2022 Best Value Physical Science Schools for a Bachelor’s in California For Those Getting Aid

With all of the options students have for higher education today, it can be tough to choose which direction to take. College Factual was founded, in part, to help students make the decision as to what would be the best school for them. Our “Best Value Physical Science Schools for a Bachelor’s in California For Those Getting Aid” ranking is part of that endeavor.

In 2019-2020, 4,159 people earned their degree in general physical sciences, making the major the 135th most popular in the United States. In 2017-2018, general physical sciences graduates who were awarded their degree in 2015-2017, earned an average of $25,050 and had an average of $13,137 in loans still to pay off.

Across California, there were 389 general physical sciences graduates with average earnings and debt of $0 and $0 respectively. At the bachelor’s degree level specifically, there were 25 general physical sciences graduates with average earnings and debt of $37,907 and $21,546 respectively.

For this year’s “Best Value Physical Science Schools for a Bachelor’s in California For Those Getting Aid” ranking, we looked at 3 colleges that offer a degree in general physical sciences. The schools that top this list are recognized because they have great general physical sciences programs and cost less that schools of similar quality.

Some of the factors we look at when determining these rankings are overall quality of the general physical sciences program at the school and the cost of the school after aid is awarded among other things. Check out our ranking methodology for more information.

More Ways to Rank General Physical 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 Physical Science Schools for a Bachelor’s in California For Those Getting Aid” list to help you make the college decision.

You can create your own custom comparison that focuses on the factors most important to you using our 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 Physical Science Schools for a Bachelor’s in California For Those Getting Aid

The following schools top our list of the Best Best Value Physical Science Schools for a Bachelor’s in California For Those Getting Aid.

Top 3 Best Value Bachelor’s Degree Colleges for General Physical Sciences in California (With Aid)

#1

California State University - Fresno

Fresno, California

#2 in overall quality

$5,464 Average Net Price

Out of the 3 schools in the Best Value Physical Science Schools for a Bachelor’s in California For Those Getting Aid that were part of this year’s ranking, California State University - Fresno landed the #1 spot on the list. California State University - Fresno is located in Fresno, California and, has a large student population. In 2019-2020, this school awarded 16 bachelors’s physical science degrees to qualified students.

Fresno State not only placed well in this ranking. It is also #2 on our “Best General Physical Sciences Bachelor’s Degree Schools in California” list. The estimated yearly cost for Fresno State is $5,464 for california bachelor’s degree physical science students with aid.

The school has an excellent freshman retention rate of 87%, which means students like the school well enough to return for a second year. The low student loan default rate of 4.7% 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%.

Read full report on General Physical Sciences at California State University - Fresno

#2

California State University - Stanislaus

Turlock, California

#3 in overall quality

$6,019 Average Net Price

Out of the 3 schools in the Best Value Physical Science Schools for a Bachelor’s in California For Those Getting Aid that were part of this year’s ranking, California State University - Stanislaus landed the #2 spot on the list. Stan State is a public institution located in Turlock, California. The school has a fairly large population, and it awarded 2 bachelors’s degrees in 2019-2020.

Stan State did well in our major quality rankings, too. It placed #3 on our “Best General Physical Sciences Bachelor’s Degree Schools in California” list. It costs about $6,019 for California Bachelor’s Degree Physical Science students with aid per year to attend Stan State.

The school has an excellent freshman retention rate of 87%, which means students like the school well enough to return for a second year. The school has an impressive student loan default rate. It’s only 4.3%, which is much lower than the national rate of 10.1%.

Read full report on General Physical Sciences at California State University - Stanislaus

#3

University of California - Santa Cruz

Santa Cruz, California

#1 in overall quality

$18,186 Average Net Price

You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend University of California - Santa Cruz. It ranked #3 on our 2022 Best Value Physical Science Schools for a Bachelor’s in California For Those Getting Aid list. University of California - Santa Cruz is a fairly large school located in Santa Cruz, California that handed out 7 bachelors’s physical science degrees in 2019-2020.

UC Santa Cruz also took the #1 spot in our “Best General Physical Sciences Bachelor’s Degree Schools in California” ranking. The yearly cost to attend University of California - Santa Cruz is $18,186 for california bachelor’s degree physical science students with aid.

The low student loan default rate of 2.9% 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%. With a freshman retention rate of 85%, the school does an excellent job of retaining its students.

Read more about General Physical Sciences at University of California - Santa Cruz

• Best Value Bachelor’s Degree Colleges for General Physical Sciences in the Far Western US Region (With Aid)
• Best Value Bachelor’s Degree Colleges for General Physical Sciences (With Aid)

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.

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