2025 Best Area Studies Bachelor's Degree Schools in California

Area Studies is above average in terms of popularity with it being the #85 most popular bachelor's degree program in the country. As a result, there are many college that offer the degree, making your choice of school a hard one.

For its 2025 ranking, College Factual looked at 11 schools in California to determine which ones were the best for area studies students pursuing a bachelor's degree. Combined, these schools handed out 413 bachelor's degrees in area studies to qualified students.

Jump to one of the following sections: * Our Methodology

• Best Bachelor’s Degree Schools List

Choosing a Great Area Studies School for Your Bachelor's Degree

The area studies bachelor's degree program you select can have a big impact on your future. Important measures of a quality area studies 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

A school that excels in educating for a particular major and degree level must be a great school overall as well. To make it into this list a school must rank well in our overall Best Colleges ranking. This ranking considered factors such as graduation rates, overall graduate earnings and other educational resources to identify great colleges and universities.

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

In addition to the above, you should consider some of the following factors:

• Major Focus - How much a school focuses on area studies students vs. other majors.
• Major Demand - How many other area studies students want to attend this school to pursue a bachelor's degree.
• Educational Resources - The amount of money and other resources allocated to students while they are pursuing their degree. These resources include such things as number of students per instructor and education expenditures per student.
• Student Debt - How easy is it for area studies to pay back their student loans after receiving their bachelor's degree.
• Accreditation - Whether a school is regionally accredited and/or accredited by a recognized area studies related body.

Our complete ranking methodology documents in more detail how we consider these factors to identify the best schools for area studies students working on their bachelor's degree.

More Ways to Rank Area Studies Schools

Since the program you select can have a significant impact on your future, we've developed a number of rankings, including this Best Area Studies 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 Area Studies in California

Explore the top ranked colleges and universities for area studies students seeking a a bachelor's degree.

10 Top California Schools for a Bachelor's in Area Studies

1

University of California - Berkeley
Berkeley, CA

57 Annual Graduates

$50,728 Median Starting Salary

Any student who is interested in a bachelor's degree in area studies has to look into University of California - Berkeley. UC Berkeley is a very large public university located in the midsize city of Berkeley.

Those area studies students who get their bachelor's degree from University of California - Berkeley make $21,376 more than the typical area studies grad.

More information about a bachelor’s in area studies from University of California - Berkeley

2

University of California - Los Angeles
Los Angeles, CA

41 Annual Graduates

$23,819 Median Starting Salary

University of California - Los Angeles is a great decision for students interested in a bachelor's degree in area studies. Located in the city of Los Angeles, UCLA is a public university with a very large student population.

Bachelor's students who receive their degree from the area studies program make about $23,819 in their early career salary.

More information about a bachelor’s in area studies from University of California - Los Angeles

3

University of Southern California
Los Angeles, CA

12 Annual Graduates

University of Southern California is one of the best schools in the country for getting a bachelor's degree in area studies. USC is a fairly large private not-for-profit university located in the large city of Los Angeles.More information about a bachelor’s in area studies from University of Southern California

4

University of California - Santa Barbara
Santa Barbara, CA

27 Annual Graduates

University of California - Santa Barbara is a good choice for individuals interested in a bachelor's degree in area studies. Located in the suburb of Santa Barbara, UCSB is a public university with a fairly large student population.More information about a bachelor’s in area studies from University of California - Santa Barbara

5

University of California - Davis
Davis, CA

25 Annual Graduates

$21,527 Median Starting Salary

Located in the small suburb of Davis, UC Davis is a public university with a fairly large student population.

Students who graduate with their bachelor's from the area studies program state that they receive average early career income of $21,527.

More information about a bachelor’s in area studies from University of California - Davis

6

California State University - Long Beach
Long Beach, CA

51 Annual Graduates

$28,591 Median Starting Salary

CSULB is a very large public university located in the city of Long Beach.

Students who graduate with their bachelor's from the area studies program state that they receive average early career wages of $28,591.

More information about a bachelor’s in area studies from California State University - Long Beach

7

University of California - Irvine
Irvine, CA

22 Annual Graduates

$30,897 Median Starting Salary

UC Irvine is a fairly large public university located in the large city of Irvine.

After graduating, area studies bachelor's recipients generally make around $30,897 in their early careers.

More information about a bachelor’s in area studies from University of California - Irvine

8

University of California - San Diego
La Jolla, CA

19 Annual Graduates

UCSD is a very large public university located in the large city of La Jolla.More information about a bachelor’s in area studies from University of California - San Diego

9

California State University - Fullerton
Fullerton, CA

27 Annual Graduates

$29,316 Median Starting Salary

Located in the suburb of Fullerton, Cal State Fullerton is a public university with a very large student population.

After graduating, area studies bachelor's recipients typically earn around $29,316 in the first five years of their career.

More information about a bachelor’s in area studies from California State University - Fullerton

10

University of California - Riverside
Riverside, CA

12 Annual Graduates

Located in the large city of Riverside, UCR is a public university with a fairly large student population.More information about a bachelor’s in area studies from University of California - Riverside

Best Area Studies Colleges in the Far Western US Region

Explore all the Best Area Studies Colleges in the Far Western US Area or other specific states within that region.

State	Colleges	Degrees Awarded
Washington	226	203
Oregon	185	44
Nevada	129	4
Hawaii	112	39
Alaska	75	0

View All Rankings >

Rankings in Majors Related to Area Studies

Area Studies is one of 2 different types of Area, Ethnic, Culture, & Gender Studies programs to choose from.

Area Studies Focus Areas

Major	Annual Graduates
American U.S. Studies	138
Asian Studies	101
Latin American Studies	40
East Asian Studies	34
Area Studies, Other	22
Near & Middle Eastern Studies	18
Russian Studies	12
Chinese Studies	12
Italian Studies	11
Japanese Studies	11

Majors Similar to Area Studies

Related Major	Annual Graduates
Ethnic Studies	1,693

Notes and References

• The bars on the spread charts above show the distribution of the schools on this list +/- one standard deviation from the mean.
• 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 the rest 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).
• Credit for the banner image above goes to Karl Udo Gerth. More about our data sources and methodologies.