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2023 Top California Men's D3 Basketball Schools

9 Colleges
$54,023 Avg Tuition & Fees*
70% Avg 4-Year Grad Rate*

When pursuing a degree in today's world, student athletes have many different options to choose from. College Factual has developed its Best Colleges for Division III Men's Basketball in California ranking as one item you can use to help make this decision.

Our analysis looked at 9 schools in California to determine which ones were the best for D3 Men's Basketball athletes in California. Our ranking is based on several objective factors, including the school's overall quality and the athletic competitiveness of the school. We steer clear of subjective measures since they don't give a clear picture when determining how one school compares to another. So, even if a school has a great team, it won't place well if it is also considered a low quality college or university.

Find out more about our ranking methodology.

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Top Colleges in California for D3 Men's Basketball athletes in California

See which schools came out on top of our ranking:

1
Pomona crest
Pomona College
Claremont, California

Pomona College tops this year’s ranking as the best school for D3 Men’s Basketball athletes in California. Pomona College is a small private not-for-profit school located in Claremont, California that handed out 418 bachelor’s degrees in . Pomona brought in $291,558 while tallying up $258,960 in expenses for its D3 Men’s Basketball team. That boils down to a yearly profit of $32,598 for the sports team. With a student-to-faculty ratio of 7 to 1, it’s easy to see that the school is committed to helping their undergraduates succeed. Pomona also took the #3 spot in our overall quality rankings. Full Pomona College Sports Report

2
CLU crest
California Lutheran University
Thousand Oaks, California

The excellent sports programs at California Lutheran University helped the school earn the #2 place on this year’s ranking of the best schools for D3 Men’s Basketball athletes in California. Located in Thousand Oaks, California, the small private not-for-profit school awarded 816 diplomas to qualified bachelor’s degree students in . On the financial side of things, the D3 Men’s Basketball team at CLU made $250,512 in revenue. Read More…

3
Oxy crest
Occidental College
Los Angeles, California

Out of the 9 schools in California that were part of this year’s ranking, Occidental College landed the #3 spot on the list. Located in Los Angeles, California, the small private not-for-profit school awarded 555 diplomas to qualified bachelor’s degree students in . Oxy brought in $259,799 while tallying up $211,686 in expenses for its D3 Men’s Basketball team. That boils down to a yearly profit of $48,113 for the sports team. The student-to-faculty ratio of 9 to 1 is a sign that students will have more opportunities to engage with their professors one-on-one. As a testament to the quality of education it offers, Oxy also is in the top 15% of our overall quality ranking. Read full sports report on Occidental College

4
ULV crest
University of La Verne
La Verne, California

The excellent sports programs at University of La Verne helped the school earn the #4 place on this year’s ranking of the best schools for D3 Men’s Basketball athletes in California. Located in La Verne, California, the medium-sized private not-for-profit school handed out 1,071 bachelor’s degrees in . The team at ULV took home $194,363 in revenue and paid out $170,762 in expenses in recent times. Happily, this means that the team turned a profit of $23,601. Read full sports report on University of La Verne

5
Chapman crest
Chapman University
Orange, California

Out of the 9 schools in California that were part of this year’s ranking, Chapman University landed the #5 spot on the list. Chapman University is a fairly large private not-for-profit school located in Orange, California that handed out 2,104 bachelor’s degrees in . On the financial side of things, the D3 Men’s Basketball team at Chapman made $278,564 in revenue. The school has an excellent freshman retention rate of 92%, which means students like the school well enough to return for a second year. Read More…

6

California Institute of Technology did quite well in the 2023 Best Colleges for Division III Men’s Basketball in California ranking, coming in at #6. California Institute of Technology is a small private not-for-profit school located in Pasadena, California that handed out 218 bachelor’s degrees in . The team at Caltech took home $166,441 in revenue and paid out $159,441 in expenses in recent times. Thus, the team actually made $7,000, which isn’t bad at all. Since the school has a student-to-faculty ratio of 3 to 1, those pursuing a bachelor’s degree will have more opportunities to interact with their professors. Caltech not only placed well in this ranking, but it is also #1 on our overall quality list. Read full sports report on California Institute of Technology

7

With a ranking of #7, University of California - Santa Cruz did quite well on the 2023 Best Colleges for Division III Men’s Basketball in California ranking. UC Santa Cruz is a fairly large public school situated in Santa Cruz, California. It awarded 4,744 bachelor’s degrees in . The D3 Men’s Basketball team at UC Santa Cruz brought home $265,440 in revenue in a single year. Students who start out at the school are likely to stick around. The freshman retention rate is 89%. Read full sports report on University of California - Santa Cruz

8
Whittier crest
Whittier College
Whittier, California

Whittier College did quite well in the 2023 Best Colleges for Division III Men’s Basketball in California ranking, coming in at #8. Whittier College is a small private not-for-profit school located in Whittier, California that handed out 358 bachelor’s degrees in . Whittier brought in $129,366 while tallying up $115,720 in expenses for its D3 Men’s Basketball team. So, the team made money for the school, bringing in $13,646 in profit. Full Whittier College Sports Report

9
University of Redlands crest
University of Redlands
Redlands, California

University of Redlands came in at #9 in this year’s edition of the Best Colleges for Division III Men’s Basketball in California ranking. Located in Redlands, California, the small private not-for-profit school handed out 924 bachelor’s degrees in . University of Redlands brought in $305,927 while tallying up $285,486 in expenses for its D3 Men’s Basketball team. That boils down to a yearly profit of $20,441 for the sports team. Read More…

Best Colleges for D3 Men's Basketball in the Far Western US Region

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Notes and References

Footnotes

*Avg Tuition and Fees and Avg 4-Year Grad Rate are for the top 9 schools only.

References

More about our data sources and methodologies.

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