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Best Value Information Technology Master's Degree Schools in California

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2023 Best Value Information Technology Master's Degree Schools in California

Identifying Quality Schools at More Affordable Prices

8 Colleges
$20,702 Avg Tuition & Fees*
$77,189 Avg Salary

Finding the Best Information Technology Master's Degree School for You

Out of the majors we analyze each year, information technology was ranked 3rd in California. In fact, 1,160 were awarded in the state in 2020-2021.

When it comes to higher education, there are a lot of options for computer science students. With more and more schools offering online options, you could even register for a great program on the other side of the country. On top of that, there are a considerable number of trade schools that offer fast-track entry to many fields.

To help you arm yourself with the information you need to make your decision, Computer Science Degree Search has developed this Best Value Information Technology Master's Degree Schools in California ranking. Our analysis looked at 8 schools in California to see which master's degree programs offered the best value experiences for IT students with the aim of identifying those quality schools that are more affordable than some of their counterparts.

This ranking is not just a list of inexpensive schools. We also consider each school's quality, since we believe a low-quality school may not be a 'bargain' at any price. More specifically, we discount our quality score by the published tuition and fees charged by a school. This gives the cost per unit of quality for each college. The value is determined by how much quality your dollar buys.

For nationwide and regional rankings, we use out-of-state tuition and fees in our calculations. Average in-state tuition and fees are used for our statewide rankings.

2023 Best Value Information Technology Master’s Degree Schools in California

The colleges and universities below are the best value schools for IT majors pursuing a master's degree.

Best California Schools for Affordable Quality for a Master's in Information Technology

Our 2023 rankings named University of California - San Diego the best value school in California for information technology students working on their master’s degree. UCSD is a very large public school located in the city of La Jolla.

In-state tuition fees for graduate students at UCSD are $13,564 per year.

UCSD not only placed well in our value ranking, but it is also #3 on our Best Information Technology Master’s Degree Schools in California list.

Full Information Technology at University of California - San Diego Report

#2

San Diego State University

San Diego, CA

You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around you if you attend San Diego State University. The school came in at #2 on this year’s Best Value Information Technology Master’s Degree Schools in California list. SDSU is a fairly large public school located in the city of San Diego.

In-state tuition fees for graduate students at SDSU are $9,570 per year.

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Out of the 8 schools in California that were part of this year’s ranking, California State University - San Marcos landed the # 3 spot on the list. CSUSM is a fairly large public school located in the suburb of San Marcos.

CSUSM graduate students pay an average of $9,161 in in-state tuition and fees each year.

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You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend California Baptist University. It ranked #4 on our 2023 Best Value Information Technology Master’s Degree Schools in California list. Located in the large city of Riverside, Cal Baptist is a private not-for-profit school with a fairly large student population.

The average tuition and fees for an in-state graduate student at Cal Baptist are $14,320 a year.

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You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around you if you attend California State University - Dominguez Hills. The school came in at #5 on this year’s Best Value Information Technology Master’s Degree Schools in California list. Located in the small city of Carson, CSUDH is a public school with a fairly large student population.

CSUDH graduate students pay an average of $8,494 in in-state tuition and fees each year.

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#6

National University

La Jolla, CA

National University landed the #6 spot in the 2023 rankings for the best value master’s degree information technology programs. National University is a fairly large private not-for-profit school located in the city of La Jolla.

In-state tuition fees for graduate students at National University are $15,480 per year.

Full Information Technology at National University Report

#7

University of San Diego

San Diego, CA

University of San Diego landed the #7 spot in the 2023 rankings for the best value master’s degree information technology programs. Located in the city of San Diego, USD is a private not-for-profit college with a medium-sized student population.

USD graduate students pay an average of $28,410 in in-state tuition and fees each year.

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University of Southern California ranked #8 on this year’s Best Value Information Technology Master’s Degree Schools in California list. USC is a fairly large private not-for-profit school located in the city of Los Angeles.

USC graduate students pay an average of $61,396 in in-state tuition and fees each year.

USC not only placed well in our value ranking, but it is also #5 on our Best Information Technology Master’s Degree Schools in California list.

Read full report on Information Technology at University of Southern California

Best Value Information Technology Colleges in the Far Western US Region

Explore all the Best Value Information Technology Colleges in the Far Western US Area or other specific states within that region.

State Degrees Awarded
Washington 815
Oregon 140
Nevada 81
Hawaii 6
Alaska 16

One of 10 majors within the computer science area of study, information technology has other similar majors worth exploring.

IT Concentrations

Major Annual Graduates
Computer & IS Security 22,829
Network & System Administration/Administrator 5,501
Information Technology Management 4,009
Computer Support Specialist 3,176
System, Networking, & LAN/WAN Management/Manager 2,077
Information Technology Project Management 2,076
Web/Multimedia Management & Webmaster 887

Related Major Annual Graduates
Computer Information Systems 88,434
Computer Science 59,565
Information Science 18,325
Computer Systems Networking 14,700
Computer Software & Applications 14,336

Notes and References

*These averages are for the top 8 schools only.

  • The Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS) from the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES), a branch of the U.S. Department of Education (DOE) serves as the core of the rest of our data about colleges.
  • Some other college data, including much of the graduate earnings data, comes from the U.S. Department of Education’s (College Scorecard).
  • Credit for the banner image above goes to Craig Dennis.

More about our data sources and methodologies.

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