2024 Best Computer Science Master's Degree Schools in California

Computer Science is of the hottest master's degree programs in the United States, coming in as the #17 most popular major in the country. 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 25 schools in order to identify the top ones for its Best Computer Science Master's Degree Schools in California ranking. When you put them all together, these colleges and universities awarded 3,164 master's degrees in computer science during the 2020-2021 academic year.

What's on this page: * Our Methodology

• Best Master’s Degree Schools List

Choosing a Great Computer Science School for Your Master's Degree

The compsci master's degree program you select can have a big impact on your future. This section explores some of the factors we include in our ranking and how much they vary depending on the school you select. Below we explain some of the most important factors to consider before making your choice:

Overall Quality Is a Must

The overall quality of a master's degree school is important to ensure a good education, not just how well they do in a particular major. To take this into account we include a school's overall Best Colleges for a Master's Degree ranking which itself looks at a collection of different factors like degree completion, educational resources, student body caliber and post-graduation earnings for the school as a whole.

Average Early-Career Salaries

Average early-career salary of those graduating with their master's degree is one indicator we use in our analysis to find the schools that offer the highest-quality education. After all, your master's degree won't mean much if it doesn't help you find a job that will help you earn a living.

Other Factors We Consider

The metrics below are just some of the other metrics that we use to determine our rankings.

• Major Focus - How much a school focuses on computer science students vs. other majors.
• Major Demand - The number of computer science students who choose to seek a master's degree at the school.
• Educational Resources - How many resources are allocated to students. These resources may include educational expenditures per student, number of students per instructor, and graduation rate among other things.
• Student Debt - How much debt computer science students go into to obtain their master's degree and how well they are able to pay back that debt.
• Accreditation - Whether a school is regionally accredited and/or accredited by a recognized computer science related body.

Our complete ranking methodology documents in more detail how we consider these factors to identify the best colleges for computer science students working on their master's degree.

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 Computer Science Master's Degree Schools in California ranking, along with many other major-related rankings, to help you make that decision.

 

Best Schools for Master’s Students to Study Computer Science in California

Below you'll see a list of the best colleges and universities for pursuing a master's degree in computer science.

10 Top California Schools for a Master's in CompSci

1

Stanford University
Stanford, CA

332 Annual Graduates

$159,729 Median Starting Salary

Any student who is interested in a master's degree in computer science has to look into Stanford University. Located in the suburb of Stanford, Stanford is a private not-for-profit university with a fairly large student population.

Those computer science students who get their master's degree from Stanford University receive $49,323 more than the standard compsci student.

More information about a master’s in computer science from Stanford University

2

University of Southern California
Los Angeles, CA

1,066 Annual Graduates

$110,796 Median Starting Salary

University of Southern California is one of the best schools in the United States for getting a master's degree in computer science. Located in the city of Los Angeles, USC is a private not-for-profit university with a very large student population.

Master's graduates who receive their degree from the compsci program earn an average of $110,796 in their early career salary.

More information about a master’s in computer science from University of Southern California

3

University of California - San Diego
La Jolla, CA

308 Annual Graduates

$127,768 Median Starting Salary

It's difficult to beat University of California - San Diego if you want to pursue a master's degree in computer science. Located in the city of La Jolla, UCSD is a public university with a fairly large student population.

Computer Science master's degree recipients from University of California - San Diego receive an earnings boost of approximately $17,362 over the average income of computer science majors.

More information about a master’s in computer science from University of California - San Diego

4

University of California - Irvine
Irvine, CA

164 Annual Graduates

It's difficult to beat University of California - Irvine if you wish to pursue a master's degree in computer science. Located in the large city of Irvine, UC Irvine is a public university with a very large student population.More information about a master’s in computer science from University of California - Irvine

5

University of California - Santa Barbara
Santa Barbara, CA

28 Annual Graduates

UCSB is a fairly large public university located in the medium-sized suburb of Santa Barbara.More information about a master’s in computer science from University of California - Santa Barbara

6

California Polytechnic State University - San Luis Obispo
San Luis Obispo, CA

28 Annual Graduates

Cal Poly San Luis Obispo is a very large public university located in the small suburb of San Luis Obispo.More information about a master’s in computer science from California Polytechnic State University - San Luis Obispo

7

University of California - Santa Cruz
Santa Cruz, CA

52 Annual Graduates

Located in the city of Santa Cruz, UC Santa Cruz is a public university with a fairly large student population.More information about a master’s in computer science from University of California - Santa Cruz

8

University of San Francisco
San Francisco, CA

50 Annual Graduates

Located in the large city of San Francisco, USFCA is a private not-for-profit university with a moderately-sized student population.More information about a master’s in computer science from University of San Francisco

9

University of California - Riverside
Riverside, CA

97 Annual Graduates

UCR is a very large public university located in the city of Riverside.More information about a master’s in computer science from University of California - Riverside

10

San Diego State University
San Diego, CA

86 Annual Graduates

Located in the large city of San Diego, SDSU is a public university with a fairly large student population.More information about a master’s in computer science from San Diego State University

Best Computer Science Colleges in the Far Western US Region

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

State	Colleges	Degrees Awarded
Washington	183	227
Oregon	158	185
Nevada	105	17
Hawaii	85	17
Alaska	52	2

View All Rankings >

Computer Science Related Rankings by Major

Computer Science is one of 10 different types of Computer & Information Sciences programs to choose from.

CompSci Concentrations

Major	Annual Graduates
Computer Science	3,164

Majors Similar to CompSci

Related Major	Annual Graduates
Computer Information Systems	540
Information Science	444
Computer Software & Applications	416
Information Technology	348
Data Processing	91
Computer Systems Networking	23

Notes and References

• The bars on the spread charts above show the distribution of the schools on this list +/- one standard deviation from the mean.
• 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 Negative Space. More about our data sources and methodologies.