2025 Best Data Science Master's Degree Schools in California

Data Science is about average in terms of popularity for master's degrees programs. That is, it ranks #189 out of the 343 majors across the country that we analyze each year. As such, the degree program isn't offered at every college in the United States, but there are schools that do have a program in the field that are top-notch when it comes to quality.

For its 2025 ranking, College Factual looked at 2 schools in California to determine which ones were the best for data science students pursuing a master's degree. When you put them all together, these colleges and universities awarded 119 master's degrees in data science during the 2022-2023 academic year.

What's on this page: * Our Methodology

• Best Master’s Degree Schools List

Average Earnings

To determine the overall quality of a graduate school, one factor we look at is the average early-career salary of those receiving their master's degree from the school. This is because one of the main reasons people pursue their master's degree is to enable themselves to find better-paying positions.

Other Factors We Consider

The metrics below are just some of the other metrics that we use to determine our rankings.

• Major Focus - How many resources a school devotes to data science students as compared to other majors.
• Major Demand - The number of data science students who choose to seek a master's degree at the school.
• Educational Resources - How many resources are allocated to students. These resources may include educational expenditures per student, number of students per instructor, and graduation rate among other things.
• Student Debt - How much debt data science students go into to obtain their master's degree and how well they are able to pay back that debt.
• Accreditation - Whether a school is regionally accredited and/or accredited by a recognized data science related body.

Our full ranking methodology documents in more detail how we consider these factors to identify the best schools for data science students working on their master's degree.

More Ways to Rank Data Science Schools

Since picking the right college can be one of the most important decisions of your life, we've developed the Best Data Science Master's Degree Schools in California ranking, along with many other major-related rankings, to help you make that decision.

Best Schools for Master’s Students to Study Data Science in California

Below you'll see a list of the best colleges and universities for pursuing a master's degree in data science.

Top California Schools for a Master's in Data Science

1

University of California - Santa Barbara
Santa Barbara, CA

31 Annual Graduates

Any student pursuing a degree in a master's degree in data science needs to check out University of California - Santa Barbara. UCSB is a very large public university located in the midsize suburb of Santa Barbara.More information about a master’s in data science from University of California - Santa Barbara

2

University of the Pacific
Stockton, CA

31 Annual Graduates

Any student pursuing a degree in a master's degree in data science needs to look into University of the Pacific. Located in the large city of Stockton, Pacific is a private not-for-profit university with a moderately-sized student population.More information about a master’s in data science from University of the Pacific

Best Data Science Colleges in the Far Western US Region

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

State	Colleges	Degrees Awarded
Washington	183	0
Oregon	158	1

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Rankings in Majors Related to Data Science

One of 51 majors within the Multi / Interdisciplinary Studies area of study, Data Science has other similar majors worth exploring.

Data Science Focus Areas

Major	Annual Graduates
Data Science, General	119

Majors Similar to Data Science

Related Major	Annual Graduates
Dispute Resolution	183
Sustainability Science	162
Gerontology	139
Human Computer Interaction	136
Nutrition Science	118
Data Analytics	107
Biological & Physical Science	88
Peace Studies & Conflict Resolution	74
Other Multi/Interdisciplinary Studies	73
International Studies	58

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.