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2022 Best Value Bachelor’s Degree Colleges for Architecture (Income $30-$48k) in California

8 Ranked Colleges
322 Degrees Awarded
$17,700 Avg Net Price*
Best Value architecture Schools for a Bachelor's in California For Those Making $30-$48k

It’s not easy to decide which college to attend when there so many options available for students. One of our goals at College Factual is to give you as much information as we can - such as our “Best Value architecture Schools for a Bachelor’s in California For Those Making $30-$48k” ranking - to help you make that decision.

Architecture is the 124th most popular major in the country with 4,967 degrees awarded in 2019-2020.

Across California, there were 370 architecture graduates with average earnings and debt of $0 and $0 respectively. At the bachelor’s degree level specifically, there were 322 architecture graduates with average earnings and debt of $37,907 and $21,546 respectively.

For this year’s “Best Value architecture Schools for a Bachelor’s in California For Those Making $30-$48k” ranking, we looked at 8 colleges that offer a degree in architecture. The schools that top this list are recognized because they have great architecture 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 architecture program at the school and the cost of the school after aid is awarded among other things. For more information, check out our ranking methodology.

One Size Does Not Fit All

The architecture school you choose to invest your time and money in matters. To help you make the decision that is right for you, we’ve developed a number of major-specific rankings, including this list of “Best Value architecture Schools for a Bachelor’s in California For Those Making $30-$48k”.

One of our other unique offerings is College Combat. This tool lets you build your own customized comparisons utilizing the factors that are most important to you. Test it out by comparing your favorite schools against others you are considering, or bookmark the tool so you can experiment with it later.

Best Value architecture Schools for a Bachelor’s in California For Those Making $30-$48k

The colleges and universities below are the best for california bachelor’s degree architecture students whose families make $30-$48k.

Top 8 Best Value Bachelor’s Degree Colleges for Architecture (Income $30-$48k) in California

#1 in overall quality

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 architecture Schools for a Bachelor’s in California For Those Making $30-$48k. Berkeley, California is the setting for this large institution of higher learning. The public school handed out bachelors’s architecture degrees to 97 students in 2019-2020.

UC Berkeley also took the #1 spot in our “Best Architecture Bachelor’s Degree Schools in California” ranking. The yearly cost to attend University of California - Berkeley is $9,130 for california bachelor’s degree architecture students whose families make $30-$48k.

The student loan default rate at the school is 1.7%, which is quite low when compared to the national default rate of 10.1%. Students who start out at the school are likely to stick around. The freshman retention rate is 96%.

Full UC Berkeley Architecture Report

#3 in overall quality

Out of the 8 schools in the Best Value architecture Schools for a Bachelor’s in California For Those Making $30-$48k that were part of this year’s ranking, California Polytechnic State University - San Luis Obispo landed the #2 spot on the list. California Polytechnic State University - San Luis Obispo is located in San Luis Obispo, California and, has a large student population. In 2019-2020, this school awarded 31 bachelors’s architecture degrees to qualified students.

As a testament to the quality of education offered at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo, the school also landed the #3 spot in our “Best Architecture Bachelor’s Degree Schools in California” ranking. It costs about $14,680 for california bachelor’s degree architecture students whose families make $30-$48k per year to attend Cal Poly San Luis Obispo.

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 student loan default rate at the school is 1.1%, which is quite low when compared to the national default rate of 10.1%.

Read more about Architecture at California Polytechnic State University - San Luis Obispo

#3

University of California - Los Angeles

Los Angeles, California
#7 in overall quality

Out of the 8 schools in the Best Value architecture Schools for a Bachelor’s in California For Those Making $30-$48k that were part of this year’s ranking, University of California - Los Angeles landed the #3 spot on the list. Los Angeles, California is the setting for this large institution of higher learning. The public school handed out bachelors’s architecture degrees to 22 students in 2019-2020.

UCLA did well in our major quality rankings, too. It placed #7 on our “Best Architecture Bachelor’s Degree Schools in California” list. It costs about $9,254 for California Bachelor’s Degree architecture students whose families make $30-$48k per year to attend University of California - Los Angeles.

The school has an impressive 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 96%.

Read full report on Architecture at University of California - Los Angeles

#5 in overall quality

You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend California State Polytechnic University - Pomona. It ranked #4 on our 2022 Best Value architecture Schools for a Bachelor’s in California For Those Making $30-$48k list. Pomona, California is the setting for this large institution of higher learning. The public school handed out bachelors’s architecture degrees to 88 students in 2019-2020.

Cal Poly Pomona also made our “Best Architecture Bachelor’s Degree Schools in California” list, coming in at #5. It costs about $9,630 for California Bachelor’s Degree architecture students whose families make $30-$48k per year to attend California State Polytechnic University - Pomona.

The student loan default rate at the school is 1.7%, which is quite low when compared to the national default rate of 10.1%. Students who start out at the school are likely to stick around. The freshman retention rate is 87%.

Read more about Architecture at California State Polytechnic University - Pomona

#5

University of Southern California

Los Angeles, California
#2 in overall quality

You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend University of Southern California. It ranked #5 on our 2022 Best Value architecture Schools for a Bachelor’s in California For Those Making $30-$48k list. USC is a large school located in Los Angeles, California that handed out 9 bachelors’s architecture degrees in 2019-2020.

USC also took the #2 spot in our “Best Architecture Bachelor’s Degree Schools in California” ranking. It costs about $16,252 for California Bachelor’s Degree architecture students whose families make $30-$48k per year to attend University of Southern California.

Since the school has a student-to-faculty ratio of 9 to 1, those pursuing a degree will have more opportunities to interact with their professors. 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%. With a freshman retention rate of 91%, the school does an excellent job of retaining its students.

Read more about Architecture at USC

#6

California College of the Arts

San Francisco, California
#6 in overall quality

With a ranking of #6, California College of the Arts did quite well on the 2022 Best Value architecture Schools for a Bachelor’s in California For Those Making $30-$48k list. California College of the Arts is a small school located in San Francisco, California that handed out 26 bachelors’s architecture degrees in 2019-2020.

California College of the Arts not only placed well in this ranking. It is also #6 on our “Best Architecture Bachelor’s Degree Schools in California” list. It costs about $32,503 for california bachelor’s degree architecture students whose families make $30-$48k per year to attend California College of the Arts.

The school has an impressive student loan default rate. It’s only 4.3%, which is much lower than the national rate of 10.1%. The impressive student-to-faculty ratio of 8 to 1 means that students may have more opportunities to work more closely with their professors than they would at other schools.

Full California College of the Arts Architecture Report

#7

Woodbury University

Burbank, California
#8 in overall quality

Woodbury University did quite well in the 2022 Best Value architecture Schools for a Bachelor’s in California For Those Making $30-$48k ranking, coming in at #7. Burbank, California is the setting for this small institution of higher learning. The private not-for-profit school handed out bachelors’s architecture degrees to 13 students in 2019-2020.

As a testament to the quality of education offered at Woodbury, the school also landed the #8 spot in our “Best Architecture Bachelor’s Degree Schools in California” ranking. The yearly cost to attend Woodbury is $21,184 for California Bachelor’s Degree architecture students whose families make $30-$48k.

The student loan default rate at the school is 1.8%, which is quite low when compared to the national default rate of 10.1%. Since the school has a student-to-faculty ratio of 10 to 1, those pursuing a degree will have more opportunities to interact with their professors.

Read more about Architecture at Woodbury University

#8

University of San Francisco

San Francisco, California
#4 in overall quality

University of San Francisco came in at #8 in this year’s edition of the Best Value architecture Schools for a Bachelor’s in California For Those Making $30-$48k ranking. USFCA is located in San Francisco, California and, has a fairly large student population. In 2019-2020, this school awarded 21 bachelors’s architecture degrees to qualified students.

USFCA also made our “Best Architecture Bachelor’s Degree Schools in California” list, coming in at #4. The yearly cost to attend USFCA is $29,186 for California Bachelor’s Degree architecture students whose families make $30-$48k.

The student loan default rate at the school is 2.5%, which is quite low when compared to the national default rate of 10.1%.

Read more about Architecture at University of San Francisco

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 Danichou.

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