2023 Best Value Colleges for Library Science (Income $0-$30k) in California

When pursuing a degree in today’s world, students have many different options to choose from. College Factual has developed its “Best Value Library Science Schools in California For Those Making $0-$30k” ranking as one item you can use to help make this decision.

Library Science is the 35th most popular major in the country with 6,538 degrees awarded in 2020-2021. In 2019-2020, library science graduates who were awarded their degree in 2017-2019, earned an average of $43,990 and had an average of $24,604 in loans still to pay off.

Across California, there were 1,036 library science graduates with average earnings and debt of $41,275 and $37,917 respectively.

For this year’s “Best Value Library Science Schools in California For Those Making $0-$30k” ranking, we looked at 3 colleges that offer a degree in library science. The schools that top this list are recognized because they have great library science programs and 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 library science program at the school. For more information, check out our ranking methodology.

One Size Does Not Fit All

The library science school you choose to invest your time and money in matters. To help you make the decision that is right for you, we’ve developed a number of major-specific rankings, including this list of “Best Value Library Science Schools in California For Those Making $0-$30k”.

You can create your own custom comparison that focuses on the factors most important to you using our tool, College Combat. If you’re torn between two schools, you can use it to help you see how they stack up against one another. Bookmark it so you can compare any new schools that might interest you.

Best Value Library Science Schools in California For Those Making $0-$30k

The following schools top our list of the Best Best Value Library Science Schools in California For Those Making $0-$30k.

Top 3 Best Value Colleges for Library Science (Income $0-$30k) in California

1

University of California - Los Angeles
Los Angeles, California

#1 in overall quality

$9,037 Average Net Price

$53,838 Average Early-Career Earnings

You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around if you attend University of California - Los Angeles. The school came in at #1 for the Best Value Library Science Schools in California For Those Making $0-$30k. University of California - Los Angeles is a large public school situated in Los Angeles, California. It awarded 47 ’s library science degrees in 2020-2021.

UCLA also took the #1 spot in our “Best Library Science Schools in California” ranking. It costs about $9,037 for california library science students whose families make $0-$30k per year to attend UCLA.

The school has an impressive undergrad student loan default rate. It’s only 1.6%, which is much lower than the national rate of 10.1%. With a freshman retention rate of 96%, the school does an excellent job of retaining its undergraduate students.

Full UCLA Library Science Report

2

San Jose State University
San Jose, California

#2 in overall quality

$12,158 Average Net Price

$52,886 Average Early-Career Earnings

You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend San Jose State University. It ranked #2 on our 2023 Best Value Library Science Schools in California For Those Making $0-$30k list. Located in San Jose, California, this large public school handed out 648 degrees to qualified ’s library science students in 2020-2021.

San Jose State not only placed well in this ranking. It is also #2 on our “Best Library Science Schools in California” list. It costs about $12,158 for california library science students whose families make $0-$30k per year to attend San Jose State.

The school has an excellent freshman retention rate of 86%, which means students like the school well enough to return for a second year. The low undergrad student loan default rate of 2.9% is a good sign that students have an easier time paying off their loans than they might at other schools. For comparison, the national default rate is 10.1%.

Read more about Library Science at San Jose State University

• Best Value Colleges for Library Science (Income $0-$30k) in the Far Western US Region
• Best Value Colleges for Library Science (Income $0-$30k)

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.

Credits

• Credit for the banner image above goes to John Cummings.