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2024 Best Philosophy Schools in California

15 Colleges in California
1,878 Philosophy Degrees Awarded
$28,527 Avg Early-Career Salary
If you plan on majoring in philosophy, you won't be alone since the degree program is ranked #83 in the country in terms of popularity. This means you won't have too much trouble finding schools that offer the degree.

College Factual reviewed 15 schools in California to determine which ones were the best for degree seekers in the field of philosophy. Combined, these schools handed out 1,878 degrees in philosophy to qualified students.

What's on this page: * Degree-Level Rankings

Choosing a Great Philosophy School

Best Philosophy Schools in California Your choice of philosophy school matters, so we have put together these rankings to help you make your decision. We derive our Best Overall Philosophy School rankings by rolling up our degree-level rankings after weighting them by the number of degrees awarded at each school.

In order to find the schools that are the best fit for you, you may want to filter to one of the degree levels below.

Philosophy Rankings by Degree Level

Bachelor's Degrees in Philosophy
Master's Degrees in Philosophy
Doctor's Degrees in Philosophy

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 Philosophy Schools in California list to help you make the college decision. You can also filter this list by location to find schools closer to you.

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. When you have some time, check it out - you may want to bookmark the link so you don't forget it.

More information on how we come up with our rankings can be found here: College Factual's Data Methodology.

Best Schools for Philosophy in California

Although we recommend filtering by degree level first, you can view the list below to see which schools give the educational experience for the philosophy degree levels they offer.

10 Top California Schools in Philosophy

1
Doctor's Degree Highest Degree Type
75 Philosophy Degrees Awarded
22.7% Growth in Graduates

University of Southern California is a great decision for students pursuing a degree in philosophy. Located in the city of Los Angeles, USC is a private not-for-profit university with a very large student population. A Best Colleges rank of #11 out of 2,217 colleges nationwide means USC is a great university overall.

There were roughly 75 philosophy students who graduated with this degree at USC in the most recent data year. Graduates who receive their degree from the philosophy program make an average of $28,506 for their early career.

More information about a degree in philosophy from University of Southern California

2
Master's Degree Highest Degree Type
58 Philosophy Degrees Awarded
$34,697 Median Starting Salary

Any student pursuing a degree in philosophy needs to take a look at University of California - Davis. UC Davis is a fairly large public university located in the suburb of Davis. A Best Colleges rank of #52 out of 2,217 colleges nationwide means UC Davis is a great university overall.

There were approximately 58 philosophy students who graduated with this degree at UC Davis in the most recent year we have data available. Philosophy degree recipients from University of California - Davis get an earnings boost of approximately $6,170 over the typical earnings of philosophy graduates.

More information about a degree in philosophy from University of California - Davis

3
Doctor's Degree Highest Degree Type
106 Philosophy Degrees Awarded
3.8% Growth in Graduates

Any student pursuing a degree in philosophy needs to take a look at University of California - Berkeley. Located in the city of Berkeley, UC Berkeley is a public university with a fairly large student population. A Best Colleges rank of #18 out of 2,217 colleges nationwide means UC Berkeley is a great university overall.

There were roughly 106 philosophy students who graduated with this degree at UC Berkeley in the most recent year we have data available. Students who graduate with their degree from the philosophy program report average early career earnings of $23,934.

More information about a degree in philosophy from University of California - Berkeley

4
Doctor's Degree Highest Degree Type
144 Philosophy Degrees Awarded
$25,487 Median Starting Salary

University of California - Santa Barbara is a wonderful option for students interested in a degree in philosophy. UCSB is a very large public university located in the midsize suburb of Santa Barbara. A Best Colleges rank of #45 out of 2,217 schools nationwide means UCSB is a great university overall.

There were about 144 philosophy students who graduated with this degree at UCSB in the most recent data year. Graduates who receive their degree from the philosophy program earn around $25,487 in the first couple years of their career.

More information about a degree in philosophy from University of California - Santa Barbara

5
Master's Degree Highest Degree Type
67 Philosophy Degrees Awarded
22.4% Growth in Graduates

UCR is a fairly large public university located in the large city of Riverside. This university ranks 36th out of 168 colleges for overall quality in the state of California.

There were about 67 philosophy students who graduated with this degree at UCR in the most recent data year. Students who graduate with their degree from the philosophy program report average early career earnings of $26,851.

More information about a degree in philosophy from University of California - Riverside

6
Doctor's Degree Highest Degree Type
67 Philosophy Degrees Awarded
6.0% Growth in Graduates

Located in the small city of Santa Cruz, UC Santa Cruz is a public university with a fairly large student population. A Best Colleges rank of #102 out of 2,217 colleges nationwide means UC Santa Cruz is a great university overall.

There were roughly 67 philosophy students who graduated with this degree at UC Santa Cruz in the most recent data year. Students who graduate with their degree from the philosophy program state that they receive average early career wages of $28,735.

More information about a degree in philosophy from University of California - Santa Cruz

7
Bachelor's Degree Highest Degree Type
$38,923 Median Starting Salary

Located in the midsize city of Orange, Chapman is a private not-for-profit university with a fairly large student population. A Best Colleges rank of #191 out of 2,217 colleges nationwide means Chapman is a great university overall.

There were about 16 philosophy students who graduated with this degree at Chapman in the most recent data year. Degree recipients from the philosophy major at Chapman University make $10,396 above the average college graduate with the same degree shortly after graduation.

More information about a degree in philosophy from Chapman University

8
Biola crest
Biola University
La Mirada, CA
Master's Degree Highest Degree Type
31st Most Popular In CA

Biola is a medium-sized private not-for-profit university located in the suburb of La Mirada. This university ranks 58th out of 168 schools for overall quality in the state of California.

There were approximately 14 philosophy students who graduated with this degree at Biola in the most recent data year.

More information about a degree in philosophy from Biola University

9
Master's Degree Highest Degree Type
56 Philosophy Degrees Awarded
5.4% Growth in Graduates

Located in the city of San Francisco, SFSU is a public university with a very large student population. A Best Colleges rank of #204 out of 2,217 schools nationwide means SFSU is a great university overall.

There were roughly 56 philosophy students who graduated with this degree at SFSU in the most recent data year. Philosophy degree recipients from San Francisco State University receive an earnings boost of about $6,010 over the typical income of philosophy graduates.

More information about a degree in philosophy from San Francisco State University

10
Bachelor's Degree Highest Degree Type
$32,024 Median Starting Salary
$14,824 Median Student Debt

Located in the large city of Fresno, Fresno State is a public university with a very large student population. This university ranks 74th out of 168 schools for overall quality in the state of California.

There were about 15 philosophy students who graduated with this degree at Fresno State in the most recent year we have data available. Those philosophy students who get their degree from California State University - Fresno make $3,497 more than the typical philosophy student.

More information about a degree in philosophy from California State University - Fresno

Best Philosophy Colleges in the Far Western US Region

Explore all the Best Philosophy Colleges in the Far Western US Area or other specific states within that region.

State Colleges Degrees Awarded
Washington 300 244
Oregon 266 106
Nevada 192 57
Hawaii 164 27
Alaska 119 4

View All Rankings >

Philosophy is one of 3 different types of Philosophy & Religious Studies programs to choose from.

Philosophy Concentrations

Major Annual Graduates
Philosophy 1,814
Other Philosophy 64

View All Philosophy Concentrations >

Related Major Annual Graduates
Religious Studies 420
Other Philosophy & Religious Studies 88
General Philosophy & Religious Studies 9

View All Philosophy Related Majors >

Notes and References

More about our data sources and methodologies.

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