Find a Job You Really Want In
One of the biggest things that incoming college freshmen consider when they’re thinking about what school to attend is the likelihood that a school will improve their job prospects.
Jobs are hard to come by nowadays, after all, and the everyday expenses of living in a country like America aren’t cheap.
Compared to a lot of other states, California has some unique advantages as far as attending college here goes. There are impressive research universities, quality state schools, and the ability to study majors that will prepare you well for the job market.
All that made us curious — with so many good colleges to attend in CA, which ones, in particular, were most likely to help their graduates land a job? Using data from IPEDS as well as College Scorecard as a baseline, we created this list of some of the best colleges for jobs in California.
The full list can be found further down, but first, here’s a look at the top ten best colleges for jobs in California:
- Samuel Merritt University
- University of the Pacific
- Menlo College
- Mount Saint Mary’s University
- Loma Linda University
- Whittier College
- Loyola Marymount University
- Santa Clara University
- University of Southern California
- University of California-Santa Barbara
If you go to one of these schools, chances are, you’re not surprised. After all, you know how great you have it.
But for the rest of you — keep reading and we’ll get to just why these schools have some of the best programs the state of California has to offer.
How We Determined The Best Schools In California For Jobs
Using the College Scorecard Data, we searched for the college in each state with the highest listed job placement ratings, looking specifically at employment levels at year 10 after students have graduated.
We limited the analysis to the 95 public and non-profit, four year institutions colleges in California that offer at least a bachelors degree.
Then, we ranked each college from best to worst on the percentage of graduates with jobs. For the purposes of readability, each school’s rating was then rounded down to the last two decimal places.
The school with the highest percentage of grads with jobs, Samuel Merritt University, earned the distinction of being the ‘Best College For Jobs in California.’
Best Colleges For Getting A Job In California
| Rank | College | Employed |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Samuel Merritt University | 94.46% |
| 2 | University of the Pacific | 92.75% |
| 3 | Menlo College | 92.63% |
| 4 | Mount Saint Mary’s University | 92.48% |
| 5 | Loma Linda University | 92.31% |
| 6 | Whittier College | 92.29% |
| 7 | Loyola Marymount University | 92.04% |
| 8 | Santa Clara University | 91.79% |
| 9 | University of Southern California | 91.17% |
| 10 | University of California-Santa Barbara | 91.09% |
| 11 | University of Redlands | 91.01% |
| 12 | California Polytechnic State University-San Luis Obispo | 90.84% |
| 13 | Stanford University | 90.61% |
| 14 | University of San Diego | 90.52% |
| 15 | University of San Francisco | 90.51% |
| 16 | Bethel Seminary-San Diego | 90.38% |
| 17 | California State University-Chico | 90.32% |
| 18 | University of California-Riverside | 90.21% |
| 19 | California State Polytechnic University-Pomona | 90.2% |
| 20 | California Lutheran University | 90.14% |
| 21 | Saint Mary’s College of California | 89.97% |
| 22 | Los Angeles Pacific University | 89.81% |
| 23 | Azusa Pacific University | 89.81% |
| 24 | University of California-Irvine | 89.77% |
| 25 | Occidental College | 89.76% |
| 26 | University of California-Davis | 89.74% |
| 27 | Sonoma State University | 89.73% |
| 28 | National University | 89.63% |
| 29 | California State University-Fresno | 89.46% |
| 30 | California State University-Long Beach | 89.44% |
| 31 | Pepperdine University | 89.42% |
| 32 | California State University-Sacramento | 89.4% |
| 33 | San Jose State University | 89.39% |
| 34 | San Diego State University | 89.3% |
| 35 | Chapman University | 89.3% |
| 36 | Dominican University of California | 89.15% |
| 37 | Point Loma Nazarene University | 89.07% |
| 38 | University of California-San Diego | 89.07% |
| 39 | Westmont College | 89.0% |
| 40 | California State University-Fullerton | 88.95% |
| 41 | William Jessup University | 88.89% |
| 42 | Notre Dame de Namur University | 88.84% |
| 43 | California State University-Los Angeles | 88.72% |
| 44 | University of California-Los Angeles | 88.61% |
| 45 | California State University Maritime Academy | 88.6% |
| 46 | California State University-Dominguez Hills | 88.55% |
| 47 | University of California-Santa Cruz | 88.54% |
| 48 | University of La Verne | 88.37% |
| 49 | Middlebury Institute of International Studies at Monterey | 88.34% |
| 50 | California State University-San Marcos | 88.32% |
| 51 | California State University-Northridge | 88.3% |
| 52 | California State University-Stanislaus | 88.15% |
| 53 | California Institute of the Arts | 87.99% |
| 54 | California State University-San Bernardino | 87.99% |
| 55 | Golden Gate University-San Francisco | 87.91% |
| 56 | California State University-East Bay | 87.9% |
| 57 | California State University-Channel Islands | 87.8% |
| 58 | San Francisco State University | 87.73% |
| 59 | California State University-Monterey Bay | 87.7% |
| 60 | Woodbury University | 87.61% |
| 61 | University of California-Berkeley | 87.09% |
| 62 | Holy Names University | 86.53% |
| 63 | California State University-Bakersfield | 86.44% |
| 64 | California Baptist University | 86.44% |
| 65 | Fresno Pacific University | 86.16% |
| 66 | Vanguard University of Southern California | 85.89% |
| 67 | Simpson University | 85.78% |
| 68 | Pacific Union College | 85.71% |
| 69 | La Sierra University | 85.71% |
| 70 | University of California-Hastings College of Law | 85.64% |
| 71 | Southwestern Law School | 85.28% |
| 72 | California College San Diego | 84.82% |
| 73 | California College San Diego | 84.82% |
| 74 | Concordia University-Irvine | 84.6% |
| 75 | Biola University | 84.36% |
| 76 | Humboldt State University | 83.96% |
| 77 | Trinity Law School | 83.69% |
| 78 | California College of the Arts | 83.63% |
| 79 | Mills College | 83.42% |
| 80 | Life Pacific College | 83.33% |
| 81 | Marymount California University | 83.28% |
| 82 | Otis College of Art and Design | 83.06% |
| 83 | Art Center College of Design | 82.71% |
| 84 | Antioch University-Los Angeles | 82.67% |
| 85 | Antioch University-Santa Barbara | 82.67% |
| 86 | The Master’s University and Seminary | 81.36% |
| 87 | Hope International University | 81.09% |
| 88 | San Diego Christian College | 80.15% |
| 89 | Charles R Drew University of Medicine and Science | 79.82% |
| 90 | San Francisco Art Institute | 76.88% |
| 91 | Humphreys University-Stockton and Modesto Campuses | 74.51% |
| 92 | Laguna College of Art and Design | 74.44% |
| 93 | Epic Bible College | 73.12% |
| 94 | Thomas Aquinas College | 71.3% |
| 95 | South Baylo University | 61.96% |
Author
Chris Kolmar is a co-founder of Zippia and the editor-in-chief of the Zippia career advice blog. He has hired over 50 people in his career, been hired five times, and wants to help you land your next job. His research has been featured on the New York Times, Thrillist, VOX, The Atlantic, and a host of local news. More recently, he's been quoted on USA Today, BusinessInsider, and CNBC.
