Colleges

Colleges in California

California has 81 four-year colleges with at least 500 undergraduates: 33 public and 48 private. The largest is California State University-Fullerton, with 38,546 undergraduates.

School	City	Type	Undergrads	Acceptance rate	SAT middle 50%	In-state tuition	Avg. net price	Grad rate
California State University-Fullerton	Fullerton	public	38,546	90.5%		$7,470	$6,555	70.2%
California State University-Long Beach	Long Beach	public	35,924	46.3%		$7,350	$10,440	68.9%
San Diego State University	San Diego	public	35,377	36.2%		$8,728	$15,364	76.4%
University of California-San Diego	La Jolla	public	34,948	26.7%		$16,758	$12,470	86.1%
University of California-Los Angeles	Los Angeles	public	33,475	9%		$15,203	$12,548	92.6%
University of California-Berkeley	Berkeley	public	33,068	11%		$16,347	$13,481	92.8%
California State University-Northridge	Northridge	public	32,691	93.5%		$7,458	$7,021	57%
University of California-Davis	Davis	public	32,253	41.8%		$16,774	$14,741	85.7%
University of California-Irvine	Irvine	public	30,197	28.6%		$15,722	$14,251	86.9%
California State University-Sacramento	Sacramento	public	28,350	94%		$8,018	$9,338	56.3%
San Jose State University	San Jose	public	27,601	84.6%		$8,410	$13,760	69.2%
California State Polytechnic University-Pomona	Pomona	public	25,042	75.2%		$7,780	$11,531	68.4%
University of California-Santa Barbara	Santa Barbara	public	23,113	33%		$16,414	$16,109	83%
University of California-Riverside	Riverside	public	22,593	76.4%		$15,606	$14,304	76%
California Polytechnic State University-San Luis Obispo	San Luis Obispo	public	21,996	31.3%		$13,596	$16,665	86.4%
California State University-Fresno	Fresno	public	21,605	95.3%		$7,350	$7,000	57%
University of Southern California	Los Angeles	private	20,443	9.8%	1450–1550	$72,097	$32,740	91.8%
California State University-Los Angeles	Los Angeles	public	19,562	91.3%		$7,160	$3,967	53%
San Francisco State University	San Francisco	public	18,639	96.4%		$7,950	$12,278	50.4%
University of California-Santa Cruz	Santa Cruz	public	17,940	65.8%		$16,005	$17,890	75.1%
California State University-San Bernardino	San Bernardino	public	15,023	93.7%		$8,093	$4,564	54.9%
California State University-San Marcos	San Marcos	public	14,877	95.1%		$8,082	$10,229	54.6%
California State University-Chico	Chico	public	13,631	92.7%		$8,472	$14,480	62.8%
California State University-Dominguez Hills	Carson	public	12,538	93.3%		$7,449	$8,615	42.8%
National University	San Diego	private	10,794			$13,284	$22,878	42.9%
California State University-East Bay	Hayward	public	9,809	97.4%		$7,583	$9,320	48%
California State University-Bakersfield	Bakersfield	public	8,577	93.9%		$8,090	$5,652	49.8%
California State University-Stanislaus	Turlock	public	8,385	98.1%		$8,246	$6,067	53.5%
University of California-Merced	Merced	public	8,372	90.5%		$15,623	$11,983	68.7%
California Baptist University	Riverside	private	8,179	84.9%		$41,228	$26,285	61.9%
Stanford University	Stanford	private	7,554	3.6%	1510–1580	$65,910	$13,807	91.9%
Chapman University	Orange	private	7,478	65.4%	1260–1440	$64,984	$46,555	81.9%
Loyola Marymount University	Los Angeles	private	7,094	45.1%	1260–1430	$62,357	$48,381	78.9%
California State University-Monterey Bay	Seaside	public	6,819	97.4%		$7,779	$13,663	59.1%
Santa Clara University	Santa Clara	private	6,552	48%	1350–1490	$61,293	$50,062	87.9%
University of San Diego	San Diego	private	5,671	52.4%		$59,486	$30,365	83.7%
California State Polytechnic University-Humboldt	Arcata	public	5,612	98.2%		$8,250	$13,171	48.6%
University of San Francisco	San Francisco	private	5,287	61.7%	1190–1390	$60,492	$41,431	70.1%
Sonoma State University	Rohnert Park	public	5,166	93.4%		$8,624	$12,885	57.6%
California State University-Channel Islands	Camarillo	public	5,013	94.8%		$7,159	$9,849	51.3%
University of Massachusetts Global	Aliso Viejo	public	4,491			$12,540	$32,654	42.9%
Pepperdine University	Malibu	private	3,553	62.9%	1290–1450	$69,918	$58,098	83.4%
Biola University	La Mirada	private	3,474	74.4%	1160–1370	$48,984	$31,495	67.6%
University of the Pacific	Stockton	private	3,204	71.3%	1183–1480	$57,080	$25,447	69.1%
Point Loma Nazarene University	San Diego	private	3,188	83.7%	1175–1365	$46,250	$38,729	77.2%
University of La Verne	La Verne	private	3,050	71.2%	986–1236	$49,470	$20,161	63.1%
Azusa Pacific University	Azusa	private	2,759	88.4%	983–1238	$44,458	$22,212	61.8%
California Lutheran University	Thousand Oaks	private	2,296	75.7%	1150–1330	$52,560	$30,109	69.6%
University of Redlands	Redlands	private	2,049	82.7%	1107–1350	$60,878	$30,031	67.3%
Art Center College of Design	Pasadena	private	2,017	74.5%		$54,170	$48,661	79.2%
Saint Mary's College of California	Moraga	private	1,947	86.5%		$57,803	$30,378	70.3%
Vanguard University of Southern California	Costa Mesa	private	1,933	62.4%		$41,700	$21,241	56.8%
Occidental College	Los Angeles	private	1,877	44.2%	1380–1520	$66,274	$38,263	80.9%
Mount Saint Mary's University	Los Angeles	private	1,719	73.1%		$49,564	$21,413	53.3%
Pomona College	Claremont	private	1,666	7.1%	1490–1560	$65,420	$19,285	93.2%
The Master's University and Seminary	Santa Clarita	private	1,622	84%		$39,020	$32,647	67.7%
Fresno Pacific University	Fresno	private	1,544	64.1%		$36,660	$13,630	50%
Concordia University-Irvine	Irvine	private	1,536	66%		$43,480	$28,115	58.3%
Claremont McKenna College	Claremont	private	1,388	9.6%	1470–1560	$67,980	$28,849	91.4%
Westmont College	Santa Barbara	private	1,302	77.1%	1240–1450	$53,584	$29,053	70.4%
William Jessup University	Rocklin	private	1,294	93.3%	1041–1228	$37,150	$28,062	56%
Pitzer College	Claremont	private	1,227	25.2%		$65,192	$34,191	83.4%
Otis College of Art and Design	Los Angeles	private	1,223	81.8%	1265–1395	$56,488	$51,248	66.3%
La Sierra University	Riverside	private	1,116	91.5%		$37,710	$45,566	59.7%
Dominican University of California	San Rafael	private	1,114	83.5%	1210–1300	$52,161	$35,333	78.1%
Scripps College	Claremont	private	1,113	38.3%	1440–1540	$65,950	$36,294	82.5%
California College of the Arts	San Francisco	private	990	91.1%		$60,226	$53,909	61.2%
California Institute of Technology	Pasadena	private	987	2.6%		$65,898	$16,075	94.4%
Harvey Mudd College	Claremont	private	921	12.7%	1500–1570	$68,613	$35,924	91.9%
Loma Linda University	Loma Linda	private	909
California Institute of the Arts	Valencia	private	860	32.3%		$58,996	$46,080	66.7%
Simpson University	Redding	private	809	86%		$39,708	$27,817	48.8%
Cal Poly Maritime Academy	Vallejo	public	804	95%		$9,944	$20,555	59.7%
Woodbury University	Burbank	private	779	81.7%		$47,056	$33,692	60%
Whittier College	Whittier	private	764	80.8%		$51,350	$25,757	60%
Menlo College	Atherton	private	752	68.5%		$53,630	$31,100	53.5%
Laguna College of Art and Design	Laguna Beach	private	746	94.3%		$37,500	$42,505	51.7%
Samuel Merritt University	Oakland	private	718
Minerva University	San Francisco	private	637	3%		$23,630
Thomas Aquinas College	Santa Paula	private	566	83.1%	1220–1400	$30,200	$26,196	84.3%
Hope International University	Fullerton	private	564	33%	840–1220	$38,050	$29,310	49.4%

A blank cell means the school did not report that figure. Net price is the average cost after grants for students receiving federal aid. Graduation rate is within six years.

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Frequently asked questions

How many colleges are in California?

81 four-year public and private nonprofit colleges with at least 500 undergraduates, 33 public and 48 private, according to the U.S. Department of Education's College Scorecard. Community colleges, for-profit schools, and online-only schools are not counted.

What is the hardest college to get into in California?

By acceptance rate, California Institute of Technology (2.6%), Minerva University (3%), Stanford University (3.6%), Pomona College (7.1%), University of California-Los Angeles (9%) are the most selective.

What is the cheapest public college in California?

California State University-Channel Islands has the lowest published in-state tuition and fees of the public four-year colleges here, at $7,159 a year. That is the sticker price before financial aid.

Source: College Scorecard, Most Recent Institution-Level Data (U.S. Department of Education), 2026-06-10 release. These are federal figures. Schools with a linked profile have also been checked against their own filings; the others have not.