Ranked #13 in popularity, liberal arts general studies is one of the most sought-after bachelor's degree programs in the nation. This means there are lots of options to choose from when you decide to get your degree.
College Factual looked at 37 colleges and universities when compiling its 2025 Best Liberal Arts General Studies Bachelor's Degree Schools in California ranking. Combined, these schools handed out 5,142 bachelor's degrees in liberal arts general studies to qualified students.
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Choosing a Great Liberal Arts General Studies School for Your Bachelor's Degree
Your choice of liberal arts general studies for getting your bachelor's degree school matters. This section explores some of the factors we include in our ranking and how much they vary depending on the school you select. To make it into this list, a school must excel in the following areas.
A Great Overall School
The overall quality of a bachelor's degree school is important to ensure a quality education, not just how well they do in a particular major. To take this into account we consider a college's overall Best Colleges ranking which itself looks at a collection of different factors like degree completion, educational resources, student body caliber and post-graduation earnings for the school as a whole.
Early-Career Earnings
One measure we use to determine the quality of a school is to look at the average salary of bachelor's graduates during the early years of their career. That is, everyone wants their bachelor's degree to be worth something, and salaries are one measure of determining that.
Other Factors We Consider
The metrics below are just some of the other metrics that we use to determine our rankings.
Major Focus - How many resources a school devotes to liberal arts general studies students as compared to other majors.
Major Demand - How many other liberal arts general studies students want to attend this school to pursue a bachelor's degree.
Educational Resources - How many resources are allocated to students. These resources may include educational expenditures per student, number of students per instructor, and graduation rate among other things.
Student Debt - How easy is it for liberal arts general studies to pay back their student loans after receiving their bachelor's degree.
Accreditation - Whether a school is regionally accredited and/or accredited by a recognized liberal arts general studies related body.
Our complete ranking methodology documents in more detail how we consider these factors to identify the best colleges for liberal arts general studies students working on their bachelor's degree.
More Ways to Rank Liberal Arts General Studies Schools
Since picking the right college can be one of the most important decisions of your life, we've developed the Best Liberal Arts General Studies Bachelor's Degree Schools in California ranking, along with many other major-related rankings, to help you make that decision.
In addition to our rankings, you can take two colleges and compare them based on the criteria that matters most to you in our unique tool, College Combat.
Test it out when you get a chance! You may also want to bookmark the link and share it with others who are trying to make the college decision.
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Any student who is interested in a bachelor's degree in liberal arts general studies needs to take a look at Saint Mary's College of California. Located in the large suburb of Moraga, SMC is a private not-for-profit college with a small student population.
Those liberal arts general studies students who get their bachelor's degree from Saint Mary's College of California earn $23,625 more than the typical liberal arts grad.
Every student pursuing a degree in a bachelor's degree in liberal arts general studies has to check out California State University - Sacramento. Sac State is a very large public university located in the large city of Sacramento.
Students who graduate with their bachelor's from the liberal arts program report average early career wages of $30,286.
Thomas Aquinas College is a wonderful option for students interested in a bachelor's degree in liberal arts general studies. Located in the rural area of Santa Paula, TAC is a private not-for-profit college with a fairly small student population.
Bachelor's students who receive their degree from the liberal arts program make an average of $33,432 in the first couple years of their career.
It's difficult to beat California Polytechnic State University - San Luis Obispo if you want to pursue a bachelor's degree in liberal arts general studies. Cal Poly San Luis Obispo is a very large public university located in the small suburb of San Luis Obispo.
Those liberal arts general studies students who get their bachelor's degree from California Polytechnic State University - San Luis Obispo make $2,587 more than the typical liberal arts student.
Located in the large suburb of Azusa, Azusa Pacific is a private not-for-profit university with a moderately-sized student population.
Bachelor's recipients from the liberal arts general studies major at Azusa Pacific University get $2,725 above the standard college graduate with the same degree when they enter the workforce.
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.
Your choice of liberal arts general studies for getting your bachelor's degree school matters. This section explores some of the factors we include in our ranking and how much they vary depending on the school you select. To make it into this list, a school must excel in the following areas.
