2025 Best Chemistry Bachelor's Degree Schools in California
Ranked #36 in popularity,
chemistry is one of the most sought-after bachelor's degree programs in the nation. This makes choosing the right school a hard decision.
For its 2025 ranking, College Factual looked at 24 schools in California to determine which ones were the best for chemistry students pursuing a bachelor's degree. When you put them all together, these colleges and universities awarded 1,686 bachelor's degrees in chemistry during the 2022-2023 academic year.
What's on this page: * Our Methodology
Choosing a Great Chemistry School for Your Bachelor's Degree
The chemistry bachelor's degree program you select can have a big impact on your future. This section explores some of the factors we include in our ranking and how much they vary depending on the school you select. When choosing a school we recommend considering some of the following factors:
Quality Overall Is Important
The overall quality of a bachelor's degree school is important to ensure a good education, not just how well they do in a particular major. To account for this we consider a school's overall Best Colleges ranking which itself looks at a host of various factors like degree completion, educational resources, student body caliber and post-graduation earnings for the school as a whole.
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 bachelor's degree from the school. This is because one of the main reasons people pursue their bachelor'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 chemistry students as compared to other majors.
- Major Demand - The number of chemistry students who choose to seek a bachelor'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 chemistry students go into to obtain their bachelor'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 chemistry related body.
Our full ranking methodology documents in more detail how we consider these factors to identify the best schools for chemistry students working on their bachelor's degree.
One Size Does Not Fit All
Since picking the right college can be one of the most important decisions of your life, we've developed the Best Chemistry Bachelor's Degree Schools in California ranking, along with many other major-related rankings, to help you make that 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.
When you have some time, check it out - you may want to bookmark the link so you don't forget it.
Best Schools for Bachelor’s Students to Study Chemistry in California
The following list ranks the best colleges and universities for pursuing a bachelor's degree in chemistry.
10 Top California Schools for a Bachelor's in Chemistry
Any student pursuing a degree in a bachelor's degree in chemistry needs to check out University of California - Santa Barbara. UCSB is a very large public university located in the midsize suburb of Santa Barbara.
Bachelor's recipients from the chemistry degree program at University of California - Santa Barbara make $3,790 above the standard college graduate in this field when they enter the workforce.
More information about a bachelor’s in chemistry from University of California - Santa Barbara
Any student who is interested in a bachelor's degree in chemistry needs to check out University of California - San Diego. Located in the city of La Jolla, UCSD is a public university with a very large student population.
After graduation, chemistry bachelor's recipients typically earn about $45,310 in the first five years of their career.
More information about a bachelor’s in chemistry from University of California - San Diego
Any student pursuing a degree in a bachelor's degree in chemistry has to check out University of California - Davis. UC Davis is a very large public university located in the suburb of Davis.
Soon after graduating, chemistry bachelor's recipients usually earn about $42,204 in the first five years of their career.
More information about a bachelor’s in chemistry from University of California - Davis
University of California - Irvine is one of the finest schools in the country for getting a bachelor's degree in chemistry. Located in the city of Irvine, UC Irvine is a public university with a fairly large student population.
After graduating, chemistry bachelor's recipients generally earn about $43,766 in their early careers.
More information about a bachelor’s in chemistry from University of California - Irvine
Located in the midsize city of Berkeley, UC Berkeley is a public university with a very large student population.
Bachelor's recipients from the chemistry degree program at University of California - Berkeley get $16,169 above the standard college grad in this field when they enter the workforce.
More information about a bachelor’s in chemistry from University of California - Berkeley
UCLA is a very large public university located in the city of Los Angeles.
Students who graduate with their bachelor's from the chemistry program report average early career wages of $42,358.
More information about a bachelor’s in chemistry from University of California - Los Angeles
Located in the city of Santa Cruz, UC Santa Cruz is a public university with a fairly large student population.
Soon after graduating, chemistry bachelor's recipients usually earn about $39,700 in their early careers.
More information about a bachelor’s in chemistry from University of California - Santa Cruz
Located in the large city of San Diego, SDSU is a public university with a very large student population.
After graduating, chemistry bachelor's recipients generally earn an average of $43,603 at the beginning of their careers.
More information about a bachelor’s in chemistry from San Diego State University
Located in the city of San Francisco, SFSU is a public university with a fairly large student population.
After graduation, chemistry bachelor's recipients usually make an average of $44,140 at the beginning of their careers.
More information about a bachelor’s in chemistry from San Francisco State University
Cal Poly San Luis Obispo is a fairly large public university located in the small suburb of San Luis Obispo.More information about a bachelor’s in chemistry from California Polytechnic State University - San Luis Obispo
