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2022 Best Value Social Sciences Schools for a Doctorate in California For Those Making $0-$30k

12 Ranked Colleges
473 Degrees Awarded
$33,000 Avg Grad Tuition & Fees*
Best Value Social Sciences Schools for a Doctorate in California For Those Making $0-$30k

When pursuing a degree in today’s world, students have many different options to choose from. College Factual has developed its “Best Value Social Sciences Schools for a Doctorate in California For Those Making $0-$30k” ranking as one item you can use to help make this decision.

Social Sciences is one of the most popular majors in the nation, ranking 5th of all the majors we analyze. In 2019-2020, 205,726 degrees were awarded to students with this major. In 2017-2018, social sciences graduates who were awarded their degree in 2015-2017, earned an average of $34,801 and had an average of $23,466 in loans still to pay off.

Across California, there were 50,479 social sciences graduates with average earnings and debt of $33,934 and $19,309 respectively. At the doctor’s degree level specifically, there were 473 social sciences graduates with average earnings and debt of $71,544 and $133,402 respectively.

This year’s “Best Value Social Sciences Schools for a Doctorate in California For Those Making $0-$30k” ranking looked at 12 colleges that offer degrees in a bachelor’s in social sciences. This ranking identifies schools with high-quality social sciences programs that also have a lower cost than schools of similar quality.

To come up with these rankings, we looked at factors such as the cost to attend the school after aid is awarded and overall quality of the social sciences program at the school. Check out our ranking methodology for more information.

More Ways to Rank Social Sciences Schools

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

You can create your own custom comparison that focuses on the factors most important to you using our 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 Social Sciences Schools for a Doctorate in California For Those Making $0-$30k

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

Top 12 Best Value Doctor’s Degree Colleges for Social Sciences (Income $0-$30k) in California

#1

Stanford University

Stanford, California
#1 in overall quality

Out of the 12 schools in the Best Value Social Sciences Schools for a Doctorate in California For Those Making $0-$30k that were part of this year’s ranking, Stanford University landed the #1 spot on the list. Stanford is a fairly large private not-for-profit school situated in Stanford, California. It awarded 48 doctorate’s social sciences degrees in 2019-2020.

Stanford also made our “Best Social Sciences Doctor’s Degree Schools in California” list, coming in at #1. Average graduate tuition and fees at Stanford University are $55,011, but you may pay more or less depending on your major.

Read more about Social Sciences at Stanford

#5 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 Social Sciences Schools for a Doctorate in California For Those Making $0-$30k list. University of California - Berkeley is a large school located in Berkeley, California that handed out 65 doctorate’s social sciences degrees in 2019-2020.

UC Berkeley also made our “Best Social Sciences Doctor’s Degree Schools in California” list, coming in at #5. Although you might pay more or less depending on your area of study, average graduate tuition and fees at UC Berkeley are $29,347.

Read more about Social Sciences at University of California - Berkeley

#9 in overall quality

Out of the 12 schools in the Best Value Social Sciences Schools for a Doctorate in California For Those Making $0-$30k that were part of this year’s ranking, University of California - Irvine landed the #3 spot on the list. UC Irvine is a public institution located in Irvine, California. The school has a large population, and it awarded 41 doctorate’s degrees in 2019-2020.

UC Irvine did well in our major quality rankings, too. It placed #9 on our “Best Social Sciences Doctor’s Degree Schools in California” list. Average graduate tuition and fees at UC Irvine are $28,456, but some majors have different tuition rates.

Read full report on Social Sciences at UC Irvine

#4

University of California - Los Angeles

Los Angeles, California
#3 in overall quality

You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around if you attend University of California - Los Angeles. The school came in at #4 for the Best Value Social Sciences Schools for a Doctorate in California For Those Making $0-$30k. University of California - Los Angeles is located in Los Angeles, California and, has a large student population. In 2019-2020, this school awarded 69 doctorate’s social sciences degrees to qualified students.

In addition to being on our california doctor’s degree social sciences students whose families make $0-$30k list, UCLA has also earned the #3 rank in our “Best Social Sciences Doctor’s Degree Schools in California” ranking. Although you might pay more or less depending on your area of study, average graduate tuition and fees at UCLA are $28,131.

Read full report on Social Sciences at University of California - Los Angeles

#4 in overall quality

You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend University of California - San Diego. It ranked #5 on our 2022 Best Value Social Sciences Schools for a Doctorate in California For Those Making $0-$30k list. Located in La Jolla, California, this large public school awarded 38 diplomas to qualified doctorate’s social sciences students in 2019-2020.

As a testament to the quality of education offered at UCSD, the school also landed the #4 spot in our “Best Social Sciences Doctor’s Degree Schools in California” ranking. Average graduate tuition and fees at University of California - San Diego are $28,631, but you may pay more or less depending on your major.

Full UCSD Social Sciences Report

#7 in overall quality

University of California - Davis landed the #6 spot on the 2022 Best Value Social Sciences Schools for a Doctorate in California For Those Making $0-$30k ranking. UC Davis is a large public school situated in Davis, California. It awarded 51 doctorate’s social sciences degrees in 2019-2020.

UC Davis did well in our major quality rankings, too. It placed #7 on our “Best Social Sciences Doctor’s Degree Schools in California” list. Average graduate tuition and fees at UC Davis are $28,700, but you may pay more or less depending on your major.

Read more about Social Sciences at University of California - Davis

#7

University of California - Santa Barbara

Santa Barbara, California
#8 in overall quality

With a ranking of #7, University of California - Santa Barbara did quite well on the 2022 Best Value Social Sciences Schools for a Doctorate in California For Those Making $0-$30k list. University of California - Santa Barbara is located in Santa Barbara, California and, has a large student population. In 2019-2020, this school awarded 33 doctorate’s social sciences degrees to qualified students.

As a testament to the quality of education offered at UCSB, the school also landed the #8 spot in our “Best Social Sciences Doctor’s Degree Schools in California” ranking. Although you might pay more or less depending on your area of study, average graduate tuition and fees at UCSB are $28,670.

Full UCSB Social Sciences Report

#10 in overall quality

University of California - Riverside ranked #8 on this year’s Best Value Social Sciences Schools for a Doctorate in California For Those Making $0-$30k list. Located in Riverside, California, this large public school awarded 28 degrees to qualified doctorate’s social sciences students in 2019-2020.

UCR also took the #10 spot in our “Best Social Sciences Doctor’s Degree Schools in California” ranking. Although you might pay more or less depending on your area of study, average graduate tuition and fees at University of California - Riverside are $28,686.

Read full report on Social Sciences at University of California - Riverside

#9

San Diego State University

San Diego, California
#10 in overall quality

With a ranking of #9, San Diego State University did quite well on the 2022 Best Value Social Sciences Schools for a Doctorate in California For Those Making $0-$30k list. SDSU is located in San Diego, California and, has a large student population. In 2019-2020, this school awarded 8 doctorate’s social sciences degrees to qualified students.

SDSU also made our “Best Social Sciences Doctor’s Degree Schools in California” list, coming in at #10. Average graduate tuition and fees at SDSU are $18,658, but you may pay more or less depending on your major.

Read full report on Social Sciences at SDSU

#10

University of Southern California

Los Angeles, California
#2 in overall quality

University of Southern California landed the #10 spot on the 2022 Best Value Social Sciences Schools for a Doctorate in California For Those Making $0-$30k ranking. USC is a large school located in Los Angeles, California that handed out 21 doctorate’s social sciences degrees in 2019-2020.

USC also took the #2 spot in our “Best Social Sciences Doctor’s Degree Schools in California” ranking. Although you might pay more or less depending on your area of study, average graduate tuition and fees at USC are $48,715.

Read more about Social Sciences at USC

#11

University of California - Santa Cruz

Santa Cruz, California
#11 in overall quality

With a ranking of #11, University of California - Santa Cruz did quite well on the 2022 Best Value Social Sciences Schools for a Doctorate in California For Those Making $0-$30k list. This fairly large school is located in Santa Cruz, California, and it awarded 13 doctorate’s social sciences degrees in 2019-2020.

UC Santa Cruz did well in our major quality rankings, too. It placed #11 on our “Best Social Sciences Doctor’s Degree Schools in California” list. Average graduate tuition and fees at University of California - Santa Cruz are $28,952, but some majors have different tuition rates.

Full UC Santa Cruz Social Sciences Report

#13 in overall quality

University of California - Merced came in at #12 in this year’s edition of the Best Value Social Sciences Schools for a Doctorate in California For Those Making $0-$30k ranking. UC Merced is a medium-sized school located in Merced, California that handed out 4 doctorate’s social sciences degrees in 2019-2020.

UC Merced did well in our major quality rankings, too. It placed #13 on our “Best Social Sciences Doctor’s Degree Schools in California” list. Average graduate tuition and fees at UC Merced are $43,854, but you may pay more or less depending on your major.

Read full report on Social Sciences at UC Merced

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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.

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