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Best Value Mental & Social Health Services Schools in California

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2023 Best Value Mental & Social Health Services Schools in California

Highlighting Quality Schools With More Affordable Pricing

65 Colleges
$1,251 Avg Tuition & Fees*
$44,862 Avg Salary

Finding the Best Mental & Social Health Services School for You

Out of the majors we analyze each year, mental and social health services was ranked 8th in California. In fact, 1,899 were awarded in the state in 2020-2021.

When it comes to higher education, there are a lot of options for healthcare students. You can choose a traditional brick and mortar school, or with the growth of online education, you can attend a school half-way across the country without even leaving your house. Also there are many trade schools that offer short-term programs that open up more career options.

To help you arm yourself with the information you need to make your decision, Healthcare Degree Search has developed this Best Value Mental & Social Health Services Schools in California ranking. Our analysis looked at 65 schools in California to see which programs offered the best value experiences for mental health services students with the aim of identifying those quality schools that are more affordable than some of their counterparts.

When determining this ranking, we place a high emphasis on the school's quality as well as its sticker price. Even though a college may be affordable, it may not offer value. Specifically, our score for quality is discounted by the published tuition and fees charged by the given college. This gives the cost per unit of quality for each college. The more quality your dollar buys, the better the value.

Our calculations use out-of-state tuition and fees in our nationwide and regional rankings. For statewide rankings, we use average in-state tuition and fees.

2023 Best Value Mental & Social Health Services Schools in California

Check out the mental health services programs at these schools if you want to get the best value for your educational dollar.

Top 10 Best Mental & Social Health Services Schools

#1

Cuesta College

San Luis Obispo, CA
$1,338 Average Tuition & Fees

Our analysis found Cuesta College to be the best value school for mental and social health services students who want to pursue a degree in California. Located in the small suburb of San Luis Obispo, Cuesta College is a public college with a moderately-sized student population.

Cuesta College undergraduate students pay an average of $1,338 in in-state tuition and fees each year.

On top of its placing in our value ranking, Cuesta College also did well on our Best Mental & Social Health Services Schools in California list. It’s in the top 15% of all schools reviewed in this analysis.

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$1,150 Average Tuition & Fees

Out of the 65 schools in California that were part of this year’s ranking, Napa Valley College landed the # 2 spot on the list. Napa Valley College is a small public school located in the city of Napa.

In-state tuition fees for undergraduate students at Napa Valley College are $1,150 per year.

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You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around you if you attend Mt. San Antonio College. The school came in at #3 on this year’s Best Value Mental & Social Health Services Schools in California list. Mt. SAC is a fairly large public school located in the suburb of Walnut.

Mt. SAC undergraduate students pay an average of $1,352 in in-state tuition and fees each year.

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#4

San Bernardino Valley College

San Bernardino, CA
$1,362 Average Tuition & Fees

Out of the 65 schools in California that were part of this year’s ranking, San Bernardino Valley College landed the # 4 spot on the list. Located in the medium-sized city of San Bernardino, San Bernardino Valley College is a public college with a medium-sized student population.

San Bernardino Valley College undergraduate students pay an average of $1,362 in in-state tuition and fees each year.

Read full report on Mental & Social Health Services at San Bernardino Valley College

$1,380 Average Tuition & Fees

A rank of #5 on this year’s list means West Hills College-Coalinga is a great value for mental and social health services students. Located in the town of Coalinga, West Hills College-Coalinga is a public school with a small student population.

The average tuition and fees for an in-state undergraduate at West Hills College-Coalinga are $1,380 a year. The average amount in student loans that mental health services majors at West Hills College-Coalinga take out is $13,336.

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$1,288 Average Tuition & Fees

San Joaquin Delta College ranked #6 on this year’s Best Value Mental & Social Health Services Schools in California list. Located in the large city of Stockton, Delta is a public college with a fairly large student population.

The average tuition and fees for an in-state undergraduate at Delta are $1,288 a year.

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#7

Yuba College

Marysville, CA
$1,128 Average Tuition & Fees

Yuba College did quite well in this year’s ranking of the best value schools for mental and social health services students. It came in at #7 on the list. Yuba College is a moderately-sized public school located in the suburb of Marysville.

In-state tuition fees for undergraduate students at Yuba College are $1,128 per year.

Full Mental & Social Health Services at Yuba College Report

#8

Santa Barbara City College

Santa Barbara, CA
$1,232 Average Tuition & Fees

Santa Barbara City College came in at #8 in this year’s edition of the Best Value Mental & Social Health Services Schools in California ranking. Located in the city of Santa Barbara, SBCC is a public college with a fairly large student population.

The average tuition and fees for an in-state undergraduate at SBCC are $1,232 a year.

SBCC also claimed a spot on our Best Mental & Social Health Services Schools in California list. It’s in the top 20% of all schools in this category.

Full Mental & Social Health Services at Santa Barbara City College Report

#9

Modesto Junior College

Modesto, CA
$1,274 Average Tuition & Fees

Modesto Junior College came in at #9 in this year’s edition of the Best Value Mental & Social Health Services Schools in California ranking. MJC is a large public school located in the midsize city of Modesto.

In-state tuition fees for undergraduate students at MJC are $1,274 per year.

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#10

Cypress College

Cypress, CA
$1,146 Average Tuition & Fees

Cypress College ranked #10 on this year’s Best Value Mental & Social Health Services Schools in California list. Located in the large suburb of Cypress, Cypress College is a public school with a fairly large student population.

Cypress College undergraduate students pay an average of $1,146 in in-state tuition and fees each year.

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Honorable Mentions

These are some additional schools worth mentioning that are also great but just didn't quite make the cut to earn our top Best Value Mental & Social Health Services Schools in California award.

Rank College Location
11 Santa Rosa Junior College Santa Rosa, CA
12 American River College Sacramento, CA
13 Fresno City College Fresno, CA

Best Value Mental & Social Health Services Colleges in the Far Western US Region

Explore all the Best Value Mental & Social Health Services Schools in the Far Western US Area or other specific states within that region.

State Degrees Awarded
Oregon 240
Washington 748
Nevada 52
Alaska 25

Mental & Social Health Services is one of 30 different types of healthcare programs to choose from.

Mental Health Services Focus Areas

Major Annual Graduates
Mental Health Counseling/Counselor 7,609
Substance Abuse/Addiction Counseling 5,433
Other Mental and Social Health Services and Allied Professions 4,069
Marriage and Family Therapy/Counseling 3,405
Psychiatric/Mental Health Services Technician 2,779
Clinical/Medical Social Work 2,534
Community Health Services/Liaison/Counseling 2,526
Clinical Pastoral Counseling/Patient Counseling 328
Genetic Counseling/Counselor 288
Trauma Counseling 56
Psychoanalysis and Psychotherapy 13
Medical Family Therapy/Therapist 12

Related Major Annual Graduates
Nursing 322,592
Health & Medical Administrative Services 89,359
Allied Health & Medical Assisting Services 84,492
Practical Nursing & Nursing Assistants 84,274
Allied Health Professions 82,308

Notes and References

*These averages are for the top 25 schools only.

  • The Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS) from the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES), a branch of the U.S. Department of Education (DOE) serves as the core of the rest of our data about colleges.
  • Some other college data, including much of the graduate earnings data, comes from the U.S. Department of Education’s (College Scorecard).

More about our data sources and methodologies.

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