Spike Rankings 2027
Best Test-Optional Colleges in California
Colleges where you can apply without SAT or ACT scores, ranked on what happens to their students: who finishes, what they earn, and what they pay. How Spike ranks
30 colleges in this list. How we rank
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Number 1: University of California-Berkeley- Test-blind: scores not read
- 93% graduate
- $14,538 average net price
Number 2: University of California-Los Angeles- Test-blind: scores not read
- 93% graduate
- $14,659 average net price
Number 3: University of California-San Diego- Test-blind: scores not read
- 86% graduate
- $14,794 average net price
Number 4: University of California-Irvine- Test-blind: scores not read
- 87% graduate
- $13,866 average net price
Number 5: University of California-Davis- Test-blind: scores not read
- 86% graduate
- $14,318 average net price
Number 6: University of Southern California- Test-optional
- 91% graduate
- $33,056 average net price
Number 7: University of California-Santa Barbara- Test-blind: scores not read
- 83% graduate
- $16,807 average net price
Number 8: California Polytechnic State University-San Luis Obispo- Test-blind: scores not read
- 86% graduate
- $18,832 average net price
Number 9: University of the Pacific- Test-optional
- 71% graduate
- $24,186 average net price
Number 10: Santa Clara University- Test-optional
- 88% graduate
- $50,570 average net price
Number 11: San Jose State University- Test-blind: scores not read
- 68% graduate
- $14,241 average net price
Number 12: University of California-Riverside- Test-blind: scores not read
- 76% graduate
- $12,672 average net price
Number 13: California State University-Fullerton- Test-blind: scores not read
- 69% graduate
- $5,115 average net price
Number 14: California State University-Fresno- Test-blind: scores not read
- 58% graduate
- $5,418 average net price
Number 15: Pitzer College- Test-blind: scores not read
- 83% graduate
- $36,135 average net price
Number 16: California State University-Long Beach- Test-blind: scores not read
- 70% graduate
- $9,426 average net price
Number 17: Pepperdine University- Test-optional
- 81% graduate
- $48,065 average net price
Number 18: Chapman University- Test-optional
- 82% graduate
- $46,708 average net price
Number 19: Occidental College- Test-optional
- 80% graduate
- $37,470 average net price
Number 20: University of Redlands- Test-optional
- 66% graduate
- $30,924 average net price
Number 21: San Diego State University- Test-blind: scores not read
- 77% graduate
- $13,243 average net price
Number 22: Art Center College of Design- Test-optional
- 80% graduate
- $48,389 average net price
Number 23: California State University-Northridge- Test-blind: scores not read
- 57% graduate
- $6,346 average net price
Number 24: California State University-Sacramento- Test-blind: scores not read
- 55% graduate
- $11,186 average net price
Number 25: California Lutheran University- Test-optional
- 69% graduate
- $26,445 average net price
Number 26: San Francisco State University- Test-blind: scores not read
- 50% graduate
- $9,803 average net price
Number 27: University of San Francisco- Test-optional
- 68% graduate
- $30,496 average net price
Number 28: Loyola Marymount University- Test-optional
- 79% graduate
- $50,518 average net price
Number 29: Whittier College- Test-blind: scores not read
- 58% graduate
- $24,940 average net price
Number 30: California Institute of the Arts- Test-blind: scores not read
- 65% graduate
- $49,996 average net price
How this ranking works
The Best Colleges order, kept to colleges that do not require SAT or ACT scores. Test-blind colleges, which do not read scores at all, are included and marked.
30 of 233 colleges in Spike’s guide have enough data for this list. Test-optional or test-blind, as each college states on its admissions pages. This list covers colleges in California within our guide.
Read each college’s testing page before you decide whether to send scores. At a test-optional college, scores at or above its middle range can help, and lower ones can be left off. A test-blind college will not look at them either way.
Test policies change from year to year, and some majors, scholarships or honors programs inside a college still ask for scores. The order is the Best Colleges ranking and says nothing about how scores affect your chances.
Updated . Data snapshot: .
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