2024 Best Value Bachelor's Degree Colleges for Journalism in California
23
Colleges
743,175
Bachelor's Degrees
$33,237
Avg Cost*
Finding the Best Value Journalism School for You
Journalism is the #54 most popular major in California with 743,175 bachelor's degrees awarded in 2021-2022. This means that 13.7% of the degrees earned in the country were from a school in the state.
This year's Best Value Bachelor's Degree Colleges for Journalism in California ranking looked at 23 colleges that offer a bachelor's in journalism. When talking about the 'best value', we do not simply mean those with the lowest price. Instead, we are looking at those journalism schools that offer a high quality educational experience at a price lower than expected.
When calculating average cost, we take tuition, fees, room and board, books and supplies, and other related expenses into account. We then subtract the average financial aid award. The is meant to give you an idea of how much money you'll need to pay out-of-pocket through loans, external scholarships, or other methods. Your cost may be different from the average one, depending on your income and other factors.
More Ways to Rank Journalism Schools
The journalism school you choose to invest your time and money in matters. To help you make the decision that is right for you, we've developed a number of major-specific rankings, including this list of the Best Value Journalism Schools.
In addition to College Factual's rankings, you may want to take a look at College Combat, our unique tool that lets you pit your favorite schools head-to-head and compare how they rate on factors that most interest you.
When you have some time, check it out - you may want to bookmark the link so you don't forget it.
2024 Best Value Journalism Schools in California
The following schools top our list of the Best Journalism Colleges for the Money.
Top 10 Best Value Journalism Schools
San Diego State University landed the #1 spot in our 2024 rankings for best value journalism schools. Located in the city of San Diego, SDSU is a public college with a fairly large student population. SDSU also made our Best Journalism Schools in California list, coming in at #2.
At SDSU, the average time it takes a student to graduate is 4.6 years, and the average full-time cost to attend the school is around $30,447. Looking at these numbers together, we estimate that the average cost of a bachelor’s degree from SDSU is about $138,534. When you graduate sooner, you can save a lot of money.
Read full report on Journalism at San Diego State University
Our rankings recognize California State University - Fresno as the #2 school in this year's rankings. Located in the large city of Fresno, Fresno State is a public school with a fairly large student population.
It takes the average student at Fresno State about 5.0 years to graduate, and the estimated yearly cost for the school is $20,580. Putting this cost and the average time to graduate together, we find that the average amount you’ll pay to get a bachelor’s degree from Fresno State is $101,871. The sooner a student graduates, the more money they can save.
Full Journalism at California State University - Fresno Report
Our rankings recognize California State University - Long Beach as the #3 school in this year's rankings. CSULB is a fairly large public school located in the large city of Long Beach. CSULB not only placed well in our value rankings. It is also #6 on our Best Journalism Schools in California list.
The average student at CSULB graduates in less than 4.8 years, and the estimated yearly cost for the school is $23,555. This makes the estimated cost of a bachelor’s degree from CSULB be around $112,593. When you graduate sooner, you can save a lot of money.
Read full report on Journalism at California State University - Long Beach
California State University - Northridge comes in at #4 in this year's ranking. Located in the large city of Northridge, CSUN is a public school with a fairly large student population.
It takes about 4.9 years for the average student at CSUN to complete their degree, and on average, the annual cost to attend the school is $21,912. This makes the estimated cost of a bachelor’s degree from CSUN be around $108,245. Graduating sooner can prevent you from having to pay more money out of pocket.
Read More…
California State University - Chico earned the #5 spot in our 2024 rankings. Chico State is a fairly large public school located in the city of Chico. As a testament to the quality of education offered at Chico State, the school also landed the #8 rank in our Best Journalism Schools in California ranking.
The average amount of time it takes for a student to receive their degree at Chico State is 4.7 years, and it costs about $23,809 per year to attend the school. This makes the estimated cost of a bachelor’s degree from Chico State be around $111,188. The sooner a student graduates, the more money they can save.
Read full report on Journalism at California State University - Chico
California Polytechnic State University - San Luis Obispo comes in at #6 in this year's ranking. Cal Poly San Luis Obispo is a fairly large public school located in the suburb of San Luis Obispo. In addition to being on our best value list, Cal Poly San Luis Obispo has also earned the #5 rank in our Best Journalism Schools in California ranking.
It takes the average student at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo about 4.4 years to graduate, and the average full-time cost to attend the school is around $33,869. When we combine these numbers, we estimate that the cost to get a bachelor’s degree from Cal Poly San Luis Obispo is $150,040. The sooner a student graduates, the more money they can save.
Read More…
San Francisco State University earned the #7 spot in our 2024 rankings. Located in the large city of San Francisco, SFSU is a public school with a very large student population.
It takes about 4.8 years for the average student at SFSU to complete their degree, and it costs about $25,986 per year to attend the school. Thus, the average cost to get a bachelor’s degree from the SFSU is $123,434. Graduating sooner can prevent you from having to pay more money out of pocket.
Full Journalism at San Francisco State University Report
Our rankings recognize University of California - Irvine as the #8 school in this year's rankings. UC Irvine is a fairly large public school located in the city of Irvine. UC Irvine not only placed well in our value rankings. It is also #4 on our Best Journalism Schools in California list.
At UC Irvine, the average time it takes a student to graduate is 4.2 years, and on average, the annual cost to attend the school is $39,344. Putting this cost and the average time to graduate together, we find that the average amount you’ll pay to get a bachelor’s degree from UC Irvine is $165,245. The sooner a student graduates, the more money they can save.
Read full report on Journalism at University of California - Irvine
Our rankings recognize San Jose State University as the #9 school in this year's rankings. San Jose State is a very large public school located in the large city of San Jose.
It takes the average student at San Jose State about 5.0 years to graduate, and on average, the annual cost to attend the school is $28,220. This makes the estimated cost of a bachelor’s degree from San Jose State be around $140,536. When you graduate sooner, you can save a lot of money.
Full Journalism at San Jose State University Report
California State University - Sacramento landed the #10 spot in our 2024 rankings for best value journalism schools. Located in the large city of Sacramento, Sac State is a public college with a very large student population.
At Sac State, the average time it takes a student to graduate is 5.0 years, and on average, the annual cost to attend the school is $27,149. Thus, the average cost to get a bachelor’s degree from the Sac State is $136,831. If you can shave even one term off your degree, you can save a substantial amount of money.
Read full report on Journalism at California State University - Sacramento
More Journalism Rankings in California
One of 5 majors within the Communication & Journalism area of study, Journalism has other similar majors worth exploring.
Notes and References
*These averages are for the top 23 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 Jfurrer.
More about our data sources and methodologies.
