2022 Best Value Bachelor’s Degree Colleges for Information Science 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 IS Schools for a Bachelor’s in California” ranking is part of that endeavor.

Information Science is the 56th most popular major in the country with 18,368 degrees awarded in 2019-2020. In 2017-2018, information science graduates who were awarded their degree in 2015-2017, earned an average of $58,848 and had an average of $32,600 in loans still to pay off.

Across California, there were 429 information science graduates with average earnings and debt of $83,550 and $37,755 respectively. At the bachelor’s degree level specifically, there were 32 information science graduates with average earnings and debt of $37,907 and $21,546 respectively.

For this year’s “Best Value IS Schools for a Bachelor’s in California” ranking, we looked at 3 colleges that offer a degree in information science. The schools that top this list are recognized because they have great information science programs and cost less that schools of similar quality.

Some of the factors we look at when determining these rankings are overall quality of the information science program at the school and the cost of the school after aid is awarded among other things. Check out our ranking methodology for more information.

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 IS Schools for a Bachelor’s in California” ranking, along with many other major-related rankings, to help you make that 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. When you have some time, check it out - you may want to bookmark the link so you don’t forget it.

Best Value IS Schools for a Bachelor’s in California

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

Top 3 Best Value Bachelor’s Degree Colleges for Information Science in California

#1

University of California - Riverside

Riverside, California

#2 in overall quality

$12,871 Average Net Price

Out of the 3 schools in the Best Value IS Schools for a Bachelor’s in California that were part of this year’s ranking, University of California - Riverside landed the #1 spot on the list. This large school is located in Riverside, California, and it awarded 26 bachelors’s IS degrees in 2019-2020.

As a testament to the quality of education offered at UCR, the school also landed the #2 spot in our “Best Information Science Bachelor’s Degree Schools in California” ranking. The estimated yearly cost for University of California - Riverside is $12,871 for california bachelor’s degree is students.

The low student loan default rate of 2.1% 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%. The school has an excellent freshman retention rate of 91%, which means students like the school well enough to return for a second year.

Full University of California - Riverside Information Science Report

#2

California Lutheran University

Thousand Oaks, California

#3 in overall quality

$26,489 Average Net Price

Out of the 3 schools in the Best Value IS Schools for a Bachelor’s in California that were part of this year’s ranking, California Lutheran University landed the #2 spot on the list. Located in Thousand Oaks, California, this small private not-for-profit school handed out 5 diplomas to qualified bachelors’s IS students in 2019-2020.

CLU not only placed well in this ranking. It is also #3 on our “Best Information Science Bachelor’s Degree Schools in California” list. It costs about $26,489 for california bachelor’s degree is students per year to attend CLU.

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%.

Read more about Information Science at California Lutheran University

#3

California Institute of Technology

Pasadena, California

#1 in overall quality

$24,274 Average Net Price

Out of the 3 schools in the Best Value IS Schools for a Bachelor’s in California that were part of this year’s ranking, California Institute of Technology landed the #3 spot on the list. Caltech is a private not-for-profit institution located in Pasadena, California. The school has a small population, and it awarded 1 bachelors’s degrees in 2019-2020.

Caltech not only placed well in this ranking. It is also #1 on our “Best Information Science Bachelor’s Degree Schools in California” list. The yearly cost to attend Caltech is $24,274 for California Bachelor’s Degree IS students.

The school has an impressive student loan default rate. It’s only 1.0%, which is much lower than the national rate of 10.1%. With a student-to-faculty ratio of 3 to 1, it’s easy to see that the school is committed to helping their undergraduates succeed. Students who start out at the school are likely to stick around. The freshman retention rate is 94%.

Full California Institute of Technology Information Science Report

• Best Value Bachelor’s Degree Colleges for Information Science in the Far Western US Region
• Best Value Bachelor’s Degree Colleges for Information Science

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 The Opte Project.

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