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California Colleges by the Numbers

102 four-year California colleges — click any for its profile: acceptance rates, SAT ranges, tuition for all 102, with California medians up top.

In California, 68 schools don't look at test scores at all, while 1 — Thomas Aquinas College — still requires them. California has 102 four-year colleges with full admissions profiles here — from California State University-Fullerton at 38,546 undergraduates down to campuses a fraction of that size. The most selective door in the state is Alliant International University-San Diego at 0% admitted; the most open is Arizona College of Nursing-Ontario at 100%.

Published in-state tuition runs from $7,159 at the cheapest campus to $72,097 at the most expensive — a $64,938 spread inside California alone. California's ten-year earnings benchmark of $64,778 sits 20% above the national median for college-goers.

Each California school links to its profile — admissions, cost, earnings. To see where you stand in California, bring your saved calculator numbers.

California medians

Acceptance rateTuition (in-state)Median earnings (10 yr)6-yr graduation
75.7%$23,000$64,77862.2%

Medians across 149 active bachelor's-degree institutions in California; the table below lists the 102 with complete admissions records.

All California colleges in our data

CollegeCityAcceptanceSAT middle 50%Tuition (in)UndergradsMedian earnings (10 yr)
Alliant International University-San DiegoSan Diego0%not considered$14,304391$66,666
American University of Health SciencesSignal Hill50%not considered$24,575351$93,610
Arizona College of Nursing-OntarioOntario100%not considered$31,637380$34,657
Art Center College of DesignPasadena74.5%not considered$54,1702,017$71,958
Azusa Pacific UniversityAzusa88.4%994–1314$44,4582,759$66,677
Biola UniversityLa Mirada74.4%1130–1360$48,9843,474$56,778
Cal Poly Maritime AcademyVallejo95%not considered$9,944804$94,784
California Baptist UniversityRiverside84.9%not considered$41,2288,179$61,504
California College of the ArtsSan Francisco91.1%not considered$60,226990$49,414
California Institute of TechnologyPasadena2.6%not considered$65,898987$128,566
California Institute of the ArtsValencia32.3%not considered$58,996860$41,198
California Lutheran UniversityThousand Oaks75.7%1134–1320$52,5602,296$68,712
California Polytechnic State University-San Luis ObispoSan Luis Obispo31.3%not considered$13,59621,996$90,768
California State Polytechnic University-HumboldtArcata98.2%not considered$8,2505,612$47,626
California State Polytechnic University-PomonaPomona75.2%not considered$7,78025,042$71,902
California State University-BakersfieldBakersfield93.8%not considered$8,0908,577$59,009
California State University-Channel IslandsCamarillo94.8%not considered$7,1595,013$62,152
California State University-ChicoChico92.7%not considered$8,47213,631$64,172
California State University-Dominguez HillsCarson93.3%not considered$7,44912,538$57,162
California State University-East BayHayward97.4%not considered$7,5839,809$71,401
California State University-FresnoFresno95.3%not considered$7,35021,605$61,244
California State University-FullertonFullerton90.5%not considered$7,47038,546$62,951
California State University-Long BeachLong Beach46.3%not considered$7,35035,924$64,403
California State University-Los AngelesLos Angeles91.3%not considered$7,16019,562$59,211
California State University-Monterey BaySeaside97.4%not considered$7,7796,819$59,247
California State University-NorthridgeNorthridge93.5%not considered$7,45832,691$59,115
California State University-SacramentoSacramento94%not considered$8,01828,350$64,876
California State University-San BernardinoSan Bernardino93.7%not considered$8,09315,023$59,977
California State University-San MarcosSan Marcos95.1%not considered$8,08214,877$62,908
California State University-StanislausTurlock98.1%not considered$8,2468,385$63,188
Chamberlain University-CaliforniaRancho Cordova80%$21,271751$92,405
Chapman UniversityOrange65.4%1250–1430$64,9847,478$70,070
Charles R Drew University of Medicine and ScienceLos Angeles38.7%not considered$23,000282$83,438
Claremont McKenna CollegeClaremont9.6%1450–1560$67,9801,388$104,736
Concordia University-IrvineIrvine66%not considered$43,4801,536$65,083
Design Institute of San DiegoSan Diego100%not considered$29,30077$46,920
DeVry University-CaliforniaOntario98.5%$17,4082,378$45,987
Dominican University of CaliforniaSan Rafael83.5%1070–1291$52,1611,114$84,713
Fresno Pacific UniversityFresno64.1%not considered$36,6601,544$58,896
GnomonNorth Hollywood41.8%not considered$37,635294$114,785
Harvey Mudd CollegeClaremont12.7%1480–1560$68,613921$138,687
Hope International UniversityFullerton33%$38,050564$49,697
John Paul the Great Catholic UniversityEscondido79.6%1090–1260$30,265286$56,930
La Sierra UniversityRiverside91.5%not considered$37,7101,116$61,824
Laguna College of Art and DesignLaguna Beach94.3%not considered$37,500746$47,867
Life Pacific UniversitySan Dimas95.8%not considered$22,118456$43,299
Los Angeles College of MusicPasadena87.7%not considered$30,540227$31,758
Loyola Marymount UniversityLos Angeles45.1%not considered$62,3577,094$78,349
Menlo CollegeAtherton68.5%not considered$53,630752$76,419
Mount Saint Mary's UniversityLos Angeles73.1%not considered$49,5641,719$72,379
Musicians InstituteHollywood78%not considered$34,322759$32,778
Newschool of Architecture and DesignSan Diego100%not considered$30,291182$68,891
Northeastern University OaklandOakland16.7%1390–1520$67,778464$92,538
Occidental CollegeLos Angeles44.2%1360–1500$66,2741,877$75,951
Otis College of Art and DesignLos Angeles81.8%$56,4881,223$58,152
Pacific Oaks CollegePasadena34.4%$32,520312$52,485
Pacific Union CollegeAngwin47.3%930–1190$37,173805$70,484
Pepperdine UniversityMalibu62.9%1250–1450$69,9183,553$82,939
Pitzer CollegeClaremont25.2%not considered$65,1921,227$69,512
Point Loma Nazarene UniversitySan Diego83.7%1140–1410$46,2503,188$63,998
Pomona CollegeClaremont7.1%1480–1560$65,4201,666$77,779
Providence Christian CollegePasadena100%not considered$36,963168$46,264
Saint Mary's College of CaliforniaMoraga86.5%not considered$57,8031,947$78,812
San Diego Christian CollegeSantee30.8%not considered$28,01287$49,766
San Diego State UniversitySan Diego36.2%not considered$8,72835,377$64,909
San Francisco State UniversitySan Francisco96.4%not considered$7,95018,639$68,077
San Jose State UniversitySan Jose84.6%not considered$8,41027,601$78,988
Santa Clara UniversitySanta Clara48%1340–1500$61,2936,552$109,183
Scripps CollegeClaremont38.3%1420–1530$65,9501,113$77,539
Shasta Bible College and Graduate SchoolRedding100%not considered$14,53521$28,891
Simpson UniversityRedding86%not considered$39,708809$54,340
Soka University of AmericaAliso Viejo43.4%1220–1460$38,728484$55,017
Sonoma State UniversityRohnert Park93.4%not considered$8,6245,166$65,986
Southern California Institute of ArchitectureLos Angeles76.6%$56,162236$71,909
Southern California Institute of TechnologyAnaheim74.2%not considered$20,515508$53,598
Stanford UniversityStanford3.6%1510–1580$65,9107,554$124,080
SUM Bible College and Theological SeminaryEl Dorado Hills40.7%not considered$10,460198$35,418
The Chicago School at Los AngelesLos Angeles46.3%$21,780337$56,899
The Master's University and SeminarySanta Clarita84%not considered$39,0201,622$57,106
Thomas Aquinas CollegeSanta Paula83.1%1160–1330$30,200566$55,619
University of California-BerkeleyBerkeley11%not considered$16,34733,068$92,446
University of California-DavisDavis41.8%not considered$16,77432,253$80,838
University of California-IrvineIrvine28.6%not considered$15,72230,197$80,735
University of California-Los AngelesLos Angeles9%not considered$15,20333,475$82,511
University of California-MercedMerced90.5%not considered$15,6238,372$64,368
University of California-RiversideRiverside76.4%not considered$15,60622,593$67,699
University of California-San DiegoLa Jolla26.7%not considered$16,75834,948$84,943
University of California-Santa BarbaraSanta Barbara33%not considered$16,41423,113$74,915
University of California-Santa CruzSanta Cruz65.8%not considered$16,00517,940$68,396
University of La VerneLa Verne71.2%970–1303$49,4703,050$65,464
University of RedlandsRedlands82.7%1078–1323$60,8782,049$72,690
University of San DiegoSan Diego52.4%not considered$59,4865,671$86,522
University of San FranciscoSan Francisco61.7%1210–1390$60,4925,287$89,812
University of Silicon ValleySan Jose51.2%not considered$22,480455$51,017
University of Southern CaliforniaLos Angeles9.8%1440–1550$72,09720,443$92,498
University of the PacificStockton71.3%1160–1420$57,0803,204$78,445
Vanguard University of Southern CaliforniaCosta Mesa62.4%not considered$41,7001,933$59,541
Westmont CollegeSanta Barbara77%1212–1418$53,5841,302$64,778
Whittier CollegeWhittier80.8%not considered$51,350764$59,492
William Jessup UniversityRocklin93.3%$37,1501,294$56,257
Woodbury UniversityBurbank81.7%$47,056779$65,668
Yeshiva Ohr Elchonon Chabad West Coast Talmudical SeminaryLos Angeles58.2%not considered$16,900163$48,361

Scores shown are among students who submitted them; "not considered" schools ignore tests entirely. Wondering where your own numbers fit? TheGPA calculator andSAT score calculator give you the other half of this table.

Data: U.S. Dept. of Education College Scorecard (Jun 2026), IPEDS ADM2023/HD2024. Retrieved 2026-09-01.