2022 Best Value Master’s Degree Colleges for Journalism (Income $0-$30k) in California

With all of the options students have for higher education today, it can be tough to choose which direction to take. 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 Journalism Schools for a Master’s in California For Those Making $0-$30k” ranking is part of that endeavor.

In 2019-2020, 14,528 people earned their degree in journalism, making the major the 62nd most popular in the United States. In 2017-2018, journalism graduates who were awarded their degree in 2015-2017, earned an average of $31,042 and had an average of $24,628 in loans still to pay off.

Across California, there were 1,662 journalism graduates with average earnings and debt of $30,881 and $22,408 respectively. At the master’s degree level specifically, there were 86 journalism graduates with average earnings and debt of $60,281 and $50,119 respectively.

This year’s “Best Value Journalism Schools for a Master’s in California For Those Making $0-$30k” ranking analyzed 2 colleges that offered a degree in journalism. Not only do the schools that top this list have excellent journalism programs, but they also cost less that schools of similar quality.

Some of the factors we look at when determining these rankings are overall quality of the journalism 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.

More Ways to Rank Journalism 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 Journalism Schools for a Master’s in California For Those Making $0-$30k” list to help you make the college decision.

You can create your own custom comparison that focuses on the factors most important to you using our tool, College Combat. 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 Journalism Schools for a Master’s in California For Those Making $0-$30k

The colleges and universities below are the best for california master’s degree journalism students whose families make $0-$30k.

Top 2 Best Value Master’s Degree Colleges for Journalism (Income $0-$30k) in California

#1

University of Southern California

Los Angeles, California

#1 in overall quality

$48,715 Avg Grad Tuition & Fees

$43,319 Average Early-Career Earnings

You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around if you attend University of Southern California. The school came in at #1 for the Best Value Journalism Schools for a Master’s in California For Those Making $0-$30k. University of Southern California is located in Los Angeles, California and, has a large student population. In 2019-2020, this school awarded 71 masters’s journalism degrees to qualified students.

USC also made our “Best Journalism Master’s Degree Schools in California” list, coming in at #1. Although you might pay more or less depending on your area of study, average graduate tuition and fees at USC are $48,715.

Read full report on Journalism at University of Southern California

#2

Academy of Art University

San Francisco, California

#2 in overall quality

$27,688 Avg Grad Tuition & Fees

$35,600 Average Early-Career Earnings

You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend Academy of Art University. It ranked #2 on our 2022 Best Value Journalism Schools for a Master’s in California For Those Making $0-$30k list. Academy of Art University is a private for-profit institution located in San Francisco, California. The school has a medium-sized population, and it awarded 15 masters’s degrees in 2019-2020.

In addition to being on our california master’s degree journalism students whose families make $0-$30k list, Academy of Art University has also earned the #2 rank in our “Best Journalism Master’s Degree Schools in California” ranking. Average graduate tuition and fees at Academy of Art University are $27,688, but some majors have different tuition rates.

Read full report on Journalism at Academy of Art University

• Best Value Master’s Degree Colleges for Journalism (Income $0-$30k) in the Far Western US Region
• Best Value Master’s Degree Colleges for Journalism (Income $0-$30k)

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 Jfurrer.

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