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2025 Best Ethnic Studies Bachelor's Degree Schools in California

23 Colleges in California
1,693 Bachelor's Degrees
$31,872 Avg Early-Career Salary
If you plan on getting your bachelor's degree in ethnic studies, you won't be alone since the degree program is ranked #73 in the country in terms of popularity. 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 23 schools in California to determine which ones were the best for ethnic studies students pursuing a bachelor's degree. When you put them all together, these colleges and universities awarded 1,693 bachelor's degrees in ethnic studies during the 2022-2023 academic year.

What's on this page: * Our Methodology

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

Best Ethnic Studies Bachelor's Degree Schools in California Your choice of ethnic studies for getting your bachelor's degree school matters. This section explores some of the factors we include in our ranking and how much they vary depending on the school you select. 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 take this into account we include a college'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 ethnic studies students working on their bachelor's degree.

One Size Does Not Fit All

Rankings by Location Check Out Other Locales
More Ethnic Studies Rankings Other Ranking Categories

The ethnic studies 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 the Best Ethnic Studies Bachelor's Degree Schools in California.

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 Ethnic Studies in California

Below you'll see a list of the best colleges and universities for pursuing a bachelor's degree in ethnic studies.

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

1
189 Annual Graduates
$29,914 Median Starting Salary
$7,636 Median Student Debt

Any student pursuing a degree in a bachelor's degree in ethnic studies has to check out University of California - Los Angeles. UCLA is a very large public university located in the city of Los Angeles.

After graduating, ethnic studies bachelor's recipients usually earn about $29,914 in the first five years of their career.

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

2
112 Annual Graduates
$34,559 Median Starting Salary
$8,699 Median Student Debt

University of California - Berkeley is a great option for individuals interested in a bachelor's degree in ethnic studies. Located in the medium-sized city of Berkeley, UC Berkeley is a public university with a very large student population.

Ethnic Studies bachelor's degree recipients from University of California - Berkeley get an earnings boost of approximately $2,687 over the typical income of ethnic studies majors.

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

3
95 Annual Graduates
$32,341 Median Starting Salary
$16,532 Median Student Debt

University of California - Santa Barbara is one of the best schools in the country for getting a bachelor's degree in ethnic studies. UCSB is a very large public university located in the midsize suburb of Santa Barbara.

Students who graduate with their bachelor's from the ethnic studies program report average early career income of $32,341.

More information about a bachelor’s in ethnic studies from University of California - Santa Barbara

4
160 Annual Graduates
$32,563 Median Starting Salary
$17,972 Median Student Debt

University of California - Davis is one of the best schools in the United States for getting a bachelor's degree in ethnic studies. UC Davis is a very large public university located in the small suburb of Davis.

Students who graduate with their bachelor's from the ethnic studies program report average early career earnings of $32,563.

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

5
120 Annual Graduates
$31,140 Median Starting Salary
$33,369 Median Student Debt

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

Bachelor's graduates who receive their degree from the ethnic studies program make around $31,140 for their early career.

More information about a bachelor’s in ethnic studies from University of California - Santa Cruz

6
83 Annual Graduates
$31,001 Median Starting Salary
$24,052 Median Student Debt

Located in the large city of San Francisco, SFSU is a public university with a very large student population.

Students who graduate with their bachelor's from the ethnic studies program report average early career wages of $31,001.

More information about a bachelor’s in ethnic studies from San Francisco State University

7
10 Annual Graduates

Located in the city of Los Angeles, USC is a private not-for-profit university with a fairly large student population.More information about a bachelor’s in ethnic studies from University of Southern California

8

CSUN is a very large public university located in the large city of Northridge.

Students who graduate with their bachelor's from the ethnic studies program state that they receive average early career earnings of $26,767.

More information about a bachelor’s in ethnic studies from California State University - Northridge

9

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

Students who graduate with their bachelor's from the ethnic studies program state that they receive average early career income of $31,443.

More information about a bachelor’s in ethnic studies from University of California - Riverside

10

Located in the city of San Diego, SDSU is a public university with a fairly large student population.

Bachelor's students who receive their degree from the ethnic studies program earn an average of $29,267 for their early career.

More information about a bachelor’s in ethnic studies from San Diego State University

Best Ethnic Studies Colleges in the Far Western US Region

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

State Colleges Degrees Awarded
Washington 226 183
Oregon 185 101
Nevada 129 17
Hawaii 112 73
Alaska 75 8

View All Rankings >

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

Ethnic Studies Concentrations

Major Annual Graduates
Latino Studies 504
Ethnic, Cultural Minority, Gender, & Group Studies, Other 394
Women’s Studies 209
Deaf Studies 166
African American Studies 162
Ethnic Studies 133
Asian-American Studies 77
Native American Studies 31
Comparative Group Studies 17

Majors Similar to Ethnic Studies

Related Major Annual Graduates
Area Studies 413

Notes and References

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