2022 Best Value Bachelor’s Degree Colleges for Natural Sciences 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 Natural Sciences Schools for a Bachelor’s in California” ranking as one item you can use to help make this decision.

In 2019-2020, 2,345 people earned their degree in natural sciences, making the major the 339th most popular in the United States.

Across California, there were 84 natural sciences graduates with average earnings and debt of $0 and $0 respectively. At the bachelor’s degree level specifically, there were 83 natural sciences graduates with average earnings and debt of $37,907 and $21,546 respectively.

This year’s “Best Value Natural Sciences Schools for a Bachelor’s in California” ranking analyzed 3 colleges that offered a degree in natural sciences. Not only do the schools that top this list have excellent natural sciences programs, but they also cost less that schools of similar quality.

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

More Ways to Rank Natural Sciences 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 Natural Sciences Schools for a Bachelor’s in California” list, to help you choose the best school for you.

One of our other unique offerings is College Combat. This tool lets you build your own customized comparisons utilizing the factors that are most important to you. Go ahead and give it a try, or bookmark the link so you can check it out later.

Best Value Natural Sciences Schools for a Bachelor’s in California

The following schools top our list of the Best Best Value Natural Sciences Schools for a Bachelor’s in California.

Top 3 Best Value Bachelor’s Degree Colleges for Natural Sciences in California

#1

California State University - Chico

Chico, California

#3 in overall quality

$15,017 Average Net Price

Out of the 3 schools in the Best Value Natural Sciences Schools for a Bachelor’s in California that were part of this year’s ranking, California State University - Chico landed the #1 spot on the list. Chico State is a fairly large school located in Chico, California that handed out 9 bachelors’s natural sciences degrees in 2019-2020.

Chico State did well in our major quality rankings, too. It placed #3 on our “Best Natural Sciences Bachelor’s Degree Schools in California” list. The estimated yearly cost for California State University - Chico is $15,017 for California Bachelor’s Degree Natural Sciences students.

The student loan default rate at the school is 3.3%, which is quite low when compared to the national default rate of 10.1%.

Read more about Natural Sciences at Chico State

#2

Loyola Marymount University

Los Angeles, California

#1 in overall quality

$42,861 Average Net Price

You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around if you attend Loyola Marymount University. The school came in at #2 for the Best Value Natural Sciences Schools for a Bachelor’s in California. Loyola Marymount University is a medium-sized school located in Los Angeles, California that handed out 46 bachelors’s natural sciences degrees in 2019-2020.

Loyola Marymount not only placed well in this ranking. It is also #1 on our “Best Natural Sciences Bachelor’s Degree Schools in California” list. It costs about $42,861 for California Bachelor’s Degree Natural Sciences students per year to attend Loyola Marymount University.

The student loan default rate at the school is 1.6%, which is quite low when compared to the national default rate of 10.1%. With a student-to-faculty ratio of 10 to 1, it’s easy to see that the school is committed to helping their undergraduates succeed.

Read more about Natural Sciences at Loyola Marymount University

#3

Pepperdine University

Malibu, California

#2 in overall quality

$36,996 Average Net Price

You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend Pepperdine University. It ranked #3 on our 2022 Best Value Natural Sciences Schools for a Bachelor’s in California list. Located in Malibu, California, this medium-sized private not-for-profit school handed out 1 degrees to qualified bachelors’s natural sciences students in 2019-2020.

Pepperdine also made our “Best Natural Sciences Bachelor’s Degree Schools in California” list, coming in at #2. The estimated yearly cost for Pepperdine is $36,996 for California Bachelor’s Degree Natural Sciences students.

The school has an excellent freshman retention rate of 85%, which means students like the school well enough to return for a second year. The student loan default rate at the school is 1.1%, which is quite low when compared to the national default rate of 10.1%.

Read more about Natural Sciences at Pepperdine

• Best Value Bachelor’s Degree Colleges for Natural Sciences in the Far Western US Region
• Best Value Bachelor’s Degree Colleges for Natural Sciences

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 Agsftw.

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