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2022 Best Value Bachelor’s Degree Colleges for Architecture in California

8 Ranked Colleges
322 Degrees Awarded
$23,500 Avg Net Price*
Best Value architecture Schools for a Bachelor's in California

When pursuing a degree in today’s world, students have many different options to choose from. College Factual was founded, in part, to help students make the decision as to what would be the best school for them. Our “Best Value architecture Schools for a Bachelor’s in California” ranking is part of that endeavor.

Architecture is the 124th most popular major in the country with 4,967 degrees awarded in 2019-2020.

Across California, there were 370 architecture graduates with average earnings and debt of $0 and $0 respectively. At the bachelor’s degree level specifically, there were 322 architecture graduates with average earnings and debt of $37,907 and $21,546 respectively.

For this year’s “Best Value architecture Schools for a Bachelor’s in California” ranking, we looked at 8 colleges that offer a degree in architecture. This ranking identifies schools with high-quality architecture programs that also have a lower cost than schools of similar quality.

To come up with these rankings, we looked at factors such as the cost to attend the school after aid is awarded and overall quality of the architecture program at the school. Check out our ranking methodology for more information.

More Ways to Rank Architecture Schools

When choosing the right school for you, it’s important to arm yourself with all the facts you can. To that end, we’ve created a number of major-specific rankings, including this “Best Value architecture Schools for a Bachelor’s in California” list to help you make the college decision.

One of our other unique offerings is College Combat. This tool lets you build your own customized comparisons utilizing the factors that are most important to you. We encourage you to try it out and pit your favorite colleges and universities head to head! If you don’t have time right now, you can bookmark it for later.

Best Value architecture Schools for a Bachelor’s in California

The following schools top our list of the Best Best Value architecture Schools for a Bachelor’s in California.

Top 8 Best Value Bachelor’s Degree Colleges for Architecture in California

#3 in overall quality

You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around if you attend California Polytechnic State University - San Luis Obispo. The school came in at #1 for the Best Value architecture Schools for a Bachelor’s in California. This large school is located in San Luis Obispo, California, and it awarded 31 bachelors’s architecture degrees in 2019-2020.

Cal Poly San Luis Obispo not only placed well in this ranking. It is also #3 on our “Best Architecture Bachelor’s Degree Schools in California” list. The yearly cost to attend Cal Poly San Luis Obispo is $21,595 for california bachelor’s degree architecture students.

The school has an impressive student loan default rate. It’s only 1.1%, which is much lower than the national rate of 10.1%. With a freshman retention rate of 94%, the school does an excellent job of retaining its students.

Read more about Architecture at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo

#5 in overall quality

Out of the 8 schools in the Best Value architecture Schools for a Bachelor’s in California that were part of this year’s ranking, California State Polytechnic University - Pomona landed the #2 spot on the list. California State Polytechnic University - Pomona is located in Pomona, California and, has a large student population. In 2019-2020, this school awarded 88 bachelors’s architecture degrees to qualified students.

As a testament to the quality of education offered at Cal Poly Pomona, the school also landed the #5 spot in our “Best Architecture Bachelor’s Degree Schools in California” ranking. The estimated yearly cost for California State Polytechnic University - Pomona is $12,734 for california bachelor’s degree architecture students.

The low student loan default rate of 1.7% is a good sign that students have an easier time paying off their loans than they might at other schools. For comparison, the national default rate is 10.1%. Students who start out at the school are likely to stick around. The freshman retention rate is 87%.

Read more about Architecture at California State Polytechnic University - Pomona

#1 in overall quality

You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend University of California - Berkeley. It ranked #3 on our 2022 Best Value architecture Schools for a Bachelor’s in California list. Berkeley, California is the setting for this large institution of higher learning. The public school handed out bachelors’s architecture degrees to 97 students in 2019-2020.

UC Berkeley also made our “Best Architecture Bachelor’s Degree Schools in California” list, coming in at #1. The estimated yearly cost for University of California - Berkeley is $15,329 for california bachelor’s degree architecture students.

Students who start out at the school are likely to stick around. The freshman retention rate is 96%. The student loan default rate at the school is 1.7%, which is quite low when compared to the national default rate of 10.1%.

Read full report on Architecture at University of California - Berkeley

#4

University of California - Los Angeles

Los Angeles, California
#7 in overall quality

You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around if you attend University of California - Los Angeles. The school came in at #4 for the Best Value architecture Schools for a Bachelor’s in California. UCLA is located in Los Angeles, California and, has a large student population. In 2019-2020, this school awarded 22 bachelors’s architecture degrees to qualified students.

UCLA not only placed well in this ranking. It is also #7 on our “Best Architecture Bachelor’s Degree Schools in California” list. It costs about $14,279 for california bachelor’s degree architecture students per year to attend UCLA.

The student loan default rate at the school is 1.0%, which is quite low when compared to the national default rate of 10.1%. The school has an excellent freshman retention rate of 96%, which means students like the school well enough to return for a second year.

Read full report on Architecture at UCLA

#5

Woodbury University

Burbank, California
#8 in overall quality

You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around if you attend Woodbury University. The school came in at #5 for the Best Value architecture Schools for a Bachelor’s in California. Woodbury is a small private not-for-profit school situated in Burbank, California. It awarded 13 bachelors’s architecture degrees in 2019-2020.

Woodbury also took the #8 spot in our “Best Architecture Bachelor’s Degree Schools in California” ranking. The estimated yearly cost for Woodbury University is $23,915 for california bachelor’s degree architecture students.

The school has an impressive student loan default rate. It’s only 1.8%, which is much lower than the national rate of 10.1%. With a student-to-faculty ratio of 10 to 1, it’s easy to see that the school is committed to helping their undergraduates succeed.

Read more about Architecture at Woodbury University

#6

University of San Francisco

San Francisco, California
#4 in overall quality

University of San Francisco came in at #6 in this year’s edition of the Best Value architecture Schools for a Bachelor’s in California ranking. This fairly large school is located in San Francisco, California, and it awarded 21 bachelors’s architecture degrees in 2019-2020.

USFCA did well in our major quality rankings, too. It placed #4 on our “Best Architecture Bachelor’s Degree Schools in California” list. The yearly cost to attend USFCA is $36,424 for California Bachelor’s Degree architecture students.

The low student loan default rate of 2.5% is a good sign that students have an easier time paying off their loans than they might at other schools. For comparison, the national default rate is 10.1%.

Full University of San Francisco Architecture Report

#7

California College of the Arts

San Francisco, California
#6 in overall quality

California College of the Arts landed the #7 spot on the 2022 Best Value architecture Schools for a Bachelor’s in California ranking. This small school is located in San Francisco, California, and it awarded 26 bachelors’s architecture degrees in 2019-2020.

As a testament to the quality of education offered at California College of the Arts, the school also landed the #6 spot in our “Best Architecture Bachelor’s Degree Schools in California” ranking. It costs about $33,876 for california bachelor’s degree architecture students per year to attend California College of the Arts.

With a student-to-faculty ratio of 8 to 1, it’s easy to see that the school is committed to helping their undergraduates succeed. The low student loan default rate of 4.3% is a good sign that students have an easier time paying off their loans than they might at other schools. For comparison, the national default rate is 10.1%.

Read full report on Architecture at California College of the Arts

#8

University of Southern California

Los Angeles, California
#2 in overall quality

University of Southern California ranked #8 on this year’s Best Value architecture Schools for a Bachelor’s in California list. Located in Los Angeles, California, this large private not-for-profit school awarded 9 diplomas to qualified bachelors’s architecture students in 2019-2020.

USC also made our “Best Architecture Bachelor’s Degree Schools in California” list, coming in at #2. It costs about $29,528 for california bachelor’s degree architecture students per year to attend USC.

Since the school has a student-to-faculty ratio of 9 to 1, those pursuing a degree will have more opportunities to interact with their professors. The student loan default rate at the school is 1.2%, which is quite low when compared to the national default rate of 10.1%. With a freshman retention rate of 91%, the school does an excellent job of retaining its students.

Full University of Southern California Architecture Report

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Notes and References

References

  • 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%.

Read more about our data sources and methodologies

Footnotes

  • *Average salary, average net price, and average tuition and fees are for the top schools only.
  • Some schools otherwise deserving of recognition may have been removed from this ranking in the event that new data identified post-publication warranted it, or at the request of the school.

Credits

  • Credit for the banner image above goes to Danichou.

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