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2022 Best Value Bachelor’s Degree Colleges for Communication & Media Studies in California

5 Ranked Colleges
445 Degrees Awarded
$26,500 Avg Net Price*
Best Value Media Studies Schools for a Bachelor's in California

When it comes to choosing a college, students have a lot of options - but not all of them are good. 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 Media Studies Schools for a Bachelor’s in California” ranking is part of that endeavor.

In 2019-2020, 10,951 people earned their degree in communication and media studies, making the major the 74th most popular in the United States.

Across California, there were 451 communication and media studies graduates with average earnings and debt of $0 and $0 respectively. At the bachelor’s degree level specifically, there were 445 communication and media studies graduates with average earnings and debt of $37,907 and $21,546 respectively.

This year’s “Best Value Media Studies Schools for a Bachelor’s in California” ranking analyzed 5 colleges that offered a degree in communication and media studies. The schools that top this list are recognized because they have great communication and media studies programs and cost less that schools of similar quality.

When determining these rankings, we looked at things such as overall quality of the communication and media studies program at the school and the cost to attend the school once aid has been awarded. See our ranking methodology to learn more.

One Size Does Not Fit All

Since picking the right college can be one of the most important decisions of your life, we’ve developed the “Best Value Media Studies Schools for a Bachelor’s in California” ranking, along with many other major-related rankings, to help you make that decision.

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. 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 Media Studies Schools for a Bachelor’s in California

The colleges and universities below are the best for california bachelor’s degree media studies students.

Top 5 Best Value Bachelor’s Degree Colleges for Communication & Media Studies in California

#4 in overall quality

You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend California State University - San Marcos. It ranked #1 on our 2022 Best Value Media Studies Schools for a Bachelor’s in California list. CSUSM is a public institution located in San Marcos, California. The school has a fairly large population, and it awarded 43 bachelors’s degrees in 2019-2020.

In addition to being on our california bachelor’s degree media studies students list, CSUSM has also earned the #4 rank in our “Best Communication & Media Studies Bachelor’s Degree Schools in California” ranking. The estimated yearly cost for CSUSM is $13,399 for California Bachelor’s Degree Media Studies students.

The low student loan default rate of 4.2% 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 more about Communication & Media Studies at California State University - San Marcos

#1 in overall quality

You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around if you attend University of California - Berkeley. The school came in at #2 for the Best Value Media Studies Schools for a Bachelor’s in California. Located in Berkeley, California, this large public school awarded 284 diplomas to qualified bachelors’s media studies students in 2019-2020.

UC Berkeley also took the #1 spot in our “Best Communication & Media Studies Bachelor’s Degree Schools in California” ranking. The yearly cost to attend UC Berkeley is $15,329 for California Bachelor’s Degree Media Studies students.

The school has an impressive student loan default rate. It’s only 1.7%, which is much lower than the national rate of 10.1%. Students who start out at the school are likely to stick around. The freshman retention rate is 96%.

Full University of California - Berkeley Communication & Media Studies Report

#3

Point Loma Nazarene University

San Diego, California
#5 in overall quality

You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around if you attend Point Loma Nazarene University. The school came in at #3 for the Best Value Media Studies Schools for a Bachelor’s in California. Point Loma Nazarene University is located in San Diego, California and, has a small student population. In 2019-2020, this school awarded 4 bachelors’s media studies degrees to qualified students.

PLNU also took the #5 spot in our “Best Communication & Media Studies Bachelor’s Degree Schools in California” ranking. The yearly cost to attend PLNU is $33,044 for California Bachelor’s Degree Media Studies students.

The student loan default rate at the school is 2.4%, which is quite low when compared to the national default rate of 10.1%.

Read more about Communication & Media Studies at Point Loma Nazarene University

#4

University of San Francisco

San Francisco, California
#3 in overall quality

You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend University of San Francisco. It ranked #4 on our 2022 Best Value Media Studies Schools for a Bachelor’s in California list. Located in San Francisco, California, this fairly large private not-for-profit school handed out 37 degrees to qualified bachelors’s media studies students in 2019-2020.

USFCA also made our “Best Communication & Media Studies Bachelor’s Degree Schools in California” list, coming in at #3. The estimated yearly cost for University of San Francisco is $36,424 for California Bachelor’s Degree Media Studies students.

The school has an impressive student loan default rate. It’s only 2.5%, which is much lower than the national rate of 10.1%.

Read full report on Communication & Media Studies at University of San Francisco

#5

Pitzer College

Claremont, California
#2 in overall quality

You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around if you attend Pitzer College. The school came in at #5 for the Best Value Media Studies Schools for a Bachelor’s in California. This small school is located in Claremont, California, and it awarded 19 bachelors’s media studies degrees in 2019-2020.

In addition to being on our california bachelor’s degree media studies students list, Pitzer has also earned the #2 rank in our “Best Communication & Media Studies Bachelor’s Degree Schools in California” ranking. It costs about $34,071 for California Bachelor’s Degree Media Studies students per year to attend Pitzer.

The impressive student-to-faculty ratio of 9 to 1 means that students may have more opportunities to work more closely with their professors than they would at other schools. The school has an impressive student loan default rate. It’s only 3.5%, which is much lower than the national rate of 10.1%.

Read more about Communication & Media Studies at Pitzer College

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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.

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