2022 Best Value Master’s Degree Colleges for Liberal Arts 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 Liberal Studies Schools for a Master’s in California For Those Getting Aid” ranking is part of that endeavor.

With 365,980 degrees handed out in 2019-2020, liberal arts is the 2nd most popular major in the United States.

Across California, there were 94,556 liberal arts graduates with average earnings and debt of $0 and $0 respectively. At the master’s degree level specifically, there were 42 liberal arts graduates with average earnings and debt of $60,281 and $50,119 respectively.

This year’s “Best Value Liberal Studies Schools for a Master’s in California For Those Getting Aid” ranking looked at 2 colleges that offer degrees in a bachelor’s in liberal arts. The schools that top this list are recognized because they have great liberal arts 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 liberal arts program at the school and the cost of the school after aid is awarded among other things. See our ranking methodology to learn more.

More Ways to Rank Liberal Arts Schools

Since the program you select can have a significant impact on your future, we’ve developed a number of rankings, including this “Best Value Liberal Studies Schools for a Master’s in California For Those Getting Aid” list, to help you choose the best school for you.

In addition to our rankings, you can take two colleges and compare them based on the criteria that matters most to you in our unique tool, College Combat. We encourage you to try it out and pit your favorite colleges and universities head to head! If you don’t have time right now, you can bookmark it for later.

Best Value Liberal Studies Schools for a Master’s in California For Those Getting Aid

The colleges and universities below are the best for california master’s degree liberal studies students with aid.

Top 2 Best Value Master’s Degree Colleges for Liberal Arts in California (With Aid)

#1

San Diego State University

San Diego, California

#2 in overall quality

$18,658 Avg Grad Tuition & Fees

You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend San Diego State University. It ranked #1 on our 2022 Best Value Liberal Studies Schools for a Master’s in California For Those Getting Aid list. This large school is located in San Diego, California, and it awarded 13 masters’s liberal studies degrees in 2019-2020.

SDSU also took the #2 spot in our “Best Liberal Arts Master’s Degree Schools in California” ranking. Average graduate tuition and fees at San Diego State University are $18,658, but you may pay more or less depending on your major.

Read more about Liberal Arts at San Diego State University

#2

Saint Mary's College of California

Moraga, California

#1 in overall quality

$33,509 Avg Grad Tuition & Fees

You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around if you attend Saint Mary’s College of California. The school came in at #2 for the Best Value Liberal Studies Schools for a Master’s in California For Those Getting Aid. Moraga, California is the setting for this small institution of higher learning. The private not-for-profit school handed out masters’s liberal studies degrees to 11 students in 2019-2020.

SMC also took the #1 spot in our “Best Liberal Arts Master’s Degree Schools in California” ranking. Although you might pay more or less depending on your area of study, average graduate tuition and fees at Saint Mary’s College of California are $33,509.

Full Saint Mary’s College of California Liberal Arts Report

• Best Value Master’s Degree Colleges for Liberal Arts in the Far Western US Region (With Aid)
• Best Value Master’s Degree Colleges for Liberal Arts (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.

Featured Liberal Arts Schools

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