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Best Value Construction Trades Basic Certificate Schools in California

2023 Best Value Construction Trades Basic Certificate Schools in California

Highlighting Quality Schools With More Affordable Pricing

5 Colleges
$0 Avg Tuition & Fees*

Finding the Best Construction Trades Basic Certificate School for You

Construction Trades is one of the most popular subjects to study in California. With 3,095 degrees and certificates handed out in 2021-2022, it ranked 5th out of all the majors we track in the state.

It's not easy to decide which trade school program to enroll in when you have so many options available. 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.

To assist you in seeing some of the education options that are available to you, Trade College Search has created its Best Value Construction Trades Basic Certificate Schools in California ranking. This report analyzed 5 schools in California to see which ones offered the best value basic certificate programs for construction trades students. The goal was to highlight schools with more affordable prices than others offering similar quality experiences.

Our ranking of value is based on the quality of a program as defined in our per sticker price dollar. 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.

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


 

2023 Best Value Construction Trades Basic Certificate Schools in California

The following schools top our list of the Best Value Construction Trades Basic Certificate Colleges.

Best California Schools for Affordable Quality for an Award Taking Less Than 1 Year in Construction Trades

#1

Summit College

San Bernardino, CA

Our analysis found Summit College to be the best value school for construction trades students who want to pursue a basic certificate in California. Located in the midsize city of San Bernardino, Summit College is a private for-profit school with a small student population.

Read full report on Construction Trades at Summit College

#1

CET, Salinas

Salinas, CA

Our 2023 rankings named CET, Salinas the best value school in California for construction trades students working on their basic certificate. Located in the midsize city of Salinas, CET, Salinas is a private not-for-profit school with a small student population.

Read full report on Construction Trades at CET, Salinas

#1

CET, Watsonville

Watsonville, CA

Our 2023 rankings named CET, Watsonville the best value school in California for construction trades students working on their basic certificate. Located in the small city of Watsonville, CET, Watsonville is a private not-for-profit college with a fairly small student population.

Read More…

Our analysis found Institute for Business and Technology to be the best value school for construction trades students who want to pursue a basic certificate in California. Located in the midsize city of Santa Clara, Institute for Business and Technology is a private for-profit college with a fairly small student population.

Full Construction Trades at Institute for Business and Technology Report

#1

National Career Education

Citrus Heights, CA

Our analysis found National Career Education to be the best value school for construction trades students who want to pursue a basic certificate in California. National Career Education is a fairly small private for-profit school located in the suburb of Citrus Heights.

Read More…

Best Value Construction Trades Colleges in the Far Western US Region

Explore all the Best Value Construction Trades Colleges in the Far Western US Area or other specific states within that region.

State Degrees Awarded
Alaska 8
Hawaii 350
Washington 505
Oregon 164
Nevada 366

Construction Trades Majors to Study

Major Annual Graduates
Electrical & Power Transmission Installers 26,459
Building Management & Inspection 5,269
Carpentry 3,899
Plumbing & Water Supply 2,888
Construction 1,813
Masonry 284
Other Construction 190

Majors Similar to Construction Trades

Related Major Annual Graduates
Personal & Culinary Services 149,352
Mechanic & Repair Technologies 105,741
Precision Production 55,411
Transportation & Materials Moving 33,306

Notes and References

*These averages are for the top 5 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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