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

8 Ranked Colleges
322 Degrees Awarded
Best Value architecture Schools for a Bachelor's in California For Those Making $48-$75k

When it comes to choosing a college, students have a lot of options - but not all of them are good. College Factual was founded, in part, to help students make the decision as to what would be the best school for them. Our “Best Value architecture Schools for a Bachelor’s in California For Those Making $48-$75k” ranking is part of that endeavor.

In 2019-2020, 4,967 people earned their degree in architecture, making the major the 124th most popular in the United States.

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.

This year’s “Best Value architecture Schools for a Bachelor’s in California For Those Making $48-$75k” ranking looked at 8 colleges that offer degrees in a bachelor’s in architecture. Not only do the schools that top this list have excellent architecture programs, but they also cost less that schools of similar quality.

When determining these rankings, we looked at things such as overall quality of the architecture program at the school and the cost to attend the school once aid has been awarded. 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 $48-$75k”.

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

Best Value architecture Schools for a Bachelor’s in California For Those Making $48-$75k

The following schools top our list of the Best Best Value architecture Schools for a Bachelor’s in California For Those Making $48-$75k.

Top 8 Best Value Bachelor’s Degree Colleges for Architecture (Income $48-$75k) in California

#1 in overall quality

You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend University of California - Berkeley. It ranked #1 on our 2022 Best Value architecture Schools for a Bachelor’s in California For Those Making $48-$75k list. This large school is located in Berkeley, California, and it awarded 97 bachelors’s architecture degrees in 2019-2020.

As a testament to the quality of education offered at UC Berkeley, the school also landed the #1 spot in our “Best Architecture Bachelor’s Degree Schools in California” ranking. The estimated yearly cost for University of California - Berkeley is $13,081 for California Bachelor’s Degree architecture students whose families make $48-$75k.

With a freshman retention rate of 96%, the school does an excellent job of retaining its students. 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%.

Read full report on Architecture at UC Berkeley

#3 in overall quality

You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend California Polytechnic State University - San Luis Obispo. It ranked #2 on our 2022 Best Value architecture Schools for a Bachelor’s in California For Those Making $48-$75k list. Cal Poly San Luis Obispo is a large public school situated in San Luis Obispo, California. It awarded 31 bachelors’s architecture degrees in 2019-2020.

Cal Poly San Luis Obispo also made our “Best Architecture Bachelor’s Degree Schools in California” list, coming in at #3. The yearly cost to attend Cal Poly San Luis Obispo is $19,407 for California Bachelor’s Degree architecture students whose families make $48-$75k.

The school has an impressive student loan default rate. It’s only 1.1%, 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 94%.

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

You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around if you attend University of California - Los Angeles. The school came in at #3 for the Best Value architecture Schools for a Bachelor’s in California For Those Making $48-$75k. Located in Los Angeles, California, this large public school handed out 22 diplomas to qualified bachelors’s architecture students in 2019-2020.

UCLA not only placed well in this ranking. It is also #7 on our “Best Architecture Bachelor’s Degree Schools in California” list. The yearly cost to attend University of California - Los Angeles is $13,081 for California Bachelor’s Degree architecture students whose families make $48-$75k.

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%. With a freshman retention rate of 96%, the school does an excellent job of retaining its students.

Read more about Architecture at UCLA

#5 in overall quality

Out of the 8 schools in the Best Value architecture Schools for a Bachelor’s in California For Those Making $48-$75k that were part of this year’s ranking, California State Polytechnic University - Pomona landed the #4 spot on the list. Cal Poly Pomona is a large school located in Pomona, California that handed out 88 bachelors’s architecture degrees in 2019-2020.

Cal Poly Pomona not only placed well in this ranking. It is also #5 on our “Best Architecture Bachelor’s Degree Schools in California” list. It costs about $14,012 for california bachelor’s degree architecture students whose families make $48-$75k per year to attend Cal Poly Pomona.

The school has an excellent freshman retention rate of 87%, which means students like the school well enough to return for a second year. 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%.

Read full report on Architecture at California State Polytechnic University - Pomona

#5

University of Southern California

Los Angeles, California
#2 in overall quality

You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around if you attend University of Southern California. The school came in at #5 for the Best Value architecture Schools for a Bachelor’s in California For Those Making $48-$75k. USC is a private not-for-profit institution located in Los Angeles, California. The school has a large population, and it awarded 9 bachelors’s degrees in 2019-2020.

USC also made our “Best Architecture Bachelor’s Degree Schools in California” list, coming in at #2. The estimated yearly cost for USC is $20,050 for california bachelor’s degree architecture students whose families make $48-$75k.

With a student-to-faculty ratio of 9 to 1, it’s easy to see that the school is committed to helping their undergraduates succeed. With a freshman retention rate of 91%, the school does an excellent job of retaining its students. The low student loan default rate of 1.2% 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 Architecture at University of Southern California

#6

California College of the Arts

San Francisco, California
#6 in overall quality

California College of the Arts ranked #6 on this year’s Best Value architecture Schools for a Bachelor’s in California For Those Making $48-$75k list. San Francisco, California is the setting for this small institution of higher learning. The private not-for-profit school handed out bachelors’s architecture degrees to 26 students in 2019-2020.

California College of the Arts did well in our major quality rankings, too. It placed #6 on our “Best Architecture Bachelor’s Degree Schools in California” list. It costs about $28,699 for California Bachelor’s Degree architecture students whose families make $48-$75k per year to attend California College of the Arts.

The low student loan default rate of 4.3% 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%. With a student-to-faculty ratio of 8 to 1, it’s easy to see that the school is committed to helping their undergraduates succeed.

Read more about Architecture at California College of the Arts

#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 $48-$75k ranking, coming in at #7. Located in Burbank, California, this small private not-for-profit school awarded 13 diplomas to qualified bachelors’s architecture students in 2019-2020.

Woodbury also made our “Best Architecture Bachelor’s Degree Schools in California” list, coming in at #8. It costs about $22,616 for california bachelor’s degree architecture students whose families make $48-$75k per year to attend Woodbury University.

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. 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%.

Read more about Architecture at Woodbury

#8

University of San Francisco

San Francisco, California
#4 in overall quality

University of San Francisco ranked #8 on this year’s Best Value architecture Schools for a Bachelor’s in California For Those Making $48-$75k list. USFCA is a fairly large school located in San Francisco, California that handed out 21 bachelors’s architecture degrees in 2019-2020.

USFCA also made our “Best Architecture Bachelor’s Degree Schools in California” list, coming in at #4. The yearly cost to attend USFCA is $32,338 for California Bachelor’s Degree architecture students whose families make $48-$75k.

The low student loan default rate of 2.5% 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 USFCA Architecture Report

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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