There are lots of options to choose from today when trying to decide which grad school to attend. College Factual was founded, in part, to help students make the decision as to what would be the best school for them. Our Best Master's Degree Colleges in California ranking is part of that endeavor.
Our analysis looked at 80 grad schools in California to determine which ones have the best master's degree programs. Our ranking for the best grad schools is based on objective factors. We steer clear of subjective measures since they don't give a clear picture when determining how one school compares to another. The following gives more info on what goes into our ranking factors and why we consider those factors.
Early-Career Salaries Are Higher
One measure we use to determine the quality of a school is to look at the average salary of master's graduates during the early years of their career. A master's degree holder from a school in California makes an average starting salary of $62,974, but the students who attended schools in the top 24 of our list make an average of $69,088.
Starting Salary ( 53045 to 81612 )
Average Student Debt
Graduate students may also take on a lot of debt while working on their master's so we factor that into our rankings as well.
The average debt load at a particular school may not be bad, but it's an important thing to consider in conjunction with post-graduation earnings.
Other Ranking Factors in Our Methodology
In addition to average post-graduation earnings and average student debt loads, we also look at a host of other factors to determining our Best Master's Degree Schools ranking.
Several other factors - such as how much the school spends on educational resources, the demand of the school, the availability of online learning options, and the student body caliber - go into our rankings.
If you'd rather work on your master's degree in a specific area of the country, you might be interested in our rankings by place. Also, you may want to check out our other college rankings.
Our 2024 rankings named Stanford University the best grad school in California in terms of overall quality for students working on their master’s degree. Stanford is a fairly large private not-for-profit school situated in Stanford, California. It awarded 2,203 master’s degrees in 2020-2021.
Those who receive a master’s degree from Stanford go into careers with an average salary of $101,186 during the early years of their career.
You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around if you attend Keck Graduate Institute. The school came in at #2 in California on this year’s best master’s degree schools ranking. KGI is a private not-for-profit institution located in Claremont, California. The school has a small population, and it awarded 140 master’s degrees in 2020-2021.
Those who receive a master’s degree from KGI go into careers with an average salary of $66,497 during the early years of their career.
A rank of #3 on our Best Master’s Degree in California list means University of Southern California is a great place for students working on their degree. This large private not-for-profit school is located in Los Angeles, California, and it awarded 9,128 master’s degrees in 2020-2021.
Upon graduation, master’s degree recipients go on to jobs making an average salary of $73,789 during the early years of their career.
A rank of #4 on our Best Master’s Degree in California list means University of California - Berkeley is a great place for students working on their degree. UC Berkeley is a large public school situated in Berkeley, California. It awarded 2,905 master’s degrees in 2020-2021.
Graduates with a master’s degree from UC Berkeley make an average of $67,140 per year during the early years of their career.
You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around if you attend University of California - Los Angeles. The school came in at #5 in California on this year’s best master’s degree schools ranking. UCLA is a large public school situated in Los Angeles, California. It awarded 3,137 master’s degrees in 2020-2021.
During the early years of their career, master’s degree graduates from UCLA make an average of $73,921 a year.
Santa Clara University came in at #6 in this year’s edition of the Best Master’s Degree Schools in California ranking. SCU is a medium-sized private not-for-profit school situated in Santa Clara, California. It awarded 895 master’s degrees in 2020-2021.
During the early years of their career, master’s degree graduates from SCU make an average of $94,996 a year.
University of California - San Diego came in at #7 in this year’s edition of the Best Master’s Degree Schools in California ranking. Located in La Jolla, California, the large public school awarded 2,170 diplomas to qualifed master’s degree students in 2020-2021.
Graduates with a master’s degree from UCSD make an average of $79,387 per year during the early years of their career.
Fielding Graduate University did quite well in the 2024 Best Master’s Degree Schools in California ranking, coming in at #8. Fielding is located in Santa Barbara, California and has a small student population. In 2020-2021, this school awarded 132 master’s degrees to qualified graduate students.
Pepperdine University ranked #9 on this year’s Best Master’s Degree Schools in California list. Pepperdine University is a fairly large private not-for-profit school located in Malibu, California that handed out 1,956 master’s degrees in 2020-2021.
Those who receive a master’s degree from Pepperdine go into careers with an average salary of $58,476 during the early years of their career.
University of California - Davis landed the #10 spot on the 2024 Best Master’s Degree Schools in California ranking. University of California - Davis is a large public school located in Davis, California that handed out 1,225 master’s degrees in 2020-2021.
Graduates with a master’s degree from UC Davis make an average of $86,577 per year during the early years of their career.
United States University did quite well in the 2024 Best Master’s Degree Schools in California ranking, coming in at #11. USU is located in San Diego, California and has a small student population. In 2020-2021, this school awarded 449 master’s degrees to qualified graduate students.
During the early years of their career, master’s degree graduates from USU make an average of $85,412 a year.
The Master’s University and Seminary did quite well in the 2024 Best Master’s Degree Schools in California ranking, coming in at #12. The Master’s University is a small private not-for-profit school situated in Santa Clarita, California. It awarded 169 master’s degrees in 2020-2021.
Graduates with a master’s degree from The Master’s University make an average of $52,813 per year during the early years of their career.
University of California - Irvine ranked #13 on this year’s Best Master’s Degree Schools in California list. UC Irvine is located in Irvine, California and has a large student population. In 2020-2021, this school awarded 1,609 master’s degrees to qualified graduate students.
Graduates with a master’s degree from UC Irvine make an average of $73,167 per year during the early years of their career.
Loyola Marymount University did quite well in the 2024 Best Master’s Degree Schools in California ranking, coming in at #14. Loyola Marymount is located in Los Angeles, California and has a fairly large student population. In 2020-2021, this school awarded 720 master’s degrees to qualified graduate students.
Upon graduation, master’s degree recipients go on to jobs making an average salary of $56,206 during the early years of their career.
With a ranking of #15, Saint Mary’s College of California did quite well on the 2024 Best Master’s Degree Schools in California list. SMC is located in Moraga, California and has a small student population. In 2020-2021, this school awarded 375 master’s degrees to qualified graduate students.
The average salary of a graduate with a master’s degree from SMC is $61,398 during the early years of their career.
University of California - Santa Barbara landed the #16 spot on the 2024 Best Master’s Degree Schools in California ranking. UCSB is located in Santa Barbara, California and has a large student population. In 2020-2021, this school awarded 512 master’s degrees to qualified graduate students.
Those who receive a master’s degree from UCSB go into careers with an average salary of $51,972 during the early years of their career.
Golden Gate University - San Francisco ranked #17 on this year’s Best Master’s Degree Schools in California list. Located in San Francisco, California, the small private not-for-profit school awarded 493 diplomas to qualifed master’s degree students in 2020-2021.
Upon graduation, master’s degree recipients go on to jobs making an average salary of $85,001 during the early years of their career.
With a ranking of #18, National University did quite well on the 2024 Best Master’s Degree Schools in California list. National University is a fairly large private not-for-profit school located in San Diego, California that handed out 4,339 master’s degrees in 2020-2021.
Those who receive a master’s degree from National University go into careers with an average salary of $61,388 during the early years of their career.
University of San Diego landed the #19 spot on the 2024 Best Master’s Degree Schools in California ranking. USD is located in San Diego, California and has a medium-sized student population. In 2020-2021, this school awarded 1,121 master’s degrees to qualified graduate students.
During the early years of their career, master’s degree graduates from USD make an average of $67,518 a year.
San Jose State University landed the #20 spot on the 2024 Best Master’s Degree Schools in California ranking. Located in San Jose, California, the large public school awarded 2,909 diplomas to qualifed master’s degree students in 2020-2021.
Upon graduation, master’s degree recipients go on to jobs making an average salary of $69,662 during the early years of their career.
University of San Francisco came in at #21 in this year’s edition of the Best Master’s Degree Schools in California ranking. This medium-sized private not-for-profit school is located in San Francisco, California, and it awarded 1,634 master’s degrees in 2020-2021.
The average salary of a graduate with a master’s degree from USFCA is $69,638 during the early years of their career.
With a ranking of #22, University of Redlands did quite well on the 2024 Best Master’s Degree Schools in California list. Redlands, California is the setting for this small institution of higher learning. The private not-for-profit school handed out master’s degrees to 979 students in 2020-2021.
During the early years of their career, master’s degree graduates from University of Redlands make an average of $63,751 a year.
Academy of Art University did quite well in the 2024 Best Master’s Degree Schools in California ranking, coming in at #23. San Francisco, California is the setting for this medium-sized institution of higher learning. The private for-profit school handed out master’s degrees to 849 students in 2020-2021.
Upon graduation, master’s degree recipients go on to jobs making an average salary of $42,965 during the early years of their career.
Middlebury Institute of International Studies at Monterey came in at #24 in this year’s edition of the Best Master’s Degree Schools in California ranking. Middlebury Institute of International Studies at Monterey is a small private not-for-profit school located in Monterey, California that handed out 302 master’s degrees in 2020-2021.
The average salary of a graduate with a master’s degree from Middlebury Institute is $52,372 during the early years of their career.
With a ranking of #25, San Diego State University did quite well on the 2024 Best Master’s Degree Schools in California list. San Diego State University is a large public school located in San Diego, California that handed out 1,556 master’s degrees in 2020-2021.
During the early years of their career, master’s degree graduates from SDSU make an average of $62,889 a year.
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%.
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