Find the best online colleges in California ranked by the academic success of faculty and alumni associated with the colleges and universities and their online degree programs.
California’s higher education institutes span across the entire state, allowing students to study by the beach, in the forest, in small towns, and in large cities. There are over 30 high quality online degrees programs that would literally allow you to study from anywhere in California, or the world. The largest university, the University of California, Los Angeles, serves nearly 44,000 students and offers a tuition rate around $13,000. This isn’t the only school with a large student body though. California is home to 23 colleges and universities with student populations of over 20,000 students.
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However, more than half of the state’s schools serve smaller student populations, offering plenty of options for students who crave a more intimate campus experience. Additionally, California boasts 50 religiously affiliated schools. Many of these schools have high graduation rates, though tuition costs can range greatly, from $8,000 at Bethesda University up to $54,000 at Pepperdine University.
Additionally, many of California’s colleges and universities boast influential faculty and alumni, including Neil Armstrong, Jerry Lewis, and Weird Al
Yankovic. In addition to famous alumni and professors, California’s schools are also home to some of the country’s top degree programs, including nursing, business, religious studies, education, literature, and law.
Though Hollywood has given an inside look into California’s most popular landmarks and attractions, these one-of-a-kind places aren’t the only reason people flock to The Golden State. With hundreds of colleges and universities to choose from, students have countless opportunities to further their education in California.
To learn more about earning your degree in California, check out some of the state’s top programs and career paths.
Online education has grown dramatically in quality, credibility, and popularity over the last two decades. Today, more than a quarter of all college students are taking at least one online course. According to the National Center for Education Statistics, there are more than 5 million college students who are pursuing their undergraduate degree fully online. And the number of online college and graduate students continues to grow as online technology and instructional methods improve.
In the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, access to remote learning has proven an essential part of the educational ecosystem. Schools that offer primarily online degree programs saw an increase of 7% enrollment just between Fall 2020 and Spring 2021. The number of traditional institutions offering online courses and degrees is growing as well. This all paints a promising picture for the future of online education. But it also produces a dizzying array of options.
Asynchronous learning means classes don’t meet at set times. This is the most flexible online learning experience, making when you cover your course material up to you. Most asynchronous online courses will still have deadlines throughout the semester for various assignments and tests. Some asynchronous classes may still ask for an occasional meeting, such as initial meet-and-greets, and in some cases there may be scheduled test times. The idea of asynchronous learning is to allow the student to manage their schedules as needed.
Synchronous learning means you will have scheduled meeting times for your online classes. Synchronous learning gives online students the flexiblity of location while also giving students a chance to engage with each other and their professors. For many online students, the structured class schedules and ability to see and hear from peers in real-time helps create the learning experience they want.
Back to TopAccreditation is especially important when it comes to online college. This is because the online education landscape is a mix of highly-reputable institutions and less-than-reputable for-profit schools. Accreditation gives you the power to differentiate between the two. Accreditation is a stamp of approval from an independent accrediting agency which indicates that a college or university is meeting standards of quality, credibility, and currency. School-wide accreditation falls into two major categories: regional and national accreditation. Regional accreditors generally hold jurisdiction only over schools in the states comprising their region, whereas national accreditors hold jurisdiction over schools in all states. Regional accreditation is widely regarded as a more rigorous standard of quality and credibility than national accreditation.
Attending a college or university which is not regionally accredited could limit your opportunities. When seeking an online education, we strongly recommend that students opt for regionally accredited schools. Regional accreditation ensures eligibility for federal loans and grants, ensures your college credits can be transferred between schools, and ensures that your degree credits can be accepted if you wish to earn an advanced degree.
Back to TopAs long as your online college degree is regionally accredited, you should have little difficulty transferring most of your credits or credentials to another regionally accredited undergraduate school. Every school carries its own standards and procedures for granting a transfer. In many cases, you will be required to navigate a bureaucracy in which some of your credits will be transferred and others will be jettisoned. However, provided that you have attended an online school with the proper regional accreditation, you should have plenty of options for transfer.
Back to TopIn most cases, as long you graduate from a well-regarded, regionally-accredited online college, prospective employers won’t look sideways at your degree. In fact, unless you attend an exclusively online college or university, there will likely be no specific indicator on your degree, transcript or resume differentiating your school from its brick-and-mortar counterpart. This means that your employer will likely only differentiate between an online and in-person degree if you mention this distinction.
While some employers may express concern about making the adjustment from online education to in-person workplace collaboration, many other employers will view your online degree as evidence of valuable 21st Century professional skills such as independence, self-motivation, time management, and tech savvy.
Back to TopThe advantages of online classes are many. First and foremost, online courses give you the freedom and flexibility to attend class from anywhere that works for you, whether you’re at home, in a coffee shop, or in a quiet conference room at work. In many cases, you’ll also enjoy the convenience of asynchronous learning opportunities—educational experiences that you can complete on your own schedule. This may include pre-taped lectures, ongoing chat-board discussions, and 24/7 access to digital materials. And of course, just as there are some learners who prefer the energy of a live classroom, there are those who learn best when working in their own personal space, free from distractions. If this sounds like you, you might find the solitude of online learning to be a major advantage.
Back to TopPursuing your degree online doesn’t mean you need to settle for an inferior school. Today, most universities and colleges offer online degrees, and many respected schools are seeing significant growth in their numbers of online students.
The people affiliated with a school are ultimately what make it great. This is why influence — i.e., the academic impact of faculty and alumni associated with a school — gets at the heart of what is truly best in education. The combined influence score of a college or university’s top academic influencers is the best indicator of academic excellence. For our online degree rankings, we focus on the academic influence of faculty and alumni in the specific disciplines we’re ranking.
If you are serious about finding the best online colleges, you should be asking where the most influential professors are teaching, and whether their graduates themselves are advancing the school’s reputation for academic excellence. Most ranking sites rely on an opaque combination of reputation surveys and arbitrary performance metrics. Influence, as measured by our InfluenceRanking engine, provides a ranking that is free from bias, insulated from manipulation, and reflective of real-world educational outcomes.
Tuition + fees
$8K
Acceptance
37%
Graduation
76%
Student body
34K
Median SAT/ACT
1215/25
Tuition + fees
$7K
Acceptance
66%
Graduation
55%
Student body
33K
Median SAT/ACT
1020/19
Tuition + fees
$60K
Acceptance
42%
Graduation
89%
Student body
9K
Median SAT/ACT
1340/29
Tuition + fees
$7K
Acceptance
68%
Graduation
69%
Student body
34K
Median SAT/ACT
1115/21
Tuition + fees
$8K
Acceptance
90%
Graduation
65%
Student body
16K
Median SAT/ACT
1090/21
Tuition + fees
$7K
Acceptance
83%
Graduation
54%
Student body
28K
Median SAT/ACT
1040/19
Tuition + fees
$7K
Acceptance
90%
Graduation
58%
Student body
21K
Median SAT/ACT
1035/19
Tuition + fees
$44K
Acceptance
64%
Graduation
71%
Student body
5K
Median SAT/ACT
1195/24
Tuition + fees
$13K
Student body
1K
Tuition + fees
$36K
Student body
3K
Tuition + fees
$7K
Acceptance
73%
Graduation
47%
Student body
14K
Tuition + fees
$8K
Acceptance
85%
Graduation
49%
Student body
7K
Median SAT/ACT
1085/21
Tuition + fees
$13K
Acceptance
87%
Graduation
47%
Student body
23K
Tuition + fees
$42K
Acceptance
94%
Graduation
66%
Student body
9K
Median SAT/ACT
1145/23
Tuition + fees
$7K
Acceptance
81%
Graduation
48%
Student body
15K
Tuition + fees
$37K
Acceptance
80%
Graduation
62%
Student body
11K
Median SAT/ACT
1100/21
Tuition + fees
$7K
Acceptance
78%
Graduation
59%
Student body
18K
Median SAT/ACT
1000/17
Tuition + fees
$38K
Acceptance
50%
Graduation
63%
Student body
2K
Median SAT/ACT
1065/21
Tuition + fees
$8K
Acceptance
89%
Graduation
57%
Student body
10K
Tuition + fees
$45K
Acceptance
89%
Graduation
59%
Student body
2K
Median SAT/ACT
1045/19
Tuition + fees
$34K
Acceptance
50%
Graduation
55%
Student body
<1K
Median SAT/ACT
1050/20
Tuition + fees
$41K
Acceptance
89%
Graduation
39%
Student body
<1K
Median SAT/ACT
800/19
Tuition + fees
$18K
Acceptance
92%
Graduation
49%
Student body
<1K
Median SAT/ACT
1001/17
Tuition + fees
$33K
Acceptance
67%
Graduation
67%
Student body
4K
Median SAT/ACT
1040/20
Tuition + fees
$7K
Acceptance
86%
Graduation
60%
Student body
7K
Median SAT/ACT
1062/20
Tuition + fees
$26K
Graduation
58%
Student body
1K
Tuition + fees
$36K
Acceptance
60%
Graduation
43%
Student body
<1K
Median SAT/ACT
1035/20
Tuition + fees
$37K
Acceptance
65%
Graduation
53%
Student body
2K
Median SAT/ACT
1080/21
Tuition + fees
$12K
Acceptance
95%
Graduation
8%
Student body
8K
Tuition + fees
$39K
Acceptance
78%
Graduation
59%
Student body
4K
Median SAT/ACT
1100/21
Tuition + fees
$29K
Acceptance
60%
Graduation
64%
Student body
2K
Tuition + fees
$35K
Acceptance
38%
Graduation
49%
Student body
1K
Median SAT/ACT
990/19
Tuition + fees
$7K
Graduation
24%
Student body
<1K
Tuition + fees
$13K
Acceptance
100%
Graduation
75%
Student body
<1K