Advertisement Kiplinger's College Finder helps you to identify the best college matches for you or your son or daughter. Return to Map of All Schools with Filters Return to Map of All Schools with Filters Check out the best college values in California. View the list on a map, as a sortable table, or in tiles. Select as many as five specific colleges to add to your Compare List for side-by-side evaluation. Use our College Finder tool to discover more great college values across the country. Compare up to 5 colleges | (5) selected | View list Filter Schools Filter Schools Reset Filters Reset Map Position Done College Type Public Colleges Private Liberal-Arts Private Universities Total Annual Cost ? <$25,000 <$35,000 <$45,000 <$55,000 Total Annual Cost After Aid ? <$20,000 <$25,000 <$30,000 <$35,000 # of Students <5,000 5,000-10,000 >15,000 Avg Debt at Graduation <$20,000 <$30,000 Admission Rate Low (<30%) High (>75%) 4-Year Grad Rate 85%+ 75%+ 60%+ 50%+ Region Mid-Atlantic Midwest New England Southeast/Mid-South West/Southwest State alabama alaska arizona arkansas california colorado connecticut delaware district-of-columbia florida georgia hawaii idaho illinois indiana iowa kansas kentucky louisiana maine maryland massachusetts michigan minnesota mississippi missouri montana nebraska nevada new-hampshire new-jersey new-mexico new-york north-carolina north-dakota ohio oklahoma oregon pennsylvania rhode-island south-carolina south-dakota tennessee texas utah vermont virginia washington west-virginia wisconsin wyoming Schools List View Table ViewMap View Overall Rank Name State Admit rate 4-yr. grad. rate Total cost per yr. Avg. need-based aid Avg. non-need-based aid % of non-need-based aid† Avg. debt at graduation Salary yardstick 1Thomas Aquinas CollegeCA72%73%$34,450$13,585$00%‡$19,319$42,100 14Pomona CollegeCA8%89%$70,496$50,069$5,0000%‡$17,408$58,100 19California Institute of TechnologyCA8%79%$69,210$45,797$00%‡$16,777$85,900 31Stanford UniversityCA5%75%$68,572$48,039$10,4341%$20,205$94,000 47Harvey Mudd CollegeCA15%86%$75,803$40,138$12,69638%$25,041$88,800 59Claremont McKenna CollegeCA10%84%$72,310$46,324$16,9539%$21,421$72,900 67Scripps CollegeCA33%83%$72,756$37,532$16,66731%$19,639$54,100 75Pitzer CollegeCA16%76%$71,900$44,048$4,7082%$20,947$48,700 76University of California, BerkeleyCA17%76%$60,186$20,900$8,6289%$18,197$64,700 77University of California, Los AngelesCA16%75%$60,032$20,489$5,6337%$22,013$60,700 105California Polytechnic State University, San Luis ObispoCA35%47%$37,435$3,563$2,30118%$21,852$66,900 110University of California, IrvineCA37%70%$59,318$19,731$7,7835%$19,745$58,400 113Occidental CollegeCA42%80%$71,402$40,172$11,61427%$32,008$50,600 116University of Southern CaliforniaCA16%77%$73,270$36,496$20,20928%$29,080$74,000 122Pepperdine UniversityCA40%77%$70,502$36,718$17,84649%$31,410$65,500 123Santa Clara UniversityCA54%85%$68,538$28,976$16,18543%$28,808$72,600 145University of California, Santa BarbaraCA33%70%$60,087$20,029$8,1814%$20,665$55,300 186Loyola Marymount UniversityCA52%70%$64,929$20,916$11,11351%$32,560$61,300 187University of California, San DiegoCA34%55%$56,725$19,929$11,8554%$21,430$59,900 192University of San DiegoCA50%70%$64,258$26,679$15,41935%$30,854$60,000 220University of California, Santa CruzCA51%53%$59,519$21,030$5,39219%$22,804$46,900 224Point Loma Nazarene UniversityCA76%64%$48,068$17,171$10,42137%$35,414$50,900 225San Diego State UniversityCA35%36%$38,018$9,500$2,0009%$19,633$51,000 231University of California, DavisCA44%58%$60,359$18,761$6,6238%$19,124$58,200 252Mills CollegeCA87%57%$45,316$38,265$19,57125%$29,954$39,900 259Chapman UniversityCA57%69%$70,112$16,989$16,91611%$26,926$54,500 266Westmont CollegeCA85%73%$61,200$27,067$16,60675%$34,824$51,400 283California Lutheran UniversityCA73%62%$58,388$27,600$18,86075%$34,220$54,200 302California State University, Long BeachCA29%16%$32,310$6,709$00%‡$19,062$48,100 322University of California, RiversideCA57%53%$63,770$18,125$8,15418%$21,104$49,700 341University of San FranciscoCA66%68%$64,496$29,058$13,83835%$35,119$62,300 361Biola UniversityCA72%55%$53,676$15,750$8,46586%$35,489$44,500 381Whittier CollegeCA74%62%$63,496$34,151$22,61273%$32,258$46,800 397California State Polytechnic University, PomonaCA55%18%$35,545$9,968$1,0130%‡$21,998$54,000 NRAzusa Pacific UniversityCA60%52%$49,734$11,242$11,34961%$31,277$51,100 NRCalifornia State University, Monterey BayCA53%23%$33,470$9,987$1,6794%$19,962$44,800 NRConcordia University IrvineCA58%57%$48,600$19,406$10,78739%$32,754$46,400 NRDominican University of CaliforniaCA76%61%$61,978$24,123$17,00662%$37,827$55,600 NRUniversity of the PacificCA65%48%$63,731$28,134$14,03352%$28,759$71,700 # - Based on the median earnings of workers who started at a particular college 10 years earlier and who received federal financial aid. The data don't consider whether the student graduated or went on to graduate school. † - Percentage of all undergraduates without need who received non-need-based aid. ‡ - Number of students who received non-need-based aid is less than 0.5%. § - For non-Mormons; $14,096 for Mormons. * - All admitted students received a four-year tuition scholarship of $39,400 for the 2018-19 academic year. & - Includes fees, room and board and estimated book expense. NA - Not available. NR – Not ranked. SOURCES - Peterson's Databases (© 2019 Peterson's LLC. All rights reserved.), U.S. Department of Education College Scorecard. Don't Miss These Slide Shows 20 Best College Values in the U.S. 10 Best Public College Values 10 Best College Values With Lowest Average Graduating Debt 10 Best College Values You May Have Overlooked What to Know About Getting Into a Military Service Academy