Open Admission Colleges in California

Open Admission Colleges in California refers to the practice of letting any student who wishes to attend a public college or university without regard to academic ability, income or other qualifications.

Have you been trying to get all the information you can on open admission colleges in California? Have you been able to get all the information you want? If you haven’t, you need not get worried. The article below brings you the information you are looking for.

You will also discover up to date related posts on open admission colleges in California, open admission colleges in new York, open admission colleges near me, open admission online colleges, open admission colleges in texas, open admission colleges in Georgia & open admission colleges in Louisiana on collegelearners.

open admission colleges in california

If you’re worried about getting into college, we’re here with some news that may ease your mind: There are open admission colleges (aka open enrollment colleges), colleges that offer admission to all students provided that they have a high school diploma or GED. Regardless of your GPA or standardized test scores, you can have the opportunity to pursue a college degree at one of these schools.

In this article, we’ll define open admission colleges, explain the pros and cons of attending a college with open admissions, and provide you with a list of four-year colleges with a 100% acceptance rate.

What Is an Open Admission College?

Open admission, or open enrollment, means that everybody who has a high school diploma or GED can attend. Nobody is rejected. Open admission schools have an acceptance rate of 100%. Generally, you don’t have to take the SAT or ACT to be admitted, but many open admission colleges require placement tests.

Types of Colleges That Are Open Admission

There are public, private independent, private liberal arts, and private religious colleges that are open admission. Examples of public open admission colleges include UTEP, Metropolitan State, and Weber State. The University of Pikeville is an open admission liberal arts college. Arlington Baptist College and Jarvis Christian College are open admission religious colleges.

Also, some colleges with open enrollment, including Baker College and Dixie State University offer both associate (2-year) and bachelor’s (4-year) degrees. Furthermore, some open admission universities offer distance or online education.

The majority of community colleges are open admission. At a community college, you can get a trade certificate, an associate degree, or transfer to a 4-year college to get your bachelor’s degree.

School	City	State
Academy of Art University	San Francisco	CA
Life Pacific College	San Dimas	CA
National University	La Jolla	CA
Northwestern Polytechnic University	Fremont	CA

open admission colleges near me

California Open Admissions Colleges, Cost and Affordability for 2021
Open admissions means that any prospective student who has completed high school or attained a GED certificate may enroll in classes. A qualifying GPA or standardized test scores (SAT or ACT) scores are not necessary for to attend these schools with open admissions policies.

How much does it cost to attend open admissions college in California? The average annual in-state college tuition in California was $14,519 for the 2019-2020 academic year. This is a change of $249 from the 2018-2019 average of $14,270 and represents a 1.74% annual increase. The list of California open admissions colleges below provides school specific cost and value rating.

Our guide surveyed tuition data from the 160 open admissions colleges and universities in California, the most popular being Santa Monica College with 11,035 full time students and an in-state tuition list price of $1,104. John Paul the Great Catholic University is the most expensive open admissions school in California with an in-state tuition of $26,200.

Click on any school for current tuition, future cost estimates, school specific savings plans and estimated student loan payments. California colleges can also be filtered by public, private, community colleges and four year schools. Additionally, cost based sorting is available for the lowest and highest tuition options. Jump directly to our ranking of best values in California or cheap California colleges guide.

<Academic Rating is a CollegeCalc proprietary national percentile ranking of a college’s overall difficulty and educational effectiveness. An average score is 50. Dollar value is a measure of a school’s academic rating compared with the average net price paid. Colleges which are ranked “n/a” didn’t report sufficient data to formulate a score. Learn more about our ratings.

All price data are reprinted from the U.S. Department of Education’s 2018-2019 IPEDS Survey and reflect reported costs for the 2018-2019 academic year.

Explore California Colleges
School Tuition Rating Value
Allan Hancock College
Santa Maria, California

$1,288
NA
NA
American River College
Sacramento, California

$0
NA
NA
Antelope Valley College
Lancaster, California

$1,104
NA
NA
Azusa Pacific Online University
Glendora, California

$10,800
NA
NA
Bakersfield College
Bakersfield, California

$1,288
NA
NA
Barstow Community College
Barstow, California

$1,104
NA
NA
Berkeley City College
Berkeley, California

$1,104
NA
NA
Bryan University
Los Angeles, California

$10,050
NA
NA
Butte College
Oroville, California

$1,104
NA
NA
Cabrillo College
Aptos, California

$1,104
NA
NA
California College San Diego
San Diego, California

$18,480
NA
NA
Canada College
Redwood City, California

$1,288
NA
NA
Cerritos College
Norwalk, California

$1,288
NA
NA
Cerro Coso Community College
Ridgecrest, California

$1,288
NA
NA
Chabot College
Hayward, California

$1,104
NA
NA
Chaffey College
Rancho Cucamonga, California

$1,104
NA
NA
Charles R Drew University of Medicine and Science
Los Angeles, California

$13,872
63
84
Citrus College
Glendora, California

$1,104
NA
NA
City College of San Francisco
San Francisco, California

$0
NA
NA
Coastline Community College
Fountain Valley, California

$1,104
NA
NA
View All 160
Next 20

Colleges in California
Public Colleges in California
Private Colleges in California
Four Year Colleges in California

open admission colleges in louisiana

What Is an Open Admission College?
Open admission, or open enrollment, means that everybody who has a high school diploma or GED can attend. Nobody is rejected. Open admission schools have an acceptance rate of 100%. Generally, you don’t have to take the SAT or ACT to be admitted, but many open admission colleges require placement tests.

Types of Colleges That Are Open Admission
There are public, private independent, private liberal arts, and private religious colleges that are open admission. Examples of public open admission colleges include UTEP, Metropolitan State, and Weber State. The University of Pikeville is an open admission liberal arts college. Arlington Baptist College and Jarvis Christian College are open admission religious colleges.

Also, some colleges with open enrollment, including Baker College and Dixie State University offer both associate (2-year) and bachelor’s (4-year) degrees. Furthermore, some open admission universities offer distance or online education.

The majority of community colleges are open admission. At a community college, you can get a trade certificate, an associate degree, or transfer to a 4-year college to get your bachelor’s degree.

Community Colleges (2-Year) vs. Open Admission Colleges (4-Year)
Although most community colleges and all 4-year open admission universities accept anyone who applies, there are still some major differences between the two types of programs. Most importantly, the bachelor’s degree you receive from a 4-year college is a more advanced degree and will provide more job opportunities than the associate degree you receive from a 2-year college. Nonetheless, each type of school has its own benefits. Let’s go through them.

Benefits of Attending a Community College
Even though 4-year colleges tend to be more highly regarded than community colleges, community colleges do offer some advantages.

Lower Cost
Most community colleges are a fraction of the price of 4-year colleges. According to the National Center for Education Statistics, the average cost of tuition and fees for 2018/2019 at a public two-year school was only $9,440, significantly less than the average cost of a year at a public four-year school ($14,600).

You Can Transfer to a Four-Year College
Community colleges offer you the opportunity to transfer to a 4-year college and get a bachelor’s degree. In fact, many public 4-year colleges offer guaranteed admission to in-state community college students if they fulfill certain requirements.

Some of my former students attended community college and were able to transfer to prestigious colleges like UC-Berkeley and UCSD.

Many Community Colleges Offer Certificates in Specific Trades
Whereas 4-year colleges tend to offer degrees in more academic or scholarly fields, most community colleges offer certificates in trades that directly lead to employment. The majority of certificate programs can be completed in less than a year. Common certificate fields of study include health care, cosmetology, auto mechanics, and computer and information services.

You can get a cosmetology certificate at a community college. (COD Newsroom/Flickr)

Benefits of Attending a Four-Year College
Besides the increased opportunities and higher income you’re likely to receive if you get a bachelor’s degree vs. an associate degree, there are additional benefits of attending a 4-year college right out of high school.

You’re More Likely To Get a Bachelor’s Degree
Students are more likely to get a bachelor’s degree if they start their post-high school education at a 4-year college. In my experience, only the most motivated students who attended community college ended up transferring and receiving bachelor’s degrees.

While everyone at a 4-year college is pursuing a bachelor’s degree, many community college students aren’t. You have to be more driven and fulfill all the necessary requirements to transfer to a 4-year college.

Better Social Life
Four-year colleges tend to offer better social lives for their students. Many community college students only spend time on campus when they’re in class. The average age of community college students is older; there are many part-time students and older people who are trying to continue their educations.

At four-year colleges, even those where the majority of students don’t live on campus, there are usually more extracurricular activities and out-of-class interaction between students.

Takes Less Time To Get a Bachelor’s Degree
On average, it takes longer for a community college student to receive a bachelor’s degree than it does for a student who starts at a 4-year college. According to the National Center for Education Statistics, the average time it takes to complete a bachelor’s degree is:

71 months for students who begin at 2‐year colleges
55 months for students who begin at 4-year public colleges
50 months for students who begin at 4-year private colleges
The lower cost of community colleges might be offset by the additional time it could take to receive a bachelor’s degree.

Open Admission vs. More Selective Colleges
You may end up deciding between an open enrollment college and a more selective college when you’re making your college decision. I’ll break down the advantages of each type of institution.

Benefits of Open Admission Colleges
Because of the lower admission requirements at colleges with open admissions, it may be easier to excel in more demanding subjects at an open admission college because you’re likely competing with fewer gifted students, and you may be able to maintain a higher GPA. A higher college GPA can increase your chances of gaining admission to graduate or professional schools and getting certain jobs after you graduate from college.

Also, the cost of open admission colleges, especially public open admission colleges, is usually lower than those of more selective institutions. Even when comparing private colleges, colleges with open enrollment tend to be cheaper than more selective schools.

The tuition and fees for Arlington Baptist College, a private Christian college in Texas with open enrollment is $14,490. That’s significantly cheaper than the $51,107 tuition and fees for Rice University, a selective private school in Houston, Texas. For comparison, the tuition and fees for Texas A&M, a public university, is $12,774036 for in-state students and $31,214 for out-of-state students.

Lastly, open admission colleges offer you the opportunity to be around more diverse types of students. Open enrollment colleges typically enroll many more older students and part-time students who might have full-time jobs or families. More selective colleges tend to be composed mostly of students who did well in high school and attended college right after graduating high school. Part of the education you receive in college comes from being around different types of people who have different backgrounds and perspectives.

You can save money by attending an open admission college. (Images Money/Flickr)

Benefits of More Selective Colleges
Often, schools are judged based on their acceptance rates. Schools with higher acceptance rates tend to have worse reputations than more selective colleges. While you can accomplish your academic and professional goals by studying at any college, it can be more difficult to get certain jobs or admitted to more selective graduate school programs from a less prestigious university.

More selective colleges often have a higher caliber of student. In college, you learn from and are inspired by your peers. More selective schools have a greater percentage of driven students with advanced academic skills.

Lastly, more selective schools typically have more resources. Because they have more resources, more selective schools often have better dorms, academic facilities, and more prestigious professors.

About Open Admission Online Colleges

List of Open Admission Colleges
All of the colleges on the list are 4-year colleges with 100% acceptance rates. I put the public colleges are in bold.

Besides these colleges, there are a number of colleges that are close to open admission. They have acceptance rates of between 97% and 99.9%. Assuming you meet minimum requirements, you’ll almost definitely gain admission. Check out our list of schools with the highest acceptance rates.

Some seminaries and schools of religious teaching, like yeshivas and rabbinical colleges, are also open admission, but I didn’t include them in this list.

Alabama
School City State
Heritage Christian University Florence AL

California
School City State
Academy of Art University San Francisco CA
Life Pacific College San Dimas CA
National University La Jolla CA
Northwestern Polytechnic University Fremont CA

Connecticut
School City State
Holy Apostles College and Seminary Cromwell CT

District of Columbia
School City State
University of the Potomac Washington DC

Idaho
School City State
Boise Bible College Boise ID
Lewis-Clark State College Lewiston ID

Kentucky
School City State
University of Pikeville Pikeville KY

Massachusetts
School City State
Boston Architectural College Boston MA

Maryland
School City State
University of Maryland Global Campus Adelphi MD

Michigan
School City State
Baker College of Auburn Hills Auburn Hills MI
Baker College of Cadillac Cadillac MI
Baker College of Jackson Jackson MI
Baker College of Muskegon Muskegon MI
Baker College of Owosso Owosso MI

Minnesota
School City State
Metropolitan State University St. Paul MN

Missouri
School City State
Missouri Western State University St. Joseph MO
Harris-Stowe State University St. Louis MO

Nebraska
School City State
Wayne State College Wayne NE

New Hampshire
School City State
Granite State College Concord NH

New Mexico
School City State
New Mexico Highlands University Las Vegas NM
Western New Mexico University Silver City NM

New York
School City State
Medgar Evers College Brooklyn NY

Ohio
School City State
Ohio University Southern Campus Ironton OH

Oklahoma
School City State
Cameron University Lawton OK
Oklahoma Panhandle State University Goodwell OK

Texas
School City State
Arlington Baptist College Arlington TX
University of Texas at El Paso El Paso TX
Jarvis Christian College Hawkins TX

Utah
School City State
Dixie State College St. George UT
Utah Valley University Orem UT
Weber State University Ogden UT

Washington
School City State
City University of Seattle Bellevue WA