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2025 Best Geological & Earth Sciences Bachelor's Degree Schools in California

17 Colleges in California
552 Bachelor's Degrees
$38,362 Avg Early-Career Salary
Geological & Earth Sciences is above average in terms of popularity with it being the #80 most popular bachelor's degree program in the country. So, you have a fair amount of options to choose from when looking for a school.

In 2025, College Factual analyzed 17 schools in order to identify the top ones for its Best Geological & Earth Sciences Bachelor's Degree Schools in California ranking. When you put them all together, these colleges and universities awarded 552 bachelor's degrees in geological & earth sciences during the 2022-2023 academic year.

Jump to one of the following sections: * Our Methodology

Choosing a Great Geological & Earth Sciences School for Your Bachelor's Degree

Best Geological & Earth Sciences Bachelor's Degree Schools in California Your choice of geological & earth sciences for getting your bachelor's degree school matters. This section explores some of the factors we include in our ranking and how much they vary depending on the school you select. Below we explain some of the most important factors to consider before making your choice:

Overall Quality Is a Must

A school that excels in educating for a particular major and degree level must be a great school overall as well. To make it into this list a school must rank well in our overall Best Colleges ranking. This ranking considered factors such as graduation rates, overall graduate earnings and other educational resources to identify great colleges and universities.

Average Early-Career Salaries

Average early-career salary of those graduating with their bachelor's degree is one indicator we use in our analysis to find the schools that offer the highest-quality education. After all, your bachelor's degree won't mean much if it doesn't help you find a job that will help you earn a living.

Other Factors We Consider

In addition to the above, you should consider some of the following factors:

Our complete ranking methodology documents in more detail how we consider these factors to identify the best schools for geological & earth sciences students working on their bachelor's degree.

One Size Does Not Fit All

Rankings by Location Check Out Other Locales
More Geology Rankings Other Ranking Categories

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 Geological & Earth Sciences Bachelor's Degree Schools in California list to help you make the college decision.

To further help you make the college decision, we've developed a unique tool called College Combat that allows you to compare schools based on the factors that matter the most to you. Go ahead and give it a try, or bookmark the link so you can check it out later.

Best Schools for Bachelor’s Students to Study Geological & Earth Sciences in California

The following list ranks the best colleges and universities for pursuing a bachelor's degree in geological & earth sciences.

10 Top California Schools for a Bachelor's in Geology

1
31 Annual Graduates

Any student pursuing a degree in a bachelor's degree in geological & earth sciences has to check out University of California - Berkeley. UC Berkeley is a fairly large public university located in the midsize city of Berkeley.More information about a bachelor’s in geological & earth sciences from University of California - Berkeley

2

University of California - Santa Barbara is one of the finest schools in the United States for getting a bachelor's degree in geological & earth sciences. Located in the medium-sized suburb of Santa Barbara, UCSB is a public university with a very large student population.

Bachelor's students who receive their degree from the geology program earn an average of $30,759 for their early career.

More information about a bachelor’s in geological & earth sciences from University of California - Santa Barbara

3

University of California - Davis is one of the finest schools in the United States for getting a bachelor's degree in geological & earth sciences. Located in the small suburb of Davis, UC Davis is a public university with a very large student population.

Geological & Earth Sciences bachelor's degree recipients from University of California - Davis earn a boost of around $5,100 above the typical income of geological & earth sciences graduates.

More information about a bachelor’s in geological & earth sciences from University of California - Davis

4
55 Annual Graduates
$43,362 Median Starting Salary
$25,893 Median Student Debt

University of California - Santa Cruz is one of the best schools in the United States for getting a bachelor's degree in geological & earth sciences. UC Santa Cruz is a large public university located in the small city of Santa Cruz.

Bachelor's recipients from the geological & earth sciences degree program at University of California - Santa Cruz get $5,000 above the standard graduate with the same degree shortly after graduation.

More information about a bachelor’s in geological & earth sciences from University of California - Santa Cruz

5
15 Annual Graduates

UCSD is a very large public university located in the large city of La Jolla.More information about a bachelor’s in geological & earth sciences from University of California - San Diego

6

UC Irvine is a fairly large public university located in the city of Irvine.

After graduation, geology bachelor's recipients usually earn around $38,804 in their early careers.

More information about a bachelor’s in geological & earth sciences from University of California - Irvine

7
12 Annual Graduates

Located in the city of Los Angeles, UCLA is a public university with a fairly large student population.More information about a bachelor’s in geological & earth sciences from University of California - Los Angeles

8

Located in the suburb of San Luis Obispo, Cal Poly San Luis Obispo is a public university with a very large student population.

Those geological & earth sciences students who get their bachelor's degree from California Polytechnic State University - San Luis Obispo earn $10,127 more than the average geology grad.

More information about a bachelor’s in geological & earth sciences from California Polytechnic State University - San Luis Obispo

9
12 Annual Graduates

CSULB is a very large public university located in the city of Long Beach.More information about a bachelor’s in geological & earth sciences from California State University - Long Beach

10

Located in the suburb of Fullerton, Cal State Fullerton is a public university with a fairly large student population.

Students who graduate with their bachelor's from the geology program report average early career income of $35,509.

More information about a bachelor’s in geological & earth sciences from California State University - Fullerton

Best Geological & Earth Sciences Colleges in the Far Western US Region

Explore all the Best Geological & Earth Sciences Colleges in the Far Western US Area or other specific states within that region.

State Colleges Degrees Awarded
Washington 226 282
Oregon 185 92
Nevada 129 41
Hawaii 112 18
Alaska 75 16

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Geological & Earth Sciences is one of 8 different types of Physical Sciences programs to choose from.

Geology Focus Areas

Major Annual Graduates
Geology & Earth Sciences 442
Other Geological & Earth Sciences/Geosciences 70
Chemical & Physical Oceanography 21
Geophysics & Seismology 13
Hydrology & Water Resources Science 6

Related Major Annual Graduates
Chemistry 1,686
Physics 1,140
Astronomy & Astrophysics 127
General Physical Sciences 82
Atmospheric Sciences & Meteorology 50
Materials Sciences 41
Other Physical Science 10

Notes and References

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