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Home > Online Colleges > Military-Friendly > California > Santa Rosa
Key takeaway: 10 accredited institutions within 100 miles of Santa Rosa offer fully online programs and report both credit for military training and a dedicated point of contact for veterans, servicemembers, and their families (IPEDS IC 2024); 9 report all four services the federal survey tracks. The nearest installation recorded by the Census Bureau is Coast Guard Training Center Petaluma, about 14 miles away, and 8 installations sit within 100 miles (2 Navy, 1 Air Force, 4 Coast Guard, 1 Other). 1 of the 10 schools has a campus within 30 miles; the closest is Sonoma State University in Rohnert Park, CA, about 8 miles from city center. The highest-ranked by BOC Score is University of California-Berkeley. Santa Rosa has a population of about 177,216 and a median household income of $97,410; 34.8 percent of adults hold a bachelor’s degree or higher (Census ACS 5-year estimates).
Schools based in California that report credit for military training and a dedicated military contact, ordered by distance from Santa Rosa city center, with BOC Score on each card. The tags on each card are the school’s own IPEDS answers for the four military services. The distance table further down covers the nearest qualifying schools regardless of state line.
Every school list on this site is ordered by the BOC Score, computed from the most recent school-level data published by the U.S. Department of Education (College Scorecard and IPEDS). To qualify, a school must be currently operating and accredited by an agency recognized by the U.S. Department of Education. Each eligible school is then scored on five measures, percentile-ranked against schools at the same credential level:
Schools without enough outcome data appear after ranked schools, without a score. On this page, schools are ordered by distance from Santa Rosa. Advertising never affects these rankings. Read the full methodology.
Source:IPEDSCollege Scorecard
| School | Location | Credit for military training | Dedicated military contact | DoD MOU member | Student veteran org | BOC Score | Distance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| University of California-Berkeley | Berkeley, CA | Yes | Yes | No | Yes | 93.9 | 46 mi |
| Palo Alto University | Palo Alto, CA | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | 92.2 | 79 mi |
| San Jose State University | San Jose, CA | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | 86.3 | 89 mi |
| California State University-Sacramento | Sacramento, CA | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | 81.7 | 70 mi |
| De Anza College | Cupertino, CA | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | 80.8 | 86 mi |
| California State University-Chico | Chico, CA | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | 79.3 | 100 mi |
| California State University-East Bay | Hayward, CA | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | 79.2 | 65 mi |
| San Francisco State University | San Francisco, CA | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | 78.9 | 52 mi |
| Sonoma State University | Rohnert Park, CA | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | 76.2 | 8 mi |
| College of San Mateo | San Mateo, CA | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | 75.8 | 66 mi |
California has 146 military-friendly online colleges by this definition; the California page lists them all.
| Installation (as recorded by the Census Bureau) | Branch (from the name) | Distance from Santa Rosa |
|---|---|---|
| Coast Guard Training Center Petaluma | Coast Guard | 14 mi |
| Coast Guard Communication Station Point Reyes | Coast Guard | 27 mi |
| Travis AFB | Air Force | 43 mi |
| Military Ocean Terminal Concord | Other | 47 mi |
| Coast Guard Station San Francisco | Coast Guard | 48 mi |
| Naval Weapons Station Seal Beach (Concord Detachment) | Navy | 50 mi |
| Naval Support Detachment Monterey Dixon Transmitter | Navy | 51 mi |
| Coast Guard Station Oakland | Coast Guard | 52 mi |
Median wages for occupations that veterans commonly move into after an online degree (Bureau of Labor Statistics, May 2025 OEWS), shown for the Santa Rosa-Petaluma, CA metro area where BLS publishes it.
| Occupation | Median annual wage | Scope | Cost-of-living adjusted (US=100) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Information Security Analysts | $110,340 | Santa Rosa-Petaluma, CA metro | $102,356 |
| Logisticians | $89,740 | Santa Rosa-Petaluma, CA metro | $83,247 |
| Emergency Management Directors | $129,910 | CA statewide | $120,510 |
| Police and Sheriff’s Patrol Officers | $125,910 | Santa Rosa-Petaluma, CA metro | $116,800 |
| Medical and Health Services Managers | $143,150 | Santa Rosa-Petaluma, CA metro | $132,792 |
| Project Management Specialists | $107,340 | Santa Rosa-Petaluma, CA metro | $99,573 |
| Network and Computer Systems Administrators | $103,170 | Santa Rosa-Petaluma, CA metro | $95,705 |
| Transportation, Storage, and Distribution Managers | $122,360 | Santa Rosa-Petaluma, CA metro | $113,506 |
BLS publishes wages for metro areas and states, not individual cities; rows marked with the metro name are metro medians, the rest are statewide.
Benefit eligibility is determined by the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs and your service’s education office. Nothing on this page guarantees education benefits, credit transfer, admission, or a particular cost. Confirm every detail with the school’s military or veteran services office before you enroll.
Sources: U.S. Department of Education, IPEDS Institutional Characteristics survey (IC 2024): veteran and military services indicators (VET2 through VET5), distance-education program flag (DISTPGS); BOC Score from College Scorecard and IPEDS outcome data; U.S. Census Bureau TIGER/Line 2024 Military Installations layer (installation names as recorded there); U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, May 2025 Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics; U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis Regional Price Parities; Census ACS 5-year estimates. Directory counts as of the September 2026 refresh.
