by our College Data Analytics TeamFor its 2025 ranking, College Factual looked at 8 schools in California to determine which ones were the best for computer science students pursuing a doctor's degree. Combined, these schools handed out 327 doctor's degrees in computer science to qualified students.
Jump to one of the following sections: * Our Methodology
Your choice of computer science for getting your doctor's degree school matters. Important measures of a quality compsci program can vary widely even among the top schools. When choosing a school we recommend considering some of the following factors:
The overall quality of a doctor's degree school is important to ensure a quality education, not just how well they do in a particular major. To make it into this list a school must rank well in our overall Best Colleges for a Doctor's Degree ranking. This ranking considered factors such as graduation rates, overall graduate earnings and other educational resources to identify great colleges and universities.
To determine the overall quality of a graduate school, one factor we look at is the average early-career salary of those receiving their doctor's degree from the school. After all, your doctor's degree won't mean much if it doesn't help you find a job that will help you earn a living.
In addition to the above, you should consider some of the following factors:
Our full ranking methodology documents in more detail how we consider these factors to identify the best colleges for computer science students working on their doctor's degree.
Since picking the right college can be one of the most important decisions of your life, we've developed the Best Computer Science Doctor's Degree Schools in California ranking, along with many other major-related rankings, to help you make that decision.
Below you'll see a list of the best colleges and universities for pursuing a doctor's degree in computer science.
Any student who is interested in a doctor's degree in computer science has to look into University of California - Berkeley. UC Berkeley is a very large public university located in the city of Berkeley.More information about a doctorate in computer science from University of California - Berkeley
It is difficult to beat Stanford University if you wish to pursue a doctor's degree in computer science. Stanford is a large private not-for-profit university located in the suburb of Stanford.More information about a doctorate in computer science from Stanford University
It's difficult to beat University of Southern California if you want to pursue a doctor's degree in computer science. USC is a fairly large private not-for-profit university located in the city of Los Angeles.More information about a doctorate in computer science from University of Southern California
It's difficult to beat University of California - San Diego if you want to pursue a doctor's degree in computer science. UCSD is a fairly large public university located in the city of La Jolla.More information about a doctorate in computer science from University of California - San Diego
UC Irvine is a very large public university located in the city of Irvine.More information about a doctorate in computer science from University of California - Irvine
Located in the medium-sized suburb of Santa Barbara, UCSB is a public university with a fairly large student population.More information about a doctorate in computer science from University of California - Santa Barbara
UC Santa Cruz is a fairly large public university located in the city of Santa Cruz.More information about a doctorate in computer science from University of California - Santa Cruz
Located in the city of Riverside, UCR is a public university with a very large student population.More information about a doctorate in computer science from University of California - Riverside
Explore all the Best Computer Science Schools in the Far Western US Area or other specific states within that region.
| State | Colleges | Degrees Awarded |
|---|---|---|
| Washington | 122 | 9 |
| Oregon | 107 | 17 |
| Nevada | 84 | 0 |
| Hawaii | 53 | 3 |
Computer Science is one of 10 different types of Computer & Information Sciences programs to choose from.
| Major | Annual Graduates |
|---|---|
| Computer Science | 327 |
| Related Major | Annual Graduates |
|---|---|
| Computer Information Systems | 17 |
| Information Science | 13 |
| Other Computer & Information Sciences | 7 |
| Computer Software & Applications | 5 |
| Data Processing | 2 |
| Computer Systems Networking | 2 |