2026 Best Value Acupuncture and Oriental Medicine Schools in California
[Acupuncture and Oriental Medicine](/majors/health-care-professions/alternative-medicine-systems/acupuncture-and-oriental-medicine/) degree programs vary widely in price and payoff across the country. The best values balance affordable tuition against strong post-graduation earnings.
To produce this 2026 ranking, College Factual evaluated 12 schools on the balance of cost and outcomes for acupuncture and oriental medicine students.
What’s on this page:
2026 Best Value Acupuncture and Oriental Medicine Schools in California
If you want to know which schools deliver the best value for the acupuncture and oriental medicine degrees they offer, see the list below.
Best Value Acupuncture and Oriental Medicine Schools
Pacific College Of Oriental Medicine Llc San Diego tops our 2026 list of the best value acupuncture and oriental medicine schools in California. Set in the city of San Diego, Pacific College Of Oriental Medicine Llc San Diego is a small private for-profit institution. Students from in state pay about $11,000 in tuition and fees. Typical student debt for acupuncture and oriental medicine graduates is $19,492. Soon after graduation, acupuncture and oriental medicine degree recipients from Pacific College Of Oriental Medicine Llc San Diego generally make around $31,780. Weighed against typical debt, the earnings make a compelling case for value.
Students looking for strong value in acupuncture and oriental medicine will find it at Southern California University Of Health Sciences, which ranked #2. Southern California University Of Health Sciences is a mid-sized private not-for-profit school located in the suburb of Whittier. The average in-state cost of tuition and fees is $14,390. Students borrow a median of $20,378 to complete the acupuncture and oriental medicine program here. Acupuncture And Oriental Medicine graduates of Southern California University Of Health Sciences earn a median of $27,755 early in their careers. Set against $20,378 in median debt, that is a healthy payoff.
Notes and References
The ranking above is published by College Factual (MF_RANKING_2025), 2026 edition. The methodology weighs the cost of a degree against the earnings graduates go on to achieve, drawn primarily from the U.S. Department of Education (IPEDS and College Scorecard).
Ranking method: College Major Best Value · 12 schools evaluated.
*Averages shown above reflect the top 2 ranked schools only.
- 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).
More about our data sources and methodologies.
