2025 Best Geography Doctor's Degree Schools in California

Geography is above average in terms of popularity with it being the #93 most popular doctor'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 2 schools in order to identify the top ones for its Best Geography Doctor's Degree Schools in California ranking. When you put them all together, these colleges and universities awarded 29 doctor's degrees in geography during the 2022-2023 academic year.

Jump to one of the following sections: * Our Methodology

• Best Doctor’s Degree Schools List

Other Factors We Consider

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

• Major Focus - How many resources a school devotes to geography students as compared to other majors.
• Major Demand - How many other geography students want to attend this school to pursue a doctor's degree.
• Educational Resources - The amount of money and other resources allocated to students while they are pursuing their degree. These resources include such things as number of students per instructor and education expenditures per student.
• Accreditation - Whether a school is regionally accredited and/or accredited by a recognized geography related body.

Our complete ranking methodology documents in more detail how we consider these factors to identify the best schools for geography students working on their doctor's degree.

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 Geography Doctor's Degree Schools in California list to help you make the college decision.

Best Schools for Doctorate Students to Study Geography in California

The following list ranks the best colleges and universities for pursuing a doctor's degree in geography.

Top California Schools for a Doctorate in Geography

1

University of California - Los Angeles
Los Angeles, CA

Doctor's Degree Highest Degree Type

11 Annual Graduates

It is hard to beat University of California - Los Angeles if you wish to pursue a doctor's degree in geography. Located in the large city of Los Angeles, UCLA is a public university with a fairly large student population.More information about a doctorate in geography from University of California - Los Angeles

2

University of California - Santa Barbara
Santa Barbara, CA

Doctor's Degree Highest Degree Type

12 Annual Graduates

It is difficult to beat University of California - Santa Barbara if you want to pursue a doctor's degree in geography. Located in the midsize suburb of Santa Barbara, UCSB is a public university with a fairly large student population.More information about a doctorate in geography from University of California - Santa Barbara

Best Geography Colleges in the Far Western US Region

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

State	Colleges	Degrees Awarded
Washington	216	6
Oregon	145	6
Nevada	111	2
Hawaii	65	2

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Rankings in Majors Related to Geography

One of 2 majors within the Geography & Cartography area of study, Geography has other similar majors worth exploring.

Majors Similar to Geography

Related Major	Annual Graduates
Geographic Information Science	13

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).
• Credit for the banner image above goes to Couleur. More about our data sources and methodologies.