College ranking

Top colleges in CA by 10-year ROI

College Scorecard + IPEDS Last updated: May 2026

Executive Summary

Bachelor’s-predominant institutions located in CA with at least 200 students, sorted by the same 10-year ROI estimate used nationally. California Institute of Technology leads this list at $595,878 (10 Yr. ROI).

Leaders: top 3

California Institute of Technology

10 Yr. ROI $595,878

CA · Private nonprofit

Stanford University

10 Yr. ROI $491,118

CA · Private nonprofit

Harvey Mudd College

10 Yr. ROI $490,267

CA · Private nonprofit

Top 25 Top colleges in CA by 10-year ROI

Rank	Institution	State	Control	Enrollment	10 Yr. ROI	Also see
1	California Institute of Technology	CA	Private nonprofit	987	$595,878	Grad 94.4% · Net $16,075
2	Stanford University	CA	Private nonprofit	7,554	$491,118	Grad 91.9% · Net $13,807
3	Harvey Mudd College	CA	Private nonprofit	921	$490,267	Grad 91.9% · Net $35,924
4	Cal Poly Maritime Academy	CA	Public	804	$366,819	Grad 59.7% · Net $20,555
5	Claremont McKenna College	CA	Private nonprofit	1,388	$356,148	Grad 91.4% · Net $28,849
6	University of California-Berkeley	CA	Public	33,068	$353,372	Grad 92.8% · Net $13,481
7	West Coast University-Anaheim-Orange County	CA	Private for-profit	3,192	$330,076	Grad 60.0% · Net $32,879
8	California Polytechnic State University-San Luis Obispo	CA	Public	21,996	$327,034	Grad 86.4% · Net $16,665
9	University of California-San Diego	CA	Public	34,948	$319,354	Grad 86.1% · Net $12,470
10	Northeastern University Oakland	CA	Private nonprofit	464	$296,148	Grad — · Net $25,181
11	University of California-Los Angeles	CA	Public	33,475	$295,349	Grad 92.6% · Net $12,548
12	San Jose State University	CA	Public	27,601	$284,194	Grad 69.2% · Net $13,760
13	University of California-Davis	CA	Public	32,253	$277,662	Grad 85.7% · Net $14,741
14	California State University-East Bay	CA	Public	9,809	$273,134	Grad 47.9% · Net $9,320
15	University of California-Irvine	CA	Public	30,197	$270,102	Grad 86.9% · Net $14,251
16	University of Southern California	CA	Private nonprofit	20,443	$261,940	Grad 91.8% · Net $32,740
17	California State Polytechnic University-Pomona	CA	Public	25,042	$259,913	Grad 68.4% · Net $11,531
18	Chamberlain University-California	CA	Private for-profit	751	$259,334	Grad — · Net $36,559
19	University of California-Santa Barbara	CA	Public	23,113	$253,290	Grad 83.0% · Net $16,109
20	Santa Clara University	CA	Private nonprofit	6,552	$249,348	Grad 87.9% · Net $50,062
21	California State University-Fullerton	CA	Public	38,546	$248,396	Grad 70.2% · Net $6,555
22	Pomona College	CA	Private nonprofit	1,666	$248,288	Grad 93.2% · Net $19,285
23	West Coast University-Ontario	CA	Private for-profit	2,671	$246,521	Grad 38.9% · Net $49,590
24	California State University-Stanislaus	CA	Public	8,385	$246,046	Grad 53.4% · Net $6,067
25	California State University-Sacramento	CA	Public	28,350	$244,217	Grad 56.3% · Net $9,338

Method notes

Underlying institution file: EDsmart Data processed College Scorecard extract merged to IPEDS 2023 directory for HBCU and Carnegie fields.
ROI column matches the processed college_roi_rankings series in this site build; see College Scorecard ROI methodology.
School profile links use generated slugs; not every campus has a published profile page yet—use the Scorecard site as fallback.

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