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2024 Best General Chemistry Schools in California

24 Colleges in California
3,013 Chemistry Degrees Awarded
Ranked #43 in popularity, general chemistry is one of the most sought-after degree programs in the nation. This makes choosing the right school a hard decision.

College Factual looked at 24 colleges and universities when compiling its 2024 Best General Chemistry Schools in California ranking. When you put them all together, these colleges and universities awarded 3,013 degrees in general chemistry during the 2020-2021 academic year.

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

Choosing a Great General Chemistry School

Best General Chemistry Schools in California The chemistry program you select can have a big impact on your future. That's why we developed our collection of Best Schools for General Chemistry rankings. In order to come up with a best overall ranking for general chemistry schools, we combine our degree-level rankings, weighting them by the number of degrees awarded at each level.

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.

Pick Your General Chemistry Degree Level

Bachelor's Degrees in Chemistry
Master's Degrees in Chemistry
Doctor's Degrees in Chemistry

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 General Chemistry 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 General Chemistry in California

If you aren't interested in a particular degree level and want to know which schools are the overall best at delivering an education for the chemistry degrees they offer, see the list below.

10 Top California Schools in Chemistry

1
Stanford crest
Stanford University
Stanford, CA
Doctor's Degree Highest Degree Type
14th Most Popular In CA
58 Chemistry Degrees Awarded

Stanford University is one of the best schools in the country for getting a degree in general chemistry. Located in the large suburb of Stanford, Stanford is a private not-for-profit university with a fairly large student population. A Best Colleges rank of #3 out of 2,217 schools nationwide means Stanford is a great university overall.

There were about 58 general chemistry students who graduated with this degree at Stanford in the most recent year we have data available.

More information about a degree in general chemistry from Stanford University

2
Doctor's Degree Highest Degree Type
2nd Most Popular In CA
170 Chemistry Degrees Awarded

It is hard to beat University of California - Berkeley if you wish to pursue a degree in general chemistry. Located in the city of Berkeley, UC Berkeley is a public university with a very 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 about 170 general chemistry students who graduated with this degree at UC Berkeley in the most recent data year.

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

3
Doctor's Degree Highest Degree Type
5th Most Popular In CA
116 Chemistry Degrees Awarded

It's difficult to beat University of California - Santa Barbara if you want to pursue a degree in general chemistry. UCSB is a very large public university located in the medium-sized 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 roughly 116 general chemistry students who graduated with this degree at UCSB in the most recent data year.

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

4
Doctor's Degree Highest Degree Type
1st Most Popular In CA
172 Chemistry Degrees Awarded

University of California - San Diego is one of the best schools in the United States for getting a degree in general chemistry. Located in the city of La Jolla, UCSD is a public university with a fairly large student population. A Best Colleges rank of #38 out of 2,217 schools nationwide means UCSD is a great university overall.

There were about 172 general chemistry students who graduated with this degree at UCSD in the most recent data year.

More information about a degree in general chemistry from University of California - San Diego

5
Doctor's Degree Highest Degree Type
4th Most Popular In CA
135 Chemistry Degrees Awarded

UCLA is a very large public university located in the city of Los Angeles. A Best Colleges rank of #26 out of 2,217 schools nationwide means UCLA is a great university overall.

There were roughly 135 general chemistry students who graduated with this degree at UCLA in the most recent data year.

More information about a degree in general chemistry from University of California - Los Angeles

6
Doctor's Degree Highest Degree Type
8th Most Popular In CA
93 Chemistry Degrees Awarded

UC Davis is a very large public university located in the suburb of Davis. A Best Colleges rank of #52 out of 2,217 schools nationwide means UC Davis is a great university overall.

There were roughly 93 general chemistry students who graduated with this degree at UC Davis in the most recent data year.

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

7
Doctor's Degree Highest Degree Type
2nd Most Popular In CA
170 Chemistry Degrees Awarded

Located in the city of Irvine, UC Irvine is a public university with a fairly large student population. A Best Colleges rank of #61 out of 2,217 schools nationwide means UC Irvine is a great university overall.

There were roughly 170 general chemistry students who graduated with this degree at UC Irvine in the most recent data year.

More information about a degree in general chemistry from University of California - Irvine

8
Doctor's Degree Highest Degree Type
27th Most Popular In CA
32 Chemistry Degrees Awarded

Located in the city of Pasadena, Caltech is a private not-for-profit school with a small student population. A Best Colleges rank of #31 out of 2,217 colleges nationwide means Caltech is a great school overall.

There were approximately 32 general chemistry students who graduated with this degree at Caltech in the most recent year we have data available.

More information about a degree in general chemistry from California Institute of Technology

9
Doctor's Degree Highest Degree Type
6th Most Popular In CA
105 Chemistry Degrees Awarded

Located in the city of San Diego, SDSU is a public university with a fairly large student population. A Best Colleges rank of #141 out of 2,217 colleges nationwide means SDSU is a great university overall.

There were roughly 105 general chemistry students who graduated with this degree at SDSU in the most recent data year.

More information about a degree in general chemistry from San Diego State University

10
Doctor's Degree Highest Degree Type
8th Most Popular In CA
93 Chemistry Degrees Awarded

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 schools nationwide means UC Santa Cruz is a great university overall.

There were about 93 general chemistry students who graduated with this degree at UC Santa Cruz in the most recent data year.

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

Best General Chemistry Colleges in the Far Western US Region

Explore all the Best General Chemistry Schools in the Far Western US Area or other specific states within that region.

State Colleges Degrees Awarded
Washington 831 347
Oregon 587 266
Nevada 354 70
Hawaii 267 26
Alaska 167 13

View All Rankings >

One of 11 majors within the Chemistry area of study, General Chemistry has other similar majors worth exploring.

Related Major Annual Graduates
Other Chemistry 288
Polymer Chemistry 8
Chemical Physics 5
Environmental Chemistry 1
Forensic Chemistry 1

View All Chemistry Related Majors >

Notes and References

More about our data sources and methodologies.

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