2023 Best Value Colleges for Chemical & Physical Oceanography (Income $0-$30k) in California

When it comes to choosing a college, students have a lot of options - but not all of them are good. One of our goals at College Factual is to give you as much information as we can - such as our “Best Value Chemical & Physical Oceanography Schools in California For Those Making $0-$30k” ranking - to help you make that decision.

In 2020-2021, 508 people earned their degree in chemical and physical oceanography, making the major the 572nd most popular in the United States.

Across California, there were 86 chemical and physical oceanography graduates with average earnings and debt of $0 and $0 respectively.

This year’s “Best Value Chemical & Physical Oceanography Schools in California For Those Making $0-$30k” ranking looked at 3 colleges that offer degrees in a bachelor’s in chemical and physical oceanography. The schools that top this list are recognized because they have great chemical and physical oceanography 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 chemical and physical oceanography 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 Chemical & Physical Oceanography Schools

Since picking the right college can be one of the most important decisions of your life, we’ve developed the “Best Value Chemical & Physical Oceanography Schools in California For Those Making $0-$30k” ranking, along with many other major-related rankings, to help you make that 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 Chemical & Physical Oceanography Schools in California For Those Making $0-$30k

The following schools top our list of the Best Best Value Chemical & Physical Oceanography Schools in California For Those Making $0-$30k.

Top 3 Best Value Colleges for Chemical & Physical Oceanography (Income $0-$30k) in California

1

University of California - Berkeley
Berkeley, California

#1 in overall quality

$8,450 Average Net Price

$60,587 Average Early-Career Earnings

You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around if you attend University of California - Berkeley. The school came in at #1 for the Best Value Chemical & Physical Oceanography Schools in California For Those Making $0-$30k. UC Berkeley is a large school located in Berkeley, California that handed out 12 ’s chemical and physical oceanography degrees in 2020-2021.

UC Berkeley also took the #1 spot in our “Best Chemical & Physical Oceanography Schools in California” ranking. It costs about $8,450 for california chemical & physical oceanography students whose families make $0-$30k per year to attend UC Berkeley.

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 undergrad student loan default rate at the school is 1.8%, which is quite low when compared to the national default rate of 10.1%.

Read more about Chemical & Physical Oceanography at University of California - Berkeley

2

University of California - San Diego
La Jolla, California

#2 in overall quality

$9,823 Average Net Price

$50,251 Average Early-Career Earnings

You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around if you attend University of California - San Diego. The school came in at #2 for the Best Value Chemical & Physical Oceanography Schools in California For Those Making $0-$30k. University of California - San Diego is a large school located in La Jolla, California that handed out 47 ’s chemical and physical oceanography degrees in 2020-2021.

UCSD also made our “Best Chemical & Physical Oceanography Schools in California” list, coming in at #2. The estimated yearly cost for UCSD is $9,823 for California Chemical & Physical Oceanography students whose families make $0-$30k.

The school has an impressive undergrad student loan default rate. It’s only 1.0%, 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 94%.

Read full report on Chemical & Physical Oceanography at University of California - San Diego

3

University of California - Santa Cruz
Santa Cruz, California

#3 in overall quality

$11,038 Average Net Price

$35,777 Average Early-Career Earnings

You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around if you attend University of California - Santa Cruz. The school came in at #3 for the Best Value Chemical & Physical Oceanography Schools in California For Those Making $0-$30k. UC Santa Cruz is located in Santa Cruz, California and, has a fairly large student population. In 2020-2021, this school awarded 16 ’s chemical and physical oceanography degrees to qualified students.

UC Santa Cruz also made our “Best Chemical & Physical Oceanography Schools in California” list, coming in at #3. The yearly cost to attend UC Santa Cruz is $11,038 for California Chemical & Physical Oceanography students whose families make $0-$30k.

With a freshman retention rate of 85%, the school does an excellent job of retaining its undergraduate students. The low undergrad 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%.

Full UC Santa Cruz Chemical & Physical Oceanography Report

• Best Value Colleges for Chemical & Physical Oceanography (Income $0-$30k) in the Far Western US Region
• Best Value Colleges for Chemical & Physical Oceanography (Income $0-$30k)

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.