2025 Best Ethnic Studies Master's Degree Schools in the Far Western US Region

When it comes to popularity, a master's degree in ethnic studies sits in the middle of the road, ranking #149 out of 343 majors in the country. So, it might take a little more work to find colleges and universities that offer the degree program.

For its 2025 ranking, College Factual looked at 3 schools in the Far Western US Region to determine which ones were the best for ethnic studies students pursuing a master's degree. When you put them all together, these colleges and universities awarded 111 master's degrees in ethnic studies during the 2022-2023 academic year.

Jump to one of the following sections: * Our Methodology

• Best Master’s Degree Schools List

Choosing a Great Ethnic Studies School for Your Master's Degree

The ethnic studies master's degree program you select can have a big impact on your future. Important measures of a quality ethnic studies program can vary widely even among the top schools. To make it into this list, a school must excel in the following areas.

A Great Overall School

A school that excels in educating for a particular major and degree level must be a great school overall as well. To make it into this list a school must rank well in our overall Best Colleges for a Master's Degree ranking. This ranking considered factors such as graduation rates, overall graduate earnings and other educational resources to identify great colleges and universities.

Early-Career Earnings

One measure we use to determine the quality of a school is to look at the average salary of master's graduates during the early years of their career. That is, everyone wants their master's degree to be worth something, and salaries are one measure of determining that.

Other Factors We Consider

In addition to the above, you should consider some of the following factors:

• Major Focus - How much a school focuses on ethnic studies students vs. other majors.
• Major Demand - The number of ethnic studies students who choose to seek a master's degree at the school.
• Educational Resources - The amount of money and other resources allocated to students while they are pursuing their degree. These resources include such things as number of students per instructor and education expenditures per student.
• Student Debt - How easy is it for ethnic studies to pay back their student loans after receiving their master's degree.
• Accreditation - Whether a school is regionally accredited and/or accredited by a recognized ethnic studies related body.

Our full ranking methodology documents in more detail how we consider these factors to identify the best schools for ethnic studies students working on their master's degree.

More Ways to Rank Ethnic Studies Schools

Since picking the right college can be one of the most important decisions of your life, we've developed the Best Ethnic Studies Master's Degree Schools in the Far Western US Region ranking, along with many other major-related rankings, to help you make that decision.

Best Schools for Master’s Students to Study Ethnic Studies in the Far Western US Region

Below you'll see a list of the best colleges and universities for pursuing a master's degree in ethnic studies.

Top Far Western US Region Schools for a Master's in Ethnic Studies

1

University of California - Berkeley
Berkeley, CA

10 Annual Graduates

It is hard to beat University of California - Berkeley if you wish to pursue a master's degree in ethnic studies. UC Berkeley is a very large public university located in the medium-sized city of Berkeley.More information about a master’s in ethnic studies from University of California - Berkeley

2

University of California - Los Angeles
Los Angeles, CA

18 Annual Graduates

$45,247 Median Starting Salary

University of California - Los Angeles is a good decision for individuals interested in a master's degree in ethnic studies. Located in the large city of Los Angeles, UCLA is a public university with a very large student population.

Soon after graduating, ethnic studies master's recipients generally earn around $45,247 in the first five years of their career.

More information about a master’s in ethnic studies from University of California - Los Angeles

3

San Francisco State University
San Francisco, CA

20 Annual Graduates

It's hard to beat San Francisco State University if you wish to pursue a master's degree in ethnic studies. SFSU is a very large public university located in the city of San Francisco.More information about a master’s in ethnic studies from San Francisco State University

Best Ethnic Studies Colleges by State

Explore the best ethnic studies schools for a specific state in the Far Western US Region .

State	Colleges	Degrees Awarded
California	253	135
Washington	183	1
Oregon	158	8
Nevada	105	1
Hawaii	85	5
Alaska	52	0

View All Rankings >

Rankings in Majors Related to Ethnic Studies

One of 2 majors within the Area, Ethnic, Culture, & Gender Studies area of study, Ethnic Studies has other similar majors worth exploring.

Ethnic Studies Focus Areas

Major	Annual Graduates
Women’s Studies	25
Ethnic, Cultural Minority, Gender, & Group Studies, Other	23
Native American Studies	16
Asian-American Studies	16
Latino Studies	13
Ethnic Studies	7
Folklore Studies	7
African American Studies	4

Majors Similar to Ethnic Studies

Related Major	Annual Graduates
Area Studies	171
Ethnic, Culture, & Gender Studies (Other)	13

Notes and References

• The bars on the spread charts above show the distribution of the schools on this list +/- one standard deviation from the mean.
• 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 G. MГјtzel. More about our data sources and methodologies.