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2024 Best Geology & Earth Sciences Schools in California

19 Colleges in California
706 Geology Degrees Awarded
If you pursue a degree in geology & earth sciences, you won't be alone. The field of study is the #125 most popular program in the country. This makes choosing the right school a hard decision.

In 2024, College Factual analyzed 19 schools in order to identify the top ones for its Best Geology & Earth Sciences Schools in California ranking. When you put them all together, these colleges and universities awarded 706 degrees in geology & earth sciences during the 2020-2021 academic year.

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

Choosing a Great Geology & Earth Sciences School

Best Geology & Earth Sciences Schools in California Your choice of geology & earth sciences school matters, so we have put together these rankings to help you make your decision. In order to come up with a best overall ranking for geology & earth sciences 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 Geology & Earth Sciences Degree Level

Bachelor's Degrees in Geology
Master's Degrees in Geology
Doctor's Degrees in Geology

Since the program you select can have a significant impact on your future, we've developed a number of rankings, including this Best Geology & Earth Sciences Schools in California list, to help you choose the best school for you. 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 Geology & Earth Sciences 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 geology degree levels they offer.

10 Top California Schools in Geology

1
Stanford crest
Stanford University
Stanford, CA
Master's Degree Highest Degree Type
2nd Most Popular In CA
64 Geology Degrees Awarded

Stanford University is one of the finest schools in the United States for getting a degree in geology & earth sciences. Located in the suburb of Stanford, Stanford is a private not-for-profit university with a large student population. A Best Colleges rank of #3 out of 2,217 schools nationwide means Stanford is a great university overall.

There were approximately 64 geology & earth sciences students who graduated with this degree at Stanford in the most recent data year.

More information about a degree in geology & earth sciences from Stanford University

2
Doctor's Degree Highest Degree Type
21st Most Popular In CA
16.7% Growth in Graduates

It is hard to beat California Institute of Technology if you want to pursue a degree in geology & earth sciences. Located in the midsize 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 schools nationwide means Caltech is a great school overall.

There were about 12 geology & earth sciences students who graduated with this degree at Caltech in the most recent year we have data available.

More information about a degree in geology & earth sciences from California Institute of Technology

2
Doctor's Degree Highest Degree Type
4th Most Popular In CA
48 Geology Degrees Awarded

Every student pursuing a degree in geology & earth sciences needs to look into University of California - Santa Barbara. 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 about 48 geology & earth sciences students who graduated with this degree at UCSB in the most recent data year.

More information about a degree in geology & earth sciences from University of California - Santa Barbara

3
Master's Degree Highest Degree Type
17th Most Popular In CA

University of California - Los Angeles is one of the finest schools in the United States for getting a degree in geology & earth sciences. UCLA is a fairly large public university located in the large 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 about 14 geology & earth sciences students who graduated with this degree at UCLA in the most recent data year.

More information about a degree in geology & earth sciences from University of California - Los Angeles

4
Doctor's Degree Highest Degree Type
10th Most Popular In CA
12.5% Growth in Graduates

It's hard to beat University of California - Berkeley if you want to pursue a degree in geology & earth sciences. Located in the midsize 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 24 geology & earth sciences students who graduated with this degree at UC Berkeley in the most recent data year.

More information about a degree in geology & earth sciences from University of California - Berkeley

5
Doctor's Degree Highest Degree Type
7th Most Popular In CA

Located in the city of La Jolla, UCSD is a public university with a very large student population. A Best Colleges rank of #38 out of 2,217 colleges nationwide means UCSD is a great university overall.

There were about 27 geology & earth sciences students who graduated with this degree at UCSD in the most recent data year.

More information about a degree in geology & earth sciences from University of California - San Diego

6
Doctor's Degree Highest Degree Type
1st Most Popular In CA
70 Geology Degrees Awarded

Located in the large 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 colleges nationwide means UC Irvine is a great university overall.

There were approximately 70 geology & earth sciences students who graduated with this degree at UC Irvine in the most recent year we have data available.

More information about a degree in geology & earth sciences from University of California - Irvine

7
Doctor's Degree Highest Degree Type
5th Most Popular In CA
31 Geology 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 approximately 31 geology & earth sciences students who graduated with this degree at UC Davis in the most recent year we have data available.

More information about a degree in geology & earth sciences from University of California - Davis

8
Doctor's Degree Highest Degree Type
3rd Most Popular In CA
49 Geology Degrees Awarded

Located in the city of Santa Cruz, UC Santa Cruz is a public university with a 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 approximately 49 geology & earth sciences students who graduated with this degree at UC Santa Cruz in the most recent year we have data available.

More information about a degree in geology & earth sciences from University of California - Santa Cruz

9
Master's Degree Highest Degree Type
14th Most Popular In CA

Located in the city of Long Beach, CSULB is a public university with a very large student population. This university ranks 28th out of 168 schools for overall quality in the state of California.

There were about 16 geology & earth sciences students who graduated with this degree at CSULB in the most recent data year.

More information about a degree in geology & earth sciences from California State University - Long Beach

Best Geology & Earth Sciences Colleges in the Far Western US Region

Explore all the Best Geology & Earth Sciences Colleges in the Far Western US Area or other specific states within that region.

State Colleges Degrees Awarded
Washington 831 248
Oregon 587 69
Nevada 354 41
Hawaii 267 34
Alaska 167 23

View All Rankings >

Geology & Earth Sciences is one of 7 different types of Geological & Earth Sciences programs to choose from.

Related Major Annual Graduates
Other Geological & Earth Sciences/Geosciences 107
Chemical & Physical Oceanography 86
Geophysics & Seismology 54
Hydrology & Water Resources Science 27
Geochemistry 14

View All Geology Related Majors >

Notes and References

More about our data sources and methodologies.

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