2022 Best Value Physical Sciences Schools for a Bachelor’s in California For Those Making $0-$30k

It’s not easy to decide which college to attend when there so many options available for students. College Factual has developed its “Best Value Physical Sciences Schools for a Bachelor’s in California For Those Making $0-$30k” ranking as one item you can use to help make this decision.

Physical Science is the 154th most popular major in the country with 4,159 degrees awarded in 2019-2020.

Across California, there were 389 physical science graduates with average earnings and debt of $0 and $0 respectively. At the bachelor’s degree level specifically, there were 25 physical science graduates with average earnings and debt of $37,907 and $21,546 respectively.

For this year’s “Best Value Physical Sciences Schools for a Bachelor’s in California For Those Making $0-$30k” ranking, we looked at 3 colleges that offer a degree in physical science. This ranking identifies schools with high-quality physical science 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 physical science program at the school. Check out our ranking methodology for more information.

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 Physical Sciences Schools for a Bachelor’s in California For Those Making $0-$30k” list to help you make the college decision.

In addition to our rankings, you can take two colleges and compare them based on the criteria that matters most to you in our unique tool, College Combat. Go ahead and give it a try, or bookmark the link so you can check it out later.

Best Value Physical Sciences Schools for a Bachelor’s in California For Those Making $0-$30k

The colleges and universities below are the best for california bachelor’s degree physical sciences students whose families make $0-$30k.

Top 3 Best Value Bachelor’s Degree Colleges for Physical Science (Income $0-$30k) in California

#1

California State University - Fresno

Fresno, California

#2 in overall quality

$3,264 Average Net Price

You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend California State University - Fresno. It ranked #1 on our 2022 Best Value Physical Sciences Schools for a Bachelor’s in California For Those Making $0-$30k list. California State University - Fresno is a large school located in Fresno, California that handed out 16 bachelors’s physical sciences degrees in 2019-2020.

In addition to being on our california bachelor’s degree physical sciences students whose families make $0-$30k list, Fresno State has also earned the #2 rank in our “Best Physical Science Bachelor’s Degree Schools in California” ranking. The estimated yearly cost for Fresno State is $3,264 for california bachelor’s degree physical sciences students whose families make $0-$30k.

The school has an impressive student loan default rate. It’s only 4.7%, which is much lower than the national rate of 10.1%. Students who start out at the school are likely to stick around. The freshman retention rate is 87%.

Read more about Physical Science at Fresno State

#2

University of California - Santa Cruz

Santa Cruz, California

#1 in overall quality

$10,872 Average Net Price

You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around if you attend University of California - Santa Cruz. The school came in at #2 for the Best Value Physical Sciences Schools for a Bachelor’s in California For Those Making $0-$30k. UC Santa Cruz is a public institution located in Santa Cruz, California. The school has a fairly large population, and it awarded 7 bachelors’s degrees in 2019-2020.

UC Santa Cruz also took the #1 spot in our “Best Physical Science Bachelor’s Degree Schools in California” ranking. It costs about $10,872 for California Bachelor’s Degree Physical Sciences students whose families make $0-$30k per year to attend UC Santa Cruz.

The student loan default rate at the school is 2.9%, which is quite low when compared to the national default 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 more about Physical Science at UC Santa Cruz

#3

California State University - Stanislaus

Turlock, California

#3 in overall quality

$3,410 Average Net Price

Out of the 3 schools in the Best Value Physical Sciences Schools for a Bachelor’s in California For Those Making $0-$30k that were part of this year’s ranking, California State University - Stanislaus landed the #3 spot on the list. Stan State is a public institution located in Turlock, California. The school has a fairly large population, and it awarded 2 bachelors’s degrees in 2019-2020.

In addition to being on our california bachelor’s degree physical sciences students whose families make $0-$30k list, Stan State has also earned the #3 rank in our “Best Physical Science Bachelor’s Degree Schools in California” ranking. It costs about $3,410 for California Bachelor’s Degree Physical Sciences students whose families make $0-$30k per year to attend California State University - Stanislaus.

The school has an impressive student loan default rate. It’s only 4.3%, which is much lower than the national rate of 10.1%. The school has an excellent freshman retention rate of 87%, which means students like the school well enough to return for a second year.

Full Stan State Physical Science Report

• Best Value Bachelor’s Degree Colleges for Physical Science (Income $0-$30k) in the Far Western US Region
• Best Value Bachelor’s Degree Colleges for Physical Science (Income $0-$30k)

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.

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