2023 Best Value Science, Tech & Society Schools in California For Those Making $0-$30k

When pursuing a degree in today’s world, students have many different options to choose from. College Factual has developed its “Best Value Science, Tech & Society Schools in California For Those Making $0-$30k” ranking as one item you can use to help make this decision.

Science, Technology & Society is the 419th most popular major in the country with 1,095 degrees awarded in 2020-2021.

Across California, there were 87 science, technology and society graduates with average earnings and debt of $0 and $0 respectively.

For this year’s “Best Value Science, Tech & Society Schools in California For Those Making $0-$30k” ranking, we looked at 3 colleges that offer a degree in science, technology and society. This ranking identifies schools with high-quality science, technology and society programs that also have a lower cost than schools of similar quality.

Some of the factors we look at when determining these rankings are overall quality of the science, technology and society program at the school and the cost of the school after aid is awarded among other things. See our ranking methodology to learn more.

More Ways to Rank Science, Technology & Society 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 Science, Tech & Society 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. Test it out when you get a chance! You may also want to bookmark the link and share it with others who are trying to make the college decision.

Best Value Science, Tech & Society Schools in California For Those Making $0-$30k

The colleges and universities below are the best for california science, tech & society students whose families make $0-$30k.

Top 3 Best Value Colleges for Science, Technology & Society (Income $0-$30k) in California

1

Stanford University
Stanford, California

#1 in overall quality

$1,233 Average Net Price

$83,159 Average Early-Career Earnings

Out of the 3 schools in the Best Value Science, Tech & Society Schools in California For Those Making $0-$30k that were part of this year’s ranking, Stanford University landed the #1 spot on the list. This fairly large school is located in Stanford, California, and it awarded 63 ’s science, tech and society degrees in 2020-2021.

Stanford not only placed well in this ranking. It is also #1 on our “Best Science, Technology & Society Schools in California” list. The yearly cost to attend Stanford University is $1,233 for california science, tech & society students whose families make $0-$30k.

The impressive undergraduate student-to-faculty ratio of 4 to 1 means that students may have more opportunities to work more closely with their professors than they would at other schools. The school has an impressive undergrad student loan default rate. It’s only 0.5%, which is much lower than the national rate of 10.1%. Students who start out at the school are likely to stick around. The freshman retention rate is 86%.

Read more about Science, Technology & Society at Stanford University

2

University of California - Davis
Davis, California

#2 in overall quality

$10,006 Average Net Price

$46,065 Average Early-Career Earnings

You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around if you attend University of California - Davis. The school came in at #2 for the Best Value Science, Tech & Society Schools in California For Those Making $0-$30k. UC Davis is a public institution located in Davis, California. The school has a large population, and it awarded 13 ’s degrees in 2020-2021.

As a testament to the quality of education offered at UC Davis, the school also landed the #2 spot in our “Best Science, Technology & Society Schools in California” ranking. The yearly cost to attend University of California - Davis is $10,006 for california science, tech & society students whose families make $0-$30k.

The school has an excellent freshman retention rate of 93%, which means students like the school well enough to return for a second year. The school has an impressive undergrad student loan default rate. It’s only 1.5%, which is much lower than the national rate of 10.1%.

Read more about Science, Technology & Society at University of California - Davis

3

California State Polytechnic University - Pomona
Pomona, California

#3 in overall quality

$10,349 Average Net Price

$45,201 Average Early-Career Earnings

You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around if you attend California State Polytechnic University - Pomona. The school came in at #3 for the Best Value Science, Tech & Society Schools in California For Those Making $0-$30k. California State Polytechnic University - Pomona is a large school located in Pomona, California that handed out 5 ’s science, tech and society degrees in 2020-2021.

Cal Poly Pomona did well in our major quality rankings, too. It placed #3 on our “Best Science, Technology & Society Schools in California” list. The estimated yearly cost for Cal Poly Pomona is $10,349 for california science, tech & society students whose families make $0-$30k.

Students who start out at the school are likely to stick around. The freshman retention rate is 87%. The school has an impressive undergrad student loan default rate. It’s only 2.6%, which is much lower than the national rate of 10.1%.

Full California State Polytechnic University - Pomona Science, Technology & Society Report

• Best Value Colleges for Science, Technology & Society (Income $0-$30k) in the Far Western US Region
• Best Value Colleges for Science, Technology & Society (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.