25 Best Colleges in California – 2024

Academic Highlights: Across all divisions, there are 28 distinct majors. Possessing an absurdly favorable 3:1 student-to-faculty ratio, plenty of individualized attention is up for grabs. Class sizes are not quite as tiny as the student-to-faculty ratio might suggest, but 70% of courses enroll fewer than twenty students, and 28% enroll fewer than ten. Computer science is the most popular major, accounting for 38% of all degrees conferred. Engineering (30%), the physical sciences (20%), and mathematics (6%) also have strong representation.

Professional Outcomes: Caltech is a rare school that sees six-figure average starting salaries for its graduates; in 2022, the median figure was $120,000. Forty-three percent of recent grads went directly into the workforce and found homes at tech giants such as Google, Intel, Microsoft, Apple, and Meta. A healthy 46% of those receiving their diplomas in 2022 continued directly on the higher education path, immediately entering graduate school. Ninety-seven percent of these students were admitted to one of their top-choice schools.

Academic Highlights: UCLA offers 125 majors in 100+ academic departments, and more than 60 majors require a capstone experience that results in the creation of a tangible product under the mentorship of faculty members. The most commonly conferred degrees are in the social sciences (25%), biology (16%), psychology (11%), mathematics (8%), and engineering (7%). Departmental rankings are high across the board, especially in computer science, engineering, film, fine and performing arts, mathematics, and political science.

Professional Outcomes: UCLA grads flow most heavily into the research, finance, computer science, and engineering sectors. High numbers of recent grads can be found at Disney, Google, EY, Teach for America, Amazon, and Oracle. Hundreds also can be found at Bloomberg, Deloitte, Mattel, Oracle, and SpaceX. The average starting salary exceeds $55,000. 16% of recent grads enrolled directly in a graduate/professional school, with other CA-based institutions like Stanford, Pepperdine, USC, Berkeley, and Loyola Marymount being the most popular.

Academic Highlights: There are 48 majors and minors to select from with the most popular being social sciences (23%), biology (13%), and computer science (12%). Majors in economics, international relations, chemistry, and mathematics receive especially high marks. More than 600 courses are on the menu at Pomona alone, but students can access any of the Claremont Consortium’s 2,700 courses. Pomona’s 8:1 student-to-teacher ratio leads to an average class size of only 15 students, and over 50% of the undergraduate population conduct research alongside a faculty member.

Professional Outcomes: 71% of the Class of 2022 were employed within six months of graduating. Overall, the largest number of alumni can be found at Google, Kaiser Permanente, Microsoft, Amazon, and Meta. Recently, economics degree-earners have landed jobs at Goldman Sachs, Wells Fargo, Morgan Stanley, or Accenture. Majors in the hard sciences frequently landed at top research laboratories and hospitals. Of the 21% of 2022 grads who were accepted directly into graduate school, the most frequently attended institutions included the University of Cambridge, Duke, Harvard, Caltech, UChicago, and Stanford.

Academic Highlights: CMC offers 33 majors and 11 “sequences,” series of courses that can be completed across the neighboring schools in addition to one’s major. The college boasts an average class size of eighteen, and 82% of course sections have fewer than twenty students. Economics, government, international relations, biology, and psychology are the most popular majors, and among the strongest. Interdisciplinary majors such as Environment, Economics, and Politics (EEP) and Philosophy, Politics and Economics (PPE) also carry outstanding reputations.

Professional Outcomes: Eighty-eight percent of 2022 graduates found employment within six months of graduation, and only 4% were still looking for work. The median starting salary for a 2022 Claremont grad is $87,000. You name the prestigious graduate/professional program and, chances are, a recent CMC grad (or two or three) is presently studying there. Since 2001, more than 120 alumni have enrolled at USC and UCLA. More than 60 grads have headed to UChicago, Columbia, and Stanford.

Academic Highlights: While 62% of courses have an enrollment under 20, another 32% enroll between 20 and 39 students. Regardless, Mudd prides itself on offering graduate-level research opportunities and experiential learning to all undergrads. Only six majors are offered: biology, chemistry, computer science, engineering, mathematics, and physics. All are incredibly strong. Students also have the option to combine certain disciplines into what amounts to a double major.

Professional Outcomes: Seventy-two percent of the Class of 2022 planned on entering a job right after receiving their bachelor’s degree. The highest number of recent Harvey Mudd graduates are scooped up by the following companies (in order of representation): Meta, Microsoft, and Caltech. Graduates average an impressive $117,500 starting salary, a phenomenal number even when accounting for the preponderance of STEM majors. Many Harvey Mudd grads—20% in 2022—go directly into graduate school programs.

Academic Highlights: There are 140 undergraduate majors and minors within the Dornsife College of Arts & Sciences alone, the university’s oldest and largest school. The Marshall School of Business, Viterbi School of Engineering, and programs in communication, the cinematic arts, and the performing arts are highly acclaimed. Popular areas of study are business (22%), social sciences (11%), visual and performing arts (11%), communications/journalism (9%), and engineering (8%). Most courses enroll 10-19 students, and USC does an excellent job facilitating undergraduate research opportunities.

Professional Outcomes: 96% of undergrads experience positive postgraduation outcomes within six months of earning their degree. The top five industries entered were finance, consulting, advertising, software development, and engineering; the median salary across all majors is an astounding $79k. Presently, between 300 and 1,500 alumni are employed at each of Google, Amazon, Apple, Microsoft, KPMG, Goldman Sachs, and Meta. Graduate/professional schools enrolling the greatest number of 2022 USC grads include NYU, Georgetown, Harvard, Stanford, Pepperdine, and UCLA.

Academic Highlights: More than 150 undergraduate majors and minors are available across six schools: the College of Letters and Science, the College of Chemistry, the College of Engineering, the College of Environmental Design, the College of Natural Resources, and the Haas School of Business. Many departments have top international reputations including computer science, engineering, chemistry, English, psychology, and economics. 22% of sections contain nine or fewer students, and over 55% of students assist faculty with a research project or complete a research methods course.

Professional Outcomes: Upon graduating, 49% of Cal’s Class of 2022 had already secured employment, and 20% were headed to graduate school. Business is the most popular sector, attracting 62% of employed grads; next up are industrial (17%), education (8%), and nonprofit work (7%). The median starting salary was $86,459 across all majors. Thousands of alumni can be found in the offices of Google, Apple, and Meta, and 500+ Golden Bears are currently employed by Oracle, Amazon, and Microsoft. The school is the number one all-time producer of Peace Corps volunteers.

Academic Highlights: There are 90 undergraduate majors across three schools: the College of Letters and Science, the College of Engineering, and the College of Creative Studies. The social sciences are the most popular area of study, accounting for 27% of the total degrees conferred. Biology (10%), math (9%), and psychology (9%) are next in popularity. The school has highly regarded programs in communication, computer science, engineering, physics, environmental science, and the performing arts. More than half of sections contain fewer than 20 students, and 72% enroll 29 or fewer.

Professional Outcomes: Within six months of earning their diplomas, 84% of grads had found employment. The most popular industries were science/research (16%), engineering/computer programming (14%), business (13%), finance/accounting (11%), and sales (10%). Top employers of recent grads include Google, EY, KPMG, Oracle, Amazon, IBM, and Adobe. Many alumni also can be found at Apple, Meta, Microsoft, and Salesforce. Two years after graduating, UCSB alumni make an average salary of $55k; more than half make $100k by mid-career.

Academic Highlights: There are 140+ undergraduate majors offered at UCSD, and all students join one of eight undergraduate colleges meant to forge flourishing communities within the larger university. Biology has the highest representation of all majors (19%) followed by engineering (12%), the social sciences (11%), and computer science (9%). UCSD’s computer science and engineering programs have stellar reputations in the corporate and tech communities, and programs in biology, economics, and political science are among the best anywhere.

Professional Outcomes: Employers of recent graduates included the Walt Disney Company, Tesla, NBC Universal, PwC, Northrop Grumman, and EY. More than 1,000 current Google employees are UC San Diego alumni, and Qualcomm, Amazon, and Apple all employ 500+ each. The median early career salary is $65,000 across all majors, placing the university in the top 10 public universities in the country. UCSD also fares well in measures of its return-on-investment potential.

Academic Highlights: Students can pursue 50 degrees offered by three undergraduate colleges: the College of Arts & Sciences, the highly respected School of Engineering, and the Leavey School of Business, which offers top-rated management information systems, accounting, and entrepreneurship degree programs. 44% of course sections contain fewer than 20 students, and undergraduate research is built into many academic programs. The most commonly conferred degrees are in business (31%), engineering (15%), and the social sciences (13%).

Professional Outcomes: Within six months of receiving their degrees, 91% of Broncos have landed jobs, started graduate school, or committed to a full-time service program. Of those employed, the most commonly entered industries are business development, engineering, education, entrepreneurship, and sales. The companies presently employing the greatest number of alumni are all tech giants including Cisco, Apple, Google, Oracle, Meta, and Adobe. The median starting salary is $67,000 with engineering majors enjoying the highest compensation ($83k).

Academic Highlights: Pitzer still manages to offer 40+ majors and 20 minors and, as a bonus, students are free to take more than 2,000 courses across the consortium. The most popular majors at Pitzer are interdisciplinary studies (18%), the social sciences (18%), and psychology (8%). Nearly all programs are top-notch, but majors within the social and behavioral sciences (e.g., psychology and sociology) typically draw the most praise. A 10:1 student-to-faculty ratio and no graduate student presence lead to an average class size of 16 students.

Professional Outcomes: Upon receiving their degrees, 59% of 2022 graduates had already found full-time employers, 16% were headed to graduate school, and 9% were entering fellowship, internship, or service programs. Among those employed, the most popular industries were tech/sustainability (25%), finance/business (17%), entertainment/arts (16%), health, medicine, and research (15%), and education (12%). Employers employing more than ten alumni include Google, Kaiser Permanente, the Los Angeles Unified School District, and Accenture.

Academic Highlights: 45 majors, minors, and programs are on tap, but all students must first make their way through the Oxy Core Program. 95% of classes enroll fewer than thirty, and the average class size is 16. The most popular degree programs, all of which carry strong reputations with employers and graduate schools, are economics, biology, sociology, psychology, diplomacy and world affairs, mathematics, and urban and environmental policy. Over 30% of all degrees conferred are in the social sciences, 11% are in biology, and 10% are in the visual and performing arts.

Professional Outcomes: One year after graduation, 95% of Occidental alumni are employed, pursuing graduate studies, or engaged in both simultaneously. The largest numbers of grads enter community service/education (25%), STEM (23%), and business (20%). Among the largest employers are the Los Angeles Unified School District, Kaiser Permanente, Microsoft, NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Google, Morgan Stanley, and Amazon. Starting salaries for recent grads were $52k. Close to 75% of Oxy alumni eventually earn one or more advanced degrees.

Academic Highlights: UCI offers eighty undergrad programs as well as many opportunities for personal connection; 56% of all sections enroll 19 or fewer students and over 60% of students conduct a research project. The most commonly conferred degrees are the social sciences (16%), business (12%), psychology (11%), and biology (9%). The Samueli School of Engineering has a solid reputation as does the Bren School, the only independent computer science school in the UC system. Programs in public health and biological sciences earn very high marks.

Professional Outcomes: Accounting, aerospace, internet and software, K-12 education, real estate, and retail are among the industries attracting the greatest number of Anteaters. Companies employing large numbers of recent grads include Boeing, the Walt Disney Company, Google, EY, and Microsoft. Hundreds of alumni are also found at Kaiser Permanente, Meta, Apple, Edwards Lifesciences, and Deloitte. The median salary is $69,000, with CS grads earning close to $120k right off the bat. UCI has a very strong reputation for premed.

Academic Highlights: Across all divisions, there are 60+ majors and 80+ minors offered. The majority of courses–59%–fall between twenty and forty students. Cal Poly’s student-to-faculty ratio is a high 18:1, but such is the cost of an uber-affordable STEM degree from an excellent institution. Over one-quarter of all degrees conferred (22%) are in engineering, and Cal Poly gets recognition in many specialty areas of the field including industrial engineering, mechanical engineering, aerospace engineering, computer engineering, and civil engineering.

Professional Outcomes: Within nine months of graduating, 91% of graduates are “positively engaged” in their next life activity. Top employers of Cal Poly grads include many of the top tech, consulting, engineering, and financial firms in the country such as Google, Deloitte, KPMG, Microsoft, Northrop Grumman, Adobe, EY, and Apple. Overall, grads enjoy a terrific median starting salary of $72,000. Of the 14% of alumni who directly enter graduate school, the six most commonly attended schools are all in California.

Academic Highlights: UC Davis offers 100+ undergraduate majors across four schools: the College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences, the College of Biological Sciences, the College of Engineering, and the College of Letters and Science. 50% engage in some type of research/creative project outside the classroom. The areas of study with the largest number of degrees awarded were biology, the social sciences, psychology, and engineering. Programs in engineering, computer science, and animal science are nationally renowned.

Professional Outcomes: Many recent grads found homes at Silicon Valley or other California-based employers. Corporations employing 200 or more Aggies include Genentech, Google, Apple, Cisco, Meta, Oracle, Amazon, Microsoft, Salesforce, and LinkedIn. Ten years out of school, median earnings rise to $112k. Within one year of graduating, 39% of Aggies elect to continue their education; the most popular degrees pursued are master’s, MDs or other health doctorates, law, and MBA/MPA.

Academic Highlights: Pepperdine offers 46 majors and 47 minors with the most commonly conferred degrees being in business/marketing (29%), communication/journalism (17%), general social sciences (11%), psychology (8%), and parks and recreation (7%). Only 2% pursue degrees in religion, but its influence is interwoven into the academic experience. The Graziadio Business School has a strong reputation, as does the Communication Division. The average class contains 19 students, and 23% of courses contain fewer than 10.

Professional Outcomes: 86% of the Class of 2022 landed at their next destination within six months, with 63% employed full-time, 18% admitted to graduate school, and 1% in a full-time service or military role. Of those employed, 87% were in the for-profit sector, 12% were with nonprofit/government entities, and 1% were pursuing entrepreneurial ventures. Disney, Morgan Stanley, Northrop Grumman, and Wells Fargo have hired the most recent grads. Other companies employing fifty or more alumni include Kaiser Permanente, Apple, Google, and Amazon.

Academic Highlights: All students pursue a BA in liberal arts and also choose a concentration in Environmental Studies, Humanities, International Studies, Life Sciences, or Social and Behavioral Sciences. This unfolds in an environment where 98% of classes are smaller than 20 students and the student-to-faculty ratio is 7:1. It’s extremely uncommon to find a school where 100% of degrees conferred are in the same exact area, but such is the case at Soka.

Professional Outcomes: Given the small size of this college, you won’t find large clusters of alumni at any single company or organization. However, there are more than a few presently working at Deloitte, the World Bank, Goldman Sachs, BLK Capital Management Group, TikTok, Seed Consulting Group, and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Japan. Geographically, remaining in California after graduation is a common choice, but some head to New York City, Tokyo, or Washington, DC as well.

Academic Highlights: Undergraduates can choose from a variety of majors and minors across four schools: the College of Arts and Sciences, the Knauss School of Business, the School of Leadership and Education Sciences, and the Shiley-Marcos School of Engineering. Business and accounting receive the most acclaim at USD; 38% of degrees conferred fall under the business umbrella. The next most popular fields are biology (13%), social sciences (10%), engineering (10%), and psychology (8%). 99% of courses at USD contain 39 or fewer students, and 43% enroll fewer than 20 students.

Professional Outcomes: Six months after being handed their diplomas, 90% of recent USD graduates had found their next destination. 65% were employed at a diverse range of employers such as PwC, The Walt Disney Company, the San Diego Padres, NBC Universal, and Tesla. Nearly 25% entered the world of sales, marketing, finance, or accounting. The median starting salary was a healthy $65k. Of the 23% of recent grads who immediately pursued an advanced degree, 36% were studying business, 16% were in engineering programs, and another 17% were in health programs.

Academic Highlights: Chapman offers 50 majors in STEM, humanities, communication, the arts, and business. Overall, 46% of classes enroll fewer than 20 students and the student-to-faculty ratio is 13:1. One-third of all degrees earned are in the area of business; the next most pursued are the visual and performing arts (21%), journalism (9%), and psychology (6%). In addition to the famed film program, the school gets acclaim for its innovation and the quality of undergraduate teaching.

Professional Outcomes: The Walt Disney Company, Amazon, Deloitte, Apple, Microsoft, Netflix, Google, and NBCUniversal are the most common employers of Chapman graduates. Students in the Argyros College of Business and Economics earned an average starting salary of $77,164 in 2023. 62% of that cohort had already secured employment by graduation day. Most graduates remain in the state of California, with Los Angeles, San Francisco, San Diego, and Irvine attracting particularly high numbers of alumni.

Academic Highlights: SDSU has nearly 160 undergraduate majors, minors, and pre-professional programs. Classes tend to be on the large side—28% of course sections enroll more than 40 students, and only 31% of sections contain fewer than 20 students. Business/marketing accounts for 21% of the degrees conferred, making it the school’s most popular area of study. Next in line are engineering (9%), psychology (8%), and the social sciences (7%). Engineering and computer science majors tend to fare quite well in the booming local tech and startup scene.

Professional Outcomes: At the time of receiving their degrees, roughly 75% of newly minted SDSU graduates already have their next phase of life planned. 34% of recent grads had secured full-time employment, 21% were engaged in military service/volunteer work/part-time employment, and 17% were entering graduate or professional school. Qualcomm is the largest employer of Aztec alumni, and it is followed by Apple, Amazon, Google, and a number of other Silicon Valley-based tech companies.

Academic Highlights: 73 undergraduate majors are available at UCSC within the following academic divisions: arts, humanities, physical and biological sciences, social sciences, and the Jack Baskin School of Engineering. 75% of undergraduates conduct research during their four years. Biology is the university’s most popular major; 15% of all degrees conferred in 2022 were in this discipline. 14% of degrees were granted in the social sciences, 13% in computer and information sciences, and 12% in psychology. CS is one of UCSC’s most respected programs.

Professional Outcomes: Within three months of earning their degree, 29% of UCSC grads had found employment and 17% started graduate programs. Proximity to Silicon Valley helps open doors to companies like Google, Apple, Meta, Genentech, and Cisco, which all employ over 250 alumni. More than 100 alums can also be found in the offices of Amazon, Salesforce, Microsoft, Adobe, and LinkedIn. Among graduates from the last five years, over half make more than $40k.

Academic Highlights: UC Riverside offers 80+ majors across five colleges: the Bourns College of Engineering; the College of Humanities, Arts, and Sciences; the College of Natural and Agricultural Sciences; the School of Business; and the School of Public Policy. Popularity-wise, the greatest number of degrees are conferred in the social sciences (20%), biology (18%), business (14%), psychology (10%), and engineering (7%). 22% of sections enroll fewer than 20 undergrads, and faculty-mentored research opportunities are available for everyone.

Professional Outcomes: Within one year of graduation, 54% of 2022 grads were employed and 15% were pursuing an advanced degree. The most commonly entered industries were education, business, tech, social services, the sciences, and government; the median starting salary was $61k. More than 100 alumni work for major corporations like Kaiser Permanente, Amazon, Wells Fargo, Apple, Microsoft, Meta, and EY. For those who go on to advanced degree programs, the most common disciplines pursued are education, physical/natural sciences, engineering/computer science, health professions, and arts/humanities.

Academic Highlights: Over 50 majors and concentrations are offered at Whittier, and students in the Whittier Scholars Program can create their own curriculum. By degrees conferred, the most popular areas of study are the social sciences (17%), kinesiology (14%), business/marketing (14%), biological sciences (11%), and visual and performing arts (9%). With the student-to-faculty ratio of 10:1, the average class size is 11 students, and 66% of classes have fewer than 20 students.

Professional Outcomes: 92% of a recent graduating class experienced positive outcomes, and were employed, continuing their education, or volunteering on a full-time basis. Of students who have graduated in the past five years, the most popular employment sectors are education, community & social services, operations, administrative, and healthcare services. Top employers include Whittier College itself, the Boys & Girls Club of Whittier, UPS, Grann Pharmaceuticals, and USC.

Academic Highlights: USF offers more than 80 undergraduate programs in the arts and sciences, management, and nursing and health professions. The most degrees are conferred in business/management/marketing (29%), health professions (15%), social sciences (11%), psychology (9%), and biological sciences (7%). With a student-to-faculty ratio of 13:1, 43% of classes enroll fewer than 20 students. Service learning is a major part of the school’s identity and missions; all students must complete at least one community-engaged learning (CEL) course.

Professional Outcomes: 91% of the Class of 2022 had positive outcomes, with 81% employed and 10% continuing their education. In addition, 77% of students had at least 2 internships before they graduated. The median salary was $70k with the highest-paying majors being nursing, computer science, international business, accounting, and finance. Across all graduating years, the most alumni work in the business development, healthcare services, and education sectors with top employers including USF, Kaiser Permanente, Stanford Health Care, Google, Apple, Genentech, Salesforce, and Amazon.

Academic Highlights: With over 150 undergraduate majors, San Jose State offers a wide variety of programs across eight colleges, including the highly ranked Charles W. Davidson College of Engineering. In particular, its programs in computer science, electrical engineering, and mechanical engineering are very strong. Popularity-wise, the most degrees are conferred in business/management/marketing (24%), engineering (12%), psychology (8%), communication/journalism (7%), social sciences (7%), visual/performing arts (7%), and health professions (7%).

Professional Outcomes: 90% of the Class of 2022 experienced positive outcomes, with 85% employed and 5% continuing their education. For those employed, the average starting salary was $77k. SJSU alumni go on to Silicon Valley tech firms in large numbers, including Amazon, Apple, Google, Meta, and Cisco. Other popular employers include San Jose State itself, Deloitte, the City of San Jose, and Stanford. Those continuing their education most often did so in education, law, social work, or health professions; the vast majority elected to stay at San Jose State.