2023 Best Master's Degree Schools in California
With all the programs available today, it can be tough to choose which one is the best for you. 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. On top of that, there are a considerable number of trade schools and bootcamp that offer fast-track entry to many fields.
Along with in-depth profiles of schools and the programs they offer, Course Advisor has created the Best Master's Degree Schools in California to help you in your search for the best school for you. Our analysis looked at 73 schools in California to see which master's degree programs offered the best educational experiences for students. The factors used to develop this ranking include those related to how in-demand the school us, the overall quality of the school, and post-graduation wages, and more.
View our full ranking methodology.
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Top Master's Degree Schools in California
Learn more about these excellent schools below:
Our 2023 rankings named Stanford University the best school in California for students working on their master’s degree.
One thing to take note of is that Stanford does offer online graduate classes in some areas. In 2019-2020 about 10% of the graduate students at the school chose to take one or more online courses.
The excellent master’s degree programs at University of California - Berkeley helped the school earn the #2 place on this year’s ranking of the best schools in California.
Depending on your major, you may be able to take online graduate classes at UC Berkeley. In 2019-2020 about 90% of the graduate students at the school chose to take one or more online courses.
Out of the 73 schools in California that were part of this year’s ranking, Santa Clara University landed the # 3 spot on the list.
One thing to take note of is that SCU does offer online graduate classes in some areas. In 2019-2020 about 10% of the graduate students at the school chose to take one or more online courses.
Out of the 73 schools in California that were part of this year’s ranking, University of California - Los Angeles landed the # 4 spot on the list.
UCLA does have options available for those who want to take online graduate classes. You will need to check with the school to see if they are available for your specific major. Of all the graduate students enrolled at the school during the 2019-2020 academic year, around 79% took at least some of their classes online.
The excellent master’s degree programs at University of Southern California helped the school earn the #5 place on this year’s ranking of the best schools in California.
Some students may be able to take online graduate classes at USC. To give an idea of how popular online courses are at the school, 82% of graduates took at least one course online in 2019-2020.
Claremont Graduate University landed the #6 spot in the 2023 rankings for the best master’s degree programs.
You may have the opportunity to take online graduate classes at Claremont Graduate University. Of all the graduate students enrolled at the school during the 2019-2020 academic year, around 67% took at least some of their classes online.
California Polytechnic State University - San Luis Obispo ranked #7 on this year’s Best Master’s Degree Schools in California list.
Cal Poly San Luis Obispo does offer online graduate classes for certain degree levels. In fact, around 95% of the graduate population registered for at least one online class in 2019-2020.
Loyola Marymount University came in at #8 in this year’s edition of the Best Master’s Degree Schools in California ranking.
If you are interested in distance education, Loyola Marymount is an excellent choice, since graduate classes are offered online.
With a ranking of #9, Concordia University, Irvine did quite well on this year’s best schools for students working on their master’s degree.
Since the graduate programs at Concordia University, Irvine are online, the school is an excellent choice for graduate students who need more flexibility than what is offered at some other schools.
With a ranking of #10, Saint Mary’s College of California did quite well on this year’s best schools for students working on their master’s degree.
University of Redlands ranked #11 on this year’s Best Master’s Degree Schools in California list.
Since the graduate programs at University of Redlands are primarily online school, so it is a great choice for returning adults and students who work full time.
The Master’s University and Seminary came in at #12 in this year’s edition of the Best Master’s Degree Schools in California ranking.
You may have the opportunity to take online graduate classes at The Master’s University. Of all the graduate students enrolled at the school during the 2019-2020 academic year, around 15% took at least some of their classes online.
University of San Diego landed the #13 spot in the 2023 rankings for the best master’s degree programs.
USD does have options available for those who want to take online graduate classes. You will need to check with the school to see if they are available for your specific major. Of all the graduate students enrolled at the school during the 2019-2020 academic year, around 24% took at least some of their classes online.
University of San Francisco came in at #14 in this year’s edition of the Best Master’s Degree Schools in California ranking.
USFCA does have options available for those who want to take online graduate classes. You will need to check with the school to see if they are available for your specific major. In fact, around 100% of the graduate population registered for at least one online class in 2019-2020.
With a ranking of #15, University of California - San Diego did quite well on this year’s best schools for students working on their master’s degree.
Online graduate courses are available at UCSD, but you will need to check with the school to see if they are available for your field of interest. In fact, around 65% of the graduate population registered for at least one online class in 2019-2020.
San Jose State University did quite well in this year’s ranking of the best places for students to get a master’s degree. It came in at #16 on the list.
Online graduate courses are available at San Jose State, but you will need to check with the school to see if they are available for your field of interest. In 2019-2020 about 94% of the graduate students at the school chose to take one or more online courses.
Middlebury Institute of International Studies at Monterey did quite well in this year’s ranking of the best places for students to get a master’s degree. It came in at #17 on the list.
Since the graduate programs at Middlebury Institute are primarily online school, so it is a great choice for returning adults and students who work full time.
Read full report on Middlebury Institute of International Studies at Monterey
Dominican University of California came in at #18 in this year’s edition of the Best Master’s Degree Schools in California ranking.
Some students may be able to take online graduate classes at DUofC. In 2019-2020 about 97% of the graduate students at the school chose to take one or more online courses.
University of California - Santa Barbara landed the #19 spot in the 2023 rankings for the best master’s degree programs.
Depending on your major, you may be able to take online graduate classes at UCSB. To give an idea of how popular online courses are at the school, 99% of graduates took at least one course online in 2019-2020.
University of California - Davis came in at #20 in this year’s edition of the Best Master’s Degree Schools in California ranking.
UC Davis does have options available for those who want to take online graduate classes. You will need to check with the school to see if they are available for your specific major. To give an idea of how popular online courses are at the school, 52% of graduates took at least one course online in 2019-2020.
University of the Pacific came in at #21 in this year’s edition of the Best Master’s Degree Schools in California ranking.
Online graduate courses are available at Pacific, but you will need to check with the school to see if they are available for your field of interest. In fact, around 1% of the graduate population registered for at least one online class in 2019-2020.
Brandman University ranked #22 on this year’s Best Master’s Degree Schools in California list.
Since the graduate programs at Brandman are primarily online school, so it is a great choice for returning adults and students who work full time.
University of California - Irvine landed the #23 spot in the 2023 rankings for the best master’s degree programs.
One thing to take note of is that UC Irvine does offer online graduate classes in some areas. Of all the graduate students enrolled at the school during the 2019-2020 academic year, around 95% took at least some of their classes online.
Golden Gate University - San Francisco ranked #24 on this year’s Best Master’s Degree Schools in California list.
Golden Gate University - San Francisco does have options available for those who want to take online graduate classes. You will need to check with the school to see if they are available for your specific major. To give an idea of how popular online courses are at the school, 58% of graduates took at least one course online in 2019-2020.
Pepperdine University ranked #25 on this year’s Best Master’s Degree Schools in California list.
Interested in an online degree? Then you definitely want to check out Pepperdine. Every graduate student at the school took at least one class online.
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Notes and References
Footnotes
*These averages are for the top 25 schools only.
References
- Read more about our ranking methodology.
- 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 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).
- Information about the national average student loan default rate is from the U.S. Department of Education and refers to data about the 2016 borrower cohort tracking period for which the cohort default rate (CDR) was 10.1%.
More about our data sources and methodologies.
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