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2024 Best Geography Schools in California

19 Colleges in California
786 Geography Degrees Awarded
Geography is above average in terms of popularity with it being the #159 most popular degree program in the country. As a result, there are many college that offer the degree, making your choice of school a hard one.

College Factual reviewed 19 schools in California to determine which ones were the best for degree seekers in the field of geography. Combined, these schools handed out 786 degrees in geography to qualified students.

Jump to one of the following sections: * Degree-Level Rankings

Choosing a Great Geography School

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

You may want to choose one of the degree levels below to find the schools of most interest to you.

Geography Rankings by Degree Level

Associate Degrees in Geography
Bachelor's Degrees in Geography
Master's Degrees in Geography
Doctor's Degrees in Geography

Since picking the right college can be one of the most important decisions of your life, we've developed the Best Geography Schools in California ranking, along with many other major-related rankings, to help you make that decision. If you'd like to restrict your choices to just one part of the country, you can filter this list by location.

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. 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.

If you want to learn more about how we derive our rankings, see College Factual's Methodology.

Best Schools for Geography in California

The schools below may not offer all types of geography degrees so you may want to filter by degree level first. However, they are great for the degree levels they do offer.

10 Top California Schools in Geography

1
Doctor's Degree Highest Degree Type
1st Most Popular In CA
81 Geography Degrees Awarded

Any student who is interested in geography has to take a look at University of California - Los Angeles. Located in the large city of Los Angeles, UCLA is a public university with a very large student population. A Best Colleges rank of #26 out of 2,217 schools nationwide means UCLA is a great university overall.

There were approximately 81 geography students who graduated with this degree at UCLA in the most recent data year.

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

2
Doctor's Degree Highest Degree Type
9th Most Popular In CA
32 Geography Degrees Awarded

University of California - Santa Barbara is a good decision for students pursuing a degree in geography. Located in the medium-sized suburb of Santa Barbara, UCSB is a public university with a very large student population. A Best Colleges rank of #45 out of 2,217 colleges nationwide means UCSB is a great university overall.

There were approximately 32 geography students who graduated with this degree at UCSB in the most recent data year.

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

3
Master's Degree Highest Degree Type
2nd Most Popular In CA
58 Geography Degrees Awarded

California State University - Long Beach is one of the best schools in the United States for getting a degree in geography. CSULB is a very large public university located in the large city of Long Beach. A Best Colleges rank of #186 out of 2,217 schools nationwide means CSULB is a great university overall.

There were about 58 geography students who graduated with this degree at CSULB in the most recent data year.

More information about a degree in geography from California State University - Long Beach

4
Master's Degree Highest Degree Type
6th Most Popular In CA
41 Geography Degrees Awarded

San Francisco State University is a wonderful option for students pursuing a degree in geography. SFSU is a very large public university located in the large city of San Francisco. A Best Colleges rank of #204 out of 2,217 schools nationwide means SFSU is a great university overall.

There were approximately 41 geography students who graduated with this degree at SFSU in the most recent data year.

More information about a degree in geography from San Francisco State University

5
Doctor's Degree Highest Degree Type
4th Most Popular In CA
44 Geography Degrees Awarded

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

There were about 44 geography students who graduated with this degree at SDSU in the most recent year we have data available.

More information about a degree in geography from San Diego State University

6
Bachelor's Degree Highest Degree Type
8th Most Popular In CA
37 Geography Degrees Awarded

Located in the city of Sacramento, Sac State is a public university with a very large student population. A Best Colleges rank of #249 out of 2,217 colleges nationwide means Sac State is a great university overall.

There were about 37 geography students who graduated with this degree at Sac State in the most recent year we have data available.

More information about a degree in geography from California State University - Sacramento

7
Master's Degree Highest Degree Type
4th Most Popular In CA
44 Geography Degrees Awarded

Located in the city of Northridge, CSUN is a public university with a very large student population. A Best Colleges rank of #299 out of 2,217 colleges nationwide means CSUN is a great university overall.

There were about 44 geography students who graduated with this degree at CSUN in the most recent year we have data available.

More information about a degree in geography from California State University - Northridge

8
Bachelor's Degree Highest Degree Type
10th Most Popular In CA

Cal Poly Pomona is a very large public university located in the suburb of Pomona. This university ranks 65th out of 168 colleges for overall quality in the state of California.

There were about 24 geography students who graduated with this degree at Cal Poly Pomona in the most recent year we have data available.

More information about a degree in geography from California State Polytechnic University - Pomona

9
SSU crest
Sonoma State University
Rohnert Park, CA
Bachelor's Degree Highest Degree Type
3rd Most Popular In CA
45 Geography Degrees Awarded

SSU is a medium-sized public university located in the suburb of Rohnert Park. This university ranks 83rd out of 168 colleges for overall quality in the state of California.

There were roughly 45 geography students who graduated with this degree at SSU in the most recent year we have data available.

More information about a degree in geography from Sonoma State University

10
Master's Degree Highest Degree Type
33rd Most Popular In CA

San Jose State is a fairly large public university located in the city of San Jose. A Best Colleges rank of #161 out of 2,217 colleges nationwide means San Jose State is a great university overall.

There were approximately 5 geography students who graduated with this degree at San Jose State in the most recent year we have data available.

More information about a degree in geography from San Jose State University

Best Geography Colleges in the Far Western US Region

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

State Colleges Degrees Awarded
Washington 831 149
Oregon 587 72
Nevada 354 23
Hawaii 267 44
Alaska 167 4

View All Rankings >

One of 2 majors within the Geography & Cartography area of study, Geography has other similar majors worth exploring.

Related Major Annual Graduates
Geographic Information Science 391
Other Geography 74

View All Geography Related Majors >

Notes and References

More about our data sources and methodologies.

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