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Santa Cruz, California has 5 accredited schools offering liberal arts programs. Santa Cruz has a population of about 60,953. Median household income is $111,427 (Census ACS 2023, 5-year). About 57.7% of adults 25+ hold a bachelor’s degree or higher. In the Santa Cruz-Watsonville, CA metro area, the top-earning liberal arts-related role is Management Analyst at a median $105,480 annually (BLS OEWS, May 2025).
The accredited institutions listed below are the closest in our directory that offer liberal arts programs near Santa Cruz, ranked by BOC Score and straight-line distance from Santa Cruz city center. The list is rebuilt from federal IPEDS data on every site update.
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 Cruz. Advertising never affects these rankings. Read the full methodology.
Source:IPEDSCollege Scorecard
Source:IPEDSCollege Scorecard
Source:IPEDSCollege Scorecard
Source:IPEDSCollege Scorecard
Source:Accreditor: Western Association of Schools and Colleges Senior Colleges and University CommissionIPEDSCollege Scorecard
Source:IPEDSCollege Scorecard
Source:IPEDSCollege Scorecard
Source:IPEDSCollege Scorecard
Source: IPEDS / College Scorecard (2023 cohort). Browse all California schools on the California liberal arts page.
Santa Cruz is part of the Santa Cruz-Watsonville, CA metro area (BLS area code 42100). Where MSA-level wages are published, the table below shows MSA medians; otherwise it falls back to California statewide.
| Occupation | Median Wage | Source | COL-Adjusted (US=100) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Public Relations Specialist | $83,180 | Santa Cruz-Watsonville, CA | $75,687 |
| Management Analyst | $105,480 | Santa Cruz-Watsonville, CA | $95,978 |
| Technical Writer | $104,000 | CA statewide | $94,631 |
| News Analyst, Reporter, or Journalist | N/A | CA statewide | – |
| Editor | $77,890 | Santa Cruz-Watsonville, CA | $70,874 |
| Training and Development Specialist | $77,400 | Santa Cruz-Watsonville, CA | $70,428 |
| Human Resources Specialist | $84,690 | Santa Cruz-Watsonville, CA | $77,061 |
Source: BLS, May 2025 Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics. The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics publishes wage data at the metro (MSA) and state level – not by individual city.
| Metric | Value | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Population | 60,953 | Census ACS 2023 5-yr (B01003) |
| Median household income | $111,427 | Census ACS 2023 5-yr (B19013) |
| Adults 25+ with bachelor’s+ | 57.7% | Census ACS 2023 5-yr (B15003) |
| Regional Price Parity (US=100) | 109.9 (above U.S. average) | BEA RPP 2024 |
| Liberal Arts-related employment in Santa Cruz County | 562 workers, 78 establishments | BLS QCEW 2024 annual |
Accredited schools offering liberal arts programs near Santa Cruz are listed on this page, ranked by BOC Score and distance from the city center. The list is rebuilt from federal IPEDS and College Scorecard data on every site update, so it stays current as programs open and close.
Based on BLS OEWS May 2025 wage data, the top-paying liberal arts-related roles near Santa Cruz are: Management Analyst ($105,480), Technical Writer ($104,000), Human Resources Specialist ($84,690). These reflect MSA-level medians where published, with California statewide fallback for occupations not reported at the metro level.
Watsonville, CA is 15.1 miles from Santa Cruz and has its own set of local liberal arts programs – see the city’s page. For online programs, distance matters less; for hybrid or in-person formats, comparing both can help.
Santa Cruz’s median household income of $111,427 (Census ACS 2023) is one input. Online programs let students stay in Santa Cruz while attending lower-cost out-of-state schools, and California public universities often offer reduced in-state online tuition.
Confirm institutional accreditation via the U.S. Department of Education database (U.S. Dept. of Education database), and check for any program-specific accreditation listed by the school.
Compare every accredited online degree program with city-level data for Santa Cruz:
Data verified: July 23, 2026. Salary, employment, and tuition figures on this page are sourced from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (OEWS May 2025; Employment Projections 2024–2034) and the U.S. Department of Education College Scorecard (2023 cohort). The source agency and data year are cited inline with every statistic.
Back to Best Online Liberal Arts Programs in California (2026)
