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2022 Best Value United States Studies Schools for a Bachelor’s in California

8 Ranked Colleges
234 Degrees Awarded
$15,200 Avg Net Price*
Best Value United States 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. One of our goals at College Factual is to give you as much information as we can - such as our “Best Value United States Studies Schools for a Bachelor’s in California” ranking - to help you make that decision.

In 2019-2020, 1,596 people earned their degree in American U.S. studies, making the major the 309th most popular in the United States.

Across California, there were 432 American U.S. studies graduates with average earnings and debt of $0 and $0 respectively. At the bachelor’s degree level specifically, there were 234 American U.S. studies graduates with average earnings and debt of $37,907 and $21,546 respectively.

This year’s “Best Value United States Studies Schools for a Bachelor’s in California” ranking analyzed 8 colleges that offered a degree in American U.S. studies. The schools that top this list are recognized because they have great American U.S. studies 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 American U.S. studies program at the school and the cost of the school after aid is awarded among other things. For more information, check out our ranking methodology.

One Size Does Not Fit All

When choosing the right school for you, it’s important to arm yourself with all the facts you can. To that end, we’ve created a number of major-specific rankings, including this “Best Value United States Studies Schools for a Bachelor’s in California” list to help you make the college 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. 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 United States Studies Schools for a Bachelor’s in California

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

Top 8 Best Value Bachelor’s Degree Colleges for American U.S. Studies in California

#4 in overall quality

You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend California State University - Long Beach. It ranked #1 on our 2022 Best Value United States Studies Schools for a Bachelor’s in California list. Long Beach, California is the setting for this large institution of higher learning. The public school handed out bachelors’s United States studies degrees to 36 students in 2019-2020.

As a testament to the quality of education offered at CSULB, the school also landed the #4 spot in our “Best American U.S. Studies Bachelor’s Degree Schools in California” ranking. The yearly cost to attend CSULB is $9,622 for California Bachelor’s Degree United States Studies students.

The school has an excellent freshman retention rate of 89%, which means students like the school well enough to return for a second year. The school has an impressive student loan default rate. It’s only 1.6%, which is much lower than the national rate of 10.1%.

Read full report on American U.S. Studies at California State University - Long Beach

#2 in overall quality

You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend University of California - Berkeley. It ranked #2 on our 2022 Best Value United States Studies Schools for a Bachelor’s in California list. University of California - Berkeley is a public institution located in Berkeley, California. The school has a large population, and it awarded 79 bachelors’s degrees in 2019-2020.

UC Berkeley also made our “Best American U.S. Studies Bachelor’s Degree Schools in California” list, coming in at #2. The estimated yearly cost for University of California - Berkeley is $15,329 for California Bachelor’s Degree United States Studies students.

The student loan default rate at the school is 1.7%, which is quite low when compared to the national default rate of 10.1%. Students who start out at the school are likely to stick around. The freshman retention rate is 96%.

Read more about American U.S. Studies at UC Berkeley

#3

San Francisco State University

San Francisco, California
#7 in overall quality

Out of the 8 schools in the Best Value United States Studies Schools for a Bachelor’s in California that were part of this year’s ranking, San Francisco State University landed the #3 spot on the list. This large school is located in San Francisco, California, and it awarded 4 bachelors’s United States studies degrees in 2019-2020.

In addition to being on our california bachelor’s degree united states studies students list, SFSU has also earned the #7 rank in our “Best American U.S. Studies Bachelor’s Degree Schools in California” ranking. It costs about $15,113 for california bachelor’s degree united states studies students per year to attend San Francisco State University.

Full SFSU American U.S. Studies Report

#6 in overall quality

You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend California State University - Fullerton. It ranked #4 on our 2022 Best Value United States Studies Schools for a Bachelor’s in California list. Cal State Fullerton is located in Fullerton, California and, has a large student population. In 2019-2020, this school awarded 67 bachelors’s United States studies degrees to qualified students.

As a testament to the quality of education offered at Cal State Fullerton, the school also landed the #6 spot in our “Best American U.S. Studies Bachelor’s Degree Schools in California” ranking. The yearly cost to attend California State University - Fullerton is $7,991 for california bachelor’s degree united states studies students.

The low student loan default rate of 2.7% 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%. Students who start out at the school are likely to stick around. The freshman retention rate is 89%.

Read more about American U.S. Studies at Cal State Fullerton

#5 in overall quality

Out of the 8 schools in the Best Value United States Studies Schools for a Bachelor’s in California that were part of this year’s ranking, University of California - Davis landed the #5 spot on the list. Davis, California is the setting for this large institution of higher learning. The public school handed out bachelors’s United States studies degrees to 16 students in 2019-2020.

UC Davis not only placed well in this ranking. It is also #5 on our “Best American U.S. Studies Bachelor’s Degree Schools in California” list. The yearly cost to attend UC Davis is $14,669 for california bachelor’s degree united states studies students.

The student loan default rate at the school is 1.9%, which is quite low when compared to the national default rate of 10.1%. With a freshman retention rate of 93%, the school does an excellent job of retaining its students.

Full University of California - Davis American U.S. Studies Report

#6

University of California - Santa Cruz

Santa Cruz, California
#8 in overall quality

University of California - Santa Cruz did quite well in the 2022 Best Value United States Studies Schools for a Bachelor’s in California ranking, coming in at #6. University of California - Santa Cruz is a public institution located in Santa Cruz, California. The school has a fairly large population, and it awarded 1 bachelors’s degrees in 2019-2020.

In addition to being on our california bachelor’s degree united states studies students list, UC Santa Cruz has also earned the #8 rank in our “Best American U.S. Studies Bachelor’s Degree Schools in California” ranking. It costs about $18,186 for california bachelor’s degree united states studies students per year to attend University of California - Santa Cruz.

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%. Students who start out at the school are likely to stick around. The freshman retention rate is 85%.

Full University of California - Santa Cruz American U.S. Studies Report

#7

Stanford University

Stanford, California
#1 in overall quality

Stanford University came in at #7 in this year’s edition of the Best Value United States Studies Schools for a Bachelor’s in California ranking. This fairly large school is located in Stanford, California, and it awarded 16 bachelors’s United States studies degrees in 2019-2020.

As a testament to the quality of education offered at Stanford, the school also landed the #1 spot in our “Best American U.S. Studies Bachelor’s Degree Schools in California” ranking. It costs about $11,496 for California Bachelor’s Degree United States Studies students per year to attend Stanford.

The school has an impressive student loan default rate. It’s only 0.5%, 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 86%. Since the school has a student-to-faculty ratio of 4 to 1, those pursuing a degree will have more opportunities to interact with their professors.

Full Stanford University American U.S. Studies Report

#8

University of Southern California

Los Angeles, California
#3 in overall quality

With a ranking of #8, University of Southern California did quite well on the 2022 Best Value United States Studies Schools for a Bachelor’s in California list. University of Southern California is located in Los Angeles, California and, has a large student population. In 2019-2020, this school awarded 3 bachelors’s United States studies degrees to qualified students.

USC also took the #3 spot in our “Best American U.S. Studies Bachelor’s Degree Schools in California” ranking. It costs about $29,528 for california bachelor’s degree united states studies students per year to attend University of Southern California.

The student loan default rate at the school is 1.2%, which is quite low when compared to the national default rate of 10.1%. Students who start out at the school are likely to stick around. The freshman retention rate is 91%. 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.

Read full report on American U.S. Studies at USC

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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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