2022 Best Value Bachelor’s Degree Colleges for Musical Theater (Income $48-$75k) in California

When pursuing a degree in today’s world, students have many different options to choose from. College Factual has developed its “Best Value Musical Theatre Schools for a Bachelor’s in California For Those Making $48-$75k” ranking as one item you can use to help make this decision.

In 2019-2020, 935 people earned their degree in musical theater, making the major the 489th most popular in the United States.

Across California, there were 49 musical theater graduates with average earnings and debt of $0 and $0 respectively. At the bachelor’s degree level specifically, there were 20 musical theater graduates with average earnings and debt of $37,907 and $21,546 respectively.

For this year’s “Best Value Musical Theatre Schools for a Bachelor’s in California For Those Making $48-$75k” ranking, we looked at 3 colleges that offer a degree in musical theater. The schools that top this list are recognized because they have great musical theater programs and cost less that schools of similar quality.

When determining these rankings, we looked at things such as overall quality of the musical theater program at the school and the cost to attend the school once aid has been awarded. Check out our ranking methodology for more information.

More Ways to Rank Musical Theater Schools

Since the program you select can have a significant impact on your future, we’ve developed a number of rankings, including this “Best Value Musical Theatre Schools for a Bachelor’s in California For Those Making $48-$75k” list, to help you choose the best school for you.

To further help you make the college decision, we’ve developed a unique tool called College Combat that allows you to compare schools based on the factors that matter the most to you. 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 Musical Theatre Schools for a Bachelor’s in California For Those Making $48-$75k

The colleges and universities below are the best for california bachelor’s degree musical theatre students whose families make $48-$75k.

Top 3 Best Value Bachelor’s Degree Colleges for Musical Theater (Income $48-$75k) in California

#1

University of California - Irvine

Irvine, California

#1 in overall quality

$13,648 Average Net Price

You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around if you attend University of California - Irvine. The school came in at #1 for the Best Value Musical Theatre Schools for a Bachelor’s in California For Those Making $48-$75k. UC Irvine is located in Irvine, California and, has a large student population. In 2019-2020, this school awarded 9 bachelors’s musical theatre degrees to qualified students.

UC Irvine did well in our major quality rankings, too. It placed #1 on our “Best Musical Theater Bachelor’s Degree Schools in California” list. The estimated yearly cost for University of California - Irvine is $13,648 for California Bachelor’s Degree Musical Theatre students whose families make $48-$75k.

The school has an excellent freshman retention rate of 94%, which means students like the school well enough to return for a second year. The low student loan default rate of 1.3% 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 Irvine Musical Theater Report

#2

California State University - Chico

Chico, California

#2 in overall quality

$16,116 Average Net Price

You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend California State University - Chico. It ranked #2 on our 2022 Best Value Musical Theatre Schools for a Bachelor’s in California For Those Making $48-$75k list. Chico State is a fairly large public school situated in Chico, California. It awarded 7 bachelors’s musical theatre degrees in 2019-2020.

As a testament to the quality of education offered at Chico State, the school also landed the #2 spot in our “Best Musical Theater Bachelor’s Degree Schools in California” ranking. It costs about $16,116 for California Bachelor’s Degree Musical Theatre students whose families make $48-$75k per year to attend California State University - Chico.

The low student loan default rate of 3.3% 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 Musical Theater at California State University - Chico

#3

Vanguard University of Southern California

Costa Mesa, California

#3 in overall quality

$18,625 Average Net Price

You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around if you attend Vanguard University of Southern California. The school came in at #3 for the Best Value Musical Theatre Schools for a Bachelor’s in California For Those Making $48-$75k. Vanguard is located in Costa Mesa, California and, has a small student population. In 2019-2020, this school awarded 4 bachelors’s musical theatre degrees to qualified students.

Vanguard not only placed well in this ranking. It is also #3 on our “Best Musical Theater Bachelor’s Degree Schools in California” list. It costs about $18,625 for california bachelor’s degree musical theatre students whose families make $48-$75k per year to attend Vanguard University of Southern California.

The student loan default rate at the school is 4.0%, which is quite low when compared to the national default rate of 10.1%.

Read full report on Musical Theater at Vanguard University of Southern California

• Best Value Bachelor’s Degree Colleges for Musical Theater (Income $48-$75k) in the Far Western US Region
• Best Value Bachelor’s Degree Colleges for Musical Theater (Income $48-$75k)

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 Donald Judge.

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