Find Schools

Study Area & Zipcode

Find Schools Near

2022 Best Value Visual Arts Schools for a Bachelor’s in California

9 Ranked Colleges
384 Degrees Awarded
$22,500 Avg Net Price*
Best Value Visual Arts Schools for a Bachelor's in California

With all of the options students have for higher education today, it can be tough to choose which direction to take. At College Factual, we’re committed to helping you make that decision by providing information such as that found in our “Best Value Visual Arts Schools for a Bachelor’s in California” ranking.

Visual & Performing Arts is the 217th most popular major in the country with 3,337 degrees awarded in 2019-2020.

Across California, there were 1,112 visual and performing arts graduates with average earnings and debt of $0 and $0 respectively. At the bachelor’s degree level specifically, there were 384 visual and performing arts graduates with average earnings and debt of $37,907 and $21,546 respectively.

This year’s “Best Value Visual Arts Schools for a Bachelor’s in California” ranking analyzed 9 colleges that offered a degree in visual and performing arts. The schools that top this list are recognized because they have great visual and performing arts programs and cost less that 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 visual and performing arts program at the school. See our ranking methodology to learn more.

More Ways to Rank Visual & Performing Arts Schools

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 Visual Arts Schools for a Bachelor’s in California” list to help you make the college decision.

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. Go ahead and give it a try, or bookmark the link so you can check it out later.

Best Value Visual Arts Schools for a Bachelor’s in California

The following schools top our list of the Best Best Value Visual Arts Schools for a Bachelor’s in California.

Top 9 Best Value Bachelor’s Degree Colleges for Visual & Performing Arts in California

#5 in overall quality

You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend California State University - San Marcos. It ranked #1 on our 2022 Best Value Visual Arts Schools for a Bachelor’s in California list. California State University - San Marcos is a fairly large public school situated in San Marcos, California. It awarded 93 bachelors’s visual arts degrees in 2019-2020.

CSUSM did well in our major quality rankings, too. It placed #5 on our “Best Visual & Performing Arts Bachelor’s Degree Schools in California” list. The estimated yearly cost for CSUSM is $13,399 for california bachelor’s degree visual arts students.

The student loan default rate at the school is 4.2%, which is quite low when compared to the national default rate of 10.1%.

Read more about Visual & Performing Arts at CSUSM

#2 in overall quality

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 Visual Arts Schools for a Bachelor’s in California. University of California - San Diego is located in La Jolla, California and, has a large student population. In 2019-2020, this school awarded 116 bachelors’s visual arts degrees to qualified students.

UCSD did well in our major quality rankings, too. It placed #2 on our “Best Visual & Performing Arts Bachelor’s Degree Schools in California” list. It costs about $14,232 for california bachelor’s degree visual arts students per year to attend University of California - San Diego.

With a freshman retention rate of 94%, the school does an excellent job of retaining its students. The student loan default rate at the school is 1.5%, which is quite low when compared to the national default rate of 10.1%.

Read full report on Visual & Performing Arts at UCSD

#3

San Jose State University

San Jose, California
#6 in overall quality

Out of the 9 schools in the Best Value Visual Arts Schools for a Bachelor’s in California that were part of this year’s ranking, San Jose State University landed the #3 spot on the list. San Jose, California is the setting for this large institution of higher learning. The public school handed out bachelors’s visual arts degrees to 4 students in 2019-2020.

San Jose State also took the #6 spot in our “Best Visual & Performing Arts Bachelor’s Degree Schools in California” ranking. The yearly cost to attend San Jose State is $14,928 for California Bachelor’s Degree Visual Arts students.

The school has an impressive student loan default rate. It’s only 3.7%, which is much lower than the national rate of 10.1%. The school has an excellent freshman retention rate of 86%, which means students like the school well enough to return for a second year.

Full San Jose State Visual & Performing Arts Report

#8 in overall quality

You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend California State University - Channel Islands. It ranked #4 on our 2022 Best Value Visual Arts Schools for a Bachelor’s in California list. CSUCI is a medium-sized school located in Camarillo, California that handed out 12 bachelors’s visual arts degrees in 2019-2020.

As a testament to the quality of education offered at CSUCI, the school also landed the #8 spot in our “Best Visual & Performing Arts Bachelor’s Degree Schools in California” ranking. The yearly cost to attend CSUCI is $13,558 for california bachelor’s degree visual arts students.

The student loan default rate at the school is 2.1%, which is quite low when compared to the national default rate of 10.1%.

Read more about Visual & Performing Arts at California State University - Channel Islands

#5

Azusa Pacific University

Azusa, California
#4 in overall quality

You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around if you attend Azusa Pacific University. The school came in at #5 for the Best Value Visual Arts Schools for a Bachelor’s in California. Azusa Pacific University is a private not-for-profit institution located in Azusa, California. The school has a medium-sized population, and it awarded 65 bachelors’s degrees in 2019-2020.

Azusa Pacific also made our “Best Visual & Performing Arts Bachelor’s Degree Schools in California” list, coming in at #4. The estimated yearly cost for Azusa Pacific University is $26,293 for California Bachelor’s Degree Visual Arts students.

The school has an impressive student loan default rate. It’s only 3.3%, which is much lower than the national rate of 10.1%. The impressive student-to-faculty ratio of 10 to 1 means that students may have more opportunities to work more closely with their professors than they would at other schools.

Read more about Visual & Performing Arts at Azusa Pacific University

#6

Point Loma Nazarene University

San Diego, California
#7 in overall quality

Point Loma Nazarene University landed the #6 spot on the 2022 Best Value Visual Arts Schools for a Bachelor’s in California ranking. Located in San Diego, California, this small private not-for-profit school handed out 12 diplomas to qualified bachelors’s visual arts students in 2019-2020.

As a testament to the quality of education offered at PLNU, the school also landed the #7 spot in our “Best Visual & Performing Arts Bachelor’s Degree Schools in California” ranking. It costs about $33,044 for california bachelor’s degree visual arts students per year to attend PLNU.

The low student loan default rate of 2.4% 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 Visual & Performing Arts at PLNU

#7

William Jessup University

Rocklin, California
#9 in overall quality

With a ranking of #7, William Jessup University did quite well on the 2022 Best Value Visual Arts Schools for a Bachelor’s in California list. William Jessup University is a small private not-for-profit school situated in Rocklin, California. It awarded 1 bachelors’s visual arts degrees in 2019-2020.

William Jessup University also took the #9 spot in our “Best Visual & Performing Arts Bachelor’s Degree Schools in California” ranking. The yearly cost to attend William Jessup University is $21,207 for California Bachelor’s Degree Visual Arts students.

Read full report on Visual & Performing Arts at William Jessup University

#8

University of San Francisco

San Francisco, California
#3 in overall quality

University of San Francisco ranked #8 on this year’s Best Value Visual Arts Schools for a Bachelor’s in California list. This fairly large school is located in San Francisco, California, and it awarded 10 bachelors’s visual arts degrees in 2019-2020.

USFCA not only placed well in this ranking. It is also #3 on our “Best Visual & Performing Arts Bachelor’s Degree Schools in California” list. It costs about $36,424 for California Bachelor’s Degree Visual Arts students per year to attend USFCA.

The school has an impressive student loan default rate. It’s only 2.5%, which is much lower than the national rate of 10.1%.

Full USFCA Visual & Performing Arts Report

#9

University of Southern California

Los Angeles, California
#1 in overall quality

University of Southern California came in at #9 in this year’s edition of the Best Value Visual Arts Schools for a Bachelor’s in California ranking. USC is a large school located in Los Angeles, California that handed out 3 bachelors’s visual arts degrees in 2019-2020.

As a testament to the quality of education offered at USC, the school also landed the #1 spot in our “Best Visual & Performing Arts Bachelor’s Degree Schools in California” ranking. The estimated yearly cost for University of Southern California is $29,528 for California Bachelor’s Degree Visual Arts students.

With a freshman retention rate of 91%, the school does an excellent job of retaining its students. The student loan default rate at the school is 1.2%, which is quite low when compared to the national default rate of 10.1%. The student-to-faculty ratio of 9 to 1 is a sign that students will have more opportunities to engage with their professors one-on-one.

Read full report on Visual & Performing Arts at USC

Switch to a Different Ranking Method

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

Featured Schools

Find Schools Near You