degree. Located in the rural area of Merced, UC Merced is a public school with a moderately-sized student population.

In-state tuition fees for graduate students at UC Merced are $13,207 per year.

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#10

Stanford University

Stanford, CA

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

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

Stanford did well in our overall quality rankings, too. It placed #1 on our Best Sociology Doctor’s Degree Schools in California list.

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Best Value Sociology Colleges in the Far Western US Region

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

State Degrees Awarded
Washington 650
Oregon 341
Nevada 120
Hawaii 96
Alaska 5

Sociology is one of 12 different types of programs to choose from.

Majors Similar to Sociology

Related Major Annual Graduates
Political Science & Government 49,282
Economics 49,055
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 Kontos.

More about our data sources and methodologies.

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