2022 Best Value Natural Sciences Schools for a Bachelor’s in California For Those Making $30-$48k

It’s not easy to decide which college to attend when there so many options available for students. Our mission at College Factual is to arm you with as much information as we can to help you make that decision. Our “Best Value Natural Sciences Schools for a Bachelor’s in California For Those Making $30-$48k” ranking is one tool we have developed to help in this regard.

Natural Sciences is the 209th most popular major in the country with 2,345 degrees awarded in 2019-2020. In 2017-2018, natural sciences graduates who were awarded their degree in 2015-2017, earned an average of $30,257 and had an average of $22,289 in loans still to pay off.

Across California, there were 84 natural sciences graduates with average earnings and debt of $0 and $25,000 respectively. At the bachelor’s degree level specifically, there were 83 natural sciences graduates with average earnings and debt of $37,907 and $21,546 respectively.

This year’s “Best Value Natural Sciences Schools for a Bachelor’s in California For Those Making $30-$48k” ranking looked at 3 colleges that offer degrees in a bachelor’s in natural sciences. This ranking identifies schools with high-quality natural sciences programs that also have a lower cost than schools of similar quality.

To come up with these rankings, we looked at factors such as the cost to attend the school after aid is awarded and overall quality of the natural sciences program at the school. For more information, check out our ranking methodology.

One Size Does Not Fit All

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 Value Natural Sciences Schools for a Bachelor’s in California For Those Making $30-$48k” list to help you make the college decision.

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. We encourage you to try it out and pit your favorite colleges and universities head to head! If you don’t have time right now, you can bookmark it for later.

Best Value Natural Sciences Schools for a Bachelor’s in California For Those Making $30-$48k

The following schools top our list of the Best Best Value Natural Sciences Schools for a Bachelor’s in California For Those Making $30-$48k.

Top 3 Best Value Bachelor’s Degree Colleges for Natural Sciences (Income $30-$48k) in California

#1

California State University - Chico

Chico, California

#3 in overall quality

$11,576 Average Net Price

You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend California State University - Chico. It ranked #1 on our 2022 Best Value Natural Sciences Schools for a Bachelor’s in California For Those Making $30-$48k list. Chico State is a fairly large public school situated in Chico, California. It awarded 9 bachelors’s natural sciences degrees in 2019-2020.

Chico State also made our “Best Natural Sciences Bachelor’s Degree Schools in California” list, coming in at #3. The estimated yearly cost for California State University - Chico is $11,576 for California Bachelor’s Degree Natural Sciences students whose families make $30-$48k.

The low student loan default rate of 3.3% is a good sign that students have an easier time paying off their loans than they might at other schools. For comparison, the national default rate is 10.1%.

Full California State University - Chico Natural Sciences Report

#2

Pepperdine University

Malibu, California

#2 in overall quality

$29,593 Average Net Price

You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend Pepperdine University. It ranked #2 on our 2022 Best Value Natural Sciences Schools for a Bachelor’s in California For Those Making $30-$48k list. Pepperdine University is located in Malibu, California and, has a medium-sized student population. In 2019-2020, this school awarded 1 bachelors’s natural sciences degrees to qualified students.

In addition to being on our california bachelor’s degree natural sciences students whose families make $30-$48k list, Pepperdine has also earned the #2 rank in our “Best Natural Sciences Bachelor’s Degree Schools in California” ranking. The estimated yearly cost for Pepperdine University is $29,593 for california bachelor’s degree natural sciences students whose families make $30-$48k.

The school has an impressive student loan default rate. It’s only 1.1%, which is much lower than the national rate of 10.1%. The school has an excellent freshman retention rate of 85%, which means students like the school well enough to return for a second year.

Read full report on Natural Sciences at Pepperdine

#3

Loyola Marymount University

Los Angeles, California

#1 in overall quality

$35,166 Average Net Price

$33,459 Average Early-Career Earnings

Out of the 3 schools in the Best Value Natural Sciences Schools for a Bachelor’s in California For Those Making $30-$48k that were part of this year’s ranking, Loyola Marymount University landed the #3 spot on the list. Los Angeles, California is the setting for this medium-sized institution of higher learning. The private not-for-profit school handed out bachelors’s natural sciences degrees to 46 students in 2019-2020.

Loyola Marymount did well in our major quality rankings, too. It placed #1 on our “Best Natural Sciences Bachelor’s Degree Schools in California” list. The yearly cost to attend Loyola Marymount University is $35,166 for California Bachelor’s Degree Natural Sciences students whose families make $30-$48k.

The impressive student-to-faculty ratio of 10 to 1 means that students may have more opportunities to work more closely with their professors than they would at other schools. The student loan default rate at the school is 1.6%, which is quite low when compared to the national default rate of 10.1%.

Read more about Natural Sciences at Loyola Marymount

• Best Value Bachelor’s Degree Colleges for Natural Sciences (Income $30-$48k) in the Far Western US Region
• Best Value Bachelor’s Degree Colleges for Natural Sciences (Income $30-$48k)

Notes and References

References

• 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 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).
• Information about the national average student loan default rate is from the U.S. Department of Education and refers to data about the 2016 borrower cohort tracking period for which the cohort default rate (CDR) was 10.1%.

Read more about our data sources and methodologies

Footnotes

• *Average salary, average net price, and average tuition and fees are for the top schools only.
• Some schools otherwise deserving of recognition may have been removed from this ranking in the event that new data identified post-publication warranted it, or at the request of the school.

Credits

• Credit for the banner image above goes to Agsftw.

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