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2024 Best Accounting Bachelor's Degree Schools in California

26 Colleges in California
1,424 Bachelor's Degrees
$53,678 Avg Early-Career Salary
Accounting is of the hottest bachelor's degree programs in the United States, coming in as the #8 most popular major in the country. This means there are lots of options to choose from when you decide to get your degree.

College Factual reviewed 26 schools in California to determine which ones were the best for bachelor's degree seekers in the field of accounting. When you put them all together, these colleges and universities awarded 1,424 bachelor's degrees in accounting during the 2020-2021 academic year.

Jump to one of the following sections: * Our Methodology

Choosing a Great Accounting School for Your Bachelor's Degree

Best Accounting Bachelor's Degree Schools in California Your choice of accounting for getting your bachelor's degree school matters. This section explores some of the factors we include in our ranking and how much they vary depending on the school you select. To make it into this list, a school must excel in the following areas.

A Great Overall School

A school that excels in educating for a particular major and degree level must be a great school overall as well. To make it into this list a school must rank well in our overall Best Colleges ranking. This ranking considered factors such as graduation rates, overall graduate earnings and other educational resources to identify great colleges and universities.

Early-Career Earnings

One measure we use to determine the quality of a school is to look at the average salary of bachelor's graduates during the early years of their career. That is, everyone wants their bachelor's degree to be worth something, and salaries are one measure of determining that.

Other Factors We Consider

In addition to the above, you should consider some of the following factors:

Our full ranking methodology documents in more detail how we consider these factors to identify the best colleges for accounting students working on their bachelor's degree.

One Size Does Not Fit All

Rankings by Location Check Out Other Locales
More Accounting Rankings Other Ranking Categories

Since picking the right college can be one of the most important decisions of your life, we've developed the Best Accounting Bachelor's Degree Schools in California ranking, along with many other major-related rankings, to help you make that decision.

In addition to our rankings, you can take two colleges and compare them based on the criteria that matters most to you in our unique tool, College Combat. Test it out when you get a chance! You may also want to bookmark the link and share it with others who are trying to make the college decision.


 

Best Schools for Bachelor’s Students to Study Accounting in California

Below you'll see a list of the best colleges and universities for pursuing a bachelor's degree in accounting.

10 Top California Schools for a Bachelor's in Accounting

1
175 Annual Graduates
$64,797 Median Starting Salary
$16,500 Median Student Debt

It's hard to beat University of Southern California if you wish to pursue a bachelor's degree in accounting. USC is a very large private not-for-profit university located in the city of Los Angeles.

Those accounting students who get their bachelor's degree from University of Southern California receive $11,119 more than the standard accounting grad.

More information about a bachelor’s in accounting from University of Southern California

2
SCU crest
Santa Clara University
Santa Clara, CA
101 Annual Graduates
$67,828 Median Starting Salary
$19,250 Median Student Debt

Santa Clara University is one of the best schools in the country for getting a bachelor's degree in accounting. Located in the medium-sized city of Santa Clara, SCU is a private not-for-profit university with a medium-sized student population.

Accounting bachelor's degree recipients from Santa Clara University receive an earnings boost of approximately $14,150 over the average earnings of accounting majors.

More information about a bachelor’s in accounting from Santa Clara University

3
44 Annual Graduates
$66,189 Median Starting Salary
$17,000 Median Student Debt

Loyola Marymount University is a good choice for students pursuing a bachelor's degree in accounting. Loyola Marymount is a large private not-for-profit university located in the large city of Los Angeles.

Accounting bachelor's degree recipients from Loyola Marymount University earn a boost of approximately $12,511 above the average earnings of accounting majors.

More information about a bachelor’s in accounting from Loyola Marymount University

4
79 Annual Graduates
$62,809 Median Starting Salary
$24,969 Median Student Debt

It's hard to beat University of San Diego if you wish to pursue a bachelor's degree in accounting. USD is a medium-sized private not-for-profit university located in the large city of San Diego.

Accounting bachelor's degree recipients from University of San Diego receive an earnings boost of about $9,131 above the average earnings of accounting majors.

More information about a bachelor’s in accounting from University of San Diego

5
24 Annual Graduates
$64,833 Median Starting Salary
$25,000 Median Student Debt

SMC is a small private not-for-profit college located in the suburb of Moraga.

Accounting bachelor's degree recipients from Saint Mary's College of California receive an earnings boost of approximately $11,155 over the typical income of accounting graduates.

More information about a bachelor’s in accounting from Saint Mary’s College of California

6
287 Annual Graduates
$58,795 Median Starting Salary
$15,810 Median Student Debt

Located in the large city of Northridge, CSUN is a public university with a fairly large student population.

Accounting bachelor's degree recipients from California State University - Northridge get an earnings boost of approximately $5,117 over the average earnings of accounting graduates.

More information about a bachelor’s in accounting from California State University - Northridge

7
34 Annual Graduates
$61,856 Median Starting Salary
$21,250 Median Student Debt

Chapman is a fairly large private not-for-profit university located in the midsize city of Orange.

Bachelor's recipients from the accounting degree program at Chapman University earn $8,178 above the typical college grad with the same degree shortly after graduation.

More information about a bachelor’s in accounting from Chapman University

8
USFCA crest
University of San Francisco
San Francisco, CA
37 Annual Graduates
$61,959 Median Starting Salary
$24,660 Median Student Debt

USFCA is a medium-sized private not-for-profit university located in the large city of San Francisco.

Those accounting students who get their bachelor's degree from University of San Francisco make $8,281 more than the standard accounting graduate.

More information about a bachelor’s in accounting from University of San Francisco

9
14 Annual Graduates
$63,777 Median Starting Salary
$27,000 Median Student Debt

Located in the small city of Redlands, University of Redlands is a private not-for-profit university with a small student population.

Accounting bachelor's degree recipients from University of Redlands earn a boost of approximately $10,099 over the average income of accounting graduates.

More information about a bachelor’s in accounting from University of Redlands

10

Located in the large suburb of Malibu, Pepperdine is a private not-for-profit university with a large student population.

Those accounting students who get their bachelor's degree from Pepperdine University receive $5,672 more than the standard accounting student.

More information about a bachelor’s in accounting from Pepperdine University

Best Accounting Colleges in the Far Western US Region

Explore all the Best Accounting Schools in the Far Western US Area or other specific states within that region.

State Colleges Degrees Awarded
Washington 226 1,049
Oregon 185 517
Nevada 129 263
Hawaii 112 132
Alaska 75 78

View All Rankings >

One of 21 majors within the Business, Management & Marketing area of study, Accounting has other similar majors worth exploring.

Accounting Concentrations

Major Annual Graduates
Accounting 1,337
Accounting and Business/Management 87

Majors Similar to Accounting

Related Major Annual Graduates
Business Administration & Management 30,720
Business/Managerial Economics 1,230
Finance & Financial Management 1,199
Marketing 1,199
Management Sciences & Quantitative Methods 898
Hospitality Management 716
General Business/Commerce 526
Human Resource Management 427
International Business 395
Management Information Systems 264

Notes and References

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