2022 Best Value Cognitive Science Schools for a Doctorate in California

When it comes to choosing a college, students have a lot of options - but not all of them are good. 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 Cognitive Science Schools for a Doctorate in California” ranking is part of that endeavor.

Cognitive Science is the 179th most popular major in the country with 2,723 degrees awarded in 2019-2020. In 2017-2018, cognitive science graduates who were awarded their degree in 2015-2017, earned an average of $35,188 and had an average of $19,253 in loans still to pay off.

Across California, there were 1,750 cognitive science graduates with average earnings and debt of $36,520 and $17,078 respectively. At the doctor’s degree level specifically, there were 13 cognitive science graduates with average earnings and debt of $71,544 and $133,402 respectively.

This year’s “Best Value Cognitive Science Schools for a Doctorate in California” ranking analyzed 2 colleges that offered a degree in cognitive science. The schools that top this list are recognized because they have great cognitive science programs and cost less that schools of similar quality.

When determining these rankings, we looked at things such as overall quality of the cognitive science program at the school and the cost to attend the school once aid has been awarded. See our ranking methodology to learn more.

One Size Does Not Fit All

Since picking the right college can be one of the most important decisions of your life, we’ve developed the “Best Value Cognitive Science Schools for a Doctorate in California” ranking, along with many other major-related rankings, to help you make that decision.

In addition to College Factual’s rankings, you may want to take a look at College Combat, our unique tool that lets you pit your favorite schools head-to-head and compare how they rate on factors that most interest you. Test it out by comparing your favorite schools against others you are considering, or bookmark the tool so you can experiment with it later.

Best Value Cognitive Science Schools for a Doctorate in California

The following schools top our list of the Best Best Value Cognitive Science Schools for a Doctorate in California.

Top 3 Best Value Doctor’s Degree Colleges for Cognitive Science in California

#1

University of California - San Diego

La Jolla, California

#1 in overall quality

$28,631 Avg Grad Tuition & Fees

You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around if you attend University of California - San Diego. The school came in at #1 for the Best Value Cognitive Science Schools for a Doctorate in California. University of California - San Diego is a large school located in La Jolla, California that handed out 6 doctorate’s cognitive science degrees in 2019-2020.

UCSD did well in our major quality rankings, too. It placed #1 on our “Best Cognitive Science Doctor’s Degree Schools in California” list. Average graduate tuition and fees at University of California - San Diego are $28,631, but you may pay more or less depending on your major.

Full University of California - San Diego Cognitive Science Report

#2

University of California - Irvine

Irvine, California

#2 in overall quality

$28,456 Avg Grad Tuition & Fees

You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around if you attend University of California - Irvine. The school came in at #2 for the Best Value Cognitive Science Schools for a Doctorate in California. University of California - Irvine is located in Irvine, California and, has a large student population. In 2019-2020, this school awarded 4 doctorate’s cognitive science degrees to qualified students.

In addition to being on our california doctor’s degree cognitive science students list, UC Irvine has also earned the #2 rank in our “Best Cognitive Science Doctor’s Degree Schools in California” ranking. Average graduate tuition and fees at University of California - Irvine are $28,456, but some majors have different tuition rates.

Full UC Irvine Cognitive Science Report

#3

University of California - Merced

Merced, California

#3 in overall quality

$43,854 Avg Grad Tuition & Fees

You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around if you attend University of California - Merced. The school came in at #3 for the Best Value Cognitive Science Schools for a Doctorate in California. University of California - Merced is located in Merced, California and, has a medium-sized student population. In 2019-2020, this school awarded 3 doctorate’s cognitive science degrees to qualified students.

UC Merced did well in our major quality rankings, too. It placed #3 on our “Best Cognitive Science Doctor’s Degree Schools in California” list. Although you might pay more or less depending on your area of study, average graduate tuition and fees at University of California - Merced are $43,854.

Read more about Cognitive Science at University of California - Merced

• Best Value Doctor’s Degree Colleges for Cognitive Science in the Far Western US Region
• Best Value Doctor’s Degree Colleges for Cognitive Science

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 Allan Ajifo.

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