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2022 Best Value Doctor’s Degree Colleges for Chemical Engineering in California

9 Ranked Colleges
116 Degrees Awarded
$36,100 Avg Grad Tuition & Fees*
Best Value Chem Eng Schools for a Doctorate in California

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 Chem Eng Schools for a Doctorate in California” ranking - to help you make that decision.

Chemical Engineering is the 66th most popular major in the country with 13,610 degrees awarded in 2019-2020. In 2017-2018, chemical engineering graduates who were awarded their degree in 2015-2017, earned an average of $62,963 and had an average of $22,564 in loans still to pay off.

Across California, there were 1,196 chemical engineering graduates with average earnings and debt of $54,945 and $17,612 respectively. At the doctor’s degree level specifically, there were 116 chemical engineering graduates with average earnings and debt of $71,544 and $133,402 respectively.

For this year’s “Best Value Chem Eng Schools for a Doctorate in California” ranking, we looked at 9 colleges that offer a degree in chemical engineering. Not only do the schools that top this list have excellent chemical engineering programs, but they also cost less that schools of similar quality.

When determining these rankings, we looked at things such as overall quality of the chemical engineering program at the school and the cost to attend the school once aid has been awarded. See our ranking methodology to learn more.

One Size Does Not Fit All

The chem eng 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 “Best Value Chem Eng Schools for a Doctorate in California”.

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. When you have some time, check it out - you may want to bookmark the link so you don’t forget it.

Best Value Chem Eng Schools for a Doctorate in California

The following schools top our list of the Best Best Value Chem Eng Schools for a Doctorate in California.

Top 10 Best Value Doctor’s Degree Colleges for Chemical Engineering in California

#1

University of California - Los Angeles

Los Angeles, California
#5 in overall quality

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 Chem Eng Schools for a Doctorate in California. Los Angeles, California is the setting for this large institution of higher learning. The public school handed out doctorate’s chem eng degrees to 17 students in 2019-2020.

UCLA did well in our major quality rankings, too. It placed #5 on our “Best Chemical Engineering Doctor’s Degree Schools in California” list. Average graduate tuition and fees at UCLA are $28,131, but some majors have different tuition rates.

Read more about Chemical Engineering at University of California - Los Angeles

#4 in overall quality

Out of the 9 schools in the Best Value Chem Eng Schools for a Doctorate in California that were part of this year’s ranking, University of California - Berkeley landed the #2 spot on the list. UC Berkeley is a public institution located in Berkeley, California. The school has a large population, and it awarded 22 doctorate’s degrees in 2019-2020.

In addition to being on our california doctor’s degree chem eng students list, UC Berkeley has also earned the #4 rank in our “Best Chemical Engineering Doctor’s Degree Schools in California” ranking. Average graduate tuition and fees at University of California - Berkeley are $29,347, but you may pay more or less depending on your major.

Read full report on Chemical Engineering at UC Berkeley

#6 in overall quality

Out of the 9 schools in the Best Value Chem Eng Schools for a Doctorate in California that were part of this year’s ranking, University of California - Davis landed the #3 spot on the list. Located in Davis, California, this large public school awarded 8 degrees to qualified doctorate’s chem eng students in 2019-2020.

UC Davis also took the #6 spot in our “Best Chemical Engineering Doctor’s Degree Schools in California” ranking. Average graduate tuition and fees at University of California - Davis are $28,700, but some majors have different tuition rates.

Read more about Chemical Engineering at University of California - Davis

#8 in overall quality

Out of the 9 schools in the Best Value Chem Eng Schools for a Doctorate in California that were part of this year’s ranking, University of California - San Diego landed the #4 spot on the list. La Jolla, California is the setting for this large institution of higher learning. The public school handed out doctorate’s chem eng degrees to 5 students in 2019-2020.

UCSD did well in our major quality rankings, too. It placed #8 on our “Best Chemical Engineering Doctor’s Degree Schools in California” list. Although you might pay more or less depending on your area of study, average graduate tuition and fees at UCSD are $28,631.

Read more about Chemical Engineering at University of California - San Diego

#5

University of California - Santa Barbara

Santa Barbara, California
#7 in overall quality

Out of the 9 schools in the Best Value Chem Eng Schools for a Doctorate in California that were part of this year’s ranking, University of California - Santa Barbara landed the #5 spot on the list. UCSB is located in Santa Barbara, California and, has a large student population. In 2019-2020, this school awarded 9 doctorate’s chem eng degrees to qualified students.

UCSB also took the #7 spot in our “Best Chemical Engineering Doctor’s Degree Schools in California” ranking. Although you might pay more or less depending on your area of study, average graduate tuition and fees at UCSB are $28,670.

Full University of California - Santa Barbara Chemical Engineering Report

#9 in overall quality

University of California - Riverside came in at #6 in this year’s edition of the Best Value Chem Eng Schools for a Doctorate in California ranking. This large school is located in Riverside, California, and it awarded 9 doctorate’s chem eng degrees in 2019-2020.

UCR also made our “Best Chemical Engineering Doctor’s Degree Schools in California” list, coming in at #9. Average graduate tuition and fees at UCR are $28,686, but you may pay more or less depending on your major.

Full UCR Chemical Engineering Report

#7

University of Southern California

Los Angeles, California
#2 in overall quality

With a ranking of #7, University of Southern California did quite well on the 2022 Best Value Chem Eng Schools for a Doctorate in California list. Located in Los Angeles, California, this large private not-for-profit school awarded 13 degrees to qualified doctorate’s chem eng students in 2019-2020.

USC also took the #2 spot in our “Best Chemical Engineering Doctor’s Degree Schools in California” ranking. Although you might pay more or less depending on your area of study, average graduate tuition and fees at University of Southern California are $48,715.

Read more about Chemical Engineering at USC

#10 in overall quality

University of California - Irvine did quite well in the 2022 Best Value Chem Eng Schools for a Doctorate in California ranking, coming in at #7. University of California - Irvine is located in Irvine, California and, has a large student population. In 2019-2020, this school awarded 2 doctorate’s chem eng degrees to qualified students.

As a testament to the quality of education offered at UC Irvine, the school also landed the #10 spot in our “Best Chemical Engineering Doctor’s Degree Schools in California” ranking. Average graduate tuition and fees at UC Irvine are $28,456, but some majors have different tuition rates.

Read more about Chemical Engineering at UC Irvine

#8

Stanford University

Stanford, California
#1 in overall quality

Stanford University came in at #8 in this year’s edition of the Best Value Chem Eng Schools for a Doctorate in California ranking. Stanford is a private not-for-profit institution located in Stanford, California. The school has a fairly large population, and it awarded 25 doctorate’s degrees in 2019-2020.

Stanford also made our “Best Chemical Engineering Doctor’s Degree Schools in California” list, coming in at #1. Although you might pay more or less depending on your area of study, average graduate tuition and fees at Stanford University are $55,011.

Read full report on Chemical Engineering at Stanford University

#9

California Institute of Technology

Pasadena, California
#3 in overall quality

California Institute of Technology came in at #9 in this year’s edition of the Best Value Chem Eng Schools for a Doctorate in California ranking. California Institute of Technology is located in Pasadena, California and, has a small student population. In 2019-2020, this school awarded 6 doctorate’s chem eng degrees to qualified students.

Caltech did well in our major quality rankings, too. It placed #3 on our “Best Chemical Engineering Doctor’s Degree Schools in California” list. Although you might pay more or less depending on your area of study, average graduate tuition and fees at California Institute of Technology are $56,649.

Full Caltech Chemical Engineering Report

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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

Footnotes

  • *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.

Credits

  • Credit for the banner image above goes to Mikulova.

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