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2024 Best Computer Engineering Bachelor's Degree Schools in California

25 Colleges in California
2,137 Bachelor's Degrees
$72,818 Avg Early-Career Salary
Computer Engineering is above average in terms of popularity with it being the #41 most popular bachelor's degree program in the country. So, you have a fair amount of options to choose from when looking for a school.

For its 2024 ranking, College Factual looked at 25 schools in California to determine which ones were the best for computer engineering students pursuing a bachelor's degree. When you put them all together, these colleges and universities awarded 2,137 bachelor's degrees in computer engineering during the 2020-2021 academic year.

What's on this page: * Our Methodology

Choosing a Great Computer Engineering School for Your Bachelor's Degree

Best Computer Engineering Bachelor's Degree Schools in California Your choice of computer engineering for getting your bachelor's degree school matters. This section explores some of the factors we include in our ranking and how much they vary depending on the school you select. Below we explain some of the most important factors to consider before making your choice:

Overall Quality Is a Must

The overall quality of a bachelor's degree school is important to ensure a good education, not just how well they do in a particular major. To account for this we consider a college's overall Best Colleges ranking which itself looks at a host of various factors like degree completion, educational resources, student body caliber and post-graduation earnings for the school as a whole.

Average Early-Career Salaries

Average early-career salary of those graduating with their bachelor's degree is one indicator we use in our analysis to find the schools that offer the highest-quality education. After all, your bachelor's degree won't mean much if it doesn't help you find a job that will help you earn a living.

Other Factors We Consider

The metrics below are just some of the other metrics that we use to determine our rankings.

Our complete ranking methodology documents in more detail how we consider these factors to identify the best schools for computer engineering students working on their bachelor's degree.

More Ways to Rank Computer Engineering Schools

Rankings by Location Check Out Other Locales
More CE Rankings Other Ranking Categories

The ce school you choose to invest your time and money in matters. To help you make the decision that is right for you, we've developed a number of major-specific rankings, including this list of the Best Computer Engineering Bachelor's Degree Schools in California.

To further help you make the college decision, we've developed a unique tool called College Combat that allows you to compare schools based on the factors that matter the most to you. Go ahead and give it a try, or bookmark the link so you can check it out later.

Best Schools for Bachelor’s Students to Study Computer Engineering in California

Below you'll see a list of the best colleges and universities for pursuing a bachelor's degree in computer engineering.

10 Top California Schools for a Bachelor's in CE

1
55 Annual Graduates
$106,621 Median Starting Salary
$9,500 Median Student Debt

University of Southern California is one of the best schools in the United States for getting a bachelor's degree in computer engineering. Located in the city of Los Angeles, USC is a private not-for-profit university with a fairly large student population.

Computer Engineering bachelor's degree recipients from University of Southern California receive an earnings boost of approximately $33,803 over the average earnings of computer engineering graduates.

More information about a bachelor’s in computer engineering from University of Southern California

2
SCU crest
Santa Clara University
Santa Clara, CA
77 Annual Graduates
$83,523 Median Starting Salary
$24,666 Median Student Debt

Any student who is interested in a bachelor's degree in computer engineering needs to look into Santa Clara University. SCU is a medium-sized private not-for-profit university located in the city of Santa Clara.

Computer Engineering bachelor's degree recipients from Santa Clara University get an earnings boost of approximately $10,705 above the average earnings of computer engineering majors.

More information about a bachelor’s in computer engineering from Santa Clara University

3
92 Annual Graduates
$110,139 Median Starting Salary
$14,103 Median Student Debt

Every student pursuing a degree in a bachelor's degree in computer engineering has to check out University of California - Los Angeles. UCLA is a very large public university located in the city of Los Angeles.

Computer Engineering bachelor's degree recipients from University of California - Los Angeles receive an earnings boost of about $37,321 above the typical earnings of computer engineering majors.

More information about a bachelor’s in computer engineering from University of California - Los Angeles

4
139 Annual Graduates
$79,476 Median Starting Salary
$18,497 Median Student Debt

University of California - San Diego is a great choice for individuals interested in a bachelor's degree in computer engineering. Located in the large city of La Jolla, UCSD is a public university with a fairly large student population.

Bachelor's recipients from the computer engineering major at University of California - San Diego earn $6,658 more than the typical college grad in this field when they enter the workforce.

More information about a bachelor’s in computer engineering from University of California - San Diego

5
237 Annual Graduates
$68,056 Median Starting Salary
$19,233 Median Student Debt

Located in the large city of Irvine, UC Irvine is a public university with a very large student population.

Bachelor's graduates who receive their degree from the ce program earn around $68,056 in their early career salary.

More information about a bachelor’s in computer engineering from University of California - Irvine

6
158 Annual Graduates
$91,493 Median Starting Salary
$20,556 Median Student Debt

Cal Poly San Luis Obispo is a fairly large public university located in the small suburb of San Luis Obispo.

Computer Engineering bachelor's degree recipients from California Polytechnic State University - San Luis Obispo earn a boost of approximately $18,675 above the average earnings of computer engineering majors.

More information about a bachelor’s in computer engineering from California Polytechnic State University - San Luis Obispo

7
100 Annual Graduates
$81,487 Median Starting Salary
$12,804 Median Student Debt

UC Davis is a very large public university located in the suburb of Davis.

Computer Engineering bachelor's degree recipients from University of California - Davis get an earnings boost of around $8,669 above the typical earnings of computer engineering majors.

More information about a bachelor’s in computer engineering from University of California - Davis

8

Located in the large city of San Jose, San Jose State is a public university with a very large student population.

Computer Engineering bachelor's degree recipients from San Jose State University receive an earnings boost of about $8,242 over the average income of computer engineering graduates.

More information about a bachelor’s in computer engineering from San Jose State University

9
85 Annual Graduates
$75,207 Median Starting Salary
$23,392 Median Student Debt

Located in the city of Santa Cruz, UC Santa Cruz is a public university with a large student population.

Computer Engineering bachelor's degree recipients from University of California - Santa Cruz get an earnings boost of around $2,389 above the typical income of computer engineering majors.

More information about a bachelor’s in computer engineering from University of California - Santa Cruz

10
198 Annual Graduates
$54,675 Median Starting Salary
$19,086 Median Student Debt

UC Merced is a medium-sized public university located in the rural area of Merced.

Bachelor's graduates who receive their degree from the ce program make an average of $54,675 for their early career.

More information about a bachelor’s in computer engineering from University of California - Merced

Best Computer Engineering Colleges in the Far Western US Region

Explore all the Best Computer Engineering Schools in the Far Western US Area or other specific states within that region.

State Colleges Degrees Awarded
Washington 226 119
Oregon 185 28
Nevada 129 148
Hawaii 112 22
Alaska 75 6

View All Rankings >

One of 41 majors within the Engineering area of study, Computer Engineering has other similar majors worth exploring.

CE Focus Areas

Major Annual Graduates
General Computer Engineering 1,800
Software Engineering 310
Other Computer Engineering 22
Computer Hardware Engineering 5

Related Major Annual Graduates
Mechanical Engineering 3,935
Electrical Engineering 2,496
Civil Engineering 2,163
Biomedical Engineering 1,078
Chemical Engineering 872
Aerospace & Aeronautical Engineering 805
Industrial Engineering 408
Environmental Engineering 258
General Engineering 209
Materials Engineering 189

Notes and References

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