Source: IPEDS, as of September 29, 2026. Cost is resident tuition plus required fees, 2023-24.
Bachelor's Degrees in California
2
Meet the Ranking Threshold
2
Median Resident Tuition and Fees
$25,125
With a Fully Online Option
1
General Studies Bachelor's Degrees in California
General studies bachelor's degrees in California come down to two programs, both at private nonprofit universities and both scored, which makes this the only level of general studies in the state where every program meets the ranking threshold. The Master's University and Seminary in Santa Clarita scores 47.7, 93rd in the national bachelor's ranking, on a 68% graduation rate, 17 degrees a year and $36,930 in tuition and required fees. National University in San Diego scores 34, 137th nationally, and is the larger program at 31 degrees a year, delivered online, at $13,320 and a 43% graduation rate.
Completion is what separates them. The Master's University graduates 25 points more of its students than National, and that outweighs a price nearly three times higher and a smaller graduating class. National's case is the opposite one: less than half the money, no campus, and a program big enough to have awarded 31 degrees in the latest year.
Neither is public, and no CSU or UC campus awards a bachelor's under the general studies classification. The CSU campuses that do appear in the state's general studies data, Northridge, San Diego State and San Francisco State, award master's degrees. So the state's transfer guarantee into a CSU, described below, leads to a CSU bachelor's in some other major rather than to either program on this page, and that shapes who these two programs are for: students who want the general studies name on a bachelor's and will pay private tuition for it.
The 2 Best General Studies Bachelor's Degrees in California
The best general studies bachelor's degrees in California are ranked below by their national score, from the national bachelor's degree ranking. The number on each card is the program's place in California. Each needed at least 10 graduates in the latest year to be ranked.
1
The Master's University and Seminary
California
47.7- Private nonprofit
- College graduation rate
- 68%
- In-state tuition and fees
- $36,930 a year
- Degrees awarded, latest year
- 17
About the Program
Some 2,860 students attend The Master's University and Seminary, a private nonprofit university in Santa Clarita, California. During the most recent year on record it awarded 17 bachelor's degrees, a count at the 18th percentile for size. Across the whole college, 68% of students finish, which is a higher rate than 91% of the institutions behind this list. Residents and nonresidents are both charged $36,930 a year in tuition and fees. Admission is selective enough to plan for, with 84% of applicants accepted. On the graduation rate of its college it does best, reaching the 91st percentile.
2
National University
California
34.0- Private nonprofit
- Fully Online Option
- College graduation rate
- 43%
- In-state tuition and fees
- $13,320 a year
- Degrees awarded, latest year
- 31
About the Program
Based in San Diego, California, National University is a private nonprofit university with 22,115 students on its rolls. It conferred 31 bachelor's degrees in the latest reported year, which is more than 45% of the bachelor's programs ranked at this level. A 43% graduation rate puts the college at the 31st percentile, though that figure counts every student who started there and not this degree alone. Tuition and fees are $13,320 a year for every student, residents and nonresidents alike. Distance students can complete the whole degree online, so where you live matters less here. Its strongest mark is the number of degrees it awards, at the 45th percentile.
How Much Does a General Studies Bachelor's Degree Cost in California?
A general studies bachelor's degree in California costs $13,320 a year at National University and $36,930 at The Master's University and Seminary in tuition and required fees for 2023-24, so the median of $25,125 is the midpoint between two prices rather than a figure anyone pays. Both are private nonprofits, which means a California resident and an out-of-state student see the same number. National University charges the same $13,320 for its general studies associate degree, so a student who moves from its two-year program to its four-year one keeps the same price throughout.
The state aid in play at this level is the California College Promise Grant, and it covers the years before the bachelor's, not the bachelor's itself. If you take the transfer route, the grant waives the $46 per unit community college enrollment fee for eligible California residents while you earn the associate degree, and you're considered for it by filing the FAFSA or the California Dream Act Application. It stops at the community college door. Neither National nor The Master's University charges the fee the grant waives, so budget the bachelor's years on the listed tuition and fees less whatever federal aid you qualify for.
How Does Credit Transfer Into a General Studies Bachelor's Degree in California?
Credit transfers into a general studies bachelor's degree in California most reliably through the Associate Degree for Transfer, though the guarantee attached to it points at the Cal State system and its partners, not at the two programs on this page. Under Education Code Section 66747, CSU must admit an ADT holder with junior status and let you finish the bachelor's with 60 more semester units, and Section 66746 defines the degree as 60 CSU-transferable semester units. The same degree can also open a saved spot at a UC, an HBCU or one of about three dozen independent nonprofit universities.
The general education half of your community college transcript now runs on Cal-GETC, 11 courses and 34 semester units that satisfy lower-division general education for both CSU and UC, in force since fall 2025. A completed Cal-GETC pattern is the cleanest thing you can carry into any bachelor's program, since it arrives as one certified block.
For The Master's University and National University, both private nonprofits, ask three things: whether the university is one of the independent nonprofits that accepts the ADT with a saved spot, how many of your community college units it will take, and whether a certified Cal-GETC pattern clears its general education in full. National also awards a general studies associate degree, so ask how its own two-year degree counts toward its bachelor's.
What Do Jobs With a General Studies Bachelor's Degree Pay in California?
Jobs open to a general studies bachelor's degree in California pay the state medians below, from the May 2025 federal wage survey, with the national median beside each for comparison. Each row links to the salary guide for that job.
How to Choose a General Studies Bachelor's Degree Program in California
To choose a general studies bachelor's degree program in California, decide whether you'd rather pay $13,320 a year for an online program that graduates 43% of its students or $36,930 for a campus program in Santa Clarita that graduates 68%, because that is the whole choice at this level. National University gives you the lower price, the online format and the bigger program, 31 degrees a year against 17. The Master's University and Seminary gives you the completion rate, and its name tells you it's a religiously affiliated campus, which will suit some students and not others.
If neither fits, the public route is the one the transfer section describes: a community college ADT, then a CSU bachelor's in another major with the state's junior-status guarantee behind you. Whichever way you go, ask the admissions office for the graduation rate of its transfer students, not just the first-time, full-time figure the federal data reports, and ask how many of your credits it will accept in writing before you enroll. The national bachelor's ranking shows where 47.7 and 34 sit against the rest of the country.
If you're starting with an associate degree, the general studies associate degrees in California have their own page.