36 Best Journalism and Digital Media schools in California, US

Updated: March 02, 2025

Ranking by academic field

Below is a list of best universities in California ranked based on their research performance in Journalism and Digital Media. A graph of 729K citations received by 13.6K academic papers made by 36 universities in California was used to calculate publications' ratings, which then were adjusted for release dates and added to final scores.

We don't distinguish between undergraduate and graduate programs nor do we adjust for current majors offered. You can find information about granted degrees on a university page but always double-check with the university website.

1. Stanford University

Stanford

For Journalism and Digital Media

#2 in the United States

#2 in North America

Acceptance Rate: 4%
Average SAT: 1545
Average ACT: 35
Net Price: $17,998

2. University of California - Berkeley

Berkeley

For Journalism and Digital Media

#9 in the United States

#9 in North America

Acceptance Rate: 12%
Receiving Aid: 61%
Average Aid: $25,951
Enrollment: 45,699

3. University of Southern California

Los Angeles

For Journalism and Digital Media

#18 in the United States

#18 in North America

Acceptance Rate: 10%
Average SAT: 1495
Average ACT: 34
Net Price: $41,496

4. University of California - Los Angeles

Los Angeles

For Journalism and Digital Media

#21 in the United States

#22 in North America

Acceptance Rate: 9%
Receiving Aid: 60%
Average Aid: $22,441
Enrollment: 46,678

5. University of California-San Diego

San Diego

For Journalism and Digital Media

#30 in the United States

#31 in North America

Acceptance Rate: 25%
Receiving Aid: 70%
Average Aid: $24,176
Enrollment: 42,376

6. University of California - Irvine

Irvine

For Journalism and Digital Media

#34 in the United States

#35 in North America

Acceptance Rate: 26%
Receiving Aid: 71%
Average Aid: $21,533
Enrollment: 36,582

7. University of California - Santa Barbara

Santa Barbara

For Journalism and Digital Media

#35 in the United States

#36 in North America

Acceptance Rate: 28%
Receiving Aid: 58%
Average Aid: $21,732
Enrollment: 26,068

8. University of California - San Francisco

San Francisco

For Journalism and Digital Media

#39 in the United States

#40 in North America

Acceptance Rate: 13%
Enrollment: 3,126
Male:Female: 35:65
Founded: 1864

9. California Institute of Technology

Pasadena

For Journalism and Digital Media

#40 in the United States

#41 in North America

Acceptance Rate: 3%
Net Price: $23,397
Receiving Aid: 68%
Average Aid: $60,201

10. University of California - Davis

Davis

For Journalism and Digital Media

#47 in the United States

#51 in North America

Acceptance Rate: 42%
Receiving Aid: 58%
Average Aid: $21,258
Enrollment: 39,707

11. University of California - Riverside

Riverside

For Journalism and Digital Media

#103 in the United States

#117 in North America

Acceptance Rate: 63%
Receiving Aid: 75%
Average Aid: $21,566
Enrollment: 26,426

12. San Jose State University

San Jose

For Journalism and Digital Media

#118 in the United States

#135 in North America

Acceptance Rate: 80%
Receiving Aid: 67%
Average Aid: $11,311
Enrollment: 36,062

13. San Diego State University

San Diego

For Journalism and Digital Media

#119 in the United States

#136 in North America

Acceptance Rate: 34%
Receiving Aid: 95%
Average Aid: $5,459
Enrollment: 39,241

14. University of California - Santa Cruz

Santa Cruz

For Journalism and Digital Media

#134 in the United States

#153 in North America

Acceptance Rate: 63%
Receiving Aid: 71%
Average Aid: $21,564
Enrollment: 19,764

15. California State University - Fullerton

Fullerton

For Journalism and Digital Media

#193 in the United States

#218 in North America

Acceptance Rate: 87%
Receiving Aid: 82%
Average Aid: $10,445
Enrollment: 41,962

16. Santa Clara University

Santa Clara

For Journalism and Digital Media

#207 in the United States

#233 in North America

Acceptance Rate: 44%
Average SAT: 1420
Average ACT: 32
Net Price: $49,651

17. California State University - Long Beach

Long Beach

For Journalism and Digital Media

#216 in the United States

#245 in North America

Acceptance Rate: 47%
Receiving Aid: 82%
Average Aid: $10,512
Enrollment: 40,278

18. San Francisco State University

San Francisco

For Journalism and Digital Media

#226 in the United States

#257 in North America

Acceptance Rate: 96%
Receiving Aid: 79%
Average Aid: $11,498
Enrollment: 23,908

19. University of San Francisco

San Francisco

For Journalism and Digital Media

#237 in the United States

#268 in North America

Acceptance Rate: 51%
Average SAT: 1300
Average ACT: 29
Net Price: $44,104

20. California State Polytechnic University - Pomona

Pomona

For Journalism and Digital Media

#246 in the United States

#277 in North America

Acceptance Rate: 74%
Receiving Aid: 78%
Average Aid: $10,441
Enrollment: 26,848

21. University of San Diego

San Diego

For Journalism and Digital Media

#248 in the United States

#279 in North America

Acceptance Rate: 47%
Net Price: $37,675
Receiving Aid: 86%
Average Aid: $37,444

22. California Polytechnic State University - San Luis Obispo

San Luis Obispo

For Journalism and Digital Media

#254 in the United States

#286 in North America

Acceptance Rate: 30%
Receiving Aid: 60%
Average Aid: $12,707
Enrollment: 22,485

23. Chapman University

Orange

For Journalism and Digital Media

#256 in the United States

#288 in North America

Acceptance Rate: 56%
Average SAT: 1340
Average ACT: 30
Net Price: $48,037

24. Pepperdine University

Malibu

For Journalism and Digital Media

#260 in the United States

#292 in North America

Acceptance Rate: 50%
Average SAT: 1350
Average ACT: 29
Net Price: $52,216

25. California State University - Northridge

Los Angeles

For Journalism and Digital Media

#261 in the United States

#293 in North America

Acceptance Rate: 93%
Receiving Aid: 87%
Average Aid: $12,000
Enrollment: 37,760

26. Loyola Marymount University

Los Angeles

For Journalism and Digital Media

#262 in the United States

#294 in North America

Acceptance Rate: 40%
Net Price: $54,471
Receiving Aid: 100%
Average Aid: $21,575

27. California State University - Dominguez Hills

Carson

For Journalism and Digital Media

#269 in the United States

#302 in North America

Acceptance Rate: 91%
Receiving Aid: 95%
Average Aid: $11,074
Enrollment: 15,181

28. Claremont Graduate University

Claremont

For Journalism and Digital Media

#272 in the United States

#305 in North America

Acceptance Rate: 35%
Enrollment: 1,763
Male:Female: 40:60
Founded: 1925

29. California State University - Los Angeles

Los Angeles

For Journalism and Digital Media

#273 in the United States

#306 in North America

Acceptance Rate: 92%
Receiving Aid: 94%
Average Aid: $12,478
Enrollment: 25,080

30. California State University - San Bernardino

San Bernardino

For Journalism and Digital Media

#278 in the United States

#311 in North America

Acceptance Rate: 98%
Receiving Aid: 89%
Average Aid: $10,421
Enrollment: 18,925

31. Naval Postgraduate School

Monterey

For Journalism and Digital Media

#282 in the United States

#317 in North America

Acceptance Rate: 23%
Enrollment: 2,600
Male:Female: 79:21
Founded: 1909

32. California State University - Fresno

Fresno

For Journalism and Digital Media

#294 in the United States

#329 in North America

Acceptance Rate: 96%
Receiving Aid: 89%
Average Aid: $11,412
Enrollment: 23,986

33. University of California - Merced

Merced

For Journalism and Digital Media

#321 in the United States

#356 in North America

Acceptance Rate: 39%
Receiving Aid: 85%
Average Aid: $24,868
Enrollment: 9,147

34. California State University - Sacramento

Sacramento

For Journalism and Digital Media

#346 in the United States

#385 in North America

Acceptance Rate: 94%
Receiving Aid: 85%
Average Aid: $11,503
Enrollment: 31,172

35. Palo Alto University

Palo Alto

For Journalism and Digital Media

#350 in the United States

#389 in North America

Acceptance Rate: 12%
Enrollment: 1,223
Male:Female: 15:85
Founded: 1975

36. California State University - Chico

Chico

For Journalism and Digital Media

#356 in the United States

#396 in North America

Acceptance Rate: 94%
Receiving Aid: 73%
Average Aid: $10,331
Enrollment: 14,523

Closest to California states to learn Journalism and Digital Media

State	Universities Unis	Best university country rank Best uni rank
Oregon	4	82
Utah	3	41
Arizona	3	11
Idaho	3	198
Washington	4	8
Colorado	6	43
Nebraska	4	106
South Dakota	3	264
Kansas	3	60
Texas	26	4
Oklahoma	3	107
North Dakota	2	146
Minnesota	4	16
Iowa	3	50
Missouri	7	48
Arkansas	5	144
Louisiana	5	86
Wisconsin	8	14
Illinois	14	3
Mississippi	3	88
Indiana	9	42
Michigan	8	1
Tennessee	7	65
Alabama	5	62
Kentucky	5	46
Ohio	12	31
Georgia	9	33
South Carolina	5	36
North Carolina	11	25
Virginia	10	54
Pennsylvania	16	5
Florida	13	28
District of Columbia	5	52
Maryland	7	15
New York	33	10
New Jersey	10	32
Connecticut	8	26
Massachusetts	20	6
Rhode Island	3	127