Physical Sciences colleges in California, ranked by graduates
37 colleges in California awarded at least 10 bachelor's degrees in physical sciences in 2023: 2,907 degrees, 1.7% of all bachelor's degrees at those colleges (1.4% across every college CollegeCalcAI tracks). University of California, Berkeley graduated the most (295, 3.2% of its class). 26 of the 37 are public universities. The median acceptance rate among them is 75%; the most selective is California Institute of Technology at 3%.
Physical Sciences colleges in California
Every California college awarding at least 10 bachelor's degrees in physical sciences, ranked by 2023 graduates. Click a college for its physical sciences page.
| # | College | Type | Degrees (2023) | Share of grads | Acceptance rate | SAT 75th |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | University of California, Berkeley | Public | 295 | 3.2% | 11% | 1530 |
| 2 | UC San Diego | Public | 268 | 3% | 27% | 1490 |
| 3 | UC Santa Barbara | Public | 261 | 4.1% | 33% | 1430 |
| 4 | UC Irvine | Public | 240 | 2.9% | 29% | 1420 |
| 5 | UC Santa Cruz | Public | 226 | 4.9% | 66% | 1180 |
| 6 | UCLA | Public | 224 | 2.3% | 9% | 1510 |
| 7 | UC Davis | Public | 125 | 1.5% | 42% | 1380 |
| 8 | UC Riverside | Public | 117 | 2.2% | 76% | 1300 |
| 9 | Cal Poly Pomona | Public | 116 | 2% | 75% | 1300 |
| 10 | Cal Poly San Luis Obispo | Public | 89 | 1.8% | 31% | 1420 |
| 11 | Stanford University | Private | 79 | 4.3% | 4% | 1570 |
| 12 | San Diego State University | Public | 75 | 0.9% | 36% | 1340 |
| 13 | Cal State Long Beach | Public | 72 | 0.8% | 46% | 1280 |
| 14 | San Jose State University | Public | 67 | 1.1% | 85% | 1220 |
| 15 | Cal State San Bernardino | Public | 65 | 1.5% | 94% | 1090 |
| 16 | Sacramento State University | Public | 51 | 0.7% | 94% | 1170 |
| 17 | Cal State Fullerton | Public | 50 | 0.5% | 91% | 1230 |
| 18 | Cal Poly Humboldt | Public | 46 | 3.5% | 98% | 1150 |
| 19 | University of Southern California | Private | 45 | 0.8% | 10% | 1530 |
| 20 | Fresno State University | Public | 41 | 0.8% | 95% | 1160 |
| 21 | Cal State Northridge | Public | 37 | 0.5% | 93% | 1150 |
| 22 | Cal State Los Angeles | Public | 35 | 0.7% | 91% | 1150 |
| 23 | California Institute of Technology | Private | 34 | 14.5% | 3% | 1580 |
| 24 | San Francisco State University | Public | 31 | 0.6% | 96% | 1180 |
| 25 | Pomona College | Private | 28 | 6.2% | 7% | 1540 |
| 26 | Cal State San Marcos | Public | 27 | 0.8% | 95% | 1190 |
| 27 | University of San Francisco | Private | 23 | 1.8% | 62% | 1340 |
| 28 | California Baptist University | Private | 21 | 1.1% | 85% | 1170 |
| 29 | Cal State East Bay | Public | 17 | 0.5% | 97% | 1080 |
| 30 | Cal State Stanislaus | Public | 16 | 0.6% | 98% | 1080 |
| 31 | Cal State Dominguez Hills | Public | 15 | 0.5% | 93% | 1020 |
| 32 | Westmont College | Private | 15 | 4.6% | 77% | 1150 |
| 33 | Cal State Chico | Public | 14 | 0.4% | 93% | 1170 |
| 34 | Pepperdine University | Private | 11 | 1.3% | 63% | 1400 |
| 35 | California Lutheran University | Private | 11 | 1.7% | 76% | 1230 |
| 36 | Occidental College | Private | 10 | 2.5% | 44% | 1420 |
| 37 | Vanguard University | Private | 10 | 2% | 62% | 1150 |
Questions about physical sciences colleges in California
What is the best college for physical sciences in California?
By bachelor's degrees awarded in 2023, the largest physical sciences programs in California are University of California, Berkeley (295), UC San Diego (268), UC Santa Barbara (261). "Best" depends on your profile: this page ranks every California college in the field by output and shows each one's acceptance rate and admitted SAT so you can match it to your own numbers.
How many colleges in California offer physical sciences?
37 four-year colleges in California awarded 10 or more bachelor's degrees in physical sciences in 2023, 26 public and 11 private, for 2,907 graduates in total.
Is in-state status an advantage for physical sciences in California?
At the 26 public universities on this list, California residents are usually admitted at a higher rate than out-of-state applicants and pay in-state tuition. CollegeCalcAI applies the residency effect when you set your home state, and the per-major adjustment when you set the major.
Physical Sciences elsewhere
The same field in other states, and the national ranking.
Source: U.S. Department of Education, IPEDS 2023 Completions (bachelor's degrees, first majors, CIP 2-digit series), joined to CollegeCalcAI's admissions dataset. Built 2026-09-19. Estimates from CollegeCalcAI are not predictions or guarantees.