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2025 Best Linguistics Schools in California

13 Colleges in California
626 Linguistics Degrees Awarded
A degree in linguistics is more popular than many other degrees. In fact, it ranks #206 out of 1506 on popularity of all such degrees in the nation. This means you won't have too much trouble finding schools that offer the degree.

College Factual looked at 13 colleges and universities when compiling its 2025 Best Linguistics Schools in California ranking. When you put them all together, these colleges and universities awarded 626 degrees in linguistics annually.

What's on this page: * Degree-Level Rankings

Choosing a Great Linguistics School

Best Linguistics Schools in California Your choice of linguistics school matters, so we have put together these rankings to help you make your decision. In order to come up with a best overall ranking for linguistics schools, we combine our degree-level rankings, weighting them by the number of degrees awarded at each level.

In order to find the schools that are the best fit for you, you may want to filter to one of the degree levels below.

Pick Your Linguistics Degree Level

Bachelor's Degrees in Linguistics
Master's Degrees in Linguistics
Doctor's Degrees in Linguistics

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 Linguistics Schools in California list to help you make the college decision. You can also filter this list by location to find schools closer to you.

In addition to College Factual's rankings, you may want to take a look at College Combat, our unique tool that lets you pit your favorite schools head-to-head and compare how they rate on factors that most interest you. When you have some time, check it out - you may want to bookmark the link so you don't forget it.

More information on how we come up with our rankings can be found here: College Factual's Data Methodology.

Best Schools for Linguistics in California

Although we recommend filtering by degree level first, you can view the list below to see which schools give the educational experience for the linguistics degree levels they offer.

10 Top California Schools in Linguistics

1
Doctor's Degree Highest Degree Type
6th Most Popular In CA
46 Linguistics Degrees Awarded

University of California - Los Angeles is a wonderful choice for students interested in a degree in linguistics. UCLA is a fairly large public university located in the city of Los Angeles. A Best Colleges rank of #28 out of 2,152 schools nationwide means UCLA is a great university overall.

There were roughly 46 linguistics students who graduated with this degree at UCLA in the most recent year we have data available.

More information about a degree in linguistics from University of California - Los Angeles

2
Doctor's Degree Highest Degree Type
13th Most Popular In CA

University of Southern California is one of the best schools in the United States for getting a degree in linguistics. Located in the city of Los Angeles, USC is a private not-for-profit university with a very large student population. A Best Colleges rank of #13 out of 2,152 schools nationwide means USC is a great university overall.

There were about 12 linguistics students who graduated with this degree at USC in the most recent year we have data available.

More information about a degree in linguistics from University of Southern California

3
Doctor's Degree Highest Degree Type
1st Most Popular In CA
69 Linguistics Degrees Awarded

It's hard to beat University of California - Santa Barbara if you want to pursue a degree in linguistics. UCSB is a fairly large public university located in the midsize suburb of Santa Barbara. A Best Colleges rank of #47 out of 2,152 colleges nationwide means UCSB is a great university overall.

There were about 69 linguistics students who graduated with this degree at UCSB in the most recent year we have data available.

More information about a degree in linguistics from University of California - Santa Barbara

4
Doctor's Degree Highest Degree Type
9th Most Popular In CA
47 Linguistics Degrees Awarded

University of California - Santa Cruz is a good option for students pursuing a degree in linguistics. Located in the city of Santa Cruz, UC Santa Cruz is a public university with a large student population. This university ranks 13th out of 161 colleges for overall quality in the state of California.

There were roughly 47 linguistics students who graduated with this degree at UC Santa Cruz in the most recent data year.

More information about a degree in linguistics from University of California - Santa Cruz

5
Doctor's Degree Highest Degree Type
3rd Most Popular In CA
80 Linguistics Degrees Awarded

Located in the midsize city of Berkeley, UC Berkeley is a public university with a very large student population. A Best Colleges rank of #14 out of 2,152 colleges nationwide means UC Berkeley is a great university overall.

There were about 80 linguistics students who graduated with this degree at UC Berkeley in the most recent data year.

More information about a degree in linguistics from University of California - Berkeley

6
Doctor's Degree Highest Degree Type
4th Most Popular In CA
46 Linguistics Degrees Awarded

UC Davis is a very large public university located in the suburb of Davis. A Best Colleges rank of #55 out of 2,152 schools nationwide means UC Davis is a great university overall.

There were roughly 46 linguistics students who graduated with this degree at UC Davis in the most recent data year.

More information about a degree in linguistics from University of California - Davis

7
Master's Degree Highest Degree Type
5th Most Popular In CA
54 Linguistics Degrees Awarded

Located in the large city of Long Beach, CSULB is a public university with a fairly large student population. This university ranks 36th out of 161 colleges for overall quality in the state of California.

There were about 54 linguistics students who graduated with this degree at CSULB in the most recent data year.

More information about a degree in linguistics from California State University - Long Beach

8
Bachelor's Degree Highest Degree Type
8th Most Popular In CA
33 Linguistics Degrees Awarded

UCR is a fairly large public university located in the city of Riverside. This university ranks 28th out of 161 schools for overall quality in the state of California.

There were roughly 33 linguistics students who graduated with this degree at UCR in the most recent year we have data available.

More information about a degree in linguistics from University of California - Riverside

9
Master's Degree Highest Degree Type
10th Most Popular In CA
34 Linguistics Degrees Awarded

Located in the large city of San Diego, SDSU is a public university with a fairly large student population. This university ranks 25th out of 161 schools for overall quality in the state of California.

There were about 34 linguistics students who graduated with this degree at SDSU in the most recent year we have data available.

More information about a degree in linguistics from San Diego State University

10
Doctor's Degree Highest Degree Type
2nd Most Popular In CA
70 Linguistics Degrees Awarded

Located in the large city of La Jolla, UCSD is a public university with a very large student population. A Best Colleges rank of #49 out of 2,152 schools nationwide means UCSD is a great university overall.

There were roughly 70 linguistics students who graduated with this degree at UCSD in the most recent data year.

More information about a degree in linguistics from University of California - San Diego

Best Linguistics Colleges in the Far Western US Region

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

State Colleges Degrees Awarded
Washington 831 115
Oregon 587 58
Nevada 354 0
Hawaii 267 21
Alaska 167 7

View All Rankings >

One of 5 majors within the Linguistics & Comparative Literature area of study, Linguistics has other similar majors worth exploring.

Related Major Annual Graduates
Comparative Literature 320
Modern Languages 270
Language Translation 155
Other Linguistic, Comparative, & Related Language Studies & Services 127
Applied Linguistics 36

View All Linguistics Related Majors >

Notes and References

More about our data sources and methodologies.

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