2025 Best Mental & Social Health Services Master's Degree Schools in California

Ranked #16 in popularity, mental & social health services is one of the most sought-after master's degree programs in the nation. So, there are lots of possibilities to explore when you're trying to determine where you want to get your degree.

For its 2025 ranking, College Factual looked at 9 schools in California to determine which ones were the best for mental & social health services students pursuing a master's degree. Combined, these schools handed out 1,792 master's degrees in mental & social health services to qualified students.

Jump to one of the following sections: * Our Methodology

• Best Master’s Degree Schools List

Choosing a Great Mental & Social Health Services School for Your Master's Degree

Your choice of mental & social health services for getting your master'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. Below we explain some of the most important factors to consider before making your choice:

Overall Quality Is a Must

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 for a Master's Degree ranking. This ranking considered factors such as graduation rates, overall graduate earnings and other educational resources to identify great colleges and universities.

Average Early-Career Salaries

Average early-career salary of those graduating with their master's degree is one indicator we use in our analysis to find the schools that offer the highest-quality education. After all, your master's degree won't mean much if it doesn't help you find a job that will help you earn a living.

Other Factors We Consider

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

• Major Focus - How many resources a school devotes to mental & social health services students as compared to other majors.
• Major Demand - The number of mental & social health services students who choose to seek a master's degree at the school.
• 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 mental & social health services to pay back their student loans after receiving their master's degree.
• Accreditation - Whether a school is regionally accredited and/or accredited by a recognized mental & social health services related body.

Our complete ranking methodology documents in more detail how we consider these factors to identify the best schools for mental & social health services students working on their master's degree.

More Ways to Rank Mental & Social Health Services Schools

Since the program you select can have a significant impact on your future, we've developed a number of rankings, including this Best Mental & Social Health Services Master's Degree Schools in California list, to help you choose the best school for you.

Best Schools for Master’s Students to Study Mental & Social Health Services in California

Below you'll see a list of the best colleges and universities for pursuing a master's degree in mental & social health services.

Top California Schools for a Master's in Mental Health Services

1

Loma Linda University
Loma Linda, CA

82 Annual Graduates

$58,654 Median Starting Salary

Every student pursuing a degree in a master's degree in mental & social health services needs to check out Loma Linda University. Located in the suburb of Loma Linda, Loma Linda University is a private not-for-profit university with a small student population.

Mental & Social Health Services master's degree recipients from Loma Linda University earn a boost of around $2,738 over the typical income of mental & social health services graduates.

More information about a master’s in mental & social health services from Loma Linda University

2

University of Southern California
Los Angeles, CA

58 Annual Graduates

$61,960 Median Starting Salary

It is hard to beat University of Southern California if you wish to pursue a master's degree in mental & social health services. USC is a very large private not-for-profit university located in the large city of Los Angeles.

Mental & Social Health Services master's degree recipients from University of Southern California earn a boost of approximately $6,044 over the average income of mental & social health services majors.

More information about a master’s in mental & social health services from University of Southern California

3

University of California - Los Angeles
Los Angeles, CA

10 Annual Graduates

University of California - Los Angeles is a great choice for individuals pursuing a master's degree in mental & social health services. Located in the city of Los Angeles, UCLA is a public university with a fairly large student population.More information about a master’s in mental & social health services from University of California - Los Angeles

4

University of the Pacific
Stockton, CA

25 Annual Graduates

University of the Pacific is one of the best schools in the United States for getting a master's degree in mental & social health services. Pacific is a moderately-sized private not-for-profit university located in the large city of Stockton.More information about a master’s in mental & social health services from University of the Pacific

5

Chapman University
Orange, CA

29 Annual Graduates

$59,081 Median Starting Salary

Chapman is a medium-sized private not-for-profit university located in the medium-sized city of Orange.

Master's recipients from the mental & social health services degree program at Chapman University get $3,165 above the average college grad in this field shortly after graduation.

More information about a master’s in mental & social health services from Chapman University

6

California State University - Dominguez Hills
Carson, CA

31 Annual Graduates

CSUDH is a fairly large public university located in the small city of Carson.More information about a master’s in mental & social health services from California State University - Dominguez Hills

7

Biola University
La Mirada, CA

11 Annual Graduates

Located in the large suburb of La Mirada, Biola is a private not-for-profit university with a medium-sized student population.More information about a master’s in mental & social health services from Biola University

8

Fresno Pacific University
Fresno, CA

19 Annual Graduates

$40,622 Median Starting Salary

Located in the large city of Fresno, Fresno Pacific is a private not-for-profit university with a small student population.

Soon after graduating, mental health services master's recipients typically make around $40,622 in the first five years of their career.

More information about a master’s in mental & social health services from Fresno Pacific University

9

University of Phoenix - California
Ontario, CA

57 Annual Graduates

$58,837 Median Starting Salary

Located in the city of Ontario, UOPX - California is a private for-profit university with a small student population.

Those mental & social health services students who get their master's degree from University of Phoenix - California earn $2,921 more than the standard mental health services graduate.

More information about a master’s in mental & social health services from University of Phoenix - California

Best Mental & Social Health Services Colleges in the Far Western US Region

Explore all the Best Mental & Social Health Services Colleges in the Far Western US Area or other specific states within that region.

State	Colleges	Degrees Awarded
Washington	183	388
Oregon	158	207
Nevada	105	27

View All Rankings >

Rankings in Majors Related to Mental Health Services

One of 34 majors within the Health Professions area of study, Mental & Social Health Services has other similar majors worth exploring.

Mental Health Services Concentrations

Major	Annual Graduates
Marriage and Family Therapy/Counseling	1,545
Mental Health Counseling/Counselor	115
Clinical/Medical Social Work	77
Genetic Counseling/Counselor	51
Clinical Pastoral Counseling/Patient Counseling	4

Majors Similar to Mental Health Services

Related Major	Annual Graduates
Nursing	3,383
Public Health	1,929
Rehabilitation & Therapeutic Professions	1,050
Health & Medical Administrative Services	813
Communication Sciences	798
Allied Health Professions	713
Alternative Medicine & Systems	283
Medical Illustration & Informatics	216
Health Sciences & Services	193
Pharmacy/Pharmaceutical Sciences	185

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). More about our data sources and methodologies.