Business Colleges in California: SAT Scores, ACT Scores, Costs, and Programs

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By Glyn Caddell, BSME · Author of Digital SAT Math Secrets · Tutoring since 2008 — Updated November 7, 2026

Thirty-eight California universities hold AACSB-accredited business schools, and this page lists the SAT and ACT scores of the students the eight private ones admit, what every campus costs a New York student, and what stands in for a score at the twenty-seven public ones.

No University of California or California State University campus reads the SAT or ACT, so the table has eight ranges and thirty rows without one, twenty-seven public and three private.

At the Cal State campuses the first door is a 3.00 GPA for a New Yorker and a 2.50 for a Californian, and at Berkeley the Haas School opens its own door twice, once to freshmen and once, on a single application, to sophomores and juniors.

Table of Contents

California Business Colleges by SAT and ACT Score
What Does It Take to Enter a Business School in California Without a Test Score?
Which California Universities Have AACSB-Accredited Business Schools?
What If Your Score Is Below the Range You Want?

California Business Colleges by SAT and ACT Score

California’s 38 AACSB-accredited business schools divide into eight private universities that report an SAT range and thirty rows that report none, twenty-seven of them public campuses that read no test, and the table below lists each with its ranges where they exist, its cost of attendance, enrollment and admit rate. The eight reporters are sorted by the midpoint of the SAT Math range, and the thirty rows without a range follow in order of enrollment, so the order can be checked from the table itself.

College	SAT Reading & Writing	SAT Math	ACT composite	Business school	Cost of attendance	Undergraduates	Admit rate
University of Southern California	710 to 760	740 to 790	32 to 35	Marshall School of Business	$90,300	20,443	10%
Santa Clara University	670 to 730	680 to 760	31 to 33	Leavey School of Business	$82,026	6,552	48%
Pepperdine University	650 to 710	640 to 740	29 to 32	Seaver College Business Administration Division	$93,512	3,553	63%
University of the Pacific	590 to 710	593 to 770	23 to 32	Eberhardt School of Business	$71,515	3,204	71%
Chapman University	630 to 720	630 to 720	28 to 31	Argyros College of Business and Economics	$83,146	7,478	65%
Loyola Marymount University	640 to 720	620 to 710	28 to 32	College of Business Administration	$83,943	7,094	45%
University of San Francisco	610 to 700	580 to 690	25 to 30	School of Management	$80,141	5,287	62%
University of La Verne	498 to 663	488 to 573	18 to 25	College of Business	$62,278	3,050	71%
Cal State Fullerton	Does not report SAT data	Does not report SAT data	Does not report ACT data	College of Business and Economics	$18,269	38,546	91%
Cal State Long Beach	Does not report SAT data	Does not report SAT data	Does not report ACT data	College of Business	$22,679	35,924	46%
San Diego State University	Does not report SAT data	Does not report SAT data	Does not report ACT data	Fowler College of Business	$27,780	35,377	36%
UC San Diego	Does not report SAT data	Does not report SAT data	Does not report ACT data	Rady School of Management	$38,701	34,948	27%
UC Berkeley	Does not report SAT data	Does not report SAT data	Does not report ACT data	Haas School of Business	$45,619	33,068	11%
Cal State Northridge	Does not report SAT data	Does not report SAT data	Does not report ACT data	Nazarian College of Business and Economics	$20,485	32,691	93%
UC Davis	Does not report SAT data	Does not report SAT data	Does not report ACT data	Graduate School of Management	$41,238	32,253	42%
UC Irvine	Does not report SAT data	Does not report SAT data	Does not report ACT data	Paul Merage School of Business	$38,632	30,197	29%
Cal State Sacramento	Does not report SAT data	Does not report SAT data	Does not report ACT data	College of Business	$22,945	28,350	94%
San Jose State University	Does not report SAT data	Does not report SAT data	Does not report ACT data	Lucas College and Graduate School of Business	$26,593	27,601	85%
Cal Poly Pomona	Does not report SAT data	Does not report SAT data	Does not report ACT data	College of Business Administration	$23,955	25,042	75%
UC Riverside	Does not report SAT data	Does not report SAT data	Does not report ACT data	School of Business	$38,942	22,593	76%
Cal Poly San Luis Obispo	Does not report SAT data	Does not report SAT data	Does not report ACT data	Orfalea College of Business	$32,265	21,996	31%
Cal State Fresno	Does not report SAT data	Does not report SAT data	Does not report ACT data	Craig School of Business	$20,095	21,605	95%
Cal State Los Angeles	Does not report SAT data	Does not report SAT data	Does not report ACT data	College of Business and Economics	$18,403	19,562	91%
San Francisco State University	Does not report SAT data	Does not report SAT data	Does not report ACT data	Lam Family College of Business	$26,488	18,639	96%
Cal State San Bernardino	Does not report SAT data	Does not report SAT data	Does not report ACT data	Jack H. Brown College of Business and Public Administration	$17,427	15,023	94%
Cal State San Marcos	Does not report SAT data	Does not report SAT data	Does not report ACT data	College of Business Administration	$21,649	14,877	95%
Cal State Chico	Does not report SAT data	Does not report SAT data	Does not report ACT data	College of Business	$26,283	13,631	93%
Cal State Dominguez Hills	Does not report SAT data	Does not report SAT data	Does not report ACT data	College of Business Administration and Public Policy	$23,191	12,538	93%
Cal State East Bay	Does not report SAT data	Does not report SAT data	Does not report ACT data	College of Business and Economics	$22,850	9,809	97%
Cal State Bakersfield	Does not report SAT data	Does not report SAT data	Does not report ACT data	School of Business and Public Administration	$19,522	8,577	94%
Cal State Stanislaus	Does not report SAT data	Does not report SAT data	Does not report ACT data	College of Business Administration	$19,739	8,385	98%
Cal State Monterey Bay	Does not report SAT data	Does not report SAT data	Does not report ACT data	College of Business	$26,987	6,819	97%
University of San Diego	Does not report SAT data	Does not report SAT data	Does not report ACT data	Knauss School of Business	$78,720	5,671	52%
Cal Poly Humboldt	Does not report SAT data	Does not report SAT data	Does not report ACT data	School of Business	$25,170	5,612	98%
Sonoma State University	Does not report SAT data	Does not report SAT data	Does not report ACT data	School of Business and Economics	$24,648	5,166	93%
Cal State Channel Islands	Does not report SAT data	Does not report SAT data	Does not report ACT data	Martin V. Smith School of Business and Economics	$23,561	5,013	95%
Saint Mary’s College of California	Does not report SAT data	Does not report SAT data	Does not report ACT data	School of Economics and Business Administration	$77,659	1,947	87%
Menlo College	Does not report SAT data	Does not report SAT data	Does not report ACT data	Menlo College (business school)	$72,020	752	68%

Each range covers the middle 50% of admitted students who submitted that test. A quarter scored below the lower number, and the top quarter scored at or above the upper one. Being under the lower number does not rule a student out, and being just above it is not as safe as it looks. No University of California or California State University campus reports an SAT or ACT range, because neither system considers the tests in admission. Business school names the AACSB-accredited college or school within the university that awards the business degree [VERIFY each name on the university’s site]. The cost of attendance shown for a public campus is a resident’s.

Schools whose business accreditation comes from another body, or from none, are left off this list and named further down, and so are graduate-only business schools, online institutions and community colleges.

Three things about that table are worth pausing on.

California has 38 AACSB-accredited business schools, more than any state so far, and twenty-seven of them, every public one, report no SAT or ACT range, because the University of California and the California State University do not read the tests, and three private ones report none either.

The eight that report a range are all private, and the three highest, USC at 740 to 790 on Math, Santa Clara at 680 to 760 and Pepperdine at 640 to 740, charge every student $72,097, $61,293 and $69,918.

A New Yorker pays between $19,759 and $34,665 at a Cal State campus and between $49,806 and $50,974 at a UC campus, and the Cal State system asks him for a 3.00 where it asks a Californian for a 2.50.

A student can see the eight ranges California publishes and the thirty campuses that publish none in the image above.

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University of Southern California

The University of Southern California in Los Angeles awards its business degrees through the Marshall School of Business, and USC reports the highest SAT range of any business school in this series so far.

Reading & Writing 710 to 760, Math 740 to 790. ACT composite 32 to 35. The top quarter of admitted students scored at or above 790 on Math and 35 on the ACT. Cost of attendance $90,300, with tuition and fees at $72,097 for all students. 20,443 undergraduates, 10% admitted.

USC’s 740 Math floor is 60 points above Santa Clara’s 680, the next highest in the state, and its 790 ceiling is 30 above Santa Clara’s 760. Its $72,097 tuition is the highest on any business page in this series. The university admits 10% of applicants. A New York student with a 1300 is 90 points under the Math floor and 60 under the Reading & Writing floor.

Santa Clara University

Santa Clara University in Santa Clara awards its business degrees through the Leavey School of Business, and Santa Clara’s SAT Math range sits second in the state to USC’s.

Reading & Writing 670 to 730, Math 680 to 760. ACT composite 31 to 33. The top quarter of admitted students scored at or above 760 on Math and 33 on the ACT. Cost of attendance $82,026, with tuition and fees at $61,293 for all students. 6,552 undergraduates, 48% admitted.

Santa Clara admits 48% of applicants on a range that would put it near the top of any state in this series, and its $61,293 is $10,804 below USC’s. Its 680 Math floor is the second highest in California, 40 points above Pepperdine’s 640.

Pepperdine University

Pepperdine University in Malibu awards its undergraduate business degrees through the business administration division of Seaver College [VERIFY the accredited unit], and Pepperdine charges every student $69,918, the second highest tuition on this page.

Reading & Writing 650 to 710, Math 640 to 740. ACT composite 29 to 32. The top quarter of admitted students scored at or above 740 on Math and 32 on the ACT. Cost of attendance $93,512, with tuition and fees at $69,918 for all students. 3,553 undergraduates, 63% admitted.

Pepperdine’s Math range runs 100 points, 640 to 740, the second widest of the eight after Pacific’s, and its cost of attendance, $93,512, is the highest in the table. It admits 63% of applicants, more than Santa Clara, Chapman or LMU.

University of the Pacific

The University of the Pacific in Stockton awards its business degrees through the Eberhardt School of Business, and Pacific reports the widest SAT Math range of the eight, 177 points from 593 to 770.

Reading & Writing 590 to 710, Math 593 to 770. ACT composite 23 to 32. The top quarter of admitted students scored at or above 770 on Math and 32 on the ACT. Cost of attendance $71,515, with tuition and fees at $57,080 for all students. 3,204 undergraduates, 71% admitted.

Pacific’s ACT range is wide in the same way, 23 to 32, nine points against Santa Clara’s two. Its $57,080 tuition is the lowest of the seven private schools above La Verne, and a New York student with a 650 on Math sits inside its range and approximately 30 points under its midpoint.

Chapman University

Chapman University in Orange awards its business degrees through the Argyros College of Business and Economics, and Chapman reports the same 630 to 720 range on both sections of the SAT.

Reading & Writing 630 to 720, Math 630 to 720. ACT composite 28 to 31. The top quarter of admitted students scored at or above 720 on Math and 31 on the ACT. Cost of attendance $83,146, with tuition and fees at $64,984 for all students. 7,478 undergraduates, 65% admitted.

Chapman admits 65% of applicants, charges $64,984 to every student, and holds a cost of attendance of $83,146, the third highest on the page. A New York student with a 650 on Math is 20 points inside Chapman’s floor.

Loyola Marymount University

Loyola Marymount University in Los Angeles awards its business degrees through its College of Business Administration, and LMU admits 45% of its applicants, the lowest rate among the eight private schools that report a range.

Reading & Writing 640 to 720, Math 620 to 710. ACT composite 28 to 32. The top quarter of admitted students scored at or above 710 on Math and 32 on the ACT. Cost of attendance $83,943, with tuition and fees at $62,357 for all students. 7,094 undergraduates, 45% admitted.

LMU’s 620 Math floor is the second lowest of the seven schools above La Verne and its 710 ceiling the lowest, and it admits fewer than half its applicants anyway. Its $62,357 tuition is $1,064 above Santa Clara’s for a range that sits 60 points lower on Math at the floor.

University of San Francisco

The University of San Francisco awards its business degrees through its School of Management, and USF reports the lowest Math floor of the seven private schools above La Verne, 580.

Reading & Writing 610 to 700, Math 580 to 690. ACT composite 25 to 30. The top quarter of admitted students scored at or above 690 on Math and 30 on the ACT. Cost of attendance $80,141, with tuition and fees at $60,492 for all students. 5,287 undergraduates, 62% admitted.

USF admits 62% of applicants and charges $60,492, and its Reading & Writing range of 610 to 700 sits above its Math range at both ends, a pattern LMU shares and USC does not. A New York student with a 650 on Math is 70 points inside USF’s floor.

University of La Verne

The University of La Verne in La Verne awards its business degrees through its College of Business [VERIFY AACSB], and La Verne reports the lowest SAT range of the eight and charges the lowest private tuition on the page, $49,470.

Reading & Writing 498 to 663, Math 488 to 573. ACT composite 18 to 25. The top quarter of admitted students scored at or above 573 on Math and 25 on the ACT. Cost of attendance $62,278, with tuition and fees at $49,470 for all students. 3,050 undergraduates, 71% admitted.

La Verne’s 488 to 573 Math range is the only private range on the page whose ceiling sits under 600, and its ACT range of 18 to 25 is the only one whose floor is under 20. It admits 71% of applicants, and a New Yorker with a 650 on Math is 77 points above its 75th percentile.

Cal State Fullerton

Cal State Fullerton in Fullerton awards its business degrees through the College of Business and Economics, and Fullerton is the largest campus on this page, with 38,546 undergraduates and a 91% admit rate.

Cal State Fullerton reports no SAT or ACT range. Cost of attendance $18,269, with tuition and fees at $7,470 in-state and $20,070 out-of-state. 38,546 undergraduates, 91% admitted. Cal State Fullerton charges a New Yorker $20,070, $514 below the median of the twenty-two Cal State campuses, with a non-resident premium of $12,600 over its resident tuition. The score a New Yorker holds is not read here, and the 3.00 floor and the campus’s supplemental factors are.

Cal State Long Beach

California State University, Long Beach awards its business degrees through its College of Business, and Long Beach admits 46%, the second lowest rate in the Cal State system after San Diego State.

Cal State Long Beach reports no SAT or ACT range. Cost of attendance $22,679, with tuition and fees at $7,350 in-state and $19,950 out-of-state. 35,924 undergraduates, 46% admitted.

Long Beach charges a New Yorker $19,950, $191 above Channel Islands’ $19,759, the lowest Cal State figure, and its 46% admit rate on a campus of 35,924 makes it the largest selective campus in the system. Its business college is impacted [VERIFY on the CSULB admissions page], so the 3.00 non-resident floor is a floor and not the threshold.

San Diego State University

San Diego State University awards its business degrees through the Fowler College of Business, and San Diego State admits 36% of its applicants, the lowest rate of the twenty-two Cal State campuses on this page.

San Diego State University reports no SAT or ACT range. Cost of attendance $27,780, with tuition and fees at $8,728 in-state and $21,328 out-of-state. 35,377 undergraduates, 36% admitted.

San Diego State’s admissions page says ‘All San Diego State University majors and pre-majors are designated as impacted,’ so a student admitted to the university enters the pre-major and moves to the Fowler College on the department’s criteria. A New Yorker pays $21,328, the second highest Cal State figure after Cal Poly’s, and $29,219 less than at Berkeley.

UC San Diego

UC San Diego in La Jolla awards its business degrees through the Rady School of Management [VERIFY the undergraduate business degree], and UC San Diego admits 27% of its applicants.

UC San Diego reports no SAT or ACT range. Cost of attendance $38,701, with tuition and fees at $16,758 in-state and $50,958 out-of-state. 34,948 undergraduates, 27% admitted.

UC Berkeley

The University of California, Berkeley awards its business degrees through the Haas School of Business, and Berkeley admits 11% of its applicants, the lowest rate of any public university on this page, and then admits again at the door of Haas.

UC Berkeley reports no SAT or ACT range. Cost of attendance $45,619, with tuition and fees at $16,347 in-state and $50,547 out-of-state. 33,068 undergraduates, 11% admitted.

The cost of attendance in the table is a resident’s. A non-resident’s comes to approximately $79,819 once the higher tuition, $50,547, is substituted, and that tuition is $16,375 above what the University of Alabama charges a New Yorker. Haas admits a freshman directly to its four-year program or a continuing student once, in the sophomore or junior year, the subject of the next section.

Cal State Northridge

Cal State Northridge in Northridge awards its business degrees through the Nazarian College of Business and Economics, and Cal State Northridge admits 93% of its applicants.

Cal State Northridge reports no SAT or ACT range. Cost of attendance $20,485, with tuition and fees at $7,458 in-state and $20,058 out-of-state. 32,691 undergraduates, 93% admitted. Cal State Northridge charges a New Yorker $20,058, $526 below the median of the twenty-two Cal State campuses, with a non-resident premium of $12,600 over its resident tuition. The score a New Yorker holds is not read here, and the 3.00 floor and the campus’s supplemental factors are.

UC Davis

UC Davis in Davis awards its business degrees through the Graduate School of Management [VERIFY the undergraduate business degree], and UC Davis admits 42% of its applicants.

UC Davis reports no SAT or ACT range. Cost of attendance $41,238, with tuition and fees at $16,774 in-state and $50,974 out-of-state. 32,253 undergraduates, 42% admitted.

UC Irvine

The University of California, Irvine awards its business degrees through the Paul Merage School of Business, and Irvine charges a New Yorker $49,922, $116 above Riverside’s $49,806, the lowest non-resident tuition of the five UC campuses.

UC Irvine reports no SAT or ACT range. Cost of attendance $38,632, with tuition and fees at $15,722 in-state and $49,922 out-of-state. 30,197 undergraduates, 29% admitted.

The cost of attendance in the table is a resident’s. A non-resident’s comes to approximately $72,832 with the higher tuition substituted. Irvine admits 29% of applicants, the third lowest rate in the UC rows after Berkeley and San Diego, and the Merage School admits to the business administration major [VERIFY whether Merage admits freshmen directly to the major or through a change-of-major process].

Cal State Sacramento

Cal State Sacramento in Sacramento awards its business degrees through the College of Business, and Cal State Sacramento admits 94% of its applicants.

Cal State Sacramento reports no SAT or ACT range. Cost of attendance $22,945, with tuition and fees at $8,018 in-state and $20,618 out-of-state. 28,350 undergraduates, 94% admitted. Cal State Sacramento charges a New Yorker $20,618, $34 above the median of the twenty-two Cal State campuses, with a non-resident premium of $12,600 over its resident tuition. The score a New Yorker holds is not read here, and the 3.00 floor and the campus’s supplemental factors are.

San Jose State University

San Jose State University in San Jose awards its business degrees through the Lucas College and Graduate School of Business, and San Jose State University admits 85% of its applicants.

San Jose State University reports no SAT or ACT range. Cost of attendance $26,593, with tuition and fees at $8,410 in-state and $21,010 out-of-state. 27,601 undergraduates, 85% admitted. San Jose State University charges a New Yorker $21,010, $426 above the median of the twenty-two Cal State campuses, with a non-resident premium of $12,600 over its resident tuition. The score a New Yorker holds is not read here, and the 3.00 floor and the campus’s supplemental factors are.

Cal Poly Pomona

Cal Poly Pomona in Pomona awards its business degrees through the College of Business Administration, and Cal Poly Pomona admits 75% of its applicants.

Cal Poly Pomona reports no SAT or ACT range. Cost of attendance $23,955, with tuition and fees at $7,780 in-state and $20,380 out-of-state. 25,042 undergraduates, 75% admitted. Cal Poly Pomona charges a New Yorker $20,380, $204 below the median of the twenty-two Cal State campuses, with a non-resident premium of $12,600 over its resident tuition. The score a New Yorker holds is not read here, and the 3.00 floor and the campus’s supplemental factors are.

UC Riverside

UC Riverside in Riverside awards its business degrees through the School of Business [VERIFY the undergraduate business degree], and UC Riverside admits 76% of its applicants.

UC Riverside reports no SAT or ACT range. Cost of attendance $38,942, with tuition and fees at $15,606 in-state and $49,806 out-of-state. 22,593 undergraduates, 76% admitted.

Cal Poly San Luis Obispo

California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo awards its business degrees through the Orfalea College of Business, and Cal Poly charges a New Yorker $34,665, $13,337 above the next highest Cal State campus and the one Cal State figure above $22,000.

Cal Poly San Luis Obispo reports no SAT or ACT range. Cost of attendance $32,265, with tuition and fees at $13,596 in-state and $34,665 out-of-state. 21,996 undergraduates, 31% admitted.

Cal Poly admits 31% of applicants, the lowest rate of the twenty-two Cal State campuses, and admits by major at the application rather than into a pre-major [VERIFY on the Cal Poly admissions page]. Its $34,665 is $493 above what the University of Alabama charges a non-resident and $15,882 below Berkeley’s.

Cal State Fresno

Cal State Fresno in Fresno awards its business degrees through the Craig School of Business, and Cal State Fresno admits 95% of its applicants.

Cal State Fresno reports no SAT or ACT range. Cost of attendance $20,095, with tuition and fees at $7,350 in-state and $19,950 out-of-state. 21,605 undergraduates, 95% admitted. Cal State Fresno charges a New Yorker $19,950, $634 below the median of the twenty-two Cal State campuses, with a non-resident premium of $12,600 over its resident tuition. The score a New Yorker holds is not read here, and the 3.00 floor and the campus’s supplemental factors are.

Cal State Los Angeles

Cal State Los Angeles in Los Angeles awards its business degrees through the College of Business and Economics, and Cal State Los Angeles admits 91% of its applicants.

Cal State Los Angeles reports no SAT or ACT range. Cost of attendance $18,403, with tuition and fees at $7,160 in-state and $19,760 out-of-state. 19,562 undergraduates, 91% admitted. Cal State Los Angeles charges a New Yorker $19,760, $824 below the median of the twenty-two Cal State campuses, with a non-resident premium of $12,600 over its resident tuition. The score a New Yorker holds is not read here, and the 3.00 floor and the campus’s supplemental factors are.

San Francisco State University

San Francisco State University in San Francisco awards its business degrees through the Lam Family College of Business, and San Francisco State University admits 96% of its applicants.

San Francisco State University reports no SAT or ACT range. Cost of attendance $26,488, with tuition and fees at $7,950 in-state and $20,550 out-of-state. 18,639 undergraduates, 96% admitted. San Francisco State University charges a New Yorker $20,550, $34 below the median of the twenty-two Cal State campuses, with a non-resident premium of $12,600 over its resident tuition. The score a New Yorker holds is not read here, and the 3.00 floor and the campus’s supplemental factors are.

Cal State San Bernardino

Cal State San Bernardino in San Bernardino awards its business degrees through the Jack H. Brown College of Business and Public Administration, and Cal State San Bernardino admits 94% of its applicants.

Cal State San Bernardino reports no SAT or ACT range. Cost of attendance $17,427, with tuition and fees at $8,093 in-state and $20,693 out-of-state. 15,023 undergraduates, 94% admitted. Cal State San Bernardino charges a New Yorker $20,693, $109 above the median of the twenty-two Cal State campuses, with a non-resident premium of $12,600 over its resident tuition. The score a New Yorker holds is not read here, and the 3.00 floor and the campus’s supplemental factors are.

Cal State San Marcos

Cal State San Marcos in San Marcos awards its business degrees through the College of Business Administration, and Cal State San Marcos admits 95% of its applicants.

Cal State San Marcos reports no SAT or ACT range. Cost of attendance $21,649, with tuition and fees at $8,082 in-state and $20,682 out-of-state. 14,877 undergraduates, 95% admitted. Cal State San Marcos charges a New Yorker $20,682, $98 above the median of the twenty-two Cal State campuses, with a non-resident premium of $12,600 over its resident tuition. The score a New Yorker holds is not read here, and the 3.00 floor and the campus’s supplemental factors are.

Cal State Chico

Cal State Chico in Chico awards its business degrees through the College of Business, and Cal State Chico admits 93% of its applicants.

Cal State Chico reports no SAT or ACT range. Cost of attendance $26,283, with tuition and fees at $8,472 in-state and $21,072 out-of-state. 13,631 undergraduates, 93% admitted. Cal State Chico charges a New Yorker $21,072, $488 above the median of the twenty-two Cal State campuses, with a non-resident premium of $12,600 over its resident tuition. The score a New Yorker holds is not read here, and the 3.00 floor and the campus’s supplemental factors are.

Cal State Dominguez Hills

Cal State Dominguez Hills in Carson awards its business degrees through the College of Business Administration and Public Policy, and Cal State Dominguez Hills admits 93% of its applicants.

Cal State Dominguez Hills reports no SAT or ACT range. Cost of attendance $23,191, with tuition and fees at $7,449 in-state and $20,049 out-of-state. 12,538 undergraduates, 93% admitted. Cal State Dominguez Hills charges a New Yorker $20,049, $535 below the median of the twenty-two Cal State campuses, with a non-resident premium of $12,600 over its resident tuition. The score a New Yorker holds is not read here, and the 3.00 floor and the campus’s supplemental factors are.

Cal State East Bay

Cal State East Bay in Hayward awards its business degrees through the College of Business and Economics, and Cal State East Bay admits 97% of its applicants.

Cal State East Bay reports no SAT or ACT range. Cost of attendance $22,850, with tuition and fees at $7,583 in-state and $20,183 out-of-state. 9,809 undergraduates, 97% admitted. Cal State East Bay charges a New Yorker $20,183, $401 below the median of the twenty-two Cal State campuses, with a non-resident premium of $12,600 over its resident tuition. The score a New Yorker holds is not read here, and the 3.00 floor and the campus’s supplemental factors are.

Cal State Bakersfield

Cal State Bakersfield in Bakersfield awards its business degrees through the School of Business and Public Administration, and Cal State Bakersfield admits 94% of its applicants.

Cal State Bakersfield reports no SAT or ACT range. Cost of attendance $19,522, with tuition and fees at $8,090 in-state and $20,690 out-of-state. 8,577 undergraduates, 94% admitted. Cal State Bakersfield charges a New Yorker $20,690, $106 above the median of the twenty-two Cal State campuses, with a non-resident premium of $12,600 over its resident tuition. The score a New Yorker holds is not read here, and the 3.00 floor and the campus’s supplemental factors are.

Cal State Stanislaus

Cal State Stanislaus in Turlock awards its business degrees through the College of Business Administration, and Cal State Stanislaus admits 98% of its applicants.

Cal State Stanislaus reports no SAT or ACT range. Cost of attendance $19,739, with tuition and fees at $8,246 in-state and $20,846 out-of-state. 8,385 undergraduates, 98% admitted. Cal State Stanislaus charges a New Yorker $20,846, $262 above the median of the twenty-two Cal State campuses, with a non-resident premium of $12,600 over its resident tuition. The score a New Yorker holds is not read here, and the 3.00 floor and the campus’s supplemental factors are.

Cal State Monterey Bay

Cal State Monterey Bay in Seaside awards its business degrees through the College of Business, and Cal State Monterey Bay admits 97% of its applicants.

Cal State Monterey Bay reports no SAT or ACT range. Cost of attendance $26,987, with tuition and fees at $7,779 in-state and $20,379 out-of-state. 6,819 undergraduates, 97% admitted. Cal State Monterey Bay charges a New Yorker $20,379, $205 below the median of the twenty-two Cal State campuses, with a non-resident premium of $12,600 over its resident tuition. The score a New Yorker holds is not read here, and the 3.00 floor and the campus’s supplemental factors are.

University of San Diego

University of San Diego in San Diego awards its business degrees through the Knauss School of Business, and University of San Diego reports no SAT or ACT range to the Scorecard.

University of San Diego reports no SAT or ACT range. Cost of attendance $78,720, with tuition and fees at $59,486 for all students. 5,671 undergraduates, 52% admitted.

Cal Poly Humboldt

Cal Poly Humboldt in Arcata awards its business degrees through its School of Business [VERIFY AACSB], and Cal Poly Humboldt admits 98% of its applicants.

Cal Poly Humboldt reports no SAT or ACT range. Cost of attendance $25,170, with tuition and fees at $8,250 in-state and $20,850 out-of-state. 5,612 undergraduates, 98% admitted. Cal Poly Humboldt charges a New Yorker $20,850, $266 above the median of the twenty-two Cal State campuses, with a non-resident premium of $12,600 over its resident tuition. The score a New Yorker holds is not read here, and the 3.00 floor and the campus’s supplemental factors are.

Sonoma State University

Sonoma State University in Rohnert Park awards its business degrees through the School of Business and Economics, and Sonoma State University admits 93% of its applicants.

Sonoma State University reports no SAT or ACT range. Cost of attendance $24,648, with tuition and fees at $8,624 in-state and $21,224 out-of-state. 5,166 undergraduates, 93% admitted. Sonoma State University charges a New Yorker $21,224, $640 above the median of the twenty-two Cal State campuses, with a non-resident premium of $12,600 over its resident tuition. The score a New Yorker holds is not read here, and the 3.00 floor and the campus’s supplemental factors are.

Cal State Channel Islands

Cal State Channel Islands in Camarillo awards its business degrees through the Martin V. Smith School of Business and Economics [VERIFY AACSB], and Cal State Channel Islands admits 95% of its applicants.

Cal State Channel Islands reports no SAT or ACT range. Cost of attendance $23,561, with tuition and fees at $7,159 in-state and $19,759 out-of-state. 5,013 undergraduates, 95% admitted. Cal State Channel Islands charges a New Yorker $19,759, $825 below the median of the twenty-two Cal State campuses, with a non-resident premium of $12,600 over its resident tuition. The score a New Yorker holds is not read here, and the 3.00 floor and the campus’s supplemental factors are.

Saint Mary's College of California

Saint Mary’s College of California in Moraga awards its business degrees through the School of Economics and Business Administration [VERIFY AACSB], and Saint Mary’s College of California reports no SAT or ACT range to the Scorecard.

Saint Mary’s College of California reports no SAT or ACT range. Cost of attendance $77,659, with tuition and fees at $57,803 for all students. 1,947 undergraduates, 87% admitted.

Menlo College

Menlo College in Atherton is a business college in its own right, with AACSB accreditation for the college as a whole [VERIFY AACSB], and Menlo College reports no SAT or ACT range to the Scorecard.

Menlo College reports no SAT or ACT range. Cost of attendance $72,020, with tuition and fees at $53,630 for all students. 752 undergraduates, 68% admitted.

Thirty-eight rows say who got into the university, and thirty of them say nothing about a score. The next section is about what the public campuses read instead.

What Does It Take to Enter a Business School in California Without a Test Score?

Twenty-seven of California’s business schools, every public one, read no SAT or ACT score, so the first door at every public business school in the state is a high school GPA, and the California State University sets that door at 3.00 for a non-resident and 2.50 for a Californian.

The Cal State system publishes the rule for all twenty-two campuses at once. A California resident or a graduate of a California high school is eligible with a 2.50 or higher GPA in the a-g courses, the 15-unit pattern of college-preparatory courses with a C or better in each, and the system’s page says, “Non-California residents may be eligible for admission to the CSU by earning a 3.00 or greater,” on the same pattern and the same three admission factors. A Californian between 2.00 and 2.49 and a non-Californian between 2.47 and 2.99 may be evaluated on supplemental factors, course load beyond the minimum, math and science GPA, household income, extracurricular and leadership involvement among them, and the page says California residents are given priority when space is limited [VERIFY every figure and quotation on the CSU admission requirements page].

Impaction raises the door further. The system’s own words are that a campus or major is impacted “when the number of applications received by a campus or a major exceeds the number of available spaces,” and impacted campuses and programs may use higher a-g GPA thresholds and supplemental criteria with set weights. San Diego State’s admissions page says, “All San Diego State University majors and pre-majors are designated as impacted,” and a student admitted there is placed in the pre-major and moves to the major on department criteria such as a minimum GPA, prerequisite courses or a set number of units. At Cal State Northridge the first-time freshman from outside California needs an eligibility index of 3000 for fall 2026 against 2500 for a Californian in a non-impacted major, and the campus says regional impaction is “no longer in effect” and that out-of-state applicants are not subject to major impaction [VERIFY the index formula on CSUN’s multifactor page before converting 3000 to a GPA].

The University of California publishes no floor of that kind for a business school, because its business schools set their own second door, and the best known of them opens twice. The Haas School of Business at Berkeley admits a freshman directly to the four-year Spieker Undergraduate Business Program through the UC application, with the first cohort enrolled in August 2024, and admits a continuing Berkeley student to the two-year program on one application, in the sophomore or junior year, with the prerequisites finished by the end of that spring, judged on grades and coursework, essays, and activities and awards. The page’s words: “You may only apply once.” For 2027 the application opens on March 1, closes on March 31, and decisions are released in mid-June, with Fortune reporting “fewer spots” for juniors since the four-year program began [VERIFY on the Haas continuing-students page and the Haas newsroom].

Door	Who	What is read	Floor or rule
Cal State, California resident	Freshman	a-g GPA, 15-unit pattern, supplemental factors	2.50 eligible, 2.00 to 2.49 reviewed
Cal State, non-resident	Freshman	a-g GPA, same pattern, supplemental factors	3.00 eligible, 2.47 to 2.99 reviewed, residents given priority
Haas four-year (Spieker)	High school senior	UC application, no test	Admitted as a freshman, first cohort fall 2024
Haas two-year	Berkeley sophomore or junior	Grades and coursework, essays, activities and awards	One application, prerequisites done by the end of spring, decisions in mid-June

The image above shows the two doors a New York student faces at California’s public business schools.

What a New Yorker between 2.47 and 2.99 gets at a Cal State campus is a supplemental review with Californians ahead of him in line. What a Berkeley sophomore gets at Haas is one application, and a junior who waited gets the same one with fewer seats behind the door. On our page on business colleges in Arizona, ASU’s business school draws its own line at an SAT of 1230. California’s public business schools draw no line in score at all, and the line they draw instead is a GPA set higher for the student from out of state.

The price follows the same split. The five UC campuses charge a New Yorker between $49,806 at Riverside and $50,974 at Davis, the highest non-resident tuition of any public schools on a business page so far, $16,375 above the University of Alabama’s at Berkeley and $20,581 above the University of Arkansas’s. Four years at Berkeley is $202,188. The twenty-two Cal State campuses charge a New Yorker between $19,759 at Channel Islands and $21,328 at San Diego State, with Cal Poly San Luis Obispo alone at $34,665, and four years at San Diego State is $85,312. Neither system’s Western Undergraduate Exchange rate reaches a New Yorker [VERIFY WUE participation at the CSU and confirm the UC does not take part].

The one business degree California licenses is accounting. The California Board of Accountancy licenses a CPA on 150 semester units including a bachelor’s degree, with 24 units of accounting subjects, 24 of business-related subjects, 20 of accounting study and 10 of ethics study, 12 months of general accounting experience, and a Department of Justice and FBI background check, and it removed the separate ethics exam on July 1, 2024 in favor of a regulatory review course at the first renewal [CalCPA page, VERIFY on dca.ca.gov/cba, including the units required to sit for the exam]. Alabama asks 150 hours with 33 in accounting, Arizona 150 with 36, Arkansas 150 to license and 120 to sit, and Alaska a bachelor’s degree from 2026. California’s 150 is the only count on these pages with ethics study built into it.

Take a New York student with a 1300 on the SAT, 650 on each section, and a 3.5 GPA. At a Cal State campus his 1300 is not read and his 3.5 clears the 3.00 non-resident floor, so at San Diego State he is admitted at 36% into the pre-major and moves to the Fowler College on the department’s criteria, and at Northridge his index must reach 3000 [VERIFY the formula]. At Berkeley his 1300 is not read either, the university admits 11%, and Haas reads him once, in June of his sophomore or junior year, unless he applied to Spieker from high school. At USC his 650 on Math is 90 points under the 740 floor and his 650 on Reading & Writing is 60 under the 710 floor, at a 10% admit rate. At LMU he is inside 620 to 710 on Math and 640 to 720 on Reading & Writing, admitted at 45%. Four years of tuition is $202,188 at Berkeley, $85,312 at San Diego State, $249,428 at LMU and $288,388 at USC. The score decided something at the two private schools and at neither public one.

The honest version is that the Cal State floors are floors. No campus publishes a middle 50% of admitted GPAs for business, and each weights its supplemental factors differently. Haas does not publish how many continuing students apply or are admitted, and “fewer spots” is the only published direction. UC San Diego’s and UC Davis’s rows rest on brackets until their undergraduate business degrees are confirmed. Three of the eleven private schools, USD, Saint Mary’s and Menlo, report no range either. The page does not say which business school is better. It says who reads a score, who reads a GPA, and what floor the GPA has.

Families reading the thirty blank rows frequently ask whether the public universities look at the SAT at all.

Which California Universities Have AACSB-Accredited Business Schools?

Thirty-eight California universities hold business accreditation from AACSB International, five in the University of California, twenty-two in the California State University and eleven private, and the list below names each with its city and the school that awards the business degree [VERIFY all 38 on the AACSB directory before publishing, with UC San Diego, UC Davis, Humboldt, Channel Islands, La Verne, Saint Mary’s and Menlo first].

UC San Diego in La Jolla awards its business degrees through the AACSB-accredited Rady School of Management.
UC Berkeley in Berkeley awards its business degrees through the AACSB-accredited Haas School of Business.
UC Davis in Davis awards its business degrees through the AACSB-accredited Graduate School of Management.
UC Irvine in Irvine awards its business degrees through the AACSB-accredited Paul Merage School of Business.
UC Riverside in Riverside awards its business degrees through the AACSB-accredited School of Business.
Cal State Fullerton in Fullerton awards its business degrees through the AACSB-accredited College of Business and Economics.
Cal State Long Beach in Long Beach awards its business degrees through the AACSB-accredited College of Business.
San Diego State University in San Diego awards its business degrees through the AACSB-accredited Fowler College of Business.
Cal State Northridge in Northridge awards its business degrees through the AACSB-accredited Nazarian College of Business and Economics.
Cal State Sacramento in Sacramento awards its business degrees through the AACSB-accredited College of Business.
San Jose State University in San Jose awards its business degrees through the AACSB-accredited Lucas College and Graduate School of Business.
Cal Poly Pomona in Pomona awards its business degrees through the AACSB-accredited College of Business Administration.
Cal Poly San Luis Obispo in San Luis Obispo awards its business degrees through the AACSB-accredited Orfalea College of Business.
Cal State Fresno in Fresno awards its business degrees through the AACSB-accredited Craig School of Business.
Cal State Los Angeles in Los Angeles awards its business degrees through the AACSB-accredited College of Business and Economics.
San Francisco State University in San Francisco awards its business degrees through the AACSB-accredited Lam Family College of Business.
Cal State San Bernardino in San Bernardino awards its business degrees through the AACSB-accredited Jack H. Brown College of Business and Public Administration.
Cal State San Marcos in San Marcos awards its business degrees through the AACSB-accredited College of Business Administration.
Cal State Chico in Chico awards its business degrees through the AACSB-accredited College of Business.
Cal State Dominguez Hills in Carson awards its business degrees through the AACSB-accredited College of Business Administration and Public Policy.
Cal State East Bay in Hayward awards its business degrees through the AACSB-accredited College of Business and Economics.
Cal State Bakersfield in Bakersfield awards its business degrees through the AACSB-accredited School of Business and Public Administration.
Cal State Stanislaus in Turlock awards its business degrees through the AACSB-accredited College of Business Administration.
Cal State Monterey Bay in Seaside awards its business degrees through the AACSB-accredited College of Business.
Cal Poly Humboldt in Arcata awards its business degrees through the AACSB-accredited School of Business.
Sonoma State University in Rohnert Park awards its business degrees through the AACSB-accredited School of Business and Economics.
Cal State Channel Islands in Camarillo awards its business degrees through the AACSB-accredited Martin V. Smith School of Business and Economics.
University of Southern California in Los Angeles awards its business degrees through the AACSB-accredited Marshall School of Business.
Santa Clara University in Santa Clara awards its business degrees through the AACSB-accredited Leavey School of Business.
Pepperdine University in Malibu awards its business degrees through the AACSB-accredited Seaver College Business Administration Division.
University of the Pacific in Stockton awards its business degrees through the AACSB-accredited Eberhardt School of Business.
Chapman University in Orange awards its business degrees through the AACSB-accredited Argyros College of Business and Economics.
Loyola Marymount University in Los Angeles awards its business degrees through the AACSB-accredited College of Business Administration.
University of San Francisco in San Francisco awards its business degrees through the AACSB-accredited School of Management.
University of La Verne in La Verne awards its business degrees through the AACSB-accredited College of Business.
University of San Diego in San Diego awards its business degrees through the AACSB-accredited Knauss School of Business.
Saint Mary’s College of California in Moraga awards its business degrees through the AACSB-accredited School of Economics and Business Administration.
Menlo College in Atherton awards its business degrees through the AACSB-accredited Menlo College (business school).

Accreditation matters for a reason that is easy to miss at seventeen. Business itself is not a licensed profession, and the one business degree that leads to a license, accounting, leads to it through the state board rather than through the school. A CPA in California normally needs 150 semester units with 24 in accounting, 24 in business, 20 in accounting study and 10 in ethics study, the Uniform CPA Examination and 12 months of experience [VERIFY on the board’s site]. AACSB status matters on the way there because business schools use it to decide whose courses they will accept in transfer, and a student who moves between a Cal State campus and a private school will find that rule applied to him.

UCLA’s Anderson School of Management and Stanford’s Graduate School of Business are AACSB-accredited and award no undergraduate business degree, so neither is a row. California Lutheran University’s School of Management holds business accreditation from the ACBSP rather than AACSB. Biola, Azusa Pacific, Point Loma Nazarene, California Baptist, Redlands, Dominican, Woodbury, Whittier, Vanguard, Concordia Irvine, Fresno Pacific, Mount Saint Mary’s, The Master’s University and Claremont McKenna award business or economics bachelor’s degrees without AACSB accreditation [VERIFY each school’s accreditor]. National University, University of the People and UMass Global are online or report no scores, and UC Santa Barbara, UC Santa Cruz and UC Merced award no AACSB-accredited business bachelor’s degree [VERIFY].

Nothing on this page ranks the 38. They are thirty-eight schools with the same accreditor, two public systems that read no score and eleven private schools that do, and the pages for business colleges in Oregon and business colleges in Nevada carry the neighbors a student looking at California is likely comparing.

Do the University of California and Cal State Schools Look at SAT Scores?

No, neither the University of California nor the California State University considers an SAT or ACT score in admission, and no campus of either system reports a range to the Scorecard.

The UC Regents ended consideration of the tests in 2021 and the Cal State Board of Trustees ended it in March 2022 [VERIFY both dates on the systems’ own pages]. The eight private schools on this page do read a score, and a New Yorker sends it to them. The one place a test can still do work at a Cal State campus is the system’s rule that an SAT subject test, an AP exam or an IB exam can make up a missing a-g subject area, and a Berkeley sophomore applying to Haas is judged on his Berkeley grades, not on anything from high school.

Two doors, no score. Which schools hold the accreditation is the next section.

What If Your Scores Are Below the Range You Want?

In California there are eight ranges to be under, from La Verne’s 488 Math floor to USC’s 740, and no public campus reads the score at all. A student under the floor he wants at a private school is not ruled out, because a quarter of admitted students were there too. He is in the quarter that needs the rest of the application to carry more.

The first step is finding out where the score actually is, section by section. A free diagnostic SAT gives a Math score that can be set directly against the eight private floors, 488 at La Verne, 580 at USF, 593 at Pacific, 620 at LMU, 630 at Chapman, 640 at Pepperdine, 680 at Santa Clara and 740 at USC.

The Math section rewards the same handful of topics on every test date, and a student who knows which of them he is missing can close a gap of 50 to 100 points in weeks rather than months. The method is on our page on improving your SAT Math score. At the twenty-two Cal State campuses the same algebra is read a different way, through the a-g pattern’s three required years of math, with four recommended, because that record is what the system reads in place of the score.

How to Read These Score Ranges

Each range in the table covers the middle 50% of admitted students who submitted that test, so a quarter of admitted students were below the lower number and a quarter were at or above the upper one.

Twenty-seven rows on this page are blank by policy, because the UC and the Cal State system read no test, and three private rows are blank because those schools report none, not because the Scorecard suppressed them. A range describes the students who chose to submit at all. More on what SAT score you need for college and on test-optional colleges.

Should You Take the ACT Instead?

No public campus in California reads the ACT or the SAT, and the eight private schools that report a range report both tests.

A New York student who holds an SAT should send it to the eight and leave the ACT alone unless a school on his list outside California asks for it. Nothing at a UC or Cal State campus changes with either test.

Business Programs in Nearby States

California borders Oregon, Nevada and Arizona, and each has AACSB-accredited business schools of its own [VERIFY the lists before linking].

See business colleges in Oregon, business colleges in Nevada, and business colleges in Arizona.

Business Colleges in Other States

We publish the same breakdown for business programs in every state.

See business colleges by state for the full list.

Glyn Caddell

Glyn Caddell holds a BS in Mechanical Engineering from NJIT and has been tutoring New York City students since 2008. He founded Caddell Prep in 2012 and is the author of Digital SAT Math Secrets: Lessons & Tricks to Quickly Improve to a Perfect 800 on the Math Test, which contains over 900 practice problems and is used in Caddell Prep’s SAT math classes. He is founding president of the Staten Island Technical High School alumni association and teaches every lesson on this site personally.

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