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2025 Best Business Administration & Management Bachelor's Degree Schools in California

63 Colleges in California
26,747 Bachelor's Degrees
$50,815 Avg Early-Career Salary
Business Administration & Management is of the hottest bachelor's degree programs in the United States, coming in as the #1 most popular major in the country. This means there are lots of options to choose from when you decide to get your degree.

College Factual reviewed 63 schools in California to determine which ones were the best for bachelor's degree seekers in the field of business administration & management. When you put them all together, these colleges and universities awarded 26,747 bachelor's degrees in business administration & management during the 2022-2023 academic year.

What's on this page: * Our Methodology

Choosing a Great Business Administration & Management School for Your Bachelor's Degree

Best Business Administration & Management Bachelor's Degree Schools in California Your choice of business administration & management for getting your bachelor's degree school matters. Important measures of a quality business administration program can vary widely even among the top schools. To make it into this list, a school must excel in the following areas.

A Great Overall School

The overall quality of a bachelor's degree school is important to ensure a quality education, not just how well they do in a particular major. To account for this we include a school's overall Best Colleges ranking which itself looks at a collection of various factors like degree completion, educational resources, student body caliber and post-graduation earnings for the school as a whole.

Early-Career Earnings

One measure we use to determine the quality of a school is to look at the average salary of bachelor's graduates during the early years of their career. That is, everyone wants their bachelor's degree to be worth something, and salaries are one measure of determining that.

Other Factors We Consider

The metrics below are just some of the other metrics that we use to determine our rankings.

Our complete ranking methodology documents in more detail how we consider these factors to identify the best colleges for business administration & management students working on their bachelor's degree.

One Size Does Not Fit All

Rankings by Location Check Out Other Locales
More Business Administration Rankings Other Ranking Categories

Since the program you select can have a significant impact on your future, we've developed a number of rankings, including this Best Business Administration & Management Bachelor's Degree Schools in California list, to help you choose the best school for you.

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. Test it out when you get a chance! You may also want to bookmark the link and share it with others who are trying to make the college decision.

Best Schools for Bachelor’s Students to Study Business Administration & Management in California

The following list ranks the best colleges and universities for pursuing a bachelor's degree in business administration & management. Only those schools that rank in the top 20% of all the schools we analyze get awarded with a place on this list.

12 Top California Schools for a Bachelor's in Business Administration

1
428 Annual Graduates
$90,008 Median Starting Salary
$25,000 Median Student Debt

University of California - Berkeley is a good option for students pursuing a bachelor's degree in business administration & management. Located in the city of Berkeley, UC Berkeley is a public university with a fairly large student population.

Those business administration & management students who get their bachelor's degree from University of California - Berkeley receive $39,193 more than the typical business administration student.

More information about a bachelor’s in business administration & management from University of California - Berkeley

2
689 Annual Graduates
$71,876 Median Starting Salary
$36,633 Median Student Debt

Any student pursuing a degree in a bachelor's degree in business administration & management has to take a look at California Polytechnic State University - San Luis Obispo. Cal Poly San Luis Obispo is a very large public university located in the suburb of San Luis Obispo.

Business Administration & Management bachelor's degree recipients from California Polytechnic State University - San Luis Obispo get an earnings boost of about $21,061 over the typical income of business administration & management graduates.

More information about a bachelor’s in business administration & management from California Polytechnic State University - San Luis Obispo

3
186 Annual Graduates
$69,751 Median Starting Salary
$67,863 Median Student Debt

Pepperdine University is one of the best schools in the country for getting a bachelor's degree in business administration & management. Pepperdine is a moderately-sized private not-for-profit university located in the suburb of Malibu.

Business Administration & Management bachelor's degree recipients from Pepperdine University earn a boost of approximately $18,936 over the typical income of business administration & management graduates.

More information about a bachelor’s in business administration & management from Pepperdine University

4
444 Annual Graduates
$55,657 Median Starting Salary
$47,000 Median Student Debt

Chapman University is one of the finest schools in the United States for getting a bachelor's degree in business administration & management. Located in the city of Orange, Chapman is a private not-for-profit university with a medium-sized student population.

Business Administration & Management bachelor's degree recipients from Chapman University receive an earnings boost of approximately $4,842 over the average earnings of business administration & management majors.

More information about a bachelor’s in business administration & management from Chapman University

5
162 Annual Graduates
$51,056 Median Starting Salary
$76,048 Median Student Debt

Located in the city of San Diego, USD is a private not-for-profit university with a moderately-sized student population.

Bachelor's students who receive their degree from the business administration program earn about $51,056 in their early career salary.

More information about a bachelor’s in business administration & management from University of San Diego

6
1,783 Annual Graduates
$61,466 Median Starting Salary

Located in the city of San Diego, UAGC is a private for-profit university with a very large student population.

Those business administration & management students who get their bachelor's degree from The University of Arizona Global Campus make $10,651 more than the average business administration graduate.

More information about a bachelor’s in business administration & management from The University of Arizona Global Campus

7
360 Annual Graduates
$48,786 Median Starting Salary
$30,707 Median Student Debt

Located in the city of Irvine, UC Irvine is a public university with a fairly large student population.

Students who graduate with their bachelor's from the business administration program report average early career earnings of $48,786.

More information about a bachelor’s in business administration & management from University of California - Irvine

8

Golden Gate University - San Francisco is a small private not-for-profit university located in the large city of San Francisco.

Bachelor's recipients from the business administration & management program at Golden Gate University - San Francisco make $26,937 above the typical college graduate with the same degree shortly after graduation.

More information about a bachelor’s in business administration & management from Golden Gate University - San Francisco

9
118 Annual Graduates
$60,755 Median Starting Salary
$47,619 Median Student Debt

University of Redlands is a small private not-for-profit university located in the city of Redlands.

Business Administration & Management bachelor's degree recipients from University of Redlands get an earnings boost of around $9,940 above the average earnings of business administration & management majors.

More information about a bachelor’s in business administration & management from University of Redlands

10
USFCA crest
University of San Francisco
San Francisco, CA

Located in the large city of San Francisco, USFCA is a private not-for-profit university with a medium-sized student population.

Bachelor's graduates who receive their degree from the business administration program earn an average of $50,729 in the first couple years of working.

More information about a bachelor’s in business administration & management from University of San Francisco

11
836 Annual Graduates
$43,213 Median Starting Salary
$13,274 Median Student Debt

UCR is a very large public university located in the large city of Riverside.

Students who graduate with their bachelor's from the business administration program state that they receive average early career earnings of $43,213.

More information about a bachelor’s in business administration & management from University of California - Riverside

12
2,134 Annual Graduates
$48,256 Median Starting Salary
$16,201 Median Student Debt

Cal State Fullerton is a very large public university located in the suburb of Fullerton.

Students who graduate with their bachelor's from the business administration program report average early career income of $48,256.

More information about a bachelor’s in business administration & management from California State University - Fullerton

Honorable Mentions

These are some additional schools worth mentioning that are also great but just didn't quite make the cut to earn our top Best Business Administration & Management Bachelor's Degree Schools in California award.

Rank College Location
13 San Diego State University San Diego, CA
14 San Francisco State University San Francisco, CA
15 California State Polytechnic University - Pomona Pomona, CA
16 California Lutheran University Thousand Oaks, CA
17 University of the Pacific Stockton, CA
18 California State University - Sacramento Sacramento, CA
19 National University San Diego, CA
20 Sonoma State University Rohnert Park, CA
21 Brandman University Irvine, CA

Best Business Administration & Management Colleges in the Far Western US Region

Explore all the Best Business Administration & Management Schools in the Far Western US Area or other specific states within that region.

State Colleges Degrees Awarded
Washington 226 2,033
Oregon 185 1,363
Nevada 129 373
Hawaii 112 678
Alaska 75 176

View All Rankings >

Business Administration & Management is one of 21 different types of Business, Management & Marketing programs to choose from.

Business Administration Concentrations

Major Annual Graduates
General Business Administration and Management 25,044
Interior Design Management 747
Organizational Leadership 564
Project Management 149
Supply Chain Management 126
Operations Management 106
E-Commerce 5
Non-Profit/Public/Organizational Management 3
Customer Service Management 2
Office Administration 1

Majors Similar to Business Administration

Related Major Annual Graduates
Management Sciences & Quantitative Methods 2,298
Business/Managerial Economics 1,055
Accounting 1,037
Marketing 892
Finance & Financial Management 887
Hospitality Management 464
Human Resource Management 456
International Business 309
General Business/Commerce 283
Management Information Systems 224

Notes and References

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