2024 Best Liberal Arts Schools in California
76
Colleges in California
100,875
Liberal Studies Degrees Awarded
If you pursue a degree in
liberal arts, you won't be alone. The field of study is the #2 most popular program in the country. This makes choosing the right school a hard decision.
College Factual reviewed 76 schools in California to determine which ones were the best for degree seekers in the field of liberal arts. When you put them all together, these colleges and universities awarded 100,875 degrees in liberal arts during the 2021-2022 academic year.
What's on this page: * Degree-Level Rankings
Choosing a Great Liberal Arts School
Your choice of liberal arts 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 liberal arts 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 Liberal Arts Degree Level
Since picking the right college can be one of the most important decisions of your life, we've developed the Best Liberal Arts Schools in California ranking, along with many other major-related rankings, to help you make that 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 Liberal Arts 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 liberal studies degree levels they offer. Only those schools that rank in the top 15% of all the schools we analyze get awarded with a place on this list.
11 Top California Schools in Liberal Studies
Master's Degree
Highest Degree Type
97th
Most Popular In CA
61
Liberal Studies Degrees Awarded
Saint Mary's College of California is one of the best schools in the United States for getting a degree in liberal arts. Located in the large suburb of Moraga, SMC is a private not-for-profit college with a small student population. A Best Colleges rank of #188 out of 2,217 schools nationwide means SMC is a great college overall.
There were roughly 61 liberal arts students who graduated with this degree at SMC in the most recent data year.
More information about a degree in liberal arts from Saint Mary’s College of CaliforniaMaster's Degree
Highest Degree Type
49th
Most Popular In CA
233
Liberal Studies Degrees Awarded
San Diego State University is one of the finest schools in the country for getting a degree in liberal arts. Located in the large city of San Diego, SDSU is a public university with a fairly large student population. A Best Colleges rank of #141 out of 2,217 colleges nationwide means SDSU is a great university overall.
There were roughly 233 liberal arts students who graduated with this degree at SDSU in the most recent year we have data available.
More information about a degree in liberal arts from San Diego State UniversityAssociate Degree
Highest Degree Type
2nd
Most Popular In CA
3,319
Liberal Studies Degrees Awarded
Golden West College is a wonderful choice for students pursuing a degree in liberal arts. Golden West College is a fairly large public college located in the suburb of Huntington Beach. A Best Colleges rank of #189 out of 2,217 schools nationwide means Golden West College is a great college overall.
There were approximately 3319 liberal arts students who graduated with this degree at Golden West College in the most recent data year.
More information about a degree in liberal arts from Golden West CollegeLoyola Marymount University is one of the finest schools in the country for getting a degree in liberal arts. Located in the large city of Los Angeles, Loyola Marymount is a private not-for-profit university with a large student population. A Best Colleges rank of #135 out of 2,217 schools nationwide means Loyola Marymount is a great university overall.
There were about 17 liberal arts students who graduated with this degree at Loyola Marymount in the most recent data year.
More information about a degree in liberal arts from Loyola Marymount UniversityBachelor's Degree
Highest Degree Type
84th
Most Popular In CA
85
Liberal Studies Degrees Awarded
Cal Poly San Luis Obispo is a very large public university located in the suburb of San Luis Obispo. A Best Colleges rank of #95 out of 2,217 colleges nationwide means Cal Poly San Luis Obispo is a great university overall.
There were roughly 85 liberal arts students who graduated with this degree at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo in the most recent year we have data available.
More information about a degree in liberal arts from California Polytechnic State University - San Luis ObispoNational University is a large private not-for-profit university located in the city of San Diego. A Best Colleges rank of #196 out of 2,217 schools nationwide means National University is a great university overall.
There were approximately 15 liberal arts students who graduated with this degree at National University in the most recent data year.
More information about a degree in liberal arts from National UniversityAssociate Degree
Highest Degree Type
46th
Most Popular In CA
2,079
Liberal Studies Degrees Awarded
Located in the suburb of San Luis Obispo, Cuesta College is a public college with a moderately-sized student population. A Best Colleges rank of #236 out of 2,217 colleges nationwide means Cuesta College is a great college overall.
There were about 2079 liberal arts students who graduated with this degree at Cuesta College in the most recent data year.
More information about a degree in liberal arts from Cuesta CollegeBachelor's Degree
Highest Degree Type
35th
Most Popular In CA
282
Liberal Studies Degrees Awarded
CSUN is a fairly large public university located in the city of Northridge. A Best Colleges rank of #299 out of 2,217 schools nationwide means CSUN is a great university overall.
There were roughly 282 liberal arts students who graduated with this degree at CSUN in the most recent year we have data available.
More information about a degree in liberal arts from California State University - NorthridgeGraduate Certificate
Highest Degree Type
86th
Most Popular In CA
87
Liberal Studies Degrees Awarded
Located in the city of San Francisco, SFSU is a public university with a very large student population. A Best Colleges rank of #204 out of 2,217 colleges nationwide means SFSU is a great university overall.
There were about 87 liberal arts students who graduated with this degree at SFSU in the most recent year we have data available.
More information about a degree in liberal arts from San Francisco State UniversityBachelor's Degree
Highest Degree Type
62nd
Most Popular In CA
156
Liberal Studies Degrees Awarded
Sac State is a very large public university located in the large city of Sacramento. A Best Colleges rank of #249 out of 2,217 schools nationwide means Sac State is a great university overall.
There were about 156 liberal arts students who graduated with this degree at Sac State in the most recent data year.
More information about a degree in liberal arts from California State University - Sacramento
