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2022 Best Value Bachelor’s Degree Colleges for Geophysics & Seismology (Income $0-$30k) in California

4 Ranked Colleges
14 Degrees Awarded
$7,700 Avg Net Price*
Best Value Geophysics Schools for a Bachelor's in California For Those Making $0-$30k

Students have lots of options to chooose from today when trying to decide which college to attend. College Factual has developed its “Best Value Geophysics Schools for a Bachelor’s in California For Those Making $0-$30k” ranking as one item you can use to help make this decision.

Geophysics & Seismology is the 674th most popular major in the country with 251 degrees awarded in 2019-2020.

Across California, there were 57 geophysics and seismology graduates with average earnings and debt of $0 and $0 respectively. At the bachelor’s degree level specifically, there were 14 geophysics and seismology graduates with average earnings and debt of $37,907 and $21,546 respectively.

For this year’s “Best Value Geophysics Schools for a Bachelor’s in California For Those Making $0-$30k” ranking, we looked at 4 colleges that offer a degree in geophysics and seismology. This ranking identifies schools with high-quality geophysics and seismology 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 geophysics and seismology program at the school and the cost of the school after aid is awarded among other things. For more information, check out our ranking methodology.

One Size Does Not Fit All

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 Geophysics Schools for a Bachelor’s 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. We encourage you to try it out and pit your favorite colleges and universities head to head! If you don’t have time right now, you can bookmark it for later.

Best Value Geophysics Schools for a Bachelor’s in California For Those Making $0-$30k

The colleges and universities below are the best for california bachelor’s degree geophysics students whose families make $0-$30k.

Top 4 Best Value Bachelor’s Degree Colleges for Geophysics & Seismology (Income $0-$30k) in California

#1

California Institute of Technology

Pasadena, California
#1 in overall quality

You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around if you attend California Institute of Technology. The school came in at #1 for the Best Value Geophysics Schools for a Bachelor’s in California For Those Making $0-$30k. Caltech is a small school located in Pasadena, California that handed out 1 bachelors’s geophysics degrees in 2019-2020.

Caltech also made our “Best Geophysics & Seismology Bachelor’s Degree Schools in California” list, coming in at #1. The yearly cost to attend Caltech is $5,456 for California Bachelor’s Degree Geophysics students whose families make $0-$30k.

The student loan default rate at the school is 1.0%, which is quite low when compared to the national default rate of 10.1%. With a freshman retention rate of 94%, the school does an excellent job of retaining its students. The impressive student-to-faculty ratio of 3 to 1 means that students may have more opportunities to work more closely with their professors than they would at other schools.

Read full report on Geophysics & Seismology at California Institute of Technology

#2 in overall quality

You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend University of California - Berkeley. It ranked #2 on our 2022 Best Value Geophysics Schools for a Bachelor’s in California For Those Making $0-$30k list. Located in Berkeley, California, this large public school handed out 7 diplomas to qualified bachelors’s geophysics students in 2019-2020.

UC Berkeley did well in our major quality rankings, too. It placed #2 on our “Best Geophysics & Seismology Bachelor’s Degree Schools in California” list. The yearly cost to attend UC Berkeley is $8,392 for California Bachelor’s Degree Geophysics students whose families make $0-$30k.

Students who start out at the school are likely to stick around. The freshman retention rate is 96%. The low student loan default rate of 1.7% 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%.

Full UC Berkeley Geophysics & Seismology Report

#3

University of California - Los Angeles

Los Angeles, California
#3 in overall quality

You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend University of California - Los Angeles. It ranked #3 on our 2022 Best Value Geophysics Schools for a Bachelor’s in California For Those Making $0-$30k list. UCLA is located in Los Angeles, California and, has a large student population. In 2019-2020, this school awarded 4 bachelors’s geophysics degrees to qualified students.

UCLA also made our “Best Geophysics & Seismology Bachelor’s Degree Schools in California” list, coming in at #3. It costs about $8,553 for California Bachelor’s Degree Geophysics students whose families make $0-$30k per year to attend University of California - Los Angeles.

The school has an excellent freshman retention rate of 96%, which means students like the school well enough to return for a second year. The low student loan default rate of 1.0% 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 more about Geophysics & Seismology at University of California - Los Angeles

#4 in overall quality

You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend University of California - Riverside. It ranked #4 on our 2022 Best Value Geophysics Schools for a Bachelor’s in California For Those Making $0-$30k list. University of California - Riverside is located in Riverside, California and, has a large student population. In 2019-2020, this school awarded 2 bachelors’s geophysics degrees to qualified students.

In addition to being on our california bachelor’s degree geophysics students whose families make $0-$30k list, UCR has also earned the #4 rank in our “Best Geophysics & Seismology Bachelor’s Degree Schools in California” ranking. The estimated yearly cost for UCR is $8,366 for California Bachelor’s Degree Geophysics students whose families make $0-$30k.

The school has an impressive student loan default rate. It’s only 2.1%, 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 91%.

Full University of California - Riverside Geophysics & Seismology Report

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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.

Credits

  • Credit for the banner image above goes to Kelvinsong.

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