2022 Best Value Bachelor’s Degree Colleges for Information Technology in California

It’s not easy to decide which college to attend when there so many options available for students. 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 IT Schools for a Bachelor’s in California” ranking is part of that endeavor.

In 2019-2020, 38,958 people earned their degree in information technology, making the major the 46th most popular in the United States. In 2017-2018, information technology graduates who were awarded their degree in 2015-2017, earned an average of $39,044 and had an average of $25,781 in loans still to pay off.

Across California, there were 1,873 information technology graduates with average earnings and debt of $39,953 and $19,503 respectively. At the bachelor’s degree level specifically, there were 214 information technology graduates with average earnings and debt of $37,907 and $21,546 respectively.

For this year’s “Best Value IT Schools for a Bachelor’s in California” ranking, we looked at 4 colleges that offer a degree in information technology. This ranking identifies schools with high-quality information technology programs that also have a lower cost than schools of similar quality.

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

More Ways to Rank Information Technology Schools

The it 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 “Best Value IT Schools for a Bachelor’s in California”.

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. Test it out by comparing your favorite schools against others you are considering, or bookmark the tool so you can experiment with it later.

Best Value IT Schools for a Bachelor’s in California

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

Top 4 Best Value Bachelor’s Degree Colleges for Information Technology in California

#1

University of California - Santa Cruz

Santa Cruz, California

#1 in overall quality

$18,186 Average Net Price

$61,516 Average Early-Career Earnings

Out of the 4 schools in the Best Value IT Schools for a Bachelor’s in California that were part of this year’s ranking, University of California - Santa Cruz landed the #1 spot on the list. University of California - Santa Cruz is a fairly large school located in Santa Cruz, California that handed out 143 bachelors’s IT degrees in 2019-2020.

As a testament to the quality of education offered at UC Santa Cruz, the school also landed the #1 spot in our “Best Information Technology Bachelor’s Degree Schools in California” ranking. The estimated yearly cost for University of California - Santa Cruz is $18,186 for California Bachelor’s Degree IT students.

The low student loan default rate of 2.9% 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 85%, which means students like the school well enough to return for a second year.

Full University of California - Santa Cruz Information Technology Report

#2

University of Phoenix - California

Costa Mesa, California

#4 in overall quality

$12,664 Average Net Price

$50,328 Average Early-Career Earnings

Out of the 4 schools in the Best Value IT Schools for a Bachelor’s in California that were part of this year’s ranking, University of Phoenix - California landed the #2 spot on the list. UOPX - California is located in Costa Mesa, California and, has a small student population. In 2019-2020, this school awarded 3 bachelors’s IT degrees to qualified students.

As a testament to the quality of education offered at UOPX - California, the school also landed the #4 spot in our “Best Information Technology Bachelor’s Degree Schools in California” ranking. It costs about $12,664 for California Bachelor’s Degree IT students per year to attend University of Phoenix - California.

Read more about Information Technology at UOPX - California

#3

National University

La Jolla, California

#2 in overall quality

$60,523 Average Early-Career Earnings

You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend National University. It ranked #3 on our 2022 Best Value IT Schools for a Bachelor’s in California list. National University is located in La Jolla, California and, has a fairly large student population. In 2019-2020, this school awarded 62 bachelors’s IT degrees to qualified students.

National University also took the #2 spot in our “Best Information Technology Bachelor’s Degree Schools in California” ranking.

The student loan default rate at the school is 4.5%, which is quite low when compared to the national default rate of 10.1%.

Full National University Information Technology Report

#4

California Baptist University

Riverside, California

#3 in overall quality

$24,707 Average Net Price

You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend California Baptist University. It ranked #4 on our 2022 Best Value IT Schools for a Bachelor’s in California list. California Baptist University is a private not-for-profit institution located in Riverside, California. The school has a fairly large population, and it awarded 5 bachelors’s degrees in 2019-2020.

As a testament to the quality of education offered at Cal Baptist, the school also landed the #3 spot in our “Best Information Technology Bachelor’s Degree Schools in California” ranking. It costs about $24,707 for california bachelor’s degree it students per year to attend California Baptist University.

The student loan default rate at the school is 4.6%, which is quite low when compared to the national default rate of 10.1%.

Read full report on Information Technology at Cal Baptist

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

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 Craig Dennis.

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