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AdmissionsOS

Best Colleges in California

The strongest colleges and universities in California, ranked by graduation rate and selectivity, with verified acceptance rates, net price, and test scores for this admissions cycle.

How this list is ranked

The strongest colleges and universities in California, ranked by graduation rate and selectivity, with verified acceptance rates, net price, and test scores for this admissions cycle.

Schools on this list 40
Source Federal data, same records as every school page

Admit rate, net price, and SAT in the table are for context. Rank order follows the method above, not those columns.

Rank School Admit Net price SAT
1 Stanford University Stanford, CA 3.6% $13,807 1510-1580 See record
2 University of Southern California Los Angeles, CA 9.8% $32,740 1450-1550 See record
3 Gnomon North Hollywood, CA 42% $51,949 - See record
4 California Jazz Conservatory Berkeley, CA 67% - - See record
5 California Northstate University Elk Grove, CA 92% - - See record
6 California Career College Canoga Park, CA - $46,880 - See record
7 Grace Mission University Fullerton, CA - - - See record
8 Lincoln University Oakland, CA - - - See record
9 Los Angeles Academy of Figurative Art Van Nuys, CA - - - See record
10 Pacific States University Los Angeles, CA - - - See record
11 Shasta Bible College and Graduate School Redding, CA 100% $30,437 - See record
12 World Mission University Los Angeles, CA - $15,785 - See record
13 InterCoast Colleges-West Covina West Covina, CA - $27,536 - See record
14 California Institute of Technology Pasadena, CA 2.6% $16,075 - See record
15 Pomona College Claremont, CA 7.1% $19,285 1490-1560 See record
16 Homestead Schools Torrance, CA - $15,962 - See record
17 University of California-Berkeley Berkeley, CA 11.0% $13,481 - See record
18 University of California-Los Angeles Los Angeles, CA 9.0% $12,548 - See record
19 Angeles College Los Angeles, CA - $28,639 - See record
20 Harvey Mudd College Claremont, CA 12.7% $35,924 1500-1570 See record
21 Soka University of America Aliso Viejo, CA 43% $18,260 1333-1510 See record
22 Claremont McKenna College Claremont, CA 9.6% $28,849 1470-1560 See record
23 Career Networks Institute Santa Ana, CA - $49,677 - See record
24 Santa Clara University Santa Clara, CA 48% $50,062 1350-1490 See record
25 University of California-Irvine Irvine, CA 29% $14,251 - See record
26 California Polytechnic State University-San Luis Obispo San Luis Obispo, CA 31% $16,665 - See record
27 University of California-San Diego La Jolla, CA 27% $12,470 - See record
28 University of California-Davis Davis, CA 42% $14,741 - See record
29 SUM Bible College and Theological Seminary El Dorado Hills, CA 41% $21,680 - See record
30 Thomas Aquinas College Santa Paula, CA 83% $26,196 1220-1400 See record
31 University of San Diego San Diego, CA 52% $30,365 - See record
32 Pitzer College Claremont, CA 25% $34,191 - See record
33 Pepperdine University Malibu, CA 63% $58,098 1290-1450 See record
34 University of California-Santa Barbara Santa Barbara, CA 33% $16,109 - See record
35 Scripps College Claremont, CA 38% $36,294 1440-1540 See record
36 CBD College Los Angeles, CA - $23,033 - See record
37 Chapman University Orange, CA 65% $46,555 1260-1440 See record
38 Occidental College Los Angeles, CA 44% $38,263 1380-1520 See record
39 Design Institute of San Diego San Diego, CA 100% $44,010 - See record
40 Art Center College of Design Pasadena, CA 75% $48,661 - See record