Liberal Arts · California
California colleges that awarded Liberal Arts credentials
169 colleges in California reported conferring Liberal Arts credentials to the federal IPEDS collection in 2023-24, and every one of them also awarded in the year before. 161 awarded a degree, and 8 awarded only a certificate. That is a record of credentials already awarded, not confirmation that a program is currently admitting.
Colleges and what they awarded
Largest first by credentials conferred in 2023-24. That order measures the size of the graduating class and nothing else: it is not a ranking, and the largest entry is often a certificate provider rather than the strongest degree program. The credential is labelled on every row for exactly that reason.
Showing the 60 largest of 169.
Looking for Liberal Arts programs in California? This page lists every college that reported awarding Liberal Arts credentials to the federal government in 2023-24 — 169 of them — with the credential level each one awarded. That is a record of credentials conferred, not a confirmation that a college is currently admitting students, so confirm current availability with the college before it changes where you apply.
How much of this field is in California
- Credentials awarded
- 100,291
- Share of U.S. total
- 29%
- Colleges awarding it
- 169
- Awarding a degree
- 161
California colleges conferred 100,291 Liberal Arts credentials in 2023-24, which is 29% of the 341,083 conferred across the 51 U.S. jurisdictions reporting any. Of the 169 colleges here, 161 awarded a degree and 8 awarded only a certificate. These counts measure the size of graduating classes, not program quality, and not how many students are currently enrolled.
What level those credentials were
- Certificates60%60,007
- Associate35%35,498
- Bachelor's5%4,765
- Graduate<1%21
Most Liberal Arts credentials awarded in California were certificates. That is 33 percentage points less weighted toward associate degrees than the field nationally, where they are 69% of credentials. A certificate is a different credential from a degree, not a lesser one, and the level a program awards is set by the program rather than by the student.
We measured how much this varies nationwide, and for most fields the credential level is set by the field rather than the state: is your major a certificate or a degree?
How concentrated it is. The single college with the largest reported graduating class in this field accounted for 7% of California’s Liberal Arts credentials. Activity is spread across several institutions rather than sitting with one.
What these California colleges cost
Median net price across the 116 of these 169 colleges that report it, by family income. Net price is what students receiving federal aid actually paid for the WHOLE college after grants and scholarships, so it is not the price of a Liberal Arts program specifically, and not a quote for any family.
- 0-30k
- $6,111
- 30-48k
- $6,531
- 48-75k
- $8,882
- 75-110k
- $12,238
- 110k+
- $14,021
By the kind of college
The figure above averages very different institutions together. Split by federal sector, for a family earning under $30,000:
| Kind of college | Colleges | Median net price |
|---|---|---|
| Public two-year | 60 | $3,800 |
| Public four-year | 35 | $6,428 |
| Private | 21 | $22,678 |
Sector is the federal classification (IPEDS ICLEVEL and CONTROL). Private covers both nonprofit and for-profit colleges, which CampusPin does not split here because the for-profit sample in a single state is usually too small to publish a median. Each row needs at least five colleges reporting net price, so a sector with fewer is left out rather than estimated.
A family earning under $30,000 paid a median of $6,111 at these colleges, against $14,021 for a family earning over $110,000. Individual colleges vary widely around these medians. See every California college by income band.
What this evidence does and does not prove
This lists colleges that reported conferring credentials in this field to the federal IPEDS completions collection, in both 2022-23 and 2023-24. It does not confirm that any of them is currently admitting students to the program, and a college can appear here after deciding to close it. Confirm with the institution before it affects where you apply.
How this list was built
From the U.S. Department of Education IPEDS completions collection, matched to each college on its exact federal program classification. A college appears only if it conferred credentials in both 2022-23 and 2023-24, which is what separates a running program from one that has already closed.
This page exists because its list of colleges is materially different from that of every closely related field in California — the fields a reader could otherwise mistake it for, such as two engineering disciplines, or nursing and practical nursing. Where a related field resolves to the same colleges, the second page would be the first one with its title changed, and CampusPin does not publish it. Sharing colleges with an unrelated field is different, and not a reason to withhold the page: in most states the same colleges award business, psychology and biology alike, which says something about the colleges rather than about the fields. We measured exactly how often that happens, and published the result: does choosing a major narrow your college list?
What Liberal Arts graduates go on to do
Occupations the federal CIP–SOC crosswalk associates with Liberal Arts, ordered by projected annual openings. National figures: openings and pay do not vary by where you studied, and the crosswalk describes related fields rather than a required or guaranteed path.
| Occupation | Median pay | Openings / yr | Most entrants hold |
|---|---|---|---|
| Postsecondary Teachers, All Other | $78,490 | 13,500 | Doctoral or professional degree |
Crosswalk: U.S. Department of Education (NCES), CIP 2020 to SOC 2018. Pay and projections: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (2024 wages, Employment Projections). “Most entrants hold” is what BLS observes about people already in the occupation, not a legal requirement, an admission rule, or a guarantee of entry. Projected openings are a projection, not jobs promised.