2023 Best Value Colleges for Software Engineering (Income $0-$30k) in California
9
Ranked Colleges
868
Degrees Awarded
$12,000
Avg Net Price*
It’s not easy to decide which college to attend when there so many options available for students. One of our goals at College Factual is to give you as much information as we can - such as our “Best Value Computer Software Engineering Schools in California For Those Making $0-$30k” ranking - to help you make that decision.
In 2020-2021, 4,251 people earned their degree in software engineering, making the major the 167th most popular in the United States.
Across California, there were 868 software engineering graduates with average earnings and debt of $0 and $0 respectively.
For this year’s “Best Value Computer Software Engineering Schools in California For Those Making $0-$30k” ranking, we looked at 9 colleges that offer a degree in software engineering. Not only do the schools that top this list have excellent software engineering programs, but they also 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 software engineering program at the school. For more information, check out our ranking methodology.
More Ways to Rank Software Engineering Schools
Since picking the right college can be one of the most important decisions of your life, we’ve developed the “Best Value Computer Software Engineering Schools in California For Those Making $0-$30k” ranking, along with many other major-related rankings, to help you make that decision.
In addition to College Factual’s rankings, you may want to take a look at College Combat, our unique tool that lets you pit your favorite schools head-to-head and compare how they rate on factors that most interest you. 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 Computer Software Engineering Schools in California For Those Making $0-$30k
The following schools top our list of the Best Best Value Computer Software Engineering Schools in California For Those Making $0-$30k.
Top 9 Best Value Colleges for Software Engineering (Income $0-$30k) in California
You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend University of California - Irvine. It ranked #1 on our 2023 Best Value Computer Software Engineering Schools in California For Those Making $0-$30k list. Irvine, California is the setting for this large institution of higher learning. The public school handed out ’s computer software engineering degrees to 109 students in 2020-2021.
UC Irvine also made our “Best Software Engineering Schools in California” list, coming in at #2. The estimated yearly cost for UC Irvine is $6,540 for california computer software engineering students whose families make $0-$30k.
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%. With a freshman retention rate of 94%, the school does an excellent job of retaining its undergraduate students.
Full UC Irvine Software Engineering Report
Out of the 9 schools in the Best Value Computer Software Engineering Schools in California For Those Making $0-$30k that were part of this year’s ranking, San Jose State University landed the #2 spot on the list. San Jose State is a public institution located in San Jose, California. The school has a large population, and it awarded 541 ’s degrees in 2020-2021.
San Jose State did well in our major quality rankings, too. It placed #4 on our “Best Software Engineering Schools in California” list. It costs about $12,158 for California Computer Software Engineering students whose families make $0-$30k per year to attend San Jose State.
With a freshman retention rate of 86%, the school does an excellent job of retaining its undergraduate students. The school has an impressive undergrad student loan default rate. It’s only 2.9%, which is much lower than the national rate of 10.1%.
Read more about Software Engineering at San Jose State University
You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend California Polytechnic State University - San Luis Obispo. It ranked #3 on our 2023 Best Value Computer Software Engineering Schools in California For Those Making $0-$30k list. This large school is located in San Luis Obispo, California, and it awarded 61 ’s computer software engineering degrees in 2020-2021.
Cal Poly San Luis Obispo did well in our major quality rankings, too. It placed #3 on our “Best Software Engineering Schools in California” list. It costs about $12,173 for california computer software engineering students whose families make $0-$30k per year to attend California Polytechnic State University - San Luis Obispo.
With a freshman retention rate of 94%, the school does an excellent job of retaining its undergraduate students. The school has an impressive undergrad student loan default rate. It’s only 0.7%, which is much lower than the national rate of 10.1%.
Full California Polytechnic State University - San Luis Obispo Software Engineering Report
Out of the 9 schools in the Best Value Computer Software Engineering Schools in California For Those Making $0-$30k that were part of this year’s ranking, California State University - Fullerton landed the #4 spot on the list. Cal State Fullerton is a large school located in Fullerton, California that handed out 59 ’s computer software engineering degrees in 2020-2021.
Cal State Fullerton also took the #5 spot in our “Best Software Engineering Schools in California” ranking. It costs about $4,590 for California Computer Software Engineering students whose families make $0-$30k per year to attend Cal State Fullerton.
The low undergrad student loan default rate of 2.5% 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%. Students who start out at the school are likely to stick around. The freshman retention rate is 89%.
Full California State University - Fullerton Software Engineering Report
Out of the 9 schools in the Best Value Computer Software Engineering Schools in California For Those Making $0-$30k that were part of this year’s ranking, California State University - Northridge landed the #5 spot on the list. California State University - Northridge is a public institution located in Northridge, California. The school has a large population, and it awarded 7 ’s degrees in 2020-2021.
CSUN also took the #7 spot in our “Best Software Engineering Schools in California” ranking. The yearly cost to attend California State University - Northridge is $6,266 for California Computer Software Engineering students whose families make $0-$30k.
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 Software Engineering at California State University - Northridge
California State University - Sacramento ranked #6 on this year’s Best Value Computer Software Engineering Schools in California For Those Making $0-$30k list. This large school is located in Sacramento, California, and it awarded 2 ’s computer software engineering degrees in 2020-2021.
In addition to being on our california computer software engineering students whose families make $0-$30k list, Sac State has also earned the #8 rank in our “Best Software Engineering Schools in California” ranking. The estimated yearly cost for California State University - Sacramento is $8,163 for California Computer Software Engineering students whose families make $0-$30k.
The school has an impressive undergrad student loan default rate. It’s only 3.9%, which is much lower than the national rate of 10.1%.
Read full report on Software Engineering at California State University - Sacramento
Santa Clara University did quite well in the 2023 Best Value Computer Software Engineering Schools in California For Those Making $0-$30k ranking, coming in at #7. Located in Santa Clara, California, this medium-sized private not-for-profit school handed out 2 diplomas to qualified ’s computer software engineering students in 2020-2021.
As a testament to the quality of education offered at SCU, the school also landed the #1 spot in our “Best Software Engineering Schools in California” ranking. The yearly cost to attend Santa Clara University is $26,428 for california computer software engineering students whose families make $0-$30k.
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%. The school has an excellent freshman retention rate of 93%, which means students like the school well enough to return for a second year.
Read more about Software Engineering at Santa Clara University
University of California - Merced did quite well in the 2023 Best Value Computer Software Engineering Schools in California For Those Making $0-$30k ranking, coming in at #8. UC Merced is a public institution located in Merced, California. The school has a medium-sized population, and it awarded 13 ’s degrees in 2020-2021.
UC Merced did well in our major quality rankings, too. It placed #9 on our “Best Software Engineering Schools in California” list. It costs about $10,363 for california computer software engineering students whose families make $0-$30k per year to attend UC Merced.
With a freshman retention rate of 86%, the school does an excellent job of retaining its undergraduate students. The school has an impressive undergrad student loan default rate. It’s only 2.8%, which is much lower than the national rate of 10.1%.
Read full report on Software Engineering at University of California - Merced
California Baptist University came in at #9 in this year’s edition of the Best Value Computer Software Engineering Schools in California For Those Making $0-$30k ranking. Riverside, California is the setting for this fairly large institution of higher learning. The private not-for-profit school handed out ’s computer software engineering degrees to 15 students in 2020-2021.
In addition to being on our california computer software engineering students whose families make $0-$30k list, Cal Baptist has also earned the #6 rank in our “Best Software Engineering Schools in California” ranking. It costs about $21,769 for california computer software engineering students whose families make $0-$30k per year to attend California Baptist University.
The undergrad student loan default rate at the school is 3.1%, which is quite low when compared to the national default rate of 10.1%.
Read more about Software Engineering at Cal Baptist
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Notes and References
References
- 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 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).
- Information about the national average student loan default rate is from the U.S. Department of Education and refers to data about the 2016 borrower cohort tracking period for which the cohort default rate (CDR) was 10.1%.
Read more about our data sources and methodologies
- *Average salary, average net price, and average tuition and fees are for the top schools only.
- Some schools otherwise deserving of recognition may have been removed from this ranking in the event that new data identified post-publication warranted it, or at the request of the school.
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