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2022 Best Value Master’s Degree Colleges for Liberal Arts / Sciences & Humanities in California (With Aid)

7 Ranked Colleges
135 Degrees Awarded
$19,500 Avg Grad Tuition & Fees*
Best Value Liberal Arts / Sciences & Humanities Schools for a Master's in California For Those Getting Aid

When pursuing a degree in today’s world, students have many different options to choose from. 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 Arts / Sciences & Humanities Schools for a Master’s in California For Those Getting Aid” ranking is part of that endeavor.

In 2019-2020, 559,661 liberal arts / sciences and humanities students received their degree, making the major the 3rd most popular in the country. In 2017-2018, liberal arts / sciences and humanities graduates who were awarded their degree in 2015-2017, earned an average of $26,786 and had an average of $16,538 in loans still to pay off.

Across California, there were 112,019 liberal arts / sciences and humanities graduates with average earnings and debt of $25,678 and $19,082 respectively. At the master’s degree level specifically, there were 135 liberal arts / sciences and humanities graduates with average earnings and debt of $60,281 and $50,119 respectively.

This year’s “Best Value Liberal Arts / Sciences & Humanities Schools for a Master’s in California For Those Getting Aid” ranking looked at 7 colleges that offer degrees in a bachelor’s in liberal arts / sciences and humanities. Not only do the schools that top this list have excellent liberal arts / sciences and humanities programs, but they also cost less that schools of similar quality.

To come up with these rankings, we looked at factors such as the cost to attend the school after aid is awarded and overall quality of the liberal arts / sciences and humanities program at the school. 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 Liberal Arts / Sciences & Humanities Schools for a Master’s in California For Those Getting Aid” list to help you make the college decision.

One of our other unique offerings is College Combat. This tool lets you build your own customized comparisons utilizing the factors that are most important to you. 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 Arts / Sciences & Humanities Schools for a Master’s in California For Those Getting Aid

The following schools top our list of the Best Best Value Liberal Arts / Sciences & Humanities Schools for a Master’s in California For Those Getting Aid.

Top 7 Best Value Master’s Degree Colleges for Liberal Arts / Sciences & Humanities in California (With Aid)

#6 in overall quality

You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around if you attend California State University - Dominguez Hills. The school came in at #1 for the Best Value Liberal Arts / Sciences & Humanities Schools for a Master’s in California For Those Getting Aid. Located in Carson, California, this fairly large public school awarded 12 degrees to qualified masters’s liberal arts / sciences and humanities students in 2019-2020.

CSUDH also made our “Best Liberal Arts / Sciences & Humanities Master’s Degree Schools in California” list, coming in at #6. Although you might pay more or less depending on your area of study, average graduate tuition and fees at California State University - Dominguez Hills are $17,884.

Read full report on Liberal Arts / Sciences & Humanities at California State University - Dominguez Hills

#4 in overall quality

You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around if you attend California State University - Northridge. The school came in at #2 for the Best Value Liberal Arts / Sciences & Humanities Schools for a Master’s in California For Those Getting Aid. This large school is located in Northridge, California, and it awarded 19 masters’s liberal arts / sciences and humanities degrees in 2019-2020.

As a testament to the quality of education offered at CSUN, the school also landed the #4 spot in our “Best Liberal Arts / Sciences & Humanities Master’s Degree Schools in California” ranking. Average graduate tuition and fees at California State University - Northridge are $17,955, but some majors have different tuition rates.

Read full report on Liberal Arts / Sciences & Humanities at California State University - Northridge

#3

San Diego State University

San Diego, California
#3 in overall quality

You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around if you attend San Diego State University. The school came in at #3 for the Best Value Liberal Arts / Sciences & Humanities Schools for a Master’s in California For Those Getting Aid. San Diego State University is a public institution located in San Diego, California. The school has a large population, and it awarded 13 masters’s degrees in 2019-2020.

SDSU not only placed well in this ranking. It is also #3 on our “Best Liberal Arts / Sciences & Humanities Master’s Degree Schools in California” list. Average graduate tuition and fees at SDSU are $18,658, but some majors have different tuition rates.

Read full report on Liberal Arts / Sciences & Humanities at San Diego State University

#4

San Francisco State University

San Francisco, California

You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around if you attend San Francisco State University. The school came in at #4 for the Best Value Liberal Arts / Sciences & Humanities Schools for a Master’s in California For Those Getting Aid. SFSU is a large public school situated in San Francisco, California. It awarded 5 masters’s liberal arts / sciences and humanities degrees in 2019-2020.

SFSU not only placed well in this ranking. It is also #0 on our “Best Liberal Arts / Sciences & Humanities Master’s Degree Schools in California” list. Average graduate tuition and fees at San Francisco State University are $17,944, but some majors have different tuition rates.

Read full report on Liberal Arts / Sciences & Humanities at SFSU

#5

Mount Saint Mary's University

Los Angeles, California
#1 in overall quality

Out of the 7 schools in the Best Value Liberal Arts / Sciences & Humanities Schools for a Master’s in California For Those Getting Aid that were part of this year’s ranking, Mount Saint Mary’s University landed the #5 spot on the list. Located in Los Angeles, California, this small private not-for-profit school awarded 10 diplomas to qualified masters’s liberal arts / sciences and humanities students in 2019-2020.

In addition to being on our california master’s degree liberal arts / sciences & humanities students with aid list, MSMU has also earned the #1 rank in our “Best Liberal Arts / Sciences & Humanities Master’s Degree Schools in California” ranking. Average graduate tuition and fees at Mount Saint Mary’s University are $12,612, but some majors have different tuition rates.

Read more about Liberal Arts / Sciences & Humanities at Mount Saint Mary’s University

#2 in overall quality

Saint Mary’s College of California ranked #6 on this year’s Best Value Liberal Arts / Sciences & Humanities Schools for a Master’s in California For Those Getting Aid list. Saint Mary’s College of California is a private not-for-profit institution located in Moraga, California. The school has a small population, and it awarded 11 masters’s degrees in 2019-2020.

SMC did well in our major quality rankings, too. It placed #2 on our “Best Liberal Arts / Sciences & Humanities Master’s Degree Schools in California” list. Average graduate tuition and fees at SMC are $33,509, but you may pay more or less depending on your major.

Read full report on Liberal Arts / Sciences & Humanities at Saint Mary’s College of California

#7

Dominican University of California

San Rafael, California
#5 in overall quality

Dominican University of California ranked #7 on this year’s Best Value Liberal Arts / Sciences & Humanities Schools for a Master’s in California For Those Getting Aid list. San Rafael, California is the setting for this small institution of higher learning. The private not-for-profit school handed out masters’s liberal arts / sciences and humanities degrees to 9 students in 2019-2020.

DUofC also made our “Best Liberal Arts / Sciences & Humanities Master’s Degree Schools in California” list, coming in at #5. Average graduate tuition and fees at Dominican University of California are $16,520, but you may pay more or less depending on your major.

Full Dominican University of California Liberal Arts / Sciences & Humanities Report

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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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