2023 Best Value Colleges for Ethnic Studies in California (With Aid)

With all of the options students have for higher education today, it can be tough to choose which direction to take. 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 Ethnic Studies Schools in California For Those Getting Aid” ranking is part of that endeavor.

In 2020-2021, 673 people earned their degree in ethnic studies, making the major the 523rd most popular in the United States.

Across California, there were 329 ethnic studies graduates with average earnings and debt of $0 and $0 respectively.

This year’s “Best Value Ethnic Studies Schools in California For Those Getting Aid” ranking looked at 2 colleges that offer degrees in a bachelor’s in ethnic studies. This ranking identifies schools with high-quality ethnic studies 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 ethnic studies program at the school and the cost to attend the school once aid has been awarded. 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 Ethnic Studies Schools in California For Those Getting Aid” list to help you make the college decision.

In addition to College Factual’s rankings, you may want to take a look at College Combat, our unique tool that lets you pit your favorite schools head-to-head and compare how they rate on factors that most interest you. If you’re torn between two schools, you can use it to help you see how they stack up against one another. Bookmark it so you can compare any new schools that might interest you.

Best Value Ethnic Studies Schools in California For Those Getting Aid

The colleges and universities below are the best for california ethnic studies students with aid.

Top 2 Best Value Colleges for Ethnic Studies in California (With Aid)

1

University of California - Berkeley
Berkeley, California

#1 in overall quality

$16,032 Average Net Price

$60,587 Average Early-Career Earnings

You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend University of California - Berkeley. It ranked #1 on our 2023 Best Value Ethnic Studies Schools in California For Those Getting Aid list. UC Berkeley is a public institution located in Berkeley, California. The school has a large population, and it awarded 73 ’s degrees in 2020-2021.

UC Berkeley did well in our major quality rankings, too. It placed #1 on our “Best Ethnic Studies Schools in California” list. It costs about $16,032 for California Ethnic Studies students with aid per year to attend UC Berkeley.

With a freshman retention rate of 96%, the school does an excellent job of retaining its undergraduate students. The undergrad student loan default rate at the school is 1.8%, which is quite low when compared to the national default rate of 10.1%.

Full University of California - Berkeley Ethnic Studies Report

2

University of California - Santa Cruz
Santa Cruz, California

#2 in overall quality

$17,930 Average Net Price

$35,777 Average Early-Career Earnings

You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend University of California - Santa Cruz. It ranked #2 on our 2023 Best Value Ethnic Studies Schools in California For Those Getting Aid list. University of California - Santa Cruz is a fairly large school located in Santa Cruz, California that handed out 48 ’s ethnic studies degrees in 2020-2021.

As a testament to the quality of education offered at UC Santa Cruz, the school also landed the #2 spot in our “Best Ethnic Studies Schools in California” ranking. It costs about $17,930 for California Ethnic Studies students with aid per year to attend UC Santa Cruz.

The school has an excellent freshman retention rate of 85%, which means students like the school well enough to return for a second year. The school has an impressive undergrad student loan default rate. It’s only 2.9%, which is much lower than the national rate of 10.1%.

Read full report on Ethnic Studies at University of California - Santa Cruz

• Best Value Colleges for Ethnic Studies in the Far Western US Region (With Aid)
• Best Value Colleges for Ethnic Studies (With Aid)

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 G. MГјtzel.