Best Value Colleges & Universities in California by Academic Quality per Dollar

Best Value Colleges in California by Academic Quality per Dollar

These are the California schools which appear on CollegeCalc's Best Value Colleges in America ranking and represent the colleges providing the finest education balanced against an affordable average net price. The best value in California ranking goes to Stanford University with a 99th percentile national academic rank for a comparatively affordable $16,779 average net price.

Academic Rating is a CollegeCalc rating of a college's overall academics and effectiveness. The score ranges from zero to one hundred, with fifty being the median for all eligible colleges. Dollar value is a measure of a school's academic rating compared with the average price paid by students. Colleges which are ranked "n/a" didn't report sufficient data to formulate a score. Learn more about our rating methodology.

All price data are reprinted from the U.S. Department of Education's 2019/2020 IPEDS Survey and reflect reported costs for the 2019/2020 academic year.

California's Best Value Colleges by Academic Quality per Dollar
College	Net Price	Rating	Value
#1 Stanford University Stanford, Private Not For Profit	$16,779	99	99
#2 Pomona College Claremont, Private Not For Profit	$18,500	96	99
#3 Claremont McKenna College Claremont, Private Not For Profit	$24,456	96	98
#4 California Institute of Technology Pasadena, Private Not For Profit	$27,438	98	97
#5 University of California Los Angeles Los Angeles, Public Not For Profit	$15,718	86	96
#6 University of California Davis Davis, Public Not For Profit	$15,886	81	96
#7 University of California San Diego La Jolla, Public Not For Profit	$14,864	82	95
#8 University of California Irvine Irvine, Public Not For Profit	$15,268	81	95
#9 University of California Santa Barbara Santa Barbara, Public Not For Profit	$16,767	77	94
#10 University of California Berkeley Berkeley, Public Not For Profit	$18,522	85	94
#11 University of California Riverside Riverside, Public Not For Profit	$13,045	67	94
#12 University of Southern California Los Angeles, Private Not For Profit	$37,521	92	92
#13 Occidental College Los Angeles, Private Not For Profit	$35,362	84	89
#14 University of California Santa Cruz Santa Cruz, Public Not For Profit	$17,889	68	84
#15 University of the Pacific Stockton, Private Not For Profit	$33,178	78	83
#16 Scripps College Claremont, Private Not For Profit	$39,702	89	83
#17 Azusa Pacific University Azusa, Private Not For Profit	$27,707	70	80
#18 Mills College Oakland, Private Not For Profit	$25,417	69	79
#19 University of San Diego San Diego, Private Not For Profit	$35,936	80	79
#20 Westmont College Santa Barbara, Private Not For Profit	$32,663	74	78

California Academic Quality per Dollar Ranking

Best Value Colleges in California by Academic Quality per Dollar