An education at a public California college is one of the nation's best values. That's according to Kiplinger's Personal Finance magazine, which released its 2014 list of the top 100 public U.S. colleges and universities that offer more academic bang for your buck.
California Schools Ranked 'Best Value'
University of California, Los Angeles: No. 5 in 2014; No. 6 in 2013
University of California, Berkeley: No. 9 in 2014; No. 8 in 2013
University of California, San Diego: No. 14 in 2014; No. 10 in 2013
University of California, Santa Barbara: No. 18 in 2014; No. 14 in 2013
University of California, Irvine: No. 23 in 2014; No. 16 in 2013
University of California, Davis: No. 36 in 2014; No. 23 in 2013
Cal. Polytechnic State Univ., San Luis Obispo: No. 43 in 2014; No. 40 in 2013
San Diego State University: No. 76 in 2014; No. 77 in 2013
California State University, Long Beach: No. 92 in 2014; No. 82 in 2013
California State Polytechnic Univ., Pomona: No. 96 in 2014; No. 89 in 2013
University of California, Riverside: No. 99 in 2014; No. 92 in 2013
Source: Kiplinger's Personal Finance magazine
A dozen California universities were on the list, including five in the top 25. Among the California schools, University of California Los Angeles ranked highest at No. 5. UC San Diego came in at No. 14 and San Diego State University ranked at No. 76. Last year, the schools ranked 10th and 77th, respectively.
San Diego State and UCLA are the only California schools on the list that didn't fall in rank.
This year's top spot went to University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, followed by the University of Virginia and the University of Florida.
To create its list, Kiplinger's evaluates schools based on a "combination of academic quality and affordability."
