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2024 Best Accounting Schools in California

60 Colleges in California
6,896 Accounting Degrees Awarded
$49,491 Avg Early-Career Salary
Ranked #8 in popularity, accounting is one of the most sought-after degree programs in the nation. So, there are lots of possibilities to explore when you're trying to determine where you want to get your degree.

In 2024, College Factual analyzed 60 schools in order to identify the top ones for its Best Accounting Schools in California ranking. When you put them all together, these colleges and universities awarded 6,896 degrees in accounting during the 2020-2021 academic year.

Jump to one of the following sections: * Degree-Level Rankings

Choosing a Great Accounting School

Best Accounting Schools in California Your choice of accounting school matters, so we have put together these rankings to help you make your decision. In order to come up with a best overall ranking for accounting schools, we combine our degree-level rankings, weighting them by the number of degrees awarded at each level.

You may want to choose one of the degree levels below to find the schools of most interest to you.

Accounting Rankings by Degree Level

Associate Degrees in Accounting
Bachelor's Degrees in Accounting
Master's Degrees in Accounting

The accounting 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 Accounting Schools in California. More interested in schools in a specific area of the country? Filter this list by region or state.

To further help you make the college decision, we've developed a unique tool called College Combat that allows you to compare schools based on the factors that matter the most to you. Go ahead and give it a try, or bookmark the link so you can check it out later.

Read more about College Factual's methodology.


 

Best Schools for Accounting in California

If you aren't interested in a particular degree level and want to know which schools are the overall best at delivering an education for the accounting degrees they offer, see the list below.

10 Top California Schools in Accounting

1
Bachelor's Degree Highest Degree Type
175 Accounting Degrees Awarded
$65,130 Median Starting Salary

Every student who is interested in accounting needs to check out University of Southern California. USC is a fairly large private not-for-profit university located in the large city of Los Angeles. A Best Colleges rank of #11 out of 2,217 colleges nationwide means USC is a great university overall.

There were roughly 175 accounting students who graduated with this degree at USC in the most recent data year. Accounting degree recipients from University of Southern California receive an earnings boost of approximately $15,638 over the average income of accounting majors.

More information about a degree in accounting from University of Southern California

2
SCU crest
Santa Clara University
Santa Clara, CA
Graduate Certificate Highest Degree Type
159 Accounting Degrees Awarded
6.9% Growth in Graduates

Santa Clara University is one of the finest schools in the United States for getting a 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. A Best Colleges rank of #50 out of 2,217 schools nationwide means SCU is a great university overall.

There were approximately 159 accounting students who graduated with this degree at SCU in the most recent data year. Degree recipients from the accounting degree program at Santa Clara University get $18,337 more than the typical college graduate with the same degree when they enter the workforce.

More information about a degree in accounting from Santa Clara University

3
Master's Degree Highest Degree Type
56 Accounting Degrees Awarded
12.5% Growth in Graduates

Any student who is interested in accounting has to look into Saint Mary's College of California. SMC is a small private not-for-profit college located in the suburb of Moraga. A Best Colleges rank of #188 out of 2,217 colleges nationwide means SMC is a great college overall.

There were approximately 56 accounting students who graduated with this degree at SMC in the most recent year we have data available. Those accounting students who get their degree from Saint Mary's College of California make $18,016 more than the typical accounting grad.

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

4
Master's Degree Highest Degree Type
92 Accounting Degrees Awarded
$62,809 Median Starting Salary

University of San Diego is one of the finest schools in the country for getting a degree in accounting. USD is a moderately-sized private not-for-profit university located in the large city of San Diego. A Best Colleges rank of #187 out of 2,217 schools nationwide means USD is a great university overall.

There were about 92 accounting students who graduated with this degree at USD in the most recent data year. Degree recipients from the accounting degree program at University of San Diego earn $13,318 more than the standard graduate with the same degree shortly after graduation.

More information about a degree in accounting from University of San Diego

5
Master's Degree Highest Degree Type
54 Accounting Degrees Awarded
5.6% Growth in Graduates

Loyola Marymount is a fairly large private not-for-profit university located in the large city of Los Angeles. A Best Colleges rank of #135 out of 2,217 colleges nationwide means Loyola Marymount is a great university overall.

There were roughly 54 accounting students who graduated with this degree at Loyola Marymount in the most recent data year. Accounting degree recipients from Loyola Marymount University receive an earnings boost of around $16,698 over the average earnings of accounting graduates.

More information about a degree in accounting from Loyola Marymount University

6
Master's Degree Highest Degree Type
32 Accounting Degrees Awarded
$70,847 Median Starting Salary

Located in the city of San Francisco, Golden Gate University - San Francisco is a private not-for-profit university with a small student population. A Best Colleges rank of #181 out of 2,217 schools nationwide means Golden Gate University - San Francisco is a great university overall.

There were roughly 32 accounting students who graduated with this degree at Golden Gate University - San Francisco in the most recent year we have data available. Those accounting students who get their degree from Golden Gate University - San Francisco receive $21,356 more than the typical accounting grad.

More information about a degree in accounting from Golden Gate University - San Francisco

7
Master's Degree Highest Degree Type
338 Accounting Degrees Awarded
1.2% Growth in Graduates

Located in the city of Northridge, CSUN is a public university with a very large student population. This university ranks 49th out of 168 schools for overall quality in the state of California.

There were approximately 338 accounting students who graduated with this degree at CSUN in the most recent year we have data available. Accounting degree recipients from California State University - Northridge receive an earnings boost of approximately $14,144 above the typical income of accounting graduates.

More information about a degree in accounting from California State University - Northridge

8
Master's Degree Highest Degree Type
48 Accounting Degrees Awarded
$61,856 Median Starting Salary

Chapman is a fairly large private not-for-profit university located in the midsize city of Orange. A Best Colleges rank of #191 out of 2,217 colleges nationwide means Chapman is a great university overall.

There were approximately 48 accounting students who graduated with this degree at Chapman in the most recent year we have data available. Accounting degree recipients from Chapman University earn a boost of about $12,365 over the average income of accounting graduates.

More information about a degree in accounting from Chapman University

9
Master's Degree Highest Degree Type
34 Accounting Degrees Awarded
$56,520 Median Starting Salary

SDSU is a very large public university located in the large city of San Diego. A Best Colleges rank of #141 out of 2,217 colleges nationwide means SDSU is a great university overall.

There were approximately 34 accounting students who graduated with this degree at SDSU in the most recent year we have data available. Accounting degree recipients from San Diego State University earn a boost of approximately $7,028 over the average income of accounting graduates.

More information about a degree in accounting from San Diego State University

10
Master's Degree Highest Degree Type
42 Accounting Degrees Awarded
$65,097 Median Starting Salary

Located in the small suburb of Davis, UC Davis is a public university with a fairly large student population. A Best Colleges rank of #52 out of 2,217 schools nationwide means UC Davis is a great university overall.

There were roughly 42 accounting students who graduated with this degree at UC Davis in the most recent year we have data available. Those accounting students who get their degree from University of California - Davis earn $15,606 more than the typical accounting grad.

More information about a degree in accounting from University of California - Davis


 

Additional Noteworthy Schools

Here are some additional great schools for Accounting students in the state of California that almost earned our Best Accounting Schools in California award.

Rank College Location
11 University of San Francisco San Francisco, CA
12 College of the Canyons Santa Clarita, CA
13 Mt. San Antonio College Walnut, CA
14 University of Redlands Redlands, CA
14 California Polytechnic State University - San Luis Obispo San Luis Obispo, CA
15 Pepperdine University Malibu, CA

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 300 1,628
Oregon 266 718
Nevada 192 396
Hawaii 164 215
Alaska 119 135

View All Rankings >

Accounting is one of 21 different types of Business, Management & Marketing programs to choose from.

Accounting Concentrations

Major Annual Graduates
Accounting Technology/Technician and Bookkeeping 4,496
Accounting 2,165
Accounting and Business/Management 203
Accounting and Finance 16
Other Accounting and Related Services 16

View All Accounting Focus Areas >

Related Major Annual Graduates
Business Administration & Management 64,206
Management Sciences & Quantitative Methods 4,566
General Business/Commerce 3,103
Business Support & Assistant Services 2,490
Human Resource Management 1,824
Finance & Financial Management 1,542
Real Estate 1,389
Marketing 1,368
Business/Managerial Economics 1,248
Hospitality Management 1,094

View All Accounting Related Majors >

Notes and References

More about our data sources and methodologies.

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