2026 Best Value Medical Science Schools in the Far Western Region
[Medical Science](/majors/health-care-professions/medical-science/) degree programs vary widely in price and payoff across the country. The schools below stand out for delivering a strong medical science education at a price that pays off.
To produce this 2026 ranking, College Factual evaluated 12 schools on the balance of cost and outcomes for medical science students.
What’s on this page:
2026 Best Value Medical Science Schools in the Far Western Region
Below are the schools that deliver the strongest value in medical science, balancing cost against outcomes.
Best Value Medical Science Schools
University Of California San Diego tops our 2026 list of the best value medical science schools in the Far Western Region. Located in the city of La Jolla, University Of California San Diego is a very large public university. In-state tuition and fees average $15,788, with out-of-state students paying around $47,676. Typical student debt for medical science graduates is $17,101. Soon after graduation, medical science degree recipients from University Of California San Diego generally make around $121,264. Weighed against typical debt, the earnings make a compelling case for value. Roughly 27% of applicants are accepted.
The strong cost-to-outcome balance at University Of California Irvine earned it the #2 place for medical science. University Of California Irvine is a very large public school located in the city of Irvine. Expect in-state tuition and fees of around $14,752, compared with $46,640 for out-of-state students. Medical Science graduates carry a median of $16,539 in student loans. Medical Science graduates of University Of California Irvine earn a median of $50,958 early in their careers. That is a strong return on a $16,539 median debt. The acceptance rate is 29%.
Narrow Medical Science Schools by State
Notes and References
The ranking above is published by College Factual (MF_RANKING_2025), 2026 edition. Schools are scored on the balance of cost (tuition and student debt) against student outcomes (post-graduation earnings) — a measure of return on investment, 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 3 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.
