36 Best Journalism and Digital Media schools in California, US

Updated: March 15, 2026

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 766K citations received by 13.9K 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: $25,078

2. University of California - Berkeley

Berkeley

For Journalism and Digital Media

#9 in the United States

#9 in North America

Acceptance Rate: 11%
Receiving Aid: 63%
Average Aid: $29,608
Enrollment: 45,882

3. University of Southern California

Los Angeles

For Journalism and Digital Media

#16 in the United States

#16 in North America

Acceptance Rate: 10%
Average SAT: 1500
Average ACT: 34
Net Price: $43,412

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: 59%
Average Aid: $25,627
Enrollment: 47,335

5. University of California-San Diego

San Diego

For Journalism and Digital Media

#30 in the United States

#31 in North America

Acceptance Rate: 27%
Receiving Aid: 66%
Average Aid: $25,757
Enrollment: 44,256

6. University of California - Irvine

Irvine

For Journalism and Digital Media

#34 in the United States

#35 in North America

Acceptance Rate: 29%
Receiving Aid: 61%
Average Aid: $23,110
Enrollment: 37,297

7. University of California - Santa Barbara

Santa Barbara

For Journalism and Digital Media

#35 in the United States

#36 in North America

Acceptance Rate: 33%
Receiving Aid: 61%
Average Aid: $24,695
Enrollment: 26,133

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: 3,007
Male:Female: 36:64
Founded: 1864

9. California Institute of Technology

Pasadena

For Journalism and Digital Media

#40 in the United States

#42 in North America

Acceptance Rate: 3%
Net Price: $14,513
Receiving Aid: 70%
Average Aid: $72,373

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: 65%
Average Aid: $24,591
Enrollment: 40,065

11. University of California - Riverside

Riverside

For Journalism and Digital Media

#102 in the United States

#117 in North America

Acceptance Rate: 76%
Receiving Aid: 80%
Average Aid: $24,355
Enrollment: 26,384

12. San Diego State University

San Diego

For Journalism and Digital Media

#116 in the United States

#133 in North America

Acceptance Rate: 36%
Receiving Aid: 62%
Average Aid: $12,053
Enrollment: 41,137

13. San Jose State University

San Jose

For Journalism and Digital Media

#119 in the United States

#136 in North America

Acceptance Rate: 85%
Receiving Aid: 69%
Average Aid: $12,353
Enrollment: 37,661

14. University of California - Santa Cruz

Santa Cruz

For Journalism and Digital Media

#135 in the United States

#156 in North America

Acceptance Rate: 66%
Receiving Aid: 64%
Average Aid: $22,774
Enrollment: 19,938

15. California State University - Fullerton

Fullerton

For Journalism and Digital Media

#191 in the United States

#216 in North America

Acceptance Rate: 91%
Receiving Aid: 83%
Average Aid: $11,234
Enrollment: 43,662

16. Santa Clara University

Santa Clara

For Journalism and Digital Media

#209 in the United States

#235 in North America

Acceptance Rate: 48%
Average SAT: 1420
Average ACT: 32
Net Price: $53,883

17. California State University - Long Beach

Long Beach

For Journalism and Digital Media

#218 in the United States

#248 in North America

Acceptance Rate: 46%
Receiving Aid: 82%
Average Aid: $11,795
Enrollment: 42,003

18. San Francisco State University

San Francisco

For Journalism and Digital Media

#224 in the United States

#255 in North America

Acceptance Rate: 96%
Receiving Aid: 81%
Average Aid: $12,996
Enrollment: 22,563

19. University of San Francisco

San Francisco

For Journalism and Digital Media

#237 in the United States

#268 in North America

Acceptance Rate: 62%
Average SAT: 1290
Average ACT: 28
Net Price: $45,443

20. University of San Diego

San Diego

For Journalism and Digital Media

#242 in the United States

#273 in North America

Acceptance Rate: 52%
Net Price: $37,918
Receiving Aid: 87%
Average Aid: $40,965

21. California State Polytechnic University - Pomona

Pomona

For Journalism and Digital Media

#245 in the United States

#276 in North America

Acceptance Rate: 75%
Receiving Aid: 80%
Average Aid: $11,833
Enrollment: 27,636

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: 31%
Receiving Aid: 62%
Average Aid: $14,338
Enrollment: 23,069

23. Chapman University

Orange

For Journalism and Digital Media

#256 in the United States

#288 in North America

Acceptance Rate: 65%
Average SAT: 1350
Average ACT: 30
Net Price: $47,902

24. Loyola Marymount University

Los Angeles

For Journalism and Digital Media

#260 in the United States

#292 in North America

Acceptance Rate: 45%
Average SAT: 1345
Average ACT: 30
Net Price: $59,926

25. Pepperdine University

Malibu

For Journalism and Digital Media

#261 in the United States

#293 in North America

Acceptance Rate: 63%
Average SAT: 1370
Average ACT: 31
Net Price: $66,585

26. California State University - Northridge

Los Angeles

For Journalism and Digital Media

#262 in the United States

#294 in North America

Acceptance Rate: 93%
Receiving Aid: 86%
Average Aid: $12,825
Enrollment: 38,313

27. California State University - Dominguez Hills

Carson

For Journalism and Digital Media

#266 in the United States

#299 in North America

Acceptance Rate: 93%
Receiving Aid: 95%
Average Aid: $13,951
Enrollment: 15,182

28. California State University - San Bernardino

San Bernardino

For Journalism and Digital Media

#272 in the United States

#305 in North America

Acceptance Rate: 94%
Receiving Aid: 91%
Average Aid: $12,167
Enrollment: 18,492

29. Claremont Graduate University

Claremont

For Journalism and Digital Media

#274 in the United States

#308 in North America

Acceptance Rate: 35%
Enrollment: 1,771
Male:Female: 41:59
Founded: 1925

30. California State University - Los Angeles

Los Angeles

For Journalism and Digital Media

#275 in the United States

#309 in North America

Acceptance Rate: 91%
Receiving Aid: 95%
Average Aid: $13,824
Enrollment: 23,163

31. Naval Postgraduate School

Monterey

For Journalism and Digital Media

#288 in the United States

#323 in North America

Acceptance Rate: 23%
Enrollment: 2,441
Male:Female: 79:21
Founded: 1909

32. California State University - Fresno

Fresno

For Journalism and Digital Media

#291 in the United States

#326 in North America

Acceptance Rate: 95%
Receiving Aid: 88%
Average Aid: $12,326
Enrollment: 24,427

33. University of California - Merced

Merced

For Journalism and Digital Media

#317 in the United States

#352 in North America

Acceptance Rate: 91%
Receiving Aid: 91%
Average Aid: $27,292
Enrollment: 9,110

34. California State University - Sacramento

Sacramento

For Journalism and Digital Media

#347 in the United States

#387 in North America

Acceptance Rate: 94%
Receiving Aid: 86%
Average Aid: $12,767
Enrollment: 31,943

35. Palo Alto University

Palo Alto

For Journalism and Digital Media

#354 in the United States

#395 in North America

Acceptance Rate: 12%
Enrollment: 1,065
Male:Female: 16:84
Founded: 1975

36. California State University - Chico

Chico

For Journalism and Digital Media

#356 in the United States

#397 in North America

Acceptance Rate: 93%
Receiving Aid: 75%
Average Aid: $11,509
Enrollment: 15,257

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	195
Washington	4	8
Colorado	6	43
Nebraska	4	108
South Dakota	3	264
Kansas	3	61
Texas	27	4
Oklahoma	3	106
North Dakota	2	147
Minnesota	4	17
Iowa	3	51
Missouri	7	48
Arkansas	6	143
Louisiana	5	85
Wisconsin	8	14
Illinois	14	3
Mississippi	3	87
Indiana	9	42
Michigan	8	1
Tennessee	7	65
Alabama	5	58
Kentucky	5	46
Ohio	12	32
Georgia	9	31
South Carolina	5	36
North Carolina	11	25
Virginia	10	55
Pennsylvania	16	5
Florida	13	28
District of Columbia	5	52
Maryland	7	15
New York	33	10
New Jersey	10	33
Connecticut	8	26
Massachusetts	20	6
Rhode Island	3	126