2023 Most Focused Colleges for Chemical Engineering in California
14
Ranked Colleges
1,136
Degrees Awarded
$35,600
Avg Cost*
Students have lots of options to chooose from today when trying to decide which college to attend. Our mission at College Factual is to arm you with as much information as we can to help you make that decision. Our “Schools Highly Focused on Chem Eng Major in California” ranking is one tool we have developed to help in this regard.
In 2020-2021, 12,917 people earned their degree in chemical engineering, making the major the 70th most popular in the United States. In 2019-2020, chemical engineering graduates who were awarded their degree in 2017-2019, earned an average of $65,870 and had an average of $23,285 in loans still to pay off.
Across California, there were 1,136 chemical engineering graduates with average earnings and debt of $58,086 and $17,925 respectively.
This year’s “Schools Highly Focused on Chem Eng Major in California” ranking looked at 14 colleges that offer degrees in a bachelor’s in chemical engineering. The colleges and universities that top this list are recognized because their chemical engineering program is one of the largest majors offered at the school.
For more information, check out our ranking methodology.
One Size Does Not Fit All
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 “Schools Highly Focused on Chem Eng Major in California” list to help you make the college decision.
You can create your own custom comparison that focuses on the factors most important to you using our tool, College Combat. We encourage you to try it out and pit your favorite colleges and universities head to head! If you don’t have time right now, you can bookmark it for later.
Schools Highly Focused on Chem Eng Major in California
The following schools top our list of the Best “Schools Highly Focused on Chem Eng Major in California”.
Top 14 Most Focused Colleges for Chemical Engineering in California
Out of the 14 schools in the Schools Highly Focused on Chem Eng Major in California that were part of this year’s ranking, California Institute of Technology landed the #1 spot on the list. California Institute of Technology is a small school located in Pasadena, California that handed out 23 ’s chem eng degrees in 2020-2021.
With a undergrad student-to-faculty ratio of 3 to 1, it’s easy to see that the school is committed to helping their undergraduates succeed. With a freshman retention rate of 94%, the school does an excellent job of retaining its undergraduate students.
Read full report on Chemical Engineering at Caltech
You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around if you attend Stanford University. The school came in at #2 for the Schools Highly Focused on Chem Eng Major in California. Stanford, California is the setting for this fairly large institution of higher learning. The private not-for-profit school handed out ’s chem eng degrees to 65 students in 2020-2021.
With a undergrad student-to-faculty ratio of 4 to 1, it’s easy to see that the school is committed to helping their undergraduates succeed. The school has an impressive undergrad student loan default rate. It’s only 0.5%, which is much lower than the national rate of 10.1%. The school has an excellent freshman retention rate of 86%, which means students like the school well enough to return for a second year.
Full Stanford Chemical Engineering Report
You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend University of California - Riverside. It ranked #3 on our 2023 Schools Highly Focused on Chem Eng Major in California list. Located in Riverside, California, this large public school handed out 88 degrees to qualified ’s chem eng students in 2020-2021.
Students who start out at the school are likely to stick around. The freshman retention rate is 91%. The undergrad student loan default rate at the school is 2.3%, which is quite low when compared to the national default rate of 10.1%.
Read more about Chemical Engineering at UCR
Out of the 14 schools in the Schools Highly Focused on Chem Eng Major in California that were part of this year’s ranking, University of California - Berkeley landed the #4 spot on the list. Berkeley, California is the setting for this large institution of higher learning. The public school handed out ’s chem eng degrees to 175 students in 2020-2021.
Students who start out at the school are likely to stick around. The freshman retention rate is 96%. The low undergrad student loan default rate of 1.8% 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 Chemical Engineering at UC Berkeley
You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend University of California - San Diego. It ranked #5 on our 2023 Schools Highly Focused on Chem Eng Major in California list. University of California - San Diego is located in La Jolla, California and, has a large student population. In 2020-2021, this school awarded 130 ’s chem eng degrees to qualified students.
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 1.0%, which is much lower than the national rate of 10.1%.
Read full report on Chemical Engineering at University of California - San Diego
California State Polytechnic University - Pomona did quite well in the 2023 Schools Highly Focused on Chem Eng Major in California ranking, coming in at #6. Located in Pomona, California, this large public school awarded 73 diplomas to qualified ’s chem eng students in 2020-2021.
With a freshman retention rate of 87%, the school does an excellent job of retaining its undergraduate students. The low undergrad student loan default rate of 2.6% 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 more about Chemical Engineering at California State Polytechnic University - Pomona
University of California - Davis landed the #7 spot on the 2023 Schools Highly Focused on Chem Eng Major in California ranking. Located in Davis, California, this large public school handed out 120 diplomas to qualified ’s chem eng students in 2020-2021.
Students who start out at the school are likely to stick around. The freshman retention rate is 93%. 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%.
Full UC Davis Chemical Engineering Report
University of California - Los Angeles did quite well in the 2023 Schools Highly Focused on Chem Eng Major in California ranking, coming in at #8. University of California - Los Angeles is a public institution located in Los Angeles, California. The school has a large population, and it awarded 119 ’s degrees in 2020-2021.
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%. With a freshman retention rate of 96%, the school does an excellent job of retaining its undergraduate students.
Full University of California - Los Angeles Chemical Engineering Report
University of California - Santa Barbara came in at #9 in this year’s edition of the Schools Highly Focused on Chem Eng Major in California ranking. University of California - Santa Barbara is located in Santa Barbara, California and, has a large student population. In 2020-2021, this school awarded 59 ’s chem eng degrees to qualified students.
The undergrad student loan default rate at the school is 1.8%, 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.
Read more about Chemical Engineering at University of California - Santa Barbara
With a ranking of #10, California State University - Long Beach did quite well on the 2023 Schools Highly Focused on Chem Eng Major in California list. California State University - Long Beach is a public institution located in Long Beach, California. The school has a large population, and it awarded 74 ’s degrees in 2020-2021.
The school has an impressive undergrad student loan default rate. It’s only 2.4%, 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 89%.
Read more about Chemical Engineering at CSULB
University of California - Irvine landed the #11 spot on the 2023 Schools Highly Focused on Chem Eng Major in California ranking. University of California - Irvine is a large public school situated in Irvine, California. It awarded 77 ’s chem eng degrees in 2020-2021.
The low undergrad student loan default rate of 1.4% 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%. With a freshman retention rate of 94%, the school does an excellent job of retaining its undergraduate students.
Read full report on Chemical Engineering at UC Irvine
California Baptist University did quite well in the 2023 Schools Highly Focused on Chem Eng Major in California ranking, coming in at #12. Riverside, California is the setting for this fairly large institution of higher learning. The private not-for-profit school handed out ’s chem eng degrees to 16 students in 2020-2021.
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 full report on Chemical Engineering at California Baptist University
San Jose State University did quite well in the 2023 Schools Highly Focused on Chem Eng Major in California ranking, coming in at #13. Located in San Jose, California, this large public school handed out 49 diplomas to qualified ’s chem eng students in 2020-2021.
The low undergrad student loan default rate of 2.9% 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%. The school has an excellent freshman retention rate of 86%, which means students like the school well enough to return for a second year.
Full San Jose State University Chemical Engineering Report
University of Southern California came in at #14 in this year’s edition of the Schools Highly Focused on Chem Eng Major in California ranking. Located in Los Angeles, California, this large private not-for-profit school handed out 68 diplomas to qualified ’s chem eng students in 2020-2021.
With a undergrad student-to-faculty ratio of 9 to 1, it’s easy to see that the school is committed to helping their undergraduates succeed. The undergrad student loan default rate at the school is 1.3%, which is quite low when compared to the national default rate of 10.1%. Students who start out at the school are likely to stick around. The freshman retention rate is 91%.
Read more about Chemical Engineering at USC
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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
- *Avg Salary and Avg 4-Year Grad Rate 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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