by our College Data Analytics TeamIt's not easy to decide which school to attend when you have so many options available. College Factual was founded, in part, to help students make the decision as to what would be the best school for them. Our Best Doctor's Degree Colleges for the Money (Income $30-$48k) in California ranking is part of that endeavor. The amount of financial aid you could receive at various schools, including some with high sticker prices, may surprise you.
See What's Included in This Value Report:
After analyzing 46 schools in California, we came up with our list of those that offered the best value Doctor's Degree programs. To come up with this ranking of the best value schools, we look at factors that are all objective measurements. In the next few paragraphs, we'll talk a little about what we use in our analysis and why.
The first step of determing the value of a school in our Best Doctor's Degree Colleges for the Money (Income $30-$48k) in California ranking is to look at the school's average net price for students with families that make $30-$48k a year. The net price is the sum of tuition, fees, and room and board minus any financial aid awarded to the student. But, a school that excels in providing value for your money must also be a great school overall as well.
To account for this we consider a school's overall Best Colleges ranking which itself looks at a collection of various factors like degree completion, educational resources, student body caliber and post-graduation earnings for the school as a whole.
Find out more about our best value ranking methodology.
Keep scrolling for the top schools in this ranking or select one of the other rankings methods below.
If you know what major you want to study, check out our list of the best value schools by major. If you're interested in other degree levels, you can view one of the lists below.
Learn more about these excellent schools below:
Stanford University tops this year’s ranking as the best value (income $30-$48k) school for doctor’s degrees in California for overall quality. This fairly large private not-for-profit school is located in Stanford, California.
Not only is Stanford University a great value, but it is also ranked #1 in California for overall quality.
Out of the 46 doctor’s degree schools in California that were part of this year’s ranking, California Institute of Technology landed the #2 spot on the list. Caltech is a small private not-for-profit school situated in Pasadena, California.
California Institute of Technology has the honor of being ranked #4 in California for overall quality on top of being a good value.
Learn More About Value at California Institute of Technology
Out of the 46 doctor’s degree schools in California that were part of this year’s ranking, University of California - Berkeley landed the #3 spot on the list. Berkeley, California is the setting for this large institution of higher learning. It is a public school.
University of California - Berkeley has the honor of being ranked #2 in California for overall quality on top of being a good value.
Read full value report on University of California - Berkeley
Out of the 46 doctor’s degree schools in California that were part of this year’s ranking, San Diego State University landed the #4 spot on the list. San Diego State University is a large public school located in San Diego, California.
In addition to being included on this ranking as a good value, San Diego State University is ranked #22 for quality in the state of California.
A rank of #5 on our Best Doctor’s Degree Colleges for the Money (Income $30-$48k) in California list means University of California - Los Angeles is a great place for students working on their degree. UCLA is a public institution located in Los Angeles, California.
University of California - Los Angeles has the honor of being ranked #6 in California for overall quality on top of being a good value.
With a ranking of #6, California State University - San Bernardino did quite well on the 2024 Best Doctor’s Degree Colleges for the Money (Income $30-$48k) in California list. Located in San Bernardino, California, the school is a fairly large public institution.
Not only is California State University - San Bernardino a great value, but it is also ranked #38 in California for overall quality.
Read full value report on California State University - San Bernardino
California State University - Fullerton did quite well in the 2024 Best Doctor’s Degree Colleges for the Money (Income $30-$48k) in California ranking, coming in at #7. Cal State Fullerton is a large public school situated in Fullerton, California.
California State University - Fullerton has the honor of being ranked #29 in California for overall quality on top of being a good value.
Learn More About Value at California State University - Fullerton
University of Southern California landed the #8 spot on the 2024 Best Doctor’s Degree Colleges for the Money (Income $30-$48k) in California ranking. This large private not-for-profit school is located in Los Angeles, California.
In addition to being included on this ranking as a good value, University of Southern California is ranked #3 for quality in the state of California.
With a ranking of #9, University of California - Irvine did quite well on the 2024 Best Doctor’s Degree Colleges for the Money (Income $30-$48k) in California list. Irvine, California is the setting for this large institution of higher learning. It is a public school.
Not only is University of California - Irvine a great value, but it is also ranked #19 in California for overall quality.
With a ranking of #10, California State University - Los Angeles did quite well on the 2024 Best Doctor’s Degree Colleges for the Money (Income $30-$48k) in California list. Los Angeles, California is the setting for this large institution of higher learning. It is a public school.
California State University - Los Angeles has the honor of being ranked #49 in California for overall quality on top of being a good value.
University of California - San Diego ranked #11 on this year’s Best Doctor’s Degree Colleges for the Money (Income $30-$48k) in California list. UCSD is located in La Jolla, California and has a large student population. It is a public school.
In addition to being included on this ranking as a good value, University of California - San Diego is ranked #10 for quality in the state of California.
Read full value report on University of California - San Diego
California State University - Fresno came in at #12 in this year’s edition of the Best Doctor’s Degree Colleges for the Money (Income $30-$48k) in California ranking. This large public school is located in Fresno, California.
Not only is California State University - Fresno a great value, but it is also ranked #41 in California for overall quality.
University of California - Santa Barbara landed the #13 spot on the 2024 Best Doctor’s Degree Colleges for the Money (Income $30-$48k) in California ranking. UCSB is a public institution located in Santa Barbara, California.
University of California - Santa Barbara has the honor of being ranked #8 in California for overall quality on top of being a good value.
California State University - Long Beach came in at #14 in this year’s edition of the Best Doctor’s Degree Colleges for the Money (Income $30-$48k) in California ranking. California State University - Long Beach is a large public school located in Long Beach, California.
Not only is California State University - Long Beach a great value, but it is also ranked #35 in California for overall quality.
Learn More About Value at California State University - Long Beach
California State University - Sacramento landed the #15 spot on the 2024 Best Doctor’s Degree Colleges for the Money (Income $30-$48k) in California ranking. This large public school is located in Sacramento, California.
In addition to being included on this ranking as a good value, California State University - Sacramento is ranked #44 for quality in the state of California.
Read full value report on California State University - Sacramento
With a ranking of #16, University of California - Davis did quite well on the 2024 Best Doctor’s Degree Colleges for the Money (Income $30-$48k) in California list. This large public school is located in Davis, California.
In addition to being included on this ranking as a good value, University of California - Davis is ranked #13 for quality in the state of California.
California State University - Northridge ranked #17 on this year’s Best Doctor’s Degree Colleges for the Money (Income $30-$48k) in California list. Located in Northridge, California, the school is a large public institution.
Not only is California State University - Northridge a great value, but it is also ranked #39 in California for overall quality.
University of California - Riverside did quite well in the 2024 Best Doctor’s Degree Colleges for the Money (Income $30-$48k) in California ranking, coming in at #18. UCR is a public institution located in Riverside, California.
Not only is University of California - Riverside a great value, but it is also ranked #30 in California for overall quality.
University of the Pacific ranked #19 on this year’s Best Doctor’s Degree Colleges for the Money (Income $30-$48k) in California list. University of the Pacific is a medium-sized private not-for-profit school located in Stockton, California.
University of the Pacific has the honor of being ranked #18 in California for overall quality on top of being a good value.
San Francisco State University came in at #19 in this year’s edition of the Best Doctor’s Degree Colleges for the Money (Income $30-$48k) in California ranking. This large public school is located in San Francisco, California.
Not only is San Francisco State University a great value, but it is also ranked #32 in California for overall quality.
University of California - Merced landed the #21 spot on the 2024 Best Doctor’s Degree Colleges for the Money (Income $30-$48k) in California ranking. UC Merced is a medium-sized public school situated in Merced, California.
Not only is University of California - Merced a great value, but it is also ranked #42 in California for overall quality.
University of Redlands came in at #22 in this year’s edition of the Best Doctor’s Degree Colleges for the Money (Income $30-$48k) in California ranking. University of Redlands is a small private not-for-profit school situated in Redlands, California.
In addition to being included on this ranking as a good value, University of Redlands is ranked #27 for quality in the state of California.
California State University - East Bay came in at #23 in this year’s edition of the Best Doctor’s Degree Colleges for the Money (Income $30-$48k) in California ranking. California State University - East Bay is a fairly large public school located in Hayward, California.
Not only is California State University - East Bay a great value, but it is also ranked #46 in California for overall quality.
Learn More About Value at California State University - East Bay
With a ranking of #24, University of California - Santa Cruz did quite well on the 2024 Best Doctor’s Degree Colleges for the Money (Income $30-$48k) in California list. University of California - Santa Cruz is a fairly large public school located in Santa Cruz, California.
In addition to being included on this ranking as a good value, University of California - Santa Cruz is ranked #21 for quality in the state of California.
Read full value report on University of California - Santa Cruz
Touro University Worldwide did quite well in the 2024 Best Doctor’s Degree Colleges for the Money (Income $30-$48k) in California ranking, coming in at #25. Touro University Worldwide is a small private not-for-profit school located in Los Alamitos, California.
Touro University Worldwide has the honor of being ranked #34 in California for overall quality on top of being a good value.
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Footnotes
*These averages are for the top 25 schools only.
More about our data sources and methodologies.