2022 Best Value Natural Sciences Schools for a Bachelor’s in California

When pursuing a degree in today’s world, students have many different options to choose from. At College Factual, we’re committed to helping you make that decision by providing information such as that found in our “Best Value Natural Sciences Schools for a Bachelor’s in California” ranking.

In 2019-2020, 2,345 people earned their degree in natural sciences, making the major the 209th most popular in the United States. In 2017-2018, natural sciences graduates who were awarded their degree in 2015-2017, earned an average of $30,257 and had an average of $22,289 in loans still to pay off.

Across California, there were 84 natural sciences graduates with average earnings and debt of $0 and $25,000 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 looked at 3 colleges that offer degrees in a bachelor’s 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. For more information, check out our ranking methodology.

More Ways to Rank Natural Sciences 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 Natural Sciences Schools for a Bachelor’s in California” list to help you make the college decision.

To further help you make the college decision, we’ve developed a unique tool called College Combat that allows you to compare schools based on the factors that matter the most to you. 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 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 public school situated in Chico, California. It awarded 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 Chico State is $15,017 for California Bachelor’s Degree Natural Sciences students.

The low student loan default rate of 3.3% 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%.

Full Chico State Natural Sciences Report

#2

Loyola Marymount University

Los Angeles, California

#1 in overall quality

$42,861 Average Net Price

$33,459 Average Early-Career Earnings

You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend Loyola Marymount University. It ranked #2 on our 2022 Best Value Natural Sciences Schools for a Bachelor’s in California list. Located in Los Angeles, California, this medium-sized private not-for-profit school handed out 46 diplomas to qualified bachelors’s natural sciences students in 2019-2020.

In addition to being on our california bachelor’s degree natural sciences students list, Loyola Marymount has also earned the #1 rank in our “Best Natural Sciences Bachelor’s Degree Schools in California” ranking. The estimated yearly cost for Loyola Marymount is $42,861 for california bachelor’s degree natural sciences students.

Since the school has a student-to-faculty ratio of 10 to 1, those pursuing a degree will have more opportunities to interact with their professors. The low student loan default rate of 1.6% 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%.

Full Loyola Marymount Natural Sciences Report

#3

Pepperdine University

Malibu, California

#2 in overall quality

$36,996 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, Pepperdine University landed the #3 spot on the list. This medium-sized school is located in Malibu, California, and it awarded 1 bachelors’s natural sciences degrees in 2019-2020.

Pepperdine not only placed well in this ranking. It is also #2 on our “Best Natural Sciences Bachelor’s Degree Schools in California” list. It costs about $36,996 for California Bachelor’s Degree Natural Sciences students per year to attend Pepperdine.

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%.

Full Pepperdine Natural Sciences Report

• 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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