2023 Best Value Colleges for Interdisciplinary Studies (Income $0-$30k) 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 Interdisciplinary Studies Schools in California For Those Making $0-$30k” ranking is part of that endeavor.

Interdisciplinary Studies is the 86th most popular major in the country with 9,074 degrees awarded in 2020-2021. In 2019-2020, interdisciplinary studies graduates who were awarded their degree in 2017-2019, earned an average of $32,077 and had an average of $27,069 in loans still to pay off.

Across California, there were 200 interdisciplinary studies graduates with average earnings and debt of $35,518 and $23,735 respectively.

This year’s “Best Value Interdisciplinary Studies Schools in California For Those Making $0-$30k” ranking analyzed 2 colleges that offered a degree in interdisciplinary studies. The schools that top this list are recognized because they have great interdisciplinary studies programs and cost less that schools of similar quality.

When determining these rankings, we looked at things such as overall quality of the interdisciplinary studies program at the school and the cost to attend the school once aid has been awarded. For more information, check out our ranking methodology.

More Ways to Rank Interdisciplinary Studies Schools

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 Interdisciplinary Studies Schools in California For Those Making $0-$30k” list to help you make the college decision.

In addition to our rankings, you can take two colleges and compare them based on the criteria that matters most to you in our unique tool, College Combat. 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 Interdisciplinary Studies Schools in California For Those Making $0-$30k

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

Top 2 Best Value Colleges for Interdisciplinary Studies (Income $0-$30k) in California

1

University of Southern California
Los Angeles, California

#1 in overall quality

$17,287 Average Net Price

$65,044 Average Early-Career Earnings

Out of the 2 schools in the Best Value Interdisciplinary Studies Schools in California For Those Making $0-$30k that were part of this year’s ranking, University of Southern California landed the #1 spot on the list. University of Southern California is a large school located in Los Angeles, California that handed out 27 ’s interdisciplinary studies degrees in 2020-2021.

USC did well in our major quality rankings, too. It placed #1 on our “Best Interdisciplinary Studies Schools in California” list. It costs about $17,287 for california interdisciplinary studies students whose families make $0-$30k per year to attend University of Southern California.

The undergraduate student-to-faculty ratio of 9 to 1 is a sign that students will have more opportunities to engage with their professors one-on-one. The low undergrad student loan default rate of 1.3% 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%. Students who start out at the school are likely to stick around. The freshman retention rate is 91%.

Full USC Interdisciplinary Studies Report

2

Biola University
La Mirada, California

#2 in overall quality

$27,024 Average Net Price

$42,424 Average Early-Career Earnings

You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around if you attend Biola University. The school came in at #2 for the Best Value Interdisciplinary Studies Schools in California For Those Making $0-$30k. Biola University is a medium-sized school located in La Mirada, California that handed out 8 ’s interdisciplinary studies degrees in 2020-2021.

Biola also made our “Best Interdisciplinary Studies Schools in California” list, coming in at #2. It costs about $27,024 for california interdisciplinary studies students whose families make $0-$30k per year to attend Biola University.

The school has an impressive undergrad student loan default rate. It’s only 2.7%, which is much lower than the national rate of 10.1%.

Read full report on Interdisciplinary Studies at Biola University

• Best Value Colleges for Interdisciplinary Studies (Income $0-$30k) in the Far Western US Region
• Best Value Colleges for Interdisciplinary Studies (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 UTDallas.