2024 Best Liberal Arts / Sciences & Humanities Schools in California
75Colleges in California
112,228Liberal Arts / Sciences & Humanities Degrees Awarded
$27,456Avg Early-Career Salary
Ranked #3 in popularity, liberal arts / sciences & humanities is one of the most sought-after degree programs in the nation. So, there are lots of possibilities to explore when you're trying to determine where you want to get your degree.
For its 2024 ranking, College Factual looked at 75 schools in California to determine which ones were the best for liberal arts / sciences & humanities students pursuing a degree. Combined, these schools handed out 112,228 degrees in liberal arts / sciences & humanities to qualified students.
Choosing a Great Liberal Arts / Sciences & Humanities School
Your choice of liberal arts / sciences & humanities school matters, so we have put together these rankings to help you make your decision. In order to come up with a best overall ranking for liberal arts / sciences & humanities schools, we combine our degree-level rankings, weighting them by the number of degrees awarded at each level.
You may want to choose one of the degree levels below to find the schools of most interest to you.
Liberal Arts / Sciences & Humanities Rankings by Degree Level
Since picking the right college can be one of the most important decisions of your life, we've developed the Best Liberal Arts / Sciences & Humanities Schools in California ranking, along with many other major-related rankings, to help you make that decision.
More interested in schools in a specific area of the country? Filter this list by region or state.
To further help you make the college decision, we've developed a unique tool called College Combat that allows you to compare schools based on the factors that matter the most to you.
Go ahead and give it a try, or bookmark the link so you can check it out later.
Best Schools for Liberal Arts / Sciences & Humanities in California
Although we recommend filtering by degree level first, you can view the list below to see which schools give the educational experience for the liberal arts / sciences & humanities degree levels they offer. Only those schools that rank in the top 15% of all the schools we analyze get awarded with a place on this list.
11 Top California Schools in Liberal Arts / Sciences & Humanities
Saint Mary's College of California is one of the finest schools in the United States for getting a degree in liberal arts / sciences & humanities. SMC is a small private not-for-profit college located in the large suburb of Moraga. A Best Colleges rank of #188 out of 2,217 colleges nationwide means SMC is a great college overall.
There were roughly 84 liberal arts / sciences & humanities students who graduated with this degree at SMC in the most recent data year. Liberal Arts / Sciences & Humanities degree recipients from Saint Mary's College of California receive an earnings boost of around $13,969 over the average earnings of liberal arts / sciences & humanities graduates.
San Diego State University is a great decision for students pursuing a degree in liberal arts / sciences & humanities. SDSU is a very large public university located in the city of San Diego. A Best Colleges rank of #141 out of 2,217 colleges nationwide means SDSU is a great university overall.
There were approximately 246 liberal arts / sciences & humanities students who graduated with this degree at SDSU in the most recent year we have data available. Soon after graduating, liberal arts / sciences & humanities degree recipients usually make about $25,662 in their early careers.
Golden West College is a good choice for students pursuing a degree in liberal arts / sciences & humanities. Located in the large suburb of Huntington Beach, Golden West College is a public college with a large student population. A Best Colleges rank of #189 out of 2,217 schools nationwide means Golden West College is a great college overall.
There were about 4346 liberal arts / sciences & humanities students who graduated with this degree at Golden West College in the most recent year we have data available. Students who graduate with their degree from the liberal arts / sciences & humanities program state that they receive average early career earnings of $22,411.
Every student pursuing a degree in liberal arts / sciences & humanities needs to take a look at California Polytechnic State University - San Luis Obispo. Located in the suburb of San Luis Obispo, Cal Poly San Luis Obispo is a public university with a very large student population. A Best Colleges rank of #95 out of 2,217 colleges nationwide means Cal Poly San Luis Obispo is a great university overall.
There were about 123 liberal arts / sciences & humanities students who graduated with this degree at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo in the most recent year we have data available. Liberal Arts / Sciences & Humanities degree recipients from California Polytechnic State University - San Luis Obispo get an earnings boost of approximately $11,285 above the typical earnings of liberal arts / sciences & humanities graduates.
Located in the city of San Diego, National University is a private not-for-profit university with a fairly large student population. A Best Colleges rank of #196 out of 2,217 colleges nationwide means National University is a great university overall.
There were approximately 172 liberal arts / sciences & humanities students who graduated with this degree at National University in the most recent data year. Degree recipients from the liberal arts / sciences & humanities program at National University get $12,939 more than the typical college grad in this field shortly after graduation.
Cuesta College is a medium-sized public college located in the suburb of San Luis Obispo. A Best Colleges rank of #236 out of 2,217 schools nationwide means Cuesta College is a great college overall.
There were about 2410 liberal arts / sciences & humanities students who graduated with this degree at Cuesta College in the most recent data year. Degree recipients from the liberal arts / sciences & humanities degree program at Cuesta College get $4,510 more than the average college graduate with the same degree shortly after graduation.
Located in the city of Northridge, CSUN is a public university with a fairly large student population. A Best Colleges rank of #299 out of 2,217 schools nationwide means CSUN is a great university overall.
There were roughly 336 liberal arts / sciences & humanities students who graduated with this degree at CSUN in the most recent data year. After graduating, liberal arts / sciences & humanities degree recipients typically earn around $29,216 at the beginning of their careers.
SFSU is a fairly large public university located in the city of San Francisco. A Best Colleges rank of #204 out of 2,217 schools nationwide means SFSU is a great university overall.
There were approximately 115 liberal arts / sciences & humanities students who graduated with this degree at SFSU in the most recent year we have data available. Liberal Arts / Sciences & Humanities degree recipients from San Francisco State University earn a boost of around $7,194 above the typical earnings of liberal arts / sciences & humanities graduates.
Located in the large city of Sacramento, Sac State is a public university with a fairly large student population. A Best Colleges rank of #249 out of 2,217 colleges nationwide means Sac State is a great university overall.
There were roughly 194 liberal arts / sciences & humanities students who graduated with this degree at Sac State in the most recent year we have data available. Students who graduate with their degree from the liberal arts / sciences & humanities program state that they receive average early career wages of $23,971.
CSUDH is a large public university located in the city of Carson. This university ranks 98th out of 168 schools for overall quality in the state of California.
There were about 176 liberal arts / sciences & humanities students who graduated with this degree at CSUDH in the most recent year we have data available. Students who graduate with their degree from the liberal arts / sciences & humanities program state that they receive average early career income of $29,423.
Located in the city of Riverside, Riverside City College is a public college with a large student population. This college ranks 81st out of 168 colleges for overall quality in the state of California.
There were roughly 1871 liberal arts / sciences & humanities students who graduated with this degree at Riverside City College in the most recent data year. Soon after graduating, liberal arts / sciences & humanities degree recipients generally earn around $25,819 in the first five years of their career.
These are some additional schools worth mentioning that are also great but just didn't quite make the cut to earn our top Best Liberal Arts / Sciences & Humanities Schools in California award.
The bars on the spread charts above show the distribution of the schools on this list +/- one standard deviation from the mean.
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 the rest 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).
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Your choice of liberal arts / sciences & humanities school matters, so we have put together these rankings to help you make your decision. In order to come up with a best overall ranking for liberal arts / sciences & humanities schools, we combine our degree-level rankings, weighting them by the number of degrees awarded at each level.
