2023 Best Value Colleges for Library Science (Income $30-$48k) in California

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 Library Science Schools in California For Those Making $30-$48k” ranking is part of that endeavor.

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.

This year’s “Best Value Library Science Schools in California For Those Making $30-$48k” ranking analyzed 3 colleges that offered a degree in library science. This ranking identifies schools with high-quality library science programs that also have a lower cost than 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. See our ranking methodology to learn more.

More Ways to Rank Library Science 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 Library Science Schools in California For Those Making $30-$48k” list, to help you choose the best school for you.

We’ve created a tool called College Combat that lets you create your own customized comparisons 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 Value Library Science Schools in California For Those Making $30-$48k

The following schools top our list of the Best Best Value Library Science Schools in California For Those Making $30-$48k.

Top 3 Best Value Colleges for Library Science (Income $30-$48k) in California

1

University of California - Los Angeles
Los Angeles, California

#1 in overall quality

$9,891 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 $30-$48k. UCLA is located in Los Angeles, California and, has a large student population. In 2020-2021, this school awarded 47 ’s library science degrees to qualified students.

UCLA did well in our major quality rankings, too. It placed #1 on our “Best Library Science Schools in California” list. It costs about $9,891 for California Library Science students whose families make $30-$48k per year to attend University of California - Los Angeles.

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.

Read more about Library Science at UCLA

2

San Jose State University
San Jose, California

#2 in overall quality

$13,378 Average Net Price

$52,886 Average Early-Career Earnings

You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around if you attend San Jose State University. The school came in at #2 for the Best Value Library Science Schools in California For Those Making $30-$48k. San Jose State is a large school located in San Jose, California that handed out 648 ’s library science degrees 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 $13,378 for california library science students whose families make $30-$48k per year to attend San Jose State University.

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

• Best Value Colleges for Library Science (Income $30-$48k) in the Far Western US Region
• Best Value Colleges for Library Science (Income $30-$48k)

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.