2024 Best Value Materials Engineering Schools in California
11
Ranked Colleges
497
Degrees Awarded
$15,900
Avg Net Price*
When it comes to choosing a college, students have a lot of options - but not all of them are good. One of our goals at College Factual is to give you as much information as we can - such as our “Best Value Materials Engineering Schools in California” ranking - to help you make that decision.
Materials Engineering is the 154th most popular major in the country with 3,415 degrees awarded in 2020-2021. In 2019-2020, materials engineering graduates who were awarded their degree in 2017-2019, earned an average of $65,007 and had an average of $23,030 in loans still to pay off.
Across California, there were 497 materials engineering graduates with average earnings and debt of $59,066 and $15,554 respectively.
This year’s “Best Value Materials Engineering Schools in California” ranking analyzed 11 colleges that offered a degree in materials engineering. The schools that top this list are recognized because they have great materials engineering programs and cost less that schools of similar quality.
To come up with these rankings, we looked at factors such as the cost to attend the school after aid is awarded and overall quality of the materials engineering program at the school. For more information, check out our ranking methodology.
More Ways to Rank Materials Engineering Schools
When choosing the right school for you, it’s important to arm yourself with all the facts you can. To that end, we’ve created a number of major-specific rankings, including this “Best Value Materials Engineering Schools in California” list to help you make the college decision.
In addition to our rankings, you can take two colleges and compare them based on the criteria that matters most to you in our unique tool, College Combat. Test it out by comparing your favorite schools against others you are considering, or bookmark the tool so you can experiment with it later.
Best Value Materials Engineering Schools in California
The colleges and universities below are the best for california materials engineering students.
Top 11 Best Value Colleges for Materials Engineering in California
You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around if you attend University of California - Los Angeles. The school came in at #1 for the Best Value Materials Engineering Schools in California. Located in Los Angeles, California, this large public school awarded 76 diplomas to qualified ’s materials engineering students in 2020-2021.
As a testament to the quality of education offered at UCLA, the school also landed the #2 spot in our “Best Materials Engineering Schools in California” ranking. The estimated yearly cost for University of California - Los Angeles is $15,023 for California Materials Engineering students.
With a freshman retention rate of 97%, the school does an excellent job of retaining its undergraduate students. The low undergrad student loan default rate of 1.6% is a good sign that students have an easier time paying off their loans than they might at other schools. For comparison, the national default rate is 10.1%.
Read full report on Materials Engineering at UCLA
You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend University of California - San Diego. It ranked #2 on our 2024 Best Value Materials Engineering Schools in California list. University of California - San Diego is a public institution located in La Jolla, California. The school has a large population, and it awarded 72 ’s degrees in 2020-2021.
UCSD also made our “Best Materials Engineering Schools in California” list, coming in at #4. It costs about $15,240 for California Materials Engineering students per year to attend UCSD.
With a freshman retention rate of 95%, the school does an excellent job of retaining its undergraduate students. The undergrad student loan default rate at the school is 1.0%, which is quite low when compared to the national default rate of 10.1%.
Read full report on Materials Engineering at UCSD
Out of the 11 schools in the Best Value Materials Engineering Schools in California that were part of this year’s ranking, California Polytechnic State University - San Luis Obispo landed the #3 spot on the list. Located in San Luis Obispo, California, this large public school handed out 41 diplomas to qualified ’s materials engineering students in 2020-2021.
Cal Poly San Luis Obispo did well in our major quality rankings, too. It placed #7 on our “Best Materials Engineering Schools in California” list. It costs about $20,677 for california materials engineering students per year to attend California Polytechnic State University - San Luis Obispo.
With a freshman retention rate of 95%, the school does an excellent job of retaining its undergraduate students. The undergrad student loan default rate at the school is 0.7%, which is quite low when compared to the national default rate of 10.1%.
Read full report on Materials Engineering at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo
You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around if you attend University of California - Irvine. The school came in at #4 for the Best Value Materials Engineering Schools in California. This large school is located in Irvine, California, and it awarded 59 ’s materials engineering degrees in 2020-2021.
As a testament to the quality of education offered at UC Irvine, the school also landed the #5 spot in our “Best Materials Engineering Schools in California” ranking. The estimated yearly cost for University of California - Irvine is $12,209 for California Materials Engineering students.
With a freshman retention rate of 93%, the school does an excellent job of retaining its undergraduate students. The school has an impressive undergrad student loan default rate. It’s only 1.4%, which is much lower than the national rate of 10.1%.
Read full report on Materials Engineering at University of California - Irvine
You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around if you attend University of California - Davis. The school came in at #5 for the Best Value Materials Engineering Schools in California. This large school is located in Davis, California, and it awarded 53 ’s materials engineering degrees in 2020-2021.
In addition to being on our california materials engineering students list, UC Davis has also earned the #6 rank in our “Best Materials Engineering Schools in California” ranking. It costs about $15,768 for california materials engineering students per year to attend University of California - Davis.
The undergrad student loan default rate at the school is 1.5%, which is quite low when compared to the national default rate of 10.1%. The school has an excellent freshman retention rate of 91%, which means students like the school well enough to return for a second year.
Full University of California - Davis Materials Engineering Report
San Jose State University came in at #6 in this year’s edition of the Best Value Materials Engineering Schools in California ranking. San Jose State is a large school located in San Jose, California that handed out 19 ’s materials engineering degrees in 2020-2021.
San Jose State not only placed well in this ranking. It is also #8 on our “Best Materials Engineering Schools in California” list. The yearly cost to attend San Jose State University is $16,542 for california materials engineering students.
The undergrad student loan default rate at the school is 2.9%, which is quite low when compared to the national default rate of 10.1%. The school has an excellent freshman retention rate of 89%, which means students like the school well enough to return for a second year.
Read full report on Materials Engineering at San Jose State University
California State University - Northridge landed the #7 spot on the 2024 Best Value Materials Engineering Schools in California ranking. California State University - Northridge is located in Northridge, California and, has a large student population. In 2020-2021, this school awarded 10 ’s materials engineering degrees to qualified students.
In addition to being on our california materials engineering students list, CSUN has also earned the #11 rank in our “Best Materials Engineering Schools in California” ranking. The yearly cost to attend CSUN is $8,523 for California Materials Engineering students.
The low undergrad student loan default rate of 3.7% is a good sign that students have an easier time paying off their loans than they might at other schools. For comparison, the national default rate is 10.1%.
Read more about Materials Engineering at California State University - Northridge
University of California - Riverside came in at #8 in this year’s edition of the Best Value Materials Engineering Schools in California ranking. UCR is a large public school situated in Riverside, California. It awarded 22 ’s materials engineering degrees in 2020-2021.
UCR did well in our major quality rankings, too. It placed #10 on our “Best Materials Engineering Schools in California” list. The yearly cost to attend University of California - Riverside is $11,822 for california materials engineering students.
The school has an impressive undergrad student loan default rate. It’s only 2.3%, which is much lower than the national rate of 10.1%. Students who start out at the school are likely to stick around. The freshman retention rate is 88%.
Read more about Materials Engineering at University of California - Riverside
With a ranking of #9, University of California - Merced did quite well on the 2024 Best Value Materials Engineering Schools in California list. Located in Merced, California, this medium-sized public school awarded 20 degrees to qualified ’s materials engineering students in 2020-2021.
UC Merced also made our “Best Materials Engineering Schools in California” list, coming in at #9. The yearly cost to attend UC Merced is $13,691 for california materials engineering students.
The undergrad student loan default rate at the school is 2.8%, which is quite low when compared to the national default rate of 10.1%.
Full University of California - Merced Materials Engineering Report
With a ranking of #10, Stanford University did quite well on the 2024 Best Value Materials Engineering Schools in California list. Located in Stanford, California, this fairly large private not-for-profit school handed out 73 diplomas to qualified ’s materials engineering students in 2020-2021.
Stanford not only placed well in this ranking. It is also #1 on our “Best Materials Engineering Schools in California” list. It costs about $12,894 for california materials engineering students per year to attend Stanford University.
With a undergrad student-to-faculty ratio of 5 to 1, it’s easy to see that the school is committed to helping their undergraduates succeed. Students who start out at the school are likely to stick around. The freshman retention rate is 98%. The undergrad student loan default rate at the school is 0.5%, which is quite low when compared to the national default rate of 10.1%.
Read more about Materials Engineering at Stanford
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